Re: M: Finally, the truth : New Line did recut the movie.
PostPosted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 6:30 am
... E-man?
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Balthamos wrote:I love the video! The new footage is great, great job on the editing. I also liked the outtakes, nice to see some more unseen stuff. It was also very cool to mention us in the credits, thanks for that.
sfsraffie wrote:(Did you get my PM on the FE board? As I said, I'm Gaith over there, so I'm totally honored to have been thanked twice. )
Very nice work, and thanks tons for the secret download! You have my total respect and admiration for so much hard work over so long a time.
Still, I gotta say...
1) The book discussion of Asriel's parenting skills, though apparently moved to the ending by NL, doesn't work at all coming after Roger's murder. There's a dead kid feet away, and Lyra's talking about her own feelings? Oh, hell no! It's only her fear of Asriel and recognition of her own powerlessness that keeps her from attacking him right then and there.
2) The promo pic of smiling Lyra right at the end, I fear, sticks out like a sore thumb. Your earlier draft finale and fade out were considerably more poetic.
3) Your earlier use of "Gravity of Love" was so mind-blastingly perfect that I can't help but wince at its loss!
Now as, for the spoilery stuff, here's my take...
What, Lyra walks into the sky and meets Will straightaway? Hells no again! It makes no sense, either narratively (so Asriel lands in the village also?), emotionally (from dead kid to new friend in minutes?!) or poetically (and this is where I really start to question CW - he definitely had his heart in the right place, but even given studio interference, there's a lot of shoddy choices made all over the movie).
I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt in that he/someone wrote that in a synopsis/treatment to get the suits used to the idea of Will, but that he never intended to actually put him there. (Whether NL would've forced him to is, I guess, another key question...) No, it sucks on at least eight different levels...
... and is another reason I preferred your earlier fade to credits/Gravity of Love finish.
Thanks again for everything!
Energy wrote:Unfortunately I'm bound by the preproduction video to keep things in that order. I wanted the video to be as close to the real thing as possible. One thing that has to be remembered though is how the post 'death' scene is played out in the preproduction video is a very somber event - in the movie as evident in the clips shown it's a more dramatic shouty affair.
Energy wrote:Technically I prefer the previous version (minus a few of the new shots - gotta love the walk into the bridge and stelmeria.) but this version scoops as much of the material that I could fit in and it still be comprehensible. Whether that shot was just a promo pic or not I'm unsure. I do hope the film, after such a dramatic ending, didn't end with a smile like that....
Energy wrote:Maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but that is why I see that paragraph as vitally important for the movie reconstruction. I want everything, warts and all. I think Chris Weitz made good and bad decisions, I just feel from a fan persepective the film would have been so much better prior to the over the top cuts. His egarness to make fans happy and tease about the subtle knife could be the thing that pulled the movie apart.
Michael555 wrote:Thank you SO MUCH for the dedication at the end!
That clip of her walking into the aurora was absolutely fantastic...that was worth the wait ALONE. How on earth did you manage to get a hold of that!?! I've I loved it. Thanks so much for all your hardwork!
And I know I wouldn't mind hearing a commentary!
sfsraffie wrote:Well, now we're getting into some metaphyscial stuff. That dialogue may well have been there in some preproduction stage (I guess the audio is from the audiobook?), but who's to say whether it would actually have made it to the final film?
If you take the approach of "putting in everything possible CW/NL appears to have considered putting in", I totally respect that decision. I do hope, however, that the fan edit itself will cut a bit more aggressively.
Aye, those shots are great. But the Lyra shot definitely looks like a promo pic to moi.
While this is interesting speculation to be sure, again - unless you're aware of something I haven't yet gleaned (CW's original script, for instance) - I see no compelling evidence to believe that the "boy in the distance" was anything other than HDM 101 for execs/marketers. And even if there was such a boy in the original cut, it'd be a cinch to remove him, but that would still leave the issue of the non-upbeat ending that everyone said was the impetus for the last-minute change in the first place. The specifics of this may be beyond our knowledge/research-ability... but so long as you keep the star-bridge/Gravity of Love fade-out in the fan edit, I'll be a happy camper.
Michael555 wrote:A little O/T but why didn't Chris Weitz's script never leak? That's a bit odd.
This description appears in very few places, but the one I gleamed it from was the Panini Sticker Book. It is obvious that Panini were handed a workprint of the movie and told take your images from this.
Michael555 wrote:This description appears in very few places, but the one I gleamed it from was the Panini Sticker Book. It is obvious that Panini were handed a workprint of the movie and told take your images from this.
.....workprints have leaked
But do you think a work print exists with all the cut scenes intact?