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Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze - Detarnished!

slark

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Film release date May 1975
Original runtime 100 minutes
Fanedit release date August 2011
New runtime 83 minutes
Amount of time cut/added 25 min cut

INTENTION:
Hollywood lore says that Warner execs were fearful that a serious depiction of a pulp hero would not play to audiences in the mid-‘70s, and that they insisted the film be given a “camp” approach, akin to the 1960s TV series “Batman”. Rumor has it that a “straight” cut of the film does exist, somewhere in Warner’s vault. The idea of this edit was to try to extricate as much of the cringe-inducing “camp” as possible from this film – in effect, imagining what that “straight” cut might have been like.

BRIEF SYNOPSIS
When my first fanedit of this film – titled “Doc SaLvageD, The Fan-edit of Bronze!” – was released four years ago, a lot of fans felt I hadn’t gone far enough. They were right.

This new version is not content to simply change a handful of music cues and remove a few minutes of the most egregious moments in this legendary dud. This version represents a substantial re-edit aimed at paring ALL of the “cringeworthiness” from the movie, and involved techniques such as traveling mattes, overlays of new elements, hand-redrawn frames, re-sequencing, foley soundtrack reconstruction, beginning-to-end color correction, the creation of a new “newsreel” introductory sequence, and the removal of nearly one-quarter of the running time!

This more-radical revision has been three years in the making, off-and-on, with much of that time spent brainstorming with my “advisory team” on the fanedit.org forums. Although no amount of effort was ever going to make this a “great” film, I believe the result is worth the time spent. If you’re a fan of Doc Savage or pulp heroes or filmmaker George Pal, you’re probably going to want to check out this fanedit.

EDITING DETAILS & CUTLIST:
Needless to say, a fanedit that takes THREE YEARS to complete is going to have a lot of “Edit Details” – it seems less-than-practical to imagine a comprehensive list here. Suffice it to say that this is, as my friend and key advisor on this project, Imp, put it: “a head-to-toe re-edit”. For the record, the fanedit includes a running “text commentary” – on the second subtitle track – that goes into much of the “Edit Details”

CUTLIST:
Likewise, the “cut-list” is rather extensive, and is not easily described in terms of scenes/lines cut. (We’d be here into next week.) Perhaps the best way to get a feel for the “cut-list” is to view the “Fragments from the Faneditor’s Floor” section of the disc, a ½-hour of UNEDITED clips from the original film, provided for comparison. The “Fragments” section is liberally peppered with wiseass captions that are pretty funny. (But then again, of course I think so – I wrote them.)

SPECIAL THANKS
I would like to thank my “advisors” on the fanedit.org forums: Gantz101, Monroville, Jorge, Spence, ImperialFighter, JMB, Blackhawk, Bleujayone, MonkandHam, Dwight Fry, Ray Zell, Ripplin, Hebrides, and imp_ardnfi. And I would like to thank all the past and present administrators of fanedit.org for providing a site that inspires and facilitates all this.

There is a much more extensive list of thanks in the crawl that follows the movie, but I would like to single out Mr. Ron Ely – to whom I have dedicated this fanedit – for a wonderful performance that made all the time spent on this project bearable!

Technical Info
NTSC single-layer DVD

Movie:
Video: 6000 kbps (variable), Anamorphic
Audio: 384 kbps, Mono

Trailers, Featurette:
Video: 6000 kbps (constant)
Audio: 384 kbps, Mono

“Fragments from the Faneditor’s Floor”:
Video: 1150 kbps (constant), low-resolution “Half-D1” format
Audio: 128 kbps, Mono

This video for this edit was created via AviSynth scripts, using VirtualDubMod and AvsPMod as tools. Many thanks to the developers of these tools, and all of the many filters that were also employed.

Release information
Single Layer DVD
Special Features
Full Subtitles
Faneditor's (Text) Commentary
"Fragments from the Faneditor's Floor" Cut Footage Section (featuring special "wiseass" captions)
Reconstructed Featurette
2 Trailers
DVD_ROM folder including unfilmed sequel script
 

TV's Frink

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I had to lock the other thread so I can win the view/comment contest ;)
 

Ripplin

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Huh?

Anyway, just for fun:

doc_by_ripplin-d46rqno.png
 

slark

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I must confess to feeling a bit like a man who was just taking his daily jog in the park when someone came up alongside him with a stopwatch...
 

TMBTM

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Congrats on releasing this one.
 

imp_ardnfi

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TV's Frink said:
I had to lock the other thread so I can win the view/comment contest ;)

LOL! Rank hath it's privileges ... :hail:
So, we're locked in at the fourth most viewed and the third most replied Fanedits IN-THE-WORKS thread during it's development. Not too shabby. :thumb:
 

imp_ardnfi

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Congrats slark! Job well done!!

And speaking of raising the bar for fan-edits ... there are 2 threads for slark's "version 2 fan-edit" of this movie. Be sure to check out both the initial thread Doc SaLvageD, v2.0: Need Feedback on Clip!
http://www.fanedit.org/forums/showthread.php?1438-Doc-SaLvageD-v2.0-Need-Feedback-on-Clip!
and the main development thread Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze - DeTarnished!
http://www.fanedit.org/forums/showthread.php?3159-Doc-Savage-The-Man-of-Bronze-DeTarnished!
for technical ideas and practical techniques for implementing such an amazing rework of a Hollywood film.
 

Gantz101

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Me, an advisor? Even with the quotation mark that doesn't sound right! :p As I recall, all I did was get excited over the fan edit! Mighty glad to see it is now completed and I can't wait to finally watch it (although I do have to wait a few days). Good job, slark!

