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The Ugly West

boon23

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Fanedit Name: The Ugly West

Fanedit synopsis :
The Ugly West is a fanedit project by TMBTM and CBB. Both faneditors tackle
one legendary Sergio Leone western to present them in much shorter,
modernized and very different to the original versions.

Original film name: Once Upon A Time In The West
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

New film names : Harmonica
Two Glorious Bastards

Film studio names : Paramount (OATITW), MGM (GBU)

Edit crew names : The Man Behind The Mask
CBB

Date Original Films Were Released : 1968 (OATITW), 1966 (GBU)

Date Edit Was Released : January 2011

Original Runtimes : 165 minutes (OATITW), 179 minutes (GBU)

New Runtimes : 71 minutes (Harmonica), 86 minutes (Two Glorious Bastards)

Amount of time Cut/Added : in both cases more than half the movie was removed

Fanedit details:
Intention : Tmbtm and CBB wanted to do a project together and decided to
take the most famous Spaghetti westerns of all time, not to make them
better, but to present them in much shorter, modernized versions and give
them the true fanedit treatment of turning them upside down. What started as
a fun idea, ended up in 2 drastically altered versions, both serious, yet
highly entertaining for both fans of the originals and western fans in
general.

Trailer:

Editing Details:
HARMONICA:
"Harmonica" is a 1h11 version of Once Upon a Time in the West.
Now when TMBTM started to work on this edit, he planned to make it fun, but
in the end it turned as a serious version.
The first version of the fanedit he made still included the character of
Cheyenne, played by Jason Robards and he added an Iggy Pop song as his main
music theme, but in the end it was the only "fun" thing about the edit and
it was a bit jarring. So he decided to completely removed his character
(adding one more common thing between CBB's edit and his).
Removing Cheyenne was not easy at all, and it turned a "quick made" edit
into something way more difficult. It turned what was just a shorter version
into something way more different.
Forcing the relations of the characters into a new direction through the
removal of a key character was a super difficult task. Cheyenne had no real
purpose in TMBTM's shorter workprint and that's why in the end, he had to be
removed entirely.
The fanedit also has various new music tracks, replacing some of the famous
Morricone score and giving these scenes an entirely new atmosphere.


TWO GLORIOUS BASTARDS:
It all started with the German title of the original THE GOOD, THE BAD AND
THE UGLY, which is 2 GLORREICHE HALUNKEN (translation: Two Glorious
Bastards). Now why the German distributors decided for such an odd title
change is unknown, but it inspired CBB to drop THE BAD from his edit and to
make things more fun, he also decided to try to remove every bit of the
famous and awesome Morricone soundtrack and replace it with Johnny Cash.
While the removal of THE BAD was not that hard, even though it required to
drop some of the most famous scenes in Western history (e.G.the cemetery
duel), replacing the score was a close to impossible task, because the music
is deeply woven into the original sound and cannot be just separated.
Using various complicated techniques and spending months on the audio
recreation, CBB managed to give the fanedit an entirely new atmosphere, not
better than the original, but highly entertaining and very different from
the original.
Each Johnny Cash song was carefully chosen to fit to both the atmosphere and
the contents of the scene, in which it was used. Every song was filtered to
better represent the 1960s audio quality of the original sound.
In the end almost 50% of the new audio is a replacement of the original
audio, using bits and pieces from the original, some other movies and sound
effect collections.
Click this bar to view the original image of 800x993px.


Cuts removed/added/extended :
Harmonica:
- Cheyenne was removed from the movie.
- Some scenes are reorganized, and/or merged.
Example: the scene where Claudia Cardinale is searching for something in the
house is two scenes from the original movie merged into one.
- New musics. But All from Morricone (or musicians playing covers of
Morricones music).


Two Glorious Bastards:
- Angel Eyes (The Bad) was completely removed from the movie.
- Tuco's brother was removed, because the score could not be removed from
his scenes.
- The bridge scene is heavily shortened.
- Tuco and Blondie are not caught by the Blues and imprisoned.
- Some of the scenes from the extended edition were removed, because they
were boring.

Tech Info:
Hardware and software information :
Harmonica
Software: Premiere Pro CS3, Audacity and others
Two Glorious Bastards
Software: Vegas 8 Pro, Adobe Audition, Audacity and others

Release details :
NTSC DL DVD

extras:
teaser, trailer, My Name Is Blueyoda special
4 trailers for Tmbtm's edits
1 special feature for Harmonica (King Of The Dogs)
4 trailers for CBB's edits
4 previews for CBB's edits
1 special feature for 2 Glorious Bastards (Including Johnny Cash)
1 subtitle extra (sing along with Johnny)
animated menus

Time needed for the edition:
several months
Persons involved: TMBTM, CBB and Blueyoda

3D_uglyWest_by_tmbtm.jpg
 

STANKPAC

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^^Yeah, definitely a fantastic cover art! :)
 

Brumous

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Yes, especially the lettering. Very professional.
 

