Here is the cutlist for the RANGER Cut of the Walking Dead (I retitled the 'Walker Cut' to the Ranger Cut because having 2 "Walks" in the title didn't sound good haha)
Final Running Time: 172 minutes
Original runtime: 875 minutes
Minutes CUT: 703 minutes (11.7 hours)
SPOILER ALERT: The following cutlist contains significant spoilers for Seasons 1 and 2 of the Walking Dead. If you have not seen the show and would like to experience this film spoiler-free, I hope you will wait for it to be posted as I cut this version specifically for those new to the show and as a good lead-in to Season 3. Please note that I did not list every single cut, but the most significant ones. Here goes:
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From Season 1 (Ep 1-6)-cut to approximately 62 minutes in this version:
-Cold opening of Rick in the hospital, delirious. The preceding shootout where he is injured is seen briefly in flashback. Conversation with Shane cut.
-At Rick’s home, he has a brief vision of a photo of his wife and son. Wandering aimlessly in neighborhood cut.
-Another major change here is the elimination of Morgan and his son completely. These scenes helped Rick understand the world around him as he recovered, but I felt that it worked just as well if Rick simply geared up on his own and left to find his family, alone. It gave a greater sense of isolation and despair. It also makes him look more confident and reflective as a leader.
-The mercy killing of the park crawler and the junior officer are cut.
-The pilot’s Zombie girl sequence is moved forward to this point, making this the first zombie we see him kill.
-All scenes with the campsite survivors are cut, so essentially no one answer Rick’s radio and there are no cutaways from him, making Rick the only human we see for the first 15 minutes of the film (except the flashback)
- After meeting Glen in Atlanta, Rick gets the idea to use smell as camouflage immediately after the fight with Merle. Glen’s sewer crawling is cut. Rick’s converstation with Andrea is cut. Merle’s conversation with T-Dog is cut. Again, all scenes of Lori, Shane and the other survivors are cut.
-The monologue before Rick hacks up the corpse for guts is cut. Also the line “We need more guts” for comic relief is cut.
-Glen’s impersonation of zombie to avoid suspicion is cut t make the scene more serious.
-During the escape, Glen’s escape scene in the Challenger is cut for timing and tone
-The first scene of the camp survivors in the film is of Rick and company arriving there.
-The campfire scene that night where Rick tells his story is shortened. Shane admonishing Carol’s husband Ed at the campfire is cut.
-Rick and his wife in the tent—the scene ends after he tells her how he found them. The photo album and Shane stalking the camp is cut.
-Daryl’s introduction is left mostly intact, except now there is no reference to him wanting to go back. All references of going back into the city for Merle is cut. The group does Not do this in this version, leaving Merle’s fate a mystery. The rooftop scene with Merle trying to escape was also cut as it detracted from the main story. All scenes of the group in the city looking for Merle and their encounter with the gang is cut.
-The frog catching scene with Shane is kept in, as it shows Shane’s relationship with Carl and Lori, also implying their affair. Shane’s beatdown of Ed and the domestic violence during laundry is cut. The scenes of Bill digging holes and being restrained is cut.
-During the fish fry, T-Dog’s brief monologue from the earlier campfire scene is cut in (to show that Rick and co. Are still at camp), and Dale’s lengthy (and weird) monologue is shortened significantly.
-The zombie attack on the camp is recut to be faster paced, intercutting between Shane’s group and Rick’s group, further implying they were always there. A brief shot of a man getting his face chomped by a walker is inserted (this scene is from Ep 9 of Season 2, is of Randall’s colleague who is shot down by Hershel being attacked by walkers).
-All the funeral scenes are cut. Glen’s outburst at Daryl is cut. Andrea’s killing of zombified Amy is shortened.
-The entire subplot of Bill revealed to have been bitten, the ensuing arguments, succumbing to the fever and eventually being left behind are all cut.These were interesting but did not move the story forward.
-Shane and Rick’s conversation in the woods is left intact, foreshadowing Shane’s later attack on Rick.
