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Hi all, have been working on a few edits on and off and the latest one completed is an extensive recut of this year's Godzilla. There's been a lot of love and hate thrown on this particular movie for a while, overall I'd have to say it was not a good movie. It ran for far too long focusing on paper-thin clichéd characters: the all-American hero with obligatory wife and kid, the determined but conflicted general, the noble scientist, the not-crazy-after-all kook, etc etc. I love the way the monsters were shot, especially in the fight sequences, but they were way too brief to justify the running time. The teasing cutaways pretty much ruined the movie for me, like, either show it or don't build it up at all! Nothing short of an actual studio re-edit can salvage this for me, but for what its worth, I put together a faster paced cut which focuses on the core of the story-- much more emphasis on Dr Serizawa and the military team (relevant to the situation) than on Brody's family (all irrelevant in the big picture) and their attempts to stop the monsters. If you enjoyed the theatrical cut, I agree that I'm cutting out and losing the arguably "emotional" or "human" moments of the film (family, power plant, etc) but its only to get a better Monster movie, which is what I want and it is. Hope to release it this week.
Original runtime: 122 min
Edited runtime: ~78 min (44 min cut)
Rough cutlist:
As you see from the list, the edit minimizes Brody's / family's characters resulting in far more emphasis on the monsters themselves. I think it has good flow and is a version I personally prefer to the theatrical. I hope you will enjoy it too. Any thoughts?
Cheers guys,
Kris
Original runtime: 122 min
Edited runtime: ~78 min (44 min cut)
Rough cutlist:
1. Removed credit sequence and replaced with brief titles
2. Trimmed helicopter ride/ mine shaft sequences in the Phillipines with Seruzawa
3. Bryan Cranston is one of my favorite actors--Breaking Bad was awesomeness. Here, he just drags the story unfortunately--entire power plant/Janjira sequence cut. As an intelligent audience, I don't think we need this to piece together what happened to his family when he talks about it with Brody in later sequences/ in his ruined house. It'd be a different story if Cranston was the hero of the film, then it would be more important to retain this sequence, but he is a minor character in this story (like Godzilla himself ;p)
4. Mine sequence cuts to San Francisco 15 years later. Cut Ford tucking son in/ making out/ packing. Phone call during homecoming party leads to Japan.
5. Trimmed Japanese detention center scene
6. Trims to Ford and dad in quarantine zone / Janjira plant.
7. Cut Elle (his wife) and son watching news at home.
8. Cut Cranston being choppered away--he dies in the initial attack and is never seen again. Ford and Seruzawa alone are helicoptered to the destroyer.
9. Cut shots of Cranston in bodybag. The debriefing is left intact--I thought this sequence was great.
10. Cut Ford going to Hawaii --He is not a monster magnet like in the theatrical cut, and is NEVER in Hawaii.
11. Cut Brody in train and no kid rescue. Train attack rearranged-- everyone dies ;/
12. Trimmed Hawaii beach sequence to cut dog/family escaping the tsunami. Everyone presumably drowns ;/
13. Las Vegas --cut the Elvis "Devil in Disguise" suite. This scene was illogical. Why would a military squad break into a hotel suite? Was the President staying there?
14. Cut Seruzawa's Hiroshima watch scene. Too heavy handed. Nukes are bad.
15. Cut Brody calling his wife / scenes of her in hospital
16. Cut entire train sequence. This did Nothing for the plot-- they chopper the bomb into the city anyway. Worse, I'm not sure if they were going for horror movie tropes with the lone soldiers in the dark and ominous music etc, but it didn't work. If cutting the train sequence and losing a Jurassic Park-style shot of the Mutos in the dark means getting to the main attraction quicker, then cut. Removed references as to why this was an analog bomb
17. Cut shot of helicopter retrieving bomb from ruined train
18. Cut scene of Brody's wife dumping his son on a school bus in the middle of a disaster
19. Trimmed several shots of Brody's son in the bus to de-emphasize his presence
20. Cut Brody looking for his wife in camp
21. Trimmed planning sequence for halo jump by removing references to the train, etc
22. Shortened scenes of finding and evacuating the bomb and edited monster fight sequence to flow closer together uninterrupted
23. Cut Brody and son's reunion with wife--she dies in this cut after the building collapses during the final battle. No happy endings
2. Trimmed helicopter ride/ mine shaft sequences in the Phillipines with Seruzawa
3. Bryan Cranston is one of my favorite actors--Breaking Bad was awesomeness. Here, he just drags the story unfortunately--entire power plant/Janjira sequence cut. As an intelligent audience, I don't think we need this to piece together what happened to his family when he talks about it with Brody in later sequences/ in his ruined house. It'd be a different story if Cranston was the hero of the film, then it would be more important to retain this sequence, but he is a minor character in this story (like Godzilla himself ;p)
4. Mine sequence cuts to San Francisco 15 years later. Cut Ford tucking son in/ making out/ packing. Phone call during homecoming party leads to Japan.
5. Trimmed Japanese detention center scene
6. Trims to Ford and dad in quarantine zone / Janjira plant.
7. Cut Elle (his wife) and son watching news at home.
8. Cut Cranston being choppered away--he dies in the initial attack and is never seen again. Ford and Seruzawa alone are helicoptered to the destroyer.
9. Cut shots of Cranston in bodybag. The debriefing is left intact--I thought this sequence was great.
10. Cut Ford going to Hawaii --He is not a monster magnet like in the theatrical cut, and is NEVER in Hawaii.
11. Cut Brody in train and no kid rescue. Train attack rearranged-- everyone dies ;/
12. Trimmed Hawaii beach sequence to cut dog/family escaping the tsunami. Everyone presumably drowns ;/
13. Las Vegas --cut the Elvis "Devil in Disguise" suite. This scene was illogical. Why would a military squad break into a hotel suite? Was the President staying there?
14. Cut Seruzawa's Hiroshima watch scene. Too heavy handed. Nukes are bad.
15. Cut Brody calling his wife / scenes of her in hospital
16. Cut entire train sequence. This did Nothing for the plot-- they chopper the bomb into the city anyway. Worse, I'm not sure if they were going for horror movie tropes with the lone soldiers in the dark and ominous music etc, but it didn't work. If cutting the train sequence and losing a Jurassic Park-style shot of the Mutos in the dark means getting to the main attraction quicker, then cut. Removed references as to why this was an analog bomb
17. Cut shot of helicopter retrieving bomb from ruined train
18. Cut scene of Brody's wife dumping his son on a school bus in the middle of a disaster
19. Trimmed several shots of Brody's son in the bus to de-emphasize his presence
20. Cut Brody looking for his wife in camp
21. Trimmed planning sequence for halo jump by removing references to the train, etc
22. Shortened scenes of finding and evacuating the bomb and edited monster fight sequence to flow closer together uninterrupted
23. Cut Brody and son's reunion with wife--she dies in this cut after the building collapses during the final battle. No happy endings
As you see from the list, the edit minimizes Brody's / family's characters resulting in far more emphasis on the monsters themselves. I think it has good flow and is a version I personally prefer to the theatrical. I hope you will enjoy it too. Any thoughts?
Cheers guys,
Kris