Darkly Dreaming Dexter

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9.0 (2)
 
8.9 (5)
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Darkly Dreaming Dexter Poster
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2006
Original Running Time:
652 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
162 minutes
Time Cut:
490 minutes
Time Added:
0 minutes
Synopsis:
Darkly Dreaming Dexter is structured as a traditional three-act movie, with the plot focused on the essential elements of the Ice Truck Killer storyline.
Intention:
To create a movie out of the first season of the excellent Showtime series, Dexter. Gone are all elements that do not deal with Dexter's essential character development or the Ice Truck Killer storyline. What we are left with is the story of Dexter Morgan, the quintessential the anti-hero, struggling to deal with his past and present.
Release Information:
  • DVD
  • Digital
Cuts and Additions:
Too many individual edits to list, but these are the main ones:

All unnecessary characters were axed - Rita, Astor, Cody and Paul are the major ones.

All unnecessary sub-plots, not tied to the Ice Truck Killer storyline were hacked: All but three of Dexter's kills-of-the-week, Bautista's marriage, the murder of the police officer, the politics between LaGuerta and the Captain, Dexter trying to help Jeremy Downs, Dexter's biological father and the inheritance.

All non-essential plot lines tied to the Ice Truck Killer storyline were chopped: the security guard as the first suspect, the kid in the trunk who might identify Dexter and Neil Perry confessing to being the Ice Truck Killer.

Many flashbacks that did not add to the overall story were severed.

To eliminate the bookending/episodic feel of a TV show, nearly all of Dexter's intro/outros to each episode were slashed.

Finally, the reveal of the Ice Truck Killer's identity is delayed to the point that the audience is now on the same page as the characters on screen.
Trailer

Darkly Dreaming Dexter DVD Label
Darkly Dreaming Dexter DVD Cover
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2006
Original Running Time:
652 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
162 minutes
Time Cut:
490 minutes
Time Added:
0 minutes
Synopsis:
Darkly Dreaming Dexter is structured as a traditional three-act movie, with the plot focused on the essential elements of the Ice Truck Killer storyline.
Intention:
To create a movie out of the first season of the excellent Showtime series, Dexter. Gone are all elements that do not deal with Dexter's essential character development or the Ice Truck Killer storyline. What we are left with is the story of Dexter Morgan, the quintessential the anti-hero, struggling to deal with his past and present.
Release Information:
  • DVD
  • Digital
Cuts and Additions:
Too many individual edits to list, but these are the main ones:

All unnecessary characters were axed - Rita, Astor, Cody and Paul are the major ones.

All unnecessary sub-plots, not tied to the Ice Truck Killer storyline were hacked: All but three of Dexter's kills-of-the-week, Bautista's marriage, the murder of the police officer, the politics between LaGuerta and the Captain, Dexter trying to help Jeremy Downs, Dexter's biological father and the inheritance.

All non-essential plot lines tied to the Ice Truck Killer storyline were chopped: the security guard as the first suspect, the kid in the trunk who might identify Dexter and Neil Perry confessing to being the Ice Truck Killer.

Many flashbacks that did not add to the overall story were severed.

To eliminate the bookending/episodic feel of a TV show, nearly all of Dexter's intro/outros to each episode were slashed.

Finally, the reveal of the Ice Truck Killer's identity is delayed to the point that the audience is now on the same page as the characters on screen.
Cover art by Adabisi (DOWNLOAD HERE) image

Trailer

Trusted Reviewer reviews

2 reviews
(Updated: May 26, 2021)
Overall rating
 
8.5
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Dexter Season 1 was one of the highest quality pieces of television of the decade and my personal favourite season. It had less filler compared to later seasons, and so the fact that Adabisi managed to turn somewhere close to 11 hours of footage into 2hr 40min film is very impressive. Too much has been cut for a sequel fan edit though. I understood what was going on and thought the story was coherent, however someone who hasn't watched the TV show might struggle a little due to how high the pace is.

As a big fan of Dexter a little too much is cut for my liking. However in terms of functioning as a stand-alone film, this fanedit is a great way to revisit the 1st season of Dexter without having to spend 11 hours watching. Would recommend.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
(Updated: February 20, 2013)
Overall rating
 
9.5
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
This edit was AWESOME! Adabisi set the goal to turn Dexter Season 1 into an actual movie, not just a 2 1/2 hour TV season. Well, he has succeeded with flying colors.