-The campside discussion to leave for the CDC is shortened. All other discussions about where to go, what to do between other characters are cut.
-The group’s journey to the CDC is rescored using the Walking Dead theme instead of the Sunshine theme in the original. Also, there is an added Voiceover of Rick on the Radio explaining their move and that the dead own the city.
-The entire CDC segment is cut. These scenes, though somewhat popular, did not do anything for the story I feel. Also, the super high tech facility felt out of place considering the ragtag mood and tone of the film so far. Too much exposition means I had to cut it, so we’ll never know why the zombies came to be, which is more interesting anyway. Also, what Dr Jenner whispered to Rick is revealed by the Governor in Season 3, and it isn’t a revelation that will end the world.
From Season 2: cut to approx. 110 minutes in this version
-Instead of running into the roadblock after the CDC in the series, in this version the group runs into the block en route to the center. Some dialogue is cut but the herd passing scene is kept intact. The scene of Andrea and Darryl killing walkers are intercut with each other for pacing and tension.
-After Rick kills the two zombies who chase Sophia, all the group work on the highway is cut to focus on Darryl tracking her with Rick. Gutting the walker to examine its stomach is shortened. Carl getting the knife set is cut. Shane’s subplot of wating to leave the group, by himself and later with Andrea, is all cut.
-The entire group sans Dale and T-Dog go looking for Sophia, and it is implied this is the same day. All Dale and T-Dog conversations on the highway is cut.
-The tent with the dead body is cut. The church scene is intact but ends after Rick cries out for Sophia after killing the zombies.
-The team is seen divided into two groups. Carl’s shooting is left intact while Daryl and Lori’s scenes are cut.
-After Hershel stablilizes Carl, Maggie’s retrieval of Lori and bringing her to the farm is cut into a montage. The horseback rescue itself is intact.
-Shane and Otis breaking into the school is presented completely in linear fashion, without flashbacks like in the original. Shane falling down and telling Otis to leave him is cut. During this timeframe, all of Carl’s scenes, ie the seizure etc, are cut. All the highway scenes are also cut.
-Shane’s lie about what happened to Otis is cut. A later scene of Carl waking up to have a heart to heart with his exhausted dad is brought forward to this point. Scene ends after Rick gives him his hat.
-Daryl’s Cherokee Rose scene with Carol is brought forward to this point, establishing a relationship between the two. The group arrives at the farm after this. Carl waking up is cut. Hershel taking the guns away is cut. The conversations focus on how to find Sophia.
(AT THIS POINT, I changed the timeline of the original series, drawing scenes from different episodes in Episodes 4-10 to put together the following chronology of what happens to the group)
-Glen and Maggie go to the Pharmacy and kiss as in the series, but Glen’s motivation for getting the pregnancy kit is unknown as all Lori’s scenes with him asking him to get it are cut. (This will be revealed later when Lori asks Glen “if he got it” and he hands it to her)
-Shane and Rick supposedly go to look for Sophia (clarified by conversation between them lifted from another scene) at the nearby center from episode “18 miles out”. In the original they go there to abandon Randall. Here, Shane confronts Rick about his unwillingness to accept Sophia might be dead and that he is unable to protect Lori, prompting the fistfight.
-Daryl finding the doll is intact and getting pierced by the arrow before falling is kept mostly intact with cuts for pacing.
-The fistfight between Shane and Rick attracts a walker horde who they fight off and escape. Rick emphasizes He is the leader, and that Lori and Carl are His family as Shane watches the field zombie, which may be a representation of himself (All Randall’s scenes are cut and the drama on the farm is cut)
-Glen and Maggie are seen still at the pharmacy (in the original, this was a different episode), where Maggie is attacked by a zombie and Glen saves her, solidifying their relationship.
-Glen hands Lori the pregnancy apparatus, which is discovered by Rick. The two have a discussion. All the yelling and talk of abortion is cut. Lori revealing she was with Shane is also cut.
-Daryl wakes up to a brief vision of Merle (who is more encouraging in this version) and fights off the Walkers as in the original. The second vision of Merle is cut as it was more of the same.
