Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Most new users don't bother reading our rules. Here's the one that is ignored almost immediately upon signup: DO NOT ASK FOR FANEDIT LINKS PUBLICLY. First, read the FAQ. Seriously. What you want is there. You can also send a message to the editor. If that doesn't work THEN post in the Trade & Request forum. Anywhere else and it will be deleted and an infraction will be issued.
If this is your first time here please read our FAQ and Rules pages. They have some useful information that will get us all off on the right foot, especially our Own the Source rule. If you do not understand any of these rules send a private message to one of our staff for further details.
A few additional trims have been made to improve pacing, these include:
Removal of the attack on the French airbase before Dowding meets the Under-Secretary of State for Air, short clips of which now play silently as he walks along the hall.
Extraneous bits of conversation, typically exposition that can be inferred from other bits of dialogue.
Other parts of scenes that feel as if they run too long, mostly parts at the beginnings and ends of scenes.
Some additional stylistic changes have been made too:
Desaturated nearly the entire film, lifting shadows brightness and increasing contrast to make image less flat
In my mind this (perhaps counter-intuitively) takes away a layer of artificiality, making the film feel less like a glossy (for 1969) production and a bit more like the contemporary footage one sees of the WWII period, helps also to disguise how lousy the Blu-ray transfer is!
Single exception is the Battle of the Air sequence towards the end, fades into colour (with increased shadow brightness) over the shot of St Paul's and hard cuts to monochrome after the final crash, makes this atypically presented scene stand out even more. It helps that there are no famous faces visible during this time to subconsciously remind one this is a narrative feature, for a few minutes the film becomes pure cinema.
Covered coloured bars (above and below text) during opening credits with solid white equivalents, recoloured "Battle" and "Britain" white too
Have mixed together audio from the William Walton and Ron Goodwin soundtracks to my preference (e.g. Walton opening credits but Goodwin end credits). Will provide three soundtrack options, the hybrid, Walton-only and Goodwin-only, the first time I have tried providing multiple audio options.
Rough cut currently runs to 117 minutes, 16 fewer than the theatrical version, @filmflaneur has made a few comments for me to work on so hope to have this finished within the next few weeks. If anybody else wishes to preview just send me a PM, would also be interested to hear any alternative ideas for sub-titles.
Have made a few more changes to the edit, including:
Replacing the modern MGM logo with a custom United Artists (the original distributor) title card, over which plays the sound of a Merlin engine (from the former opening scene, now silent and heavily truncated), thanks @filmflaneur for the idea!
A few short trims to the scene of Robert Shaw's character leaving his cottage, in the words of @robulon (on their edit "Castle of the Eagles") removing "excessive shoe leather" typical of films of the period.
Assembled the three audio tracks, Ron Goodwin only, William Walton only and a mix (Hybrid) of the two (my preference, each contributed great music).
Just watched through the full edit for the first time and found that it worked much better for me than the original, this time I did not get bored even once! Should have everything completely ready for the start of August, just need a little tidying up of occasional errors. I think the only further editing decision really to make now is whether or not to add any embellishments, e.g. extra music, very likely non-film Goodwin and/or Walton, any ideas out there for pieces and placement?
Cutlist of the edit as of now, don't imagine that there will be any further changes but am open to suggestions if anybody else is interested in previewing.
Desaturated nearly the entire film, slightly brightening shadows and boosting contrast, except for a single scene towards the end. Required covering up the red and blue bars (and words) during the title sequence with white equivalents.
