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The Dark Knight Saga Recut - Part III (The Dark Knight Rises)

Editroid said:
Why remove Bruce at the end? I liked that he was actually still alive somewhere. :(
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Even as I was watching TDKR for the first time, I pictured how it should end. I was disapointed as it almost did but not quite. It should have ended on Alfred looking over at something, something we never see, roll credits. It's a callback to him wishing to see Bruce happy. Wether it means Bruce actually survived or not, would be left wide open. But having him 100% dead sounds good too, still better than pointlessly having him 100% alive in the final part of a trilogy.
 
The decision to end the third film in the way that I did stems back to IGN's rewind theatre for Trailer #3. They discussed the possibility that the shot of Batman overlooking the city may be in fact the last shot of the movie, and may not be Bruce in the suit. You can check out the video I'm referring to here, and the relevant discussion at 7:00.


That theory stayed with me, and I ultimately decided to go back and implement it when re-cutting the film. For those that don't mind spoiling the ending of the edit, here is the ending in full for reference.

 
I haven't watched these yet, but in reading the cut list i'm left with a feeling of hesitancy. These movies, for me, are more about studying and analyzing social structures and moral issues than they are action movies and I feel that some of the lines taken out diminish what I feel Nolan was actually making a movie about. The concepts drive the story that just happens to be clothed as Batman. While I agree with removing silly dialogue like the swat trooper during the Harvey Dent transport, omitting lines that are integral to the character or scene development leave me wondering why they were removed. Oddness of line delivery, facial expressions, or scene exposition/narration do not harm the scene nor are they insulting to the intelligence of the viewer. They solidify what you are seeing and help drive the concepts home. Still, it's nice to see a fan edit of what I consider one of the greatest trilogies in cinema.
 
njvc said:
Let me try and throw some water on this one. <snip>
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That dislike was by me, totally an accident. Sorry, stupid fat fingers.

funny-homer-simpson-fingers-too-fat-dialing-wand-tv-scene-pics-600x449.jpg
 
Interesting thoughts pigdotts, and perhaps this will ultimately be the public consensus about the recut part III. My hope was to help keep Bane's plan inline with The League of Shadows intentions, as revealed in Batman Begins. My reading of the third film was that the Occupy Wallstreet themes were awkwardly shoe-horned into the film in an unnatural way that ultimately did a disservice to the film as a whole by
a) confusing the narrative and making Bane's intentions unclear,
b) weighing down the third act of the film.

Also, I found the "people's court" scenes insulting to the very notion of what I think the 99% movement stands for. Lastly, I also think the movie was far too long, and by cutting these scenes, the running time is now roughly equivalent to Parts I and II. If you do end up watching it, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts and feedback.
 
NJVC, what is teh quote that is being said when you show batman in the last scene .... it is really muffled.
 
It's Liam Neeson saying, "Legend, Mr Wayne..."
 
IFDB review:

Quite simply, a perfect edit.

I used to think the Dark Knight Rises was a fantastic film.
I used to enjoy it - but now my enjoyment has been ruined.
Because Part III of njvc's Dark Knight Saga Recut is THAT GOOD, I don't think I can ever watch the original again. He has weilded his editing scissors to brilliant effect and cut the story down to it's core. And what a core story it is!

njvc has chopped a HUGE amount out of the film - and it's completely unnoticeable.
When you make such drastic changes to a film often the cracks show through - but here njvc has managed to make everything seem seamless. As a fellow faneditor I can appreciate the effort that went into this edit (although I have no idea how he got it so perfect - skills way, way above mine! :))

Audio
The audio work is amazing. It's really hard with such an epic score - but there are no noticeable audio cuts. Outstanding.

Video
As with the other two films, top notch

Narrative
This was a complex beast to slim down - there are a few rapid changes and very short scenes that may leave some audience members scratching their heads, but by and large everything is very clearly and logically laid out (more so than in the original).
njvc has continued to trim scenes - all sorts of bad or needless dialogue is gone. Nice!
The removal of all the guff about "take back your city" really strengthened the film considerably (and shortened the run-time). Likewise the changes to the annoying second-in-command, and Selina's roommate/friend/lover/thing (who added zip to the film - her absence affected nothing). And the police / army shooting at the kids and Blake to stop them crossing - that really muddied up the ending and it was a relief to have it removed.

But the ending. Oh the ending. It is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. So much so that I have the feeling that - because of all the other clues left earlier in the film - this was actually Nolan's original ending. It is organic to the film and executed brilliantly.