Rogue-theX

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Yep, that cover is fantastic! Cant wait to check this out :)
 

Hubunkey

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Cover art is AWESOME!!!!!!! I am sure the movie will easily match the cover
 

Gatos

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I don't think this is going to be anything special! :p
 

Gatos

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In all seriousness, this is a great idea. I'm really looking forward to watching.
 

bloodnosethepirate

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okay, I've just finished watching. first, Harmonica. very enjoyable. no noticeable cuts and the new music is freaking epic. i like the new opening and understand cutting out cheyenne. i liked the character but leaving him in with the music would have thrown me off while watching the movie. no real complaints. Next, Two Glorious Bastards. the cutting out of Lee Van Cleef aka Angeleyes aka "the bad" works remarkably well. i would actually like to see a cut of that without the cash music. now my feelings on the johnny cash music addition are mixed. at certain points it works really well but at others it feels awkward. there are short scenes with snippets of music while there are long scenes with silence. but overall i really enjoyed the experience. (i hope youre not offended, i saw the special feature and how much work it took.)
 

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When I first read about this project I was filled with both excitement and intrepidation.
Not only are these two movies iconic legendary Westerns,
they are also personal favorites which I have viewed dozens of times over the years.

Thus, I was very curious what these two master fan editors could accomplish
and what my reaction would be to two movies I pretty much consider "perfect".

So enough of my rambling, lets get to the heart of it.
WARNING! There may be SPOILERS in my review.

First off, the DVD Menu design is fantastic. Perfect in tone for these two Spagetti Westerns.
It is on par with any professionally produced dvd I have ever seen.
Well done.

The Bonus Features were all very nice. A mix of trailers, behind the scenes and About This Edit info.
The Blue Yoda feature was really cool, clearly demostrating the power of music in movies.
All in all, very enjoyable.

On to the main features....

HARMONICA:

The editting removal of Jason Robards is sheer brilliance. TMBM has cleanly excised the Cheyanne character from the movie, and the narrative does not seem to suffer too much from it. This an example of very talented and skilled editting. TMBM should be proud of this feat.

The reorganizing of the opening scenes works pretty well. Though having the McBain boy come running out after Frank and his men emerge seemed odd to me. Would he have not heard all the gunfire and peeked out the door earlier?

The newly restructured Train Station shoot out works well, though cutting immediately from the gunfight to gorgous Claudia Cardinale at another Train Station had me confused for a brief second. Was she at the same station? Did she see the gunfight? I almost thought an establishing shot would have been good there.

The new music when Cardinale views the McBain bodies is absolutely beautiful and greatly enhanced the scene. Great pick TMTM!!!
Though I think the lyric subtitles were an unnecessary distraction. The emotion in the singer's voice carries the moment, I don't think the audience needs the english translation. But the audio work here is excellent.

The narrative progresses nicely throughout, the cuts are all clean and transitions are smooth. Though I think through the editting process, Claudia Cardinale's character now comes across as unsympathic and some what ill defined, and perhaps that was the intention. But some her best moments were definitely lost in this version, which is too bad.

The recut final showdown was well done. Clever use of Cardinale's reaction shots to Robards inserted here, though it was the only time the cut felt somewhat "forced" to me. I do like the implications of this version. Again well done.

So on a technical level, I would score everything high 9's and 10's. Clearly the work of an editor at the top of his craft.

TWO GLORIOUS BASTARDS:

An edit by the legendary Boone is always a pleasure to watch. His creative choices in this edit are bold and innovative.
If you watch this edit for no other reason, watch it for the Audio Editting.
It is a technical masterpiece in terms of removing dialogue and background music, and then adding new music and sound f/x!
In fact, make certain you watch Boone's bonus featurette on Inserting Johnny Cash,
it is an eye opener and entertaining. So a solid 10 for audio editing.

The removal of Lee Van Cleef from the storyline is perfect.
You would never known he had existed if you had not seen the movie before.
And like TMBM all other cuts are clean and smooth. Again, pefect 10 for technical editting.

Now on to the big issue, the Johnny Cash music!