-Beth’s attempted suicide is briefly shown, and emphasized in Andrea’s and Lori’s conversation, which is now placed after the actual attempt. I kept this conversation in as it was a good reflection of what the survivors felt was a priority in life (Andrea: killing walkers, Lori: going back to the way things were)
-The well walker scene is retained, minus the sequence of lowering Glen into it, for time reasons. The whole scene is roughly 2 minutes.
-Glen finding the barn is followed immediately by the group discussing what to do about it, implying Glen told everyone immediately. Shane calling Daryl a meth-head is cut.
-Glen and Maggie’s reconciliation is kept intact with minor dialogue changes. (The only subplots kept intact from the series are their relationship, the Rick/Shane/Lori triangle, and Daryl’s evolution as a person)
-Hershel and Rick’s conversation is shortened significantly and followed by his request to capture the stray walkers. The barn shooting scene is kept intact.
-Daryl’s tirade against Carol is brought forward to this point. All the barn walker disposal scenes are cut.
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(Up to this point, the following are the other Major cuts: (1) The entire Randall arc—ie. The shootout at the bar, the capture of Randall, His interrogation, attempted execution and murder are cut. This is because I felt if I included the whole theme of “What do we do with evil humans?” which is what this arc was exploring, then the film would be too long and too full of info. I wanted the film to be mainly about zombies. Human evil is adequately reflected in Shane’s character and his fall from grace, and I edited it as such. Furthermore, the exact same theme is represented by the Governor and Woodbury in Season 3. Dale’s scenes are cut down, as much as I like him, they did not move the story; T-Dog’s cut for the same reason; Andrea and Shane’s relationship is cut, as well as their brief encounter with walkers. Dale and Hershel’s meet at the barn is cut, shooting practice is cut, Carl’s encounter with a zombie in the swamp is cut (although the attack on Dale is kept and reedited into the final battle). Lori going out to look for Rick and crashing the car is cut. I had a hard time cutting the “hanging zombie” but I did, for times sake. Lori Lady Macbething Rick to kill Shane is also cut. Most of the redundant farm conversation from various characters is cut. ---all these cuts were made to allow the film to flow as smooth as possible without looking choppy, random or haphazard)
-Shane confronting Lori about the baby is pushed back until after the barn shooting.
-Shane killing Randall is cut but him breaking his own nose is kept in. He proceeds to inform the group he was attacked in the woods, setting of Rick and co. Into the forest
-Daryl and Glen killing zombified Randall is cut. Shane killed by Rick is followed by the horde attack immediately without cutting away as in the original
-The final farm battle is kept almost entirely intact, with the addition of: Dale’s death intercut in, with Daryl despatching him after; and the “Car zombie” (originally attacking Lori on a deserted road), is cut into the farm attack as well.
-Removed scenes of survivors individually speculating who made it and cuts to the reunion on the highway. Rick telling Lori he killed Shane is cut. Also, Rick revealing Jenner’s secret is cut.
-The final campfire sequence is kept intact, with minor monologue trims
-Michonne’s appearance is shown as a post-credits sequence
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Those are the complete list of cuts in the final version. What remains is the Walking Dead story with most of its best moments (and zombies) intact, in the form of an uncomplicated and fleshed out narrative. All the stuff that was cut out only increases the impact of what was kept in. The first fifteen minutes plays out like a mood piece, but after that, it's a roller coaster ride. I hope you will agree with me and help review and criticize my cut.
Next step is to get it out there.
Thanks,
RangerKris
UPDATE 6/24:
The final cut is ready to be uploaded. Clocks in at 177 minutes.
Further changes from previous version:
1. Cut Rick on walkie-talkie
2. Added Morales family departure
3. Added Hanging Zombie scene
4. Added Beth subplot resolution
5. Replaced end credit song with Anadel's "In the Water" (from Telltale Game's Walking Dead). Slowed down end credit speed to match.
6. Trimmed Shaun's bus escape