Ok, here is my review of
T2 HANDS OF FATE.
Now as a way of setting this up I must mention that I know of ThrowgnCpr, he's a talented graphic artist, a sort of visual effects guru and very good with the birds.
You should also know that I don't hold any hatred or animosity towards him.
Sometimes I have been accused of being unduly harsh and insensitive.
But that is not my intention, I just call it like I see it.
And in this medium, its pretty hard to hide, a bad edit is a bad edit and a good edit is a good edit.
it's there, you can see it.
So ThrowgnCpr, if you are ready for this read on...
Terminator 2: Hands of Fate
This one came out of nowhere for me. ThrowgnCpr reminded me of posting about it but I plum forgot.
But it was instantly exciting. Although I haven't seen it, ThrowgnCpr's work on
BATMAN CONSECUTION is highly talked about and he's the go-to guy when it comes to visual effects questions.
It had been a while since I last checked out one of ThrowgnCpr's efforts.
X-Files - Exordium being the last one.
I skipped
BECAUSE YOU WERE HOME because i don't watch horror films.
So I wondered to myself, has ThrowgnCpr seasoned as a faneditor and has he brought his keen eye and artistic aesthetics to make
T2: HANDS OF FATE a truly superb alternate T2 experience?
The answer is no. A resounding no.
LOVE CONQUERS ALL
Watching this fanedit was not unlike watching one the earliest fanedits ever.
It was made in 1985 and it's called
LOVE CONQUERS ALL: THE SHEINBERG VERSION of what we know as Terry Gilliam's
BRAZIL.
Don't know of the battle or heard of the cut? here are the stats:
In the red corner we had Terry Gilliam, a relatively inexperienced filmmaker fresh off the success of
TIME BANDITS.
In the blue corner there was Sid Sheinberg, president of MCA-Universal and a man who had dealings with some of the most influential and powerful people in Hollywood.
And at the centre of it all was the film
BRAZIL. A bleak story about the future in which a man can only escape the inhumanity around him by escaping into a fantasy world, the film came complete with an 'unhappy' ending. Well, if Gilliam had his way at least.
But Sheinberg had other ideas. He wanted to shorten the film, get rid of the bummer ending and emphasize the love story.
Gilliam wouldn't re-cut.
Sheinberg wouldn't release Gilliam's version.
So as head of the studio, Sheinberg got an editor and made his version of
BRAZIL: LOVE CONQUERS ALL.
Much as how you can't help staring at a car wreck, there's a sick fascination with how Sheinberg was able to change
BRAZIL from one of the greatest films of all time to a bland, unmemorable love story without any apparent sense of humor.
Which brings us back to
T2 HANDS OF FATE.
Now I'm sure ThrowgnCpr had the best of intentions as I'm sure Sid Sheinberg thought he was doing good.
But ultimately, it's what's on the TV that counts.
And what I saw in this fanedit is that ThrowgnCpr had forgotten someone very important: the Audience.
THE CONS
The world of fanediting is vast. In it you are encouraged to do versions of films as you see fit.
You are in control, cut it like you want, bro!.
The complications arise when you want to share this with the world.
Because pleasing yourself and pleasing an audience requires 2 different mindsets.
James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd, William Wisher are no dummies.
They didn't accidentally let comedy slip into their film.
They know the comedy is there for a reason.
For a true roller-coaster ride audiences need variety.
Pull and push, up and down, laugh and cry, rise and fall and yes, in and out.
Nothing illustrates this better than:
The
"Bad to the Bone" scene.
ThrowgnCpr's main reason for this fanedit. He writes
"We are supposed to fear the Terminator because of our previous experience with him. Though with this scene, suddenly he is cool!! and this totally spoils the surprise and shock of his new role."
Unfortunately that is the point of the scene. Changing the tone of the scene by expertly removing the rock track and even hiring an actor to ADR the scene does not change the fact that it is meant to be funny.
It adds nothing new to the T-800 as a bad-ass since he's just wiped out a club full of bikers.
Grabbing the shades from the bartender adds nothing in comparison and in ThrowgnCpr's version, brings the film to a grinding halt.
Much better would have been to cut from
- Biker on the ground tossing the keys "Take it!"
- Terminator snatches the keys off the air.
- The cop car in another part of town as the T1000 arrives.
THE TECH
There are other editing choices that I disagree with but that have already been covered in other posts.
But it is mainly technically were this fanedit suffers the most.
The DVD-9 video I downloaded was pretty much un-watchable.
This takes me back to the days of vhs copies of vhs copies.
As an experiment go to any portion of this fanedit. Say like the truck chase. Now step through it frame by frame.
Every frame should be crisp and clear. Like a photo.
Instead what I see is stuff like this from the Bar fight.
I have my suspicions as to what went wrong but these technical explanations are beyond the scope of this review.
Also not helping is the dvd source for this fanedit.
Check out the black edges on the right of the frame. Also you can see the ghosting on the left and right created by EE.
Much better source would have been using the EXTREME DVD were the image goes right to end of the frame and there is no EE.
THE PROS
Is there any good in this fanedit? Yes. ThrowgnCpr has a real passion for the subject and a flair for entertainment.
These are evident on the DVD design and the supplements.
I imagine many late nights putting this show together.
I find that kind of dedication admirable. I always want people like this to succeed with their projects,
for the results of their up-late-at-night-after-work machinations to become interesting, wonderful fanedits.
It's too bad this one falls way short of the mark.
On my Street-wise rating system I give this fanedit
A RED LIGHT:
DON'T CROSS.
Just to be clear, this review is of the DVD-9. Of which the main issues were technical.
If these were fixed were it became a non-issue, the fanedit itself would rate:
AN AMBER LIGHT: PROCEED WITH CAUTION.
If you're interested in
BRAZIL: LOVE CONQUERS ALL. THE SHEINBERG VERSION check out this
link.
