MCP
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Star Trek Vengeance:
Count me firmly in the "liked it" camp. In fact, when I first saw Into Darkness, I thought it might even be better than its predecessor (and this is coming from someone who LOVED ST09 - it's my favorite Trek film). Since then, watching it again, is it perfect? No. Some plot contrivances become more obvious upon repeat viewings, and character regressions become more eyeball worthy. Still, is STID a fun and completely watchable flick? Definitely. So while many have clamored for an edit for awhile, I have not. But I'm more than welcoming to Vengeance, which brings the film damn near close to the best it can be.
First of all, all the nips and tucks done, whether to remove weird lines or fix reactions or pacing - perfect and completely seamless. In many cases they do what they set out to do like a trick, keeping things going. In most cases you won't even notice. Most of the edit is comprised of these types of tweaks, to the point where, even though 15 minutes have been removed, if you didn't know better you'd probably never notice. Which is of course the true sign of a great fan edit.
The opening scene works this way, and is in many ways faster and more fun than the original. Not in all ways because unfortunately, the resequenced reveal of the Enterprise emerging from the water to save Spock is sort of ruined, pacing-wise, in comparison to the original. Still, I love the reinsertion of the deleted scene (even if the musical scoring isn't quite what I would have done), and the new title is very well done.
Moving on, removing Kirk's demotion is handled quite well and does a good deal to improve the film in regards to Kirk and Spock's character. Kirk doesn't need to be sent to his room for him to learn his lesson, so the change is nice, in addition to removing the redundancy of getting his rank back later. Unfortunately there's a slight oddity because of this when Kirk says that only he can go get Harrison, but I suppose its not all that different from the original. More odd is the bar scene. The intention of the editing is clear, but you can't remove Pine's smile to make Kirk reaction go from feeling comforted to feeling guilty. The real winner of the demotion change though is the scene in which Kirk asks Spock why he saved him which is expertly done and really frames their relationship in this film very well.
Spock's handling of his emotions is a big through line in the original and here, with a key scene being his discussion with Uhura on the ship en route to Kronos. That scene is cut here, mostly because of what it does to Uhura's character. Going it to this edit, I was okay with that. Watching, the edit is, of course, seamless, and helps keep the film going at a breakneck pace. Problem is, though, once the film has come full circle and Spock is watching Kirk die, the emotional through line kind of falls apart. The scene on the ship is crucial not just to establish and deepen Spock's handling of his feelings post-Vulcan, but also to have a pause in the action for some depth, and to remind us where the characters are coming from emotionally. Ultimately, I think removing the scene is a mistake, regardless of how it treats Uhura. The Spock/Kirk dynamic is simply more important to this film and isn't quite there without this crucial element. (As well, Uhura kissing Spock after they get back on the Enterprise just seems contextless and random.)
Still, Kirk's death works fine here and in many ways much better than in the theatrical cut due to the relequencing of Bones's super-blood discovery. I mean, this is it, guys, this is the reason you need to see this edit. I'm not one who ever cared much about the Wrath of Khan rip-off critique because, frankly, I think it's not really there. Still, I can't deny the original's Kirk death and resurrection is a bit misguided. Well, it can't be removed, but it can be improved. It's so simple, really, and the changes are actually quite subtle, but what's done here is the final bit of the climax has been given a much needed boost of excitement and tension and plain heroism. It just works.
So yeah, overall, this is a great edit. On the technical side, yes the scene where Scotty resigns is out of sync. As well, for the most part I like the regrade (and appreciate that the vibrancy is still there), though I think it could have gone a bit farther. Shadows are still far too blue, and a couple deleted scene shots don't look quite right (Kirk's shirt almost green in the first scene, Scotty's face a little too desaturated in the one where he finds the Vengeance). Otherwise, though, the technical proficiency of this edit is top shelf. And it's just damn fun too. Recommended.
https://ifdb.fanedit.org/star-trek-vengeance/discussions/9124/
Count me firmly in the "liked it" camp. In fact, when I first saw Into Darkness, I thought it might even be better than its predecessor (and this is coming from someone who LOVED ST09 - it's my favorite Trek film). Since then, watching it again, is it perfect? No. Some plot contrivances become more obvious upon repeat viewings, and character regressions become more eyeball worthy. Still, is STID a fun and completely watchable flick? Definitely. So while many have clamored for an edit for awhile, I have not. But I'm more than welcoming to Vengeance, which brings the film damn near close to the best it can be.
