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- Batman: The Killing Joke - The Book Cut
Batman: The Killing Joke - The Book Cut
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Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2016
Original Running Time:
76 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
39 minutes
Time Cut:
37 minutes
Additional Links:
Synopsis:
The Killing Joke is one of the most widely popular Joker stories and has been referenced by both Tim Burton and Heath Ledger in how those versions of the Joker were brought to life. The story sees the Joker try to carry out one of his most devious plots, all to make a point that it takes only one bad day for a person to snap. While the Joker carries out his nefarious plot, Batman struggles with the idea that he and his arch-nemesis are locked in a battle that will ultimately lead to one of their deaths.
Intention:
This edit tries to bring the movie back to the core story about the Joker and his plot. Batgirl was never supposed to be a main player and she is without a doubt just a plot device that leads to the confrontation between Batman and the Joker. Anything additional that I could get rid of I did. Unfortunately, some things were too difficult to cut out and had to stay.
Release Information:
Digital
Editing Details:
While watching this movie I sat with the book on my lap and cut away anything I could that would bring it closer to the core story.
Cuts and Additions:
- Batgirl prologue is gone
- As in the comic, I'm using the last shot of the puddle and inserting it at the beginning as well to bookend the movie.
- Added a rain effect to the above mentioned scene as well as Batman arriving at Arkham
- No phone call from Jim to Barbara
- No shot of Joker victims because it didn't exactly make sense that if he is supposed to be incarcerated (in everyone's mind) he would be able to pull it off (even though we know he has escaped). PLUS, wasn't in the book!
- I'm working on cutting Batman and Jim's dialogue as they walk through Arkham since it references the cut scene from above. Batman's first lines will be his basic monologue to the Joker in the cell
- Cut some of the Joker's lines when buying the carnival since they weren't in the book.
- Cut some additional lines during flashbacks
- Cut part of the doctor's examination of Barbara
- Cut Jim on trial in front of carnies
- Reordered some scenes to match comic
- Cut out some of the additional action during Batman's search for the Joker
- Batman's search and shots of the roller coaster doors will be turned into a montage as it was done in the book. No dialogue, just music.
- Batman's fight with the carnies is now gone. As Batman encounters the Joker, I am trying to include some of the voice over of his lines to the fake Joker in the beginning.
- When Batman and Joker jump out of the window, the whole ending sequence has a rain effect added to match the comic
- Batman's laugh will end sooner and we will see the same frame as we did in the beginning, this time with just rain sound effects as well as sirens approaching in the background. Ambiguous as it was in the comic.
- As in the comic, I'm using the last shot of the puddle and inserting it at the beginning as well to bookend the movie.
- Added a rain effect to the above mentioned scene as well as Batman arriving at Arkham
- No phone call from Jim to Barbara
- No shot of Joker victims because it didn't exactly make sense that if he is supposed to be incarcerated (in everyone's mind) he would be able to pull it off (even though we know he has escaped). PLUS, wasn't in the book!
- I'm working on cutting Batman and Jim's dialogue as they walk through Arkham since it references the cut scene from above. Batman's first lines will be his basic monologue to the Joker in the cell
- Cut some of the Joker's lines when buying the carnival since they weren't in the book.
- Cut some additional lines during flashbacks
- Cut part of the doctor's examination of Barbara
- Cut Jim on trial in front of carnies
- Reordered some scenes to match comic
- Cut out some of the additional action during Batman's search for the Joker
- Batman's search and shots of the roller coaster doors will be turned into a montage as it was done in the book. No dialogue, just music.
- Batman's fight with the carnies is now gone. As Batman encounters the Joker, I am trying to include some of the voice over of his lines to the fake Joker in the beginning.
- When Batman and Joker jump out of the window, the whole ending sequence has a rain effect added to match the comic
- Batman's laugh will end sooner and we will see the same frame as we did in the beginning, this time with just rain sound effects as well as sirens approaching in the background. Ambiguous as it was in the comic.
