Wow, this seems to be one of the popular edits I've submitted. Thanks for the thoughtful and positive reviews people
. I'll try and respond to a few points...
ironman23 said:
a few areas that left too much teal left in say the skin tones
I thought perhaps I had removed to much teal. I didn't want to completely reverse the "modern" look of this film, just fix it in places where the teal was out of control.
ironman23 said:
some banding but without distraction
For some reason the 16:9 IMAX footage on the blu-ray suffers from quite a bit of banding, so what you are seeing is maybe down to that. The regular 2.35:1 footage doesn't seem to have this banding. I wondered if I should pre-warn people of this, but thought nah, it is what it is.
dominiccobb said:
the resequenced reveal of the Enterprise emerging from the water to save Spock is sort of ruined, pacing-wise, in comparison to the original.
How so?
dominiccobb said:
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.
To be honest, now you mention it, I don't entirely understand what Kirk means by that in either cut? I probably should have tried removing it.
dominiccobb said:
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.
I'm not sure which part of the bar scene you are referring to?
dominiccobb said:
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.
Great. That's one my favourite edits in the project. I think it turns what was just a joke, into a meaningful moment for them both.
dominiccobb said:
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. 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.
True. It does have some really great dialogue and emotional stuff for Spock (where he bears his soul), that I hated cutting. But to have Uhura bring up this argument just as they begin a dangerous mission behind enemy lines was too insane to tolerate. I wish that scene had happened just after Niburu, where it would have worked beautifully.
dominiccobb said:
Uhura kissing Spock after they get back on the Enterprise just seems contextless and random.
I know and I knew some people wouldn't like that scene being left in... but I decided I didn't care
. It's just a really nice moment and brings a bit of warmth and humanity into the film that I would have missed. Again the point for that scene should have been post Niburu IMO. Imagine if Uhura had come running into the transporter and kissed Spock in the same way, then maybe hugged him and got scorched off of his volcano-suit, ending the scene on a comedy note.
dominiccobb said:
the relequencing of Bones's super-blood discovery... 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.
I amazed myself with how well that worked. It's a lesson I'll take forward. Sometimes you don't need to remove anything, or significantly change much, just playing things in a different order can radically improve a sequence.
dominiccobb said:
Kirk's shirt almost green in the first scene
The Captain's log scene? It is a bit on the green side perhaps. I think that's the original grade IIRC and I left it as is. I should have done something to improve it.
jax20 said:
I really recommend it as the definitive version of the film (forget the other one)
Thanks. I usually intended my fanedits to be nothing more than fun alternate versions. But with this project, I fully intended it to be a permanent replacement for me. This is my first ever 1080p fanedit for this reason.
digmodification said:
TM2YC's visual editing is seamless. Added components such as smoke overlays, new title sequences, removal of ships, etc. are completely natural looking as if they always occurred in the film. This is a textbook example. The color grade is fantastic. I find that I am noticing more in this film because of the more accurate coloring. There may be a bit too much yellow for my eyes, but this is far superior to the official release.
That's all really good to hear.
digmodification said:
during the ending of Pike's chastising of Kirk... The audio switch used to end the scene feels a bit off due to the same cue being heard in the following scene.
Yeah on reflection, I should have tried harder to find an alternate cue for that moment. It works beautifully in isolation but is repetitive when so close to the next scene.
digmodification said:
One area that doesn't seem to fit the narrative is Pike's line "It's going to be ok son" around the 20 minute mark. Since there is no demotion, this line doesn't feel right or needed.
I did experiment with removing that line (and it went seamlessly) but I decided it was a badly needed line to establish the father-son type relationship, which informs Kirk's devastion and initial fury at Pike's death in the next scene. It really cements how much Pike's approval/disapproval means to Kirk. I could have just relied on people having watched ST09 to be familiar with that relationship dynamic but I don't like to do that when possible. Fanedits should have all the information needed to understand them, just like real films.
digmodification said:
Certain dialogue such as Spock's line about encurring the rage of Uhura doesn't quite make sense without the lovers quarrel scene that was excised.
I didn't think so. Uhura is a strong willed and formidable character (which is why I wanted to remove all the material of her acting like an emotional train wreck
) and this is a piece of true and amusing advice from Spock to Kirk.
digmodification said:
I had hoped that Kirk's death could have received a more believable resolution. This is no fault of TM2YC as the source material does not allow for such at the moment.
It's relatively easy to re-edit the last act to leave Kirk dead (I've tried it before) because the ceremony can be seamlessly re-tooled into a funeral and Kirk's voiceover can reused as a ghostly voice from beyond the grave going into the end titles (Just like Nomoy does in Wrath of Khan). Hopefully somebody else will do another fanedit with that type of ending.