First off, I must tip my hat to Boone to have the creative courage to edit out one of the most famous movie scores in cinema history!!!

But does it work?

The Ennio Morricone music in TGTB&TU is pivotal to the longevity and appeal of this movie. It is both a main character and the unseen narrator to the story. Thus, if you are going to remove it, you better replace it with something of equal weight and power.

And Johnny Cash definitely as both those qualities in spades. But does it fit the movie?

Honestly, for me, it was very hit and miss. I enjoying the opening, and the music while Eastwood and Wallace are pulling their Hangman Scam and even the music during the desert was clever. But once we arrive at the Civil War battlefield, the music felt forced and heavy handed, and the music completely did not work for me during the cemetery scenes.

But this may be in part because the original soundtrack is so ingrained into my brain that I am having a hard time seperating the fan edit from the original. An interesting side note, I watched TWO GLORIOUS BASTARDS with my daughter who has never watched the original movie and even she commented several times about the music about how much she liked it. So there there you go, two very different reactions.

So two great technical master edits. Definitely worth watching.

But on an entertainment level, how well do they work?

Interestingly, I always found Sergio Leone's two big epic westerns to be a tad long. But now, after watching these two truncated versions, it gave me a better appreciation for his genius as a storyteller. His command over subtle character traits and long silences are the stuff of legend. And I found myself missing these elements in these new versions. Again, I may be having great difficulty seperating my love for the originals.

Do these new narratives work? Absolutely!!!

They are expertly crafted with a definitive beginning, middle and ending. I found them enjoyable and I am very happy I took the opportunity to watch them. But are they my preferred version? No, of course not. But the editors made it very clear, these edits are not meant to be improvements or replacements. But they are a wonderful showcase of what fan editting is capable of and what we can all aspire to.

So do yourself a favour, and check out THE UGLY WEST,
you won't be disappointed.


If I had to give a final overall score:

HARMONIC 9/10 for Tech and 8.5/10 for Story/Entertainment

TWO GLORIOUS BASTARDS 10/10 for Tech and 8/10 for Story/Entertainment (sorry Mr. Cash)

Giving us a Grand Score of 8.8/10:)
 

boon23

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very nice review, BB. You do not miss to point out slight criticism and things that did not work for you, but overall keep the super positive tone and even though half of my edit did not entertain you music-wise (but your daughter), I feel super good about it. Thank you! Also thanks to those who commented on fanedit.org. Reactions on this edit were very few and came in slow, but maybe in time it will find a bigger audience that feels like commenting.
 

Rogue-theX

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I just finished watching this. All i will say is i really liked it and was thoroughly entertained. CBB/TMBTM, you've both done a terific job, well done :)

9 out of 10!

Recommended!
 

TMBTM

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Glad to see this fanedit progressively finds its audience :)
Thanks for the comments.

The reorganizing of the opening scenes works pretty well. Though having the McBain boy come running out after Frank and his men emerge seemed odd to me. Would he have not heard all the gunfire and peeked out the door earlier?
I did not change anything at this moment of the movie. Same as the original, exept the music.
Daughter is killed, father is killed, grown up boy is killed, then the little Macbain comes out of the house (with music "power" increasing at the same moment as in the original), then Frank's men appear.
I only made the begining shorter (while they hunt), and I cut the first "quiet moment" (the first time where the insects stops singing).
And I also cut some seconds of Frank before he kills the boy.
 

bionicbob

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TMBTM said:
I did not change anything at this moment of the movie. Same as the original, exept the music.
Daughter is killed, father is killed, grown up boy is killed, then the little Macbain comes out of the house (with music "power" increasing at the same moment as in the original), then Frank's men appear.
I only made the begining shorter (while they hunt), and I cut the first "quiet moment" (the first time where the insects stops singing).
And I also cut some seconds of Frank before he kills the boy.

Oops.... sorry. I knew the music had been enhanced (which I loved) but for some reason I remembered the shooting happening differently. Sometimes when I am watching a Fan Edit I get too caught up with trying to catch all the changes and my mind/memory begins to play tricks on me. Again very sorry.

Either way, both of the Ugly West edits are brilliant; truly amazing accomplishments!
I still can not get over how well the movie works without Jason Robards, something I thought would have been impossible.
That is some mighty clever editting TMBTM!;-)
 

TMBTM

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This edit is now available again.
 

TMBTM

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Just found out that part 1 and 2 are missing.
Will take care of it. Sorry for the mess.

PM me if you want.
 

TMBTM

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Damn, Ugly West files are still problematic.
Update should be done today...
 
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