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2016
Original Running Time:
76 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
39 minutes
Time Cut:
37 minutes
Additional Links:
Synopsis:
The Killing Joke is one of the most widely popular Joker stories and has been referenced by both Tim Burton and Heath Ledger in how those versions of the Joker were brought to life. The story sees the Joker try to carry out one of his most devious plots, all to make a point that it takes only one bad day for a person to snap. While the Joker carries out his nefarious plot, Batman struggles with the idea that he and his arch-nemesis are locked in a battle that will ultimately lead to one of their deaths.
Intention:
This edit tries to bring the movie back to the core story about the Joker and his plot. Batgirl was never supposed to be a main player and she is without a doubt just a plot device that leads to the confrontation between Batman and the Joker. Anything additional that I could get rid of I did. Unfortunately, some things were too difficult to cut out and had to stay.
Release Information:
Digital
Editing Details:
While watching this movie I sat with the book on my lap and cut away anything I could that would bring it closer to the core story.
Cuts and Additions:
- Batgirl prologue is gone
- As in the comic, I'm using the last shot of the puddle and inserting it at the beginning as well to bookend the movie.
- Added a rain effect to the above mentioned scene as well as Batman arriving at Arkham
- No phone call from Jim to Barbara
- No shot of Joker victims because it didn't exactly make sense that if he is supposed to be incarcerated (in everyone's mind) he would be able to pull it off (even though we know he has escaped). PLUS, wasn't in the book!
- I'm working on cutting Batman and Jim's dialogue as they walk through Arkham since it references the cut scene from above. Batman's first lines will be his basic monologue to the Joker in the cell
- Cut some of the Joker's lines when buying the carnival since they weren't in the book.
- Cut some additional lines during flashbacks
- Cut part of the doctor's examination of Barbara
- Cut Jim on trial in front of carnies
- Reordered some scenes to match comic
- Cut out some of the additional action during Batman's search for the Joker
- Batman's search and shots of the roller coaster doors will be turned into a montage as it was done in the book. No dialogue, just music.
- Batman's fight with the carnies is now gone. As Batman encounters the Joker, I am trying to include some of the voice over of his lines to the fake Joker in the beginning.
- When Batman and Joker jump out of the window, the whole ending sequence has a rain effect added to match the comic
- Batman's laugh will end sooner and we will see the same frame as we did in the beginning, this time with just rain sound effects as well as sirens approaching in the background. Ambiguous as it was in the comic.
- As in the comic, I'm using the last shot of the puddle and inserting it at the beginning as well to bookend the movie.
- Added a rain effect to the above mentioned scene as well as Batman arriving at Arkham
- No phone call from Jim to Barbara
- No shot of Joker victims because it didn't exactly make sense that if he is supposed to be incarcerated (in everyone's mind) he would be able to pull it off (even though we know he has escaped). PLUS, wasn't in the book!
- I'm working on cutting Batman and Jim's dialogue as they walk through Arkham since it references the cut scene from above. Batman's first lines will be his basic monologue to the Joker in the cell
- Cut some of the Joker's lines when buying the carnival since they weren't in the book.
- Cut some additional lines during flashbacks
- Cut part of the doctor's examination of Barbara
- Cut Jim on trial in front of carnies
- Reordered some scenes to match comic
- Cut out some of the additional action during Batman's search for the Joker
- Batman's search and shots of the roller coaster doors will be turned into a montage as it was done in the book. No dialogue, just music.
- Batman's fight with the carnies is now gone. As Batman encounters the Joker, I am trying to include some of the voice over of his lines to the fake Joker in the beginning.
- When Batman and Joker jump out of the window, the whole ending sequence has a rain effect added to match the comic
- Batman's laugh will end sooner and we will see the same frame as we did in the beginning, this time with just rain sound effects as well as sirens approaching in the background. Ambiguous as it was in the comic.
Trusted Reviewer review
1 review
Overall rating
8.8
Audio/Video Quality
8.0
Audio Editing
9.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
9.0
I'm an unwashed heathen - I haven't read The Killing Joke. But going in to the animated adaptation mostly blind, the additions were painfully obvious. Excising the additional material makes for a much better overall experience. No Batgirl filler, no literal kangaroo court, no overly prolonged discussion of urine, no gratuitous Batman Returns-esque brawling with circus folk (with one exception - more on that shortly). The pacing is much improved, the transitions between the flashbacks and the main story feel much tighter. It's a complete improvement over the original release, and I really can't see myself going back to it ever again. However, I do think there remain a few areas for improvement.