First of all, all the nips and tucks done, whether to remove weird lines or fix reactions or pacing - perfect and completely seamless. In many cases they do what they set out to do like a trick, keeping things going. In most cases you won't even notice. Most of the edit is comprised of these types of tweaks, to the point where, even though 15 minutes have been removed, if you didn't know better you'd probably never notice. Which is of course the true sign of a great fan edit.
The opening scene works this way, and is in many ways faster and more fun than the original. Not in all ways because unfortunately, the resequenced reveal of the Enterprise emerging from the water to save Spock is sort of ruined, pacing-wise, in comparison to the original. Still, I love the reinsertion of the deleted scene (even if the musical scoring isn't quite what I would have done), and the new title is very well done.
Moving on, removing Kirk's demotion is handled quite well and does a good deal to improve the film in regards to Kirk and Spock's character. Kirk doesn't need to be sent to his room for him to learn his lesson, so the change is nice, in addition to removing the redundancy of getting his rank back later. Unfortunately there's a slight oddity because of this when Kirk says that only he can go get Harrison, but I suppose its not all that different from the original. More odd is the bar scene. The intention of the editing is clear, but you can't remove Pine's smile to make Kirk reaction go from feeling comforted to feeling guilty. The real winner of the demotion change though is the scene in which Kirk asks Spock why he saved him which is expertly done and really frames their relationship in this film very well.
Spock's handling of his emotions is a big through line in the original and here, with a key scene being his discussion with Uhura on the ship en route to Kronos. That scene is cut here, mostly because of what it does to Uhura's character. Going it to this edit, I was okay with that. Watching, the edit is, of course, seamless, and helps keep the film going at a breakneck pace. Problem is, though, once the film has come full circle and Spock is watching Kirk die, the emotional through line kind of falls apart. The scene on the ship is crucial not just to establish and deepen Spock's handling of his feelings post-Vulcan, but also to have a pause in the action for some depth, and to remind us where the characters are coming from emotionally. Ultimately, I think removing the scene is a mistake, regardless of how it treats Uhura. The Spock/Kirk dynamic is simply more important to this film and isn't quite there without this crucial element. (As well, Uhura kissing Spock after they get back on the Enterprise just seems contextless and random.)
Still, Kirk's death works fine here and in many ways much better than in the theatrical cut due to the relequencing of Bones's super-blood discovery. I mean, this is it, guys, this is the reason you need to see this edit. I'm not one who ever cared much about the Wrath of Khan rip-off critique because, frankly, I think it's not really there. Still, I can't deny the original's Kirk death and resurrection is a bit misguided. Well, it can't be removed, but it can be improved. It's so simple, really, and the changes are actually quite subtle, but what's done here is the final bit of the climax has been given a much needed boost of excitement and tension and plain heroism. It just works.
So yeah, overall, this is a great edit. On the technical side, yes the scene where Scotty resigns is out of sync. As well, for the most part I like the regrade (and appreciate that the vibrancy is still there), though I think it could have gone a bit farther. Shadows are still far too blue, and a couple deleted scene shots don't look quite right (Kirk's shirt almost green in the first scene, Scotty's face a little too desaturated in the one where he finds the Vengeance). Otherwise, though, the technical proficiency of this edit is top shelf. And it's just damn fun too. Recommended.
https://ifdb.fanedit.org/star-trek-vengeance/discussions/9124/