I love Dexter, but definitely it can be too complicated for its own good. Season 1 was great, but this version is better. The edit is structured almost exactly as if they decided to make Darkly Dreaming Dexter a movie instead of a TV show. Of course if there had been a movie instead of a show it would have been very different, but man was this great. At no point did it feel like a bunch of small arcs stitched together into one mega story.

I will say though, the A/V quality ain't the best for a DVD5. It's not terrible, but not that great. But the editing was excellent throughout. A minor quibble I have is that I think some of Dexter's voice-overs explaining what's happening should have been cut. A perfect example is near the beginning when he says "There he is. Mike Donovan. He's the one."

Without a doubt, the best Adabisi fanedit I've seen yet.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
DVD
Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0

User reviews

5 reviews
Overall rating
 
8.9
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.2(5)
Audio Editing
 
9.4(5)
Visual Editing
 
9.4(5)
Narrative
 
8.4(5)
Enjoyment
 
9.2(5)
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
If you already watched Dexter or if it's your first viewing I highly recommend watching Darkly Dreaming Dexter, A full season cut down to a fast-developing story.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.5
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
i picked up the series for Dexter a while ago at one of those used media shops and haven't watched them yet. i decided to watch this edit first and was not disappointed by it. i wasn't lost at all, i didn't feel the scenes "jumping around" like other viewers did. i knew stuff was cut, but i didin't notice any change to the intended narrative.
the A/V quality was good enough for what looked like an SD avi file.
the video and audio editing for me was on point.
narrative, like i said, even felt like a standard three act movie. very tough to do in these tv-to-movie edits.
enjoyment, i loved it. what a great way to jump into this series. i should probably watch the full season 1 if i'm going to watch the other seasons, but a part of me feels like i don't even need to.
great work out of Adabisi . . . i also hope he some day finds time to hit the rest of the series (given he released this in '06, probably unlikely).

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
This seamless edit brought back to me what i loved about the early seasons of dexter... I would love to see Adabisi tackling the doaks arch, or the trinity killer arch.
A great way to re-view the series. love it I want more!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
8.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Dexter is, to me, one of the best series ever. I've been looking forward to this edit and for the most part, I wasn't disappointed. The video quality (I have the avi) is a little disappointing, but not something I'm not used to seeing. As for Rita and her kids, I've been hoping since day one that Dex would've knocked them all off and used the bodies for bait!

I think the editing was done well enough, although it jumped aound some during the first 1/2 hour. There were also a couple of scenes i felt should've been left in, that had i not been familiar with the show would have had me lost. First was the scene that was cut when Baptista went to Rudy's lab. With that scene cut out, it leaves the viewer with no clue as to the reason Angel was atacked in the garage. The other scene i missed was the scene in which LaGuerda was relieved of her post.

Other than that i really enjoyed watching and i would hope for season sequels, although those could prove difficult with Dexter & Ritas marriage and baby.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
6.5
Audio/Video Quality
 
6.0
Audio Editing
 
8.0
Visual Editing
 
8.0
Narrative
 
4.0
Enjoyment
 
6.0
Darkly Dreaming Dexter, where to start. First off I have been hyped for this edit since it's release and overall the edit pay's off. However there are a few issues that came with cutting this much material. Neg already covered the Video quality issues. However I did find that the AVI was a better quality video.

First and most notable is the lack of character development. We are thrown into Dexter's world and not introduced to the characters. It was almost like this was a sequel to a movie. That being said not much important story was lost from the support characters being cut to next to nothing or nothing at all in Rita's case. Cutting Rita and the kid's did improve the pace quite a bit.

The first 30 min of the edit play like an edit. We are thrown back in forth between scenes. For example Dex gets called to the first body. We have a flash back and now its day's later at the second body. There were other scene's that screamed that stuff had been cut. But after the first 30 min or so the edit start's to find it.s feet and flow's very well the only time that type of issue comes into play again is with Angel and the hooker lead. It jumped way to fast and was obvious something was missing. Also there were some hard audio cuts along the way but over all not to bad in most cases.

With all the negative out of the way i can say i did enjoy the edit once it got rolling and past the jarring cuts. the second half of the edit did a great job of condensing most of the important stuff.

Good job sir
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