- Gantz101 (some forum lurker)
 

slark

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Gantz101 said:
Me, an advisor? Even with the quotation mark that doesn't sound right! :p As I recall, all I did was get excited over the fan edit! Mighty glad to see it is now completed and I can't wait to finally watch it (although I do have to wait a few days). Good job, slark!

- Gantz101 (some forum lurker)

I did review the forum thread(s) and separated out those who offered some suggestions and/or inspiration from those who merely peeked in to see what was going on. That said, there is a value in simple encouragement that is deserving of thanks as well! :)
 

bionicbob

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A review of

DOC SAVAGE, THE MAN OF BRONZE: DETARNISHED

WARNING: This review will most likely contain SPOILERS!

In the Wonder Years of my 1970's Childhood, I had many heroes that inspired my imagination with epic and fantastic adventures.... Superman, Tarzan, The Six Million Dollar Man, Flash Gordon, The Man from Atlantis, Fantastic Four, Johnny Quest and many more...
but at the top of the heap, was the father of all superheroes that followed.... DOC SAVAGE!!!

I think I was eight or nine when I saw the original movie for the first time, and being a wide eyed kid who had never heard of Doc and his Fabulous Five before, I remember greatly enjoying the movie but even then noting it was pretty cheesy and odd. But it did make me curious, and it prompted me to pick up the Bantam Book "The Man of Bronze" with the extraordinary cover art by James Bama, and within a couple of chapters I was hooked! In the next year or so, I read every Doc Savage adventure I could get my hands on, and I have been a life long fan ever since.

Since those early years, I have watched the original movie on several occasions. Often fast forwarding through the many cringe worthy and cheesier moments, all the while enjoying the small nuggets of "true Doc moments". At the heart of the is bizzare and off beat movie, I always believed there was "good", not great, but good Doc Savage adventure.

And now, here it is!!!

SLARK has done a masterful job with this edit. While I enjoyed his version one edit (Doc Savage: SALVAGED) a few years back, this newest edition is superior on every level. This is such an obvious work of love and passion, and it shows in every frame. Slark and his fellow editors must be congratulated on this fantastic and brilliant edit!

While this newest version still has many light and cheesy moments, it is far closer now to the source material than ever before. Not once did I cringe or fast forward. When Doc utters his Oath in the hangar, I actually found myself smiling, not wincing. The opening News Reel was an inspired idea for introducing the audience to Doc and his men! Kudos to the voice over person, he did an great job capturing the tone of the old news announcers. The visual work/editting is awesome! Many times I did not realize something had been removed or altered until I watched your Bonus Features. The reworking of the final fight between Doc and Seas was smartly cut and restructured.

More than anything, this edit really improves Ron Ely portrayal of Doc Savage, and what perfect casting he was for this role.

There are tons of tiny edits and improvements throughout this edit, with the vast majority of them being completely unnoticeable. The use of Fade to Black Transistions, in many ways, made the edit now kind of feel like a Movie of Week from 1970s network television, and I mean that comparison in the best way possible. The low budget, obvious Californian landscapes and Universal Backlot scenes, completely transported me back to my childhood and my favorite tv adventure shows.

This was a highly enjoyable, fun and entertaining edit, and a great way to start my Saturday morning off. The bonus features are great. Slark's subtitle comments had me smiling and laughing. The entire dvd package is simple, smart and effective.

I highly recommend this edit! Slark has truly found the Gem in the Rubble!

Well Done!

And Thank You for returning one of my childhood heroes to me!:)
 

Ripplin

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bionicbob said:
WARNING: This review will most likely contain SPOILERS!
Oh, I better not read it right now, then. I've only watched it around half a dozen times so far. Haha. ;)
 

slark

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I was wondering how long it was going to take for my first review to show up...

It was worth the wait. Thanks, bionicbob. I am humbled by your kind words.

bionicbob said:
There are tons of tiny edits and improvements throughout this edit, with the vast majority of them being completely unnoticeable. The use of Fade to Black Transistions, in many ways, made the edit now kind of feel like a Movie of Week from 1970s network television, and I mean that comparison in the best way possible. The low budget, obvious Californian landscapes and Universal Backlot scenes, completely transported me back to my childhood and my favorite tv adventure shows.

Wow – what an insight!

“…like a Movie of Week from 1970s network television…”

Yes, that’s exactly right – it’s like a really good “Movie of the Week”!

That’s such an apt analysis, I almost feel like tacking this on at the beginning of my edit(!):

 

slark

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I've burned a whole bunch of discs and printed a whole bunch of covers for shipping out on Monday. Here's an idea of what they look like:



Among the recipients will be Ron Ely, Pamela Hensley, and Michael Berryman!
 

bionicbob

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^COOL!:)

Princess Ardala! Sometimes I really miss the 70s! :-D
 

hebrides

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slark said:
I've burned a whole bunch of discs and printed a whole bunch of covers for shipping out on Monday. Here's an idea of what they look like:

Among the recipients will be Ron Ely, Pamela Hensley, and Michael Berryman!

Awesome! And I have to agree with Bob's insight about movie of the week; that's a perfect characterization. I think it's reinforced for me by just having seen part of the 1975 Count of Monte Cristo with Richard Chamberlain; though it filmed at Cinecitta in Rome, there are some definite parallels to the overall look.

It also reminded me at times of Fantasy Island, which makes sense, since I think that too filmed on the back lot in Burbank. Don't think I would have made the connection if not for the review. Come to think of it, Doc's original answering machine is also a little similar to Jim Rockford's on The Rockford Files, though Doc's is of course much cooler looking ;-)
 

slark

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Guess what, guys?

There's a TRAILER!


There'll probably be two or three more, featuring: the Seas/Borden conversation; the fight aboard the Seven Seas; and the Doc/Seas fight.
 

hebrides

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Great trailer, and it really brings home just what a difference you've made :)
 
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