Picture quality is mostly good, but there are some obvious compression artifacts, as well as aliasing on some diagonal lines. This is most obvious during the opening logos. Clocking in at 3.14GB, the editor could have gone with less intensive compression and still wound up with a FAT32 file below the 4GB cutoff. The audio quality is a nice and clear stereo mix. I imagine the original 5.1 mix could have been salvaged with the changes in place, but there's nothing wrong with this 2.0 version. It's a dialogue heavy piece as it is, not an action adventure.
Visual editing is almost perfect - cuts were pretty much seamless. The repetition of the doors during the montage looked a little too obvious. Perhaps some cropping or tinting could have spiced things up a bit. The added rain effect is a nice touch, but there's an obvious gap on the left side of the screen that feels very unnatural to me. Zooming in on the effect that's composited over the footage to fill the frame with rain would probably work a lot better.
Audio editing is, again, very well done. Deleted lines don't feel missing, rearranged voiceover fits naturally. Both music and sound effects during the new montage feel quite choppy and take me out of what was otherwise an engrossing, seamless experience. The squeaking of the train brakes just draw attention to themselves. Replacing that with a new sound effect, or perhaps muting it entirely would have gone a long way to alleviate the situation.
Again, I haven't read the source material, but one moment that I was positive couldn't have been in the book is still present in this cut. While climbing out of the spike pit trap, Batman tosses one of the Joker's hired hands down in his place, complete with an impalement sound effect. Was that really in the book? Batman's going out of his way to spare the Joker's life (or is he? Ambiguous ending and all.) - but has no qualms about sending his henchmen to their deaths? If that is indeed true to Alan Moore's vision, I can't fault the editor for retaining that scene. It just strikes me as contrary to the whole point of the story.
Either way, it's a complete improvement over the original release. Recommended.
Picture quality is mostly good, but there are some obvious compression artifacts, as well as aliasing on some diagonal lines. This is most obvious during the opening logos. Clocking in at 3.14GB, the editor could have gone with less intensive compression and still wound up with a FAT32 file below the 4GB cutoff. The audio quality is a nice and clear stereo mix. I imagine the original 5.1 mix could have been salvaged with the changes in place, but there's nothing wrong with this 2.0 version. It's a dialogue heavy piece as it is, not an action adventure.
Visual editing is almost perfect - cuts were pretty much seamless. The repetition of the doors during the montage looked a little too obvious. Perhaps some cropping or tinting could have spiced things up a bit. The added rain effect is a nice touch, but there's an obvious gap on the left side of the screen that feels very unnatural to me. Zooming in on the effect that's composited over the footage to fill the frame with rain would probably work a lot better.
Audio editing is, again, very well done. Deleted lines don't feel missing, rearranged voiceover fits naturally. Both music and sound effects during the new montage feel quite choppy and take me out of what was otherwise an engrossing, seamless experience. The squeaking of the train brakes just draw attention to themselves. Replacing that with a new sound effect, or perhaps muting it entirely would have gone a long way to alleviate the situation.
Again, I haven't read the source material, but one moment that I was positive couldn't have been in the book is still present in this cut. While climbing out of the spike pit trap, Batman tosses one of the Joker's hired hands down in his place, complete with an impalement sound effect. Was that really in the book? Batman's going out of his way to spare the Joker's life (or is he? Ambiguous ending and all.) - but has no qualms about sending his henchmen to their deaths? If that is indeed true to Alan Moore's vision, I can't fault the editor for retaining that scene. It just strikes me as contrary to the whole point of the story.
Either way, it's a complete improvement over the original release. Recommended.
User reviews
13 reviews
Overall rating
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
9.5(13)
Audio Editing
9.3(13)
Visual Editing
9.2(13)
Narrative
9.6(13)
Enjoyment
9.6(13)
Overall rating
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
9.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
9.0
An excellent edit that I really enjoyed. It made it much closer to the original graphic novel by removing unnecessary additions that were in the original release. I did not find any jarring aspects and look forward to watching this again!
