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Trailer #1
Trailer #2
Intro:
From the first time I saw The Postman, I liked it very much. I know it received a lot of negative reviews when it was released, but I still liked it.
From time to time I will sit down and watch this movie and loving it every time.
The post-apocalyptic theme is one of my favorite themes, and I really like movies that tell a hopefull underdog message.
That being said, ofcourse there were a few things that I always though were a bit off and goofy perhaps, especially the ending, the St. Rose scene if you will.
I like the message that the movie tries to tell, but the scene always felt "off" to me.
The scene is supposed to be about 20 years later, but it's dated badly. I know, the movie came out in 1997, so ofcourse it would be dated.
But there's more, the overall abundance of technology displayed in the scene. We are supposed to believe that civilization was
able to rebuild in 20 years, from only small pockets of survivors with almost no tech left, to a full world, with yachts, camera's, modern tech, etc, with no visual change to how civilization looked before the world was destroyed.
It never really worked for me, if they would just have changed the clothing, filmed in a different setting, reduced the "tech", that could have worked.
And I never liked some of the reluctance of the Postman character throughout the movie. The movie has been written like that, but that's what we're here for.
I recently discovered BionicBobs excellent fanedit of The Postman and was really excited for it, especially when I read he had done away with the entire first part of the movie.
And the fact that I share most of his ideas about what the movie is trying to tell.
I watched it and I loved it. I actually always liked the first part of the movie because it shows the Postman's relationship with Bethlehem and sets it up for the fight at the end. But it does bog the story and pacing down. Removing it keeps the message focused.
Cutting it away debloated the movie in a big way. It streamlined the storytelling and I truly liked the idea of making the Postman a mysterious character.
Thank you BionicBob for your excellent edit and great ideas. All credits to you.
My edit will share a lot of similarities with BionicBob's edit, but this is by no means an exact copy of his.. I have some ideas of my own and I'll try to make the best of it.
Again, thank you very much for your fantastic ideas and your great edit BionicBob, it was a great inspiration.
Also thank you ArtisDead for reviewing my edit and helping me make this thread better and for the poster.
Cutlist/changes:
- remade the intro with introductional texts. Some exposition text to tell the backstory.
- removed almost the entire first part of the movie, as per BionicBob's idea. It creates a mystery around the Postman and it focuses the story.
- I kept a portion to introduce General Bethlehem and his ruthlessness. I removed the postman from all footage before the shelter in the storm. However, it
was not completely possible. But it might work because in the last fight scene, they seem to know eachother.
- made some small cuts so that the Postman doens't take the uniform from the skeleton, now it seems he's just taking shelter. Also made a small cut so the
cobwebs on the postman hat are a bit less obvious, they were the most obvious while moving the letters in front of the hat.
- removed Costner's caveman impression while trying to light the Zippo. Costner's grunting is very much in the background now.
- removed the part where the Postman looses his hat while trying to get into Pineview, I thought it was silly and very obvious on purpose.
- made some small cuts in Pineview to remove the notion he might not be what he says he is.
- removed the part where he flees and made it so that it seems like he's searching for the postoffice.
- I wanted to keep the Sheriff Briscoe/Postman confrontation, there's a notion of the Postman lying and sneeking away in the scene. I tried removing that
notion and keeping the scene, because I think it makes Sheriff Briscoe's "turnaround" and ultimate death more impactful.
- I made a small change to the scene where Bethlehem notices Abby, I think the "piece of ass" line doesn't fit the character.
- I added the line "a few days later" to the introduction of the town of Benning, later on in the movie Abby tells what Bethlehem did to her every night,
indicating she was in captivity for a few days. But somehow that never came across in the movie, this is my way of trying to correct that sense of time.
- some small cuts in Benning, much like Bob's version.
- I removed Bethlehem kicking a barrel when Abby shoots him. Also Bob's idea
- the Postman shoots two guards, I removed an extra shot of the second guard emptying a clip only a few meters away and not riddling him with bullets, and
the Postman missing a lot of shots. The scene feels more realistic and the Postman now seems to be a better gunman.
- I removed Abby butchering a Holnist, now you only see her smack him once on the head. Abby is a bit weird, but not psycho.
- I removed the Holnists still looking for them in the snow and inserted stock footage to replace the shot. It seemed as if the snow had fallen instantly while
Holnists were still on their trail. Now it seems as if they covered some distance and some time has passed.
- Abby still discoveres something on the postman's shoulder, which makes her somewhat hostile, except it's not yet revealed to the viewer.
- I removed the scene in which Abby tells the postman Michael had died and confronts him with being a Holnist.
- removed the line "I'm nobody Abby" also the line "In direct contact, I can't believe this".
- removed the traitor Luke subplot, also the Postman doesn't think he looks familiar anymore.
- removed the line "If I told you the real reason how I became a postman..." to Abby.
- a few cuts here and there in the postman leaving and taking Abby with him.
- made some cuts in the scene where Ford delivered the letter to General Bethlehem, even though the letter reads that there is no Postman, Bethlehem doesn't
believe it, I hope the viewer doesn't also and regards the Postman "giving up" as a way of protecting the people. I also really liked the fact that the Postmen
movement has expanded even beyond Ford's knowledge.
- removed Luke from these scenes as much as possible.
- removed the line "shall we fire?", I thought this line and Bethlehem's reaction made Ford's fate too hopefull. I kept the biggest part of this scene because I
liked the fact that Bethlehem is obsessed with finding the postman.
- removed Tom Petty's line "I ride it sometimes...", it fits the character, but I felt it distracted from trying to get across why the Postman is going to ride that
cablecart.
- removed the copymachine salesman line, the Postman couldn't have known that.
- created and inserted a small scene as Bethlehem remembers Shakespeare. It shows the audience that they have a history together and that the Postman was
at one point captured by the Holnists. I hope it doesn't raise more questions than it answers.
- removed Bethlehems death, as BionicBob said in his cutlist, it defeats the new message of hope.
- removed the original ending and created a new one with expositional texts. A actual scene would have been better, but it simply doesn't excist. I could have
removed the ending, but I wanted the leave the hopeful message in there.
- added credits in the credits for the used stock footage.
Some arts
Clips
In this clip General Bethlehem remembers the Postman
This clip tells the audience that Bethlehem goes great lenghts to enforce his believes. It's heavely edited
This is the edited scene of Ford delivering the letter of surrender.
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