Provided 3 soundtrack options
Theatrical Ron Goodwin score (with Walton's "Battle in the Air"), many classic themes but sometimes a little overwrought, certain places I felt were better served without music, particularly not fond of the opening version of "Aces High" in its contexts
Discarded original William Walton score, much shorter than Goodwin's (believed to be a reason for it being replaced, insufficient to fill an LP) but some beautiful music that I would not want to be without
Hybrid of the two, favouring the Goodwin soundtrack audio where it is the same as the Walton one since it's better quality. Choices for this track include:
Walton opening music, feel that this sets the tone much better than Goodwin's
Walton music over the end of the scene between the ambassadors and first scene of British airfield, feels more engaged with the action than Goodwin's
Goodwin music over the Eagle Day planning scenes, no Walton equivalent
Absence of music over the bombed airfield scene “Don’t you yell at me Mr. Warwick”, Goodwin's feels a bit overwrought
Goodwin's epic main theme during interception of bombers in the North
No music (using Walton track) as aircraft prepare to leave the flying club
Walton music “Cat and Mouse” during the ambush, no Goodwin equivalent
Walton music for Berlin scenes
Walton music as bombers approach London, scene not scored by Goodwin
No music (using Walton track) over Andy looking at the church
No music (using Walton track) when Maggie is told about Colin
Goodwin music over Goering’s departure and end titles
Runtime reduced from 133 to 117 minutes. The most significant removals were the original opening scene (French airfield) and scenes with Maggie and Colin together (where the action always grinds to a halt), others followed the philosophy of @robulon for their edit "Castle of the Eagles" by removing excess "shoe leather" with tighter editing.
0:00:00 Added fanedit disclaimer and personal plate.
0:00:11 Replaced modern MGM logo with adapted United Artists (original distributor) plate and overlaid grain, added the sound of a Merlin engine from the now-truncated-and-silent former opening scene over the French airfield.
0:00:20 Open film with Dowding walking down the hallway, as he reads his letter in voiceover a short montage of aircraft escaping from the French airfield and the following attack silently plays, fading back to him just before he boards the lift.
0:01:36 Heavily cut the conversation between Dowding and the Under-Secretary, now just the final two lines, rest felt like unnecessary exposition.
0:06:27 Cut soldier in the line bending over to look at the staff car.
0:06:40 Cut first part of the scene of Milch and Kesselring walking indoors.
0:07:41 Cut first part of the conversation between the ambassadors, starts with Baron von Richter stating Goering’s desire to flatten London, again rest felt superfluous.
0:12:11 Cut Simon walking to the coat stand just after his landing near-accident.
0:16:29 Cut German officers gathering around the table after expressing bravado concerning the British radar system.
0:17:53 Cut Dowding’s “Trusting in God and praying for radar” remark, took a following shot of his colleague and inserted it reversed to cover the cut.
0:19:08 Cut scene of Colin and Maggie meeting at the Jackdaw Inn, fades from Canfield denying Lambert permission for a test flight to Park arriving in his personal Hurricane.
0:30:13 Cut Canfield’s repetition of “On the left”.
0:32:31 Cut shots of German bombers before the observer station, makes for a more logical cut.
0:32:48 Couple of shots from prior deleted section (one outside then one from inside a bomber) to replace a long shot, makes it more interesting
0:57:27 Cut Andy getting into Skipper’s car after the latter says “Alright boy, get in.”
1:05:29 Cut first scene of Maggie and Colin in bedroom together, Dowding’s comment about needing a miracle is followed by scene on the lost bomber.
1:07:23 Cut second scene of Maggie and Colin in bedroom together, now fades from the scene on the bomber to the crew being chewed out for accidentally bombing London.
1:10:10 Corrected translation (going by IMDb) of "Geduld. Geduld." from “Be patient.” to “Patience.”
1:10:13 Corrected translation (going by IMDb) of "Er kommt." from “We are coming.” to “He is coming.”
1:11:36 Cut Goering and Kesselring walking to the car.
1:21:11 Trimmed a few shots during the scene where Skipper leaves his cottage with Andy.
1:39:51 Cut short Maggie’s telephone conversation with Colin (before talk of her applying for a new posting) and the following scene of him departing in his car, fading to the “September 15th 1940” air battle.
1:44:09 Fade from black and white to colour over the shot of St Paul’s, stays as such for the duration of the “Battle in the Air” sequence.
1:48:39 Hard cut to back to black and white for the remainder of the film.
Have made a literal few additions, namely location title cards for the three British airbases. The reason is to clearly separate the groups of characters, e.g. making sure that the squadrons led by Robert Shaw and Michael Caine's characters are distinct in the audience's mind. These changes are:
0:10:08 "R.A.F. North Weald - Essex"
0:18:07 "R.A.F. Hawkinge - Kent"
0:33:26 "R.A.F. Duxford - Cambridgeshire"
Will be going another preview (thanks @robulon) so there might be a little more tinkering, but hopefully it will be ready for submission in a week or so.