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
(Updated: February 01, 2023)
Overall rating
9.5
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
9.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
9.0
The biggest compliment that I can give this edit is that it's the closest one can get to watching the graphic novel in motion, like the comic book panels come to life. Having seen the original film, I'm glad the Batman x Batgirl sex scene was cut out and left to fanfiction where it belongs, though I do miss the original film's fight scenes and with so much cut out it feels rather short.
Overall, I quite enjoyed it and recommend it to any Batman fan and anyone who'd prefer a more accurate graphic novel edit of "The Killing Joke."
Overall, I quite enjoyed it and recommend it to any Batman fan and anyone who'd prefer a more accurate graphic novel edit of "The Killing Joke."
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
(Updated: February 04, 2023)
Overall rating
8.0
Audio/Video Quality
8.0
Audio Editing
8.0
Visual Editing
7.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
9.0
This is brilliant! In the original version you don't even notice how good the actual Killing Joke parts are but damn, this is a pretty good adaptation (in this edited form). I'd recommend this to any Batman fan.
The only (minor) faults I'd have is that for many outside scenes there's a rain overlay added to change the weather to how it was in the book. But that pulled me out of the experience more than into it. Similarly there were small video or audio editing things that I noticed (I remember hearing a crack in the audio when some music jumps) but those things are few and far between and don't get in the way of enjoying this edit at all.
Most edits are a curiosity thing to experience a movie differently but I think this is the only way I'll ever watch the Killing Joke from now on.
The only (minor) faults I'd have is that for many outside scenes there's a rain overlay added to change the weather to how it was in the book. But that pulled me out of the experience more than into it. Similarly there were small video or audio editing things that I noticed (I remember hearing a crack in the audio when some music jumps) but those things are few and far between and don't get in the way of enjoying this edit at all.
Most edits are a curiosity thing to experience a movie differently but I think this is the only way I'll ever watch the Killing Joke from now on.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Overall rating
8.6
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
8.0
Visual Editing
8.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
10.0
This film, as short and concise as it was, is the best version of the killing joke out there! Removes bad and cringy scenes and plot points and focuses on the real star of the movie: Joker.
I think the editing could have been better at some points, but I honestly loved it despite that because of how it worked and how it managed to tell the story without anything bad within it. It definitely won't make the comic book justice, but I think anyone who watches this will enjoy this very much, and it is thousands of times better than the original.
Thanks MusicEd for making such a cool fanedit and i hope you do more in the future!
I think the editing could have been better at some points, but I honestly loved it despite that because of how it worked and how it managed to tell the story without anything bad within it. It definitely won't make the comic book justice, but I think anyone who watches this will enjoy this very much, and it is thousands of times better than the original.
Thanks MusicEd for making such a cool fanedit and i hope you do more in the future!
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
"All it takes is one bad day."
Loved it. I've never seen the real version, and I'm kinda glad, because I can't imagine it being good with those additions and Bruce Timm's (Creator of the Batman/DC Animated Series) Batman/Batgirl fetish. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill were as great as ever. The story was twisted, in a good way, but expect that from Alan Moore who wrote the comic it's based on. It almost made my cry the sad story of the Joker. My only complaint was how short it was, but it's understandable with cutting out the useless stuff. I'd love to show it to my brother and I think he'd love it, I think he actually read the comic. I need to compare it to the real version, but like I said, the additions sound stupid and I'm sure this version is better. Again, topnotch, hope my brother thinks so too.
Loved it. I've never seen the real version, and I'm kinda glad, because I can't imagine it being good with those additions and Bruce Timm's (Creator of the Batman/DC Animated Series) Batman/Batgirl fetish. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill were as great as ever. The story was twisted, in a good way, but expect that from Alan Moore who wrote the comic it's based on. It almost made my cry the sad story of the Joker. My only complaint was how short it was, but it's understandable with cutting out the useless stuff. I'd love to show it to my brother and I think he'd love it, I think he actually read the comic. I need to compare it to the real version, but like I said, the additions sound stupid and I'm sure this version is better. Again, topnotch, hope my brother thinks so too.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