In summary, I cannot now watch the original - this edit is vastly superior.
I take my hat off to you, sir. Part 2 was a masterclass in trim editing - this was a masterclass in wholesale "ripping apart and putting back together" editing. Incredible work. Send it to Nolan - he'd probably make it an official release (the "Director's cut" :) )

10/10.
 
First off, thank you NJVC for not spewing venom at me for disagreeing with your cuts. Honestly they are challenging and inspiring to me as an aspiring faneditor. I'm definitely thinking of my own cut list and analyzing the necessity of certain scenes.

I remember watching TDKR in the theater and wishing the whole time that Blake would become the batman that rose to beat Bane. Though that isn't possible, I do love the way you edited the final scenes. I especially love how it appears that Blake was not simply discovering, but becoming the Dark Knight. While I was grinning ear to ear watching it on your vimeo clip, once it was over I immediately thought, "what about Alfred?" His closure is soo important to the emotional impact of the film, imho. I know not everything in life turns out how we would like it, but I do love the the cleverness and resolution of the original ending. The impact of batman's death is still real. The Batman does die, The legacy lives on, and Bruce rises to life. Anyway, I need to just watch your edits and stop talking now. Thanks NJVC
 
Review left on IFDB:

An excellent end to njvc's The Dark Knight Saga fanedit trilogy! I've been hesitant to rewatch this flick since the theaters, and while it's not as great as it was the first time, I wasn't disappointed. The ending is magnificent. The only thing I wish he'd kept is the "people's court" angle.

A/V Quality 10
Editing 10
Narrative & Enjoyment 9
 
Thanks for watching and reviewing Monsieur Neglify.
 
I'm sure it will be great. I have many fan-edits and am a huge fan. I appreciate all the hard work and time these editors put into this. I have thrown out original disks of my movies because these edited versions are so much better. I will be watching all the Batman Trilogy edits this weekend. Yes, it will be a batty weekend. Peace all !!!!!
 
Watched part I and most of II so far. It's everything I hoped for. Even after 15 years of fanedits (avid watcher), still surprised how professionally they can be done. I'm probably less critical than most, but very much looking forward to part III, since it's by far the weakest theatrical piece, IMO. Too long, too convoluted, too preachy without substance. Cut list looks fantastic, may dig in tonight.
 
Great cut, always love watching njvc's work. Technically flawless, although I did notice Bane's voice was higher in the mix than everything else, I'd assume that was on purpose so we could understand him.

The first half of the original movie is pretty rough, for example I find that whole first scene in the plane unnecessary. njvc left in that scene but did a fine job at improving the rest. All of the changes involving Selina are great. But the second half of this edit really takes off. Pacing was perfect, and I could not take my eyes off the screen. Also of note, he did a great job making the cop fight at the end less ridiculous.
 
Thanks for watching [MENTION=19553]releasedtruth[/MENTION] and [MENTION=20707]DeadOhioSky[/MENTION]. If you feel like leaving a review over at IFDB, that's always appreciated too :)
 
Review posted at ifdb:

It's tough to be critical of a superhero movie, but after Nolan raised the bar so high with The Dark Knight, it was almost inevitable that The Dark Knight Rises would fall short of expectations. I enjoyed the original movie, but it's tough not to shake my head at some of the choices that were made. Suffice it to say, I was looking forward to this edit.

Simply put, this is one of the best FanFixes I've ever seen. The A/V quality is perfect. I don't even want to think about the amount of work that was required to edit such a score-heavy movie. NJVC's cuts are seamless. Every cut to the narrative is well thought out as to not leave any plot holes. And the cuts themselves greatly improved the movie. The ending was absolutely perfect.

This easily replaces the original for me. Highly recommended.
 
Gotta give props to NJVC. At some point I was thinking, "Oh wait, what about this scene in the original?" and then was able to turn that off and just enjoy this appropriately slimmed down version. Keeping the focus on Selina Kyle as the love interest (not dividing us between her and Tate for some reason), dealing with the weird messaging about Occupy with cuts here and there, and ending the film as it should have all work great for the film.

What's too bad is that Nolan didn't leave NJVC enough footage to fix the huge narrative gaps (what actually changes Bruce from brooding to ass-kicker at the end?; why is he suddenly able to beat Bane?; why as the great detective did he not realize hitting him in the mouth would do the most damage?) or to make Batman's death properly ring out emotionally (he makes great use of what's available).

NJVC: I heard there are deleted scenes that flesh out more of the politics so it doesn't come off so right-wing. Find anything useful on that front since you made this cut?

I would never recommend TDKR to anyone, but I might recommend this version.
 
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