L.A. Confidential Recut

Terrific work.

Having not seen the original film for 5 or 6 years, it was distant enough in my memory for me not to get nitpicky about exactly what was missing and just enjoy the ride.

This edit is an excellent example of a how a change of emphasis to a good film can yield a fanedit with really interesting results, provided the narrative is treated with utmost respect. And that's what Neglify is done here.

Firstly, I felt that I totally understood Bud and Lynn's relationship - no more footage was needed. And secondly, the story ended in exactly the right place - very powerful. These two changes put the film's focus back more on Ed's story, and to very good effect.

Technically it's great - no seams or bumps that I could see/hear.

Wouldn't mind a nice x264 encode in addition to the DVD9 however. The pic would be a little sharper.

A crackling, tightly paced crime noir tale!

A part of me feels bad for poor Kim, as I enjoy her performance in the original (though definitely not Oscar worthy) but this edit clearly proves this movie works wonderfully with less of her.

I still love the original, but this alternate version moves swiftly and the tension remains taunt throughout. The new ending by Neglify is far more fitting for a noir tale and I applaud his choice.

It should be noted, I watched this one with my bride who is a crime movie addict, and she LOVED this edit, and could not believe anything had been cut out until I popped in the original afterwards for comparison. So fantastic work Neg!

Thumbs UP!

I like the original too. A great movie where "mister brain" needs to team with "mister muscle" to solve the intrigue.
Now, Neglify's edit is, IMO, better than what I remember the original to be.
I always loved Kim Basinger, but isn't it strange that in two recent fanedits that I saw (Batman - Descent Into Mystery by Dwight Fry and this one)removing a lot of Kim's scenes helps a lot the pacing! It simply flows better than what I remember.
A great "simple" fanedit, where the movie is still the same but, IMO, improved.
Great video and audio quality, nice menu and presentation.

January 17, 2012

L.A. Confidential has long been on my rather shameful list of movies I somehow missed seeing, but knew I needed to. So with Neglify’s release I finally had the kick to go out and buy the film and watch it so I could see what this FEOTM winner had done.

I should first start with my brief evaluation of the original. Midway through watching it I turned to my wife and pondered what in the world Neglify would edit in this as we were both enjoying the film immensely. It’s simply a great movie. When the film finally closed I suspected at least one aspect that he’d cut, but not enough to qualify as an edit on the site, let-alone earn a victory in the competition. The original is a great flick, but ultimately if its intention was to be in the mold of the classic Film Noir’s, it failed at the ending. Simple rule of a film noir, if the hero gets what he wants at the end of the film, something has gone wrong.

I don’t know their intentions for making the film, but that was my only issue with it. But once in awhile a happy ending is nice.

So then on to Neglify's edit.

Video Quality
First I must say that I watched his V2 with an improved source, and watched it on a 52″ plasma and my brand spanking new Sony BD player. I had originally watched the film on BD, and I have to say that Neg’s edition holds up spectacularly. Some of this perhaps is the upscaling of my BD player, but the image was beautiful. 10/10

Audio Quality
My rear speakers are currently on the fritz so I didn’t get the full 5.1 treatment, but even still audio was sharp and clear. 10/10

Video Editing
Being that the theatrical is a good movie in its own right there was not a massive amount of cutting necessary for this film, but when done, it was done seamlessly. If I hadn’t seen the original first, I’d have never spotted a single edit. Great work from a first-time faneditor. 10/10

Audio Editing
Likewise, audio was smooth. Transitions were invisible. 10/10

Overall Story
Here is the real question, what of his choices? How does this edit execute on the editor’s goals and how does it stack up against the original? Overall Neglify has not done anything stunning with this edit. His cuts were very simple, but effective at helping steer this film to being more classic Noir. I had no issues with the Bud/Lynn storyline. In this new version Bud’s character is more flat and lacks depth, but this is not a terrible thing and more one of preference.

The edit succeeds in making the movie more classic Noir and I would recommend to any fan of the original. This doesn’t replace my original copy by any means, and it comes down to more of do I want to see the happy ending or the more classic Noir ending.

This is a really tough call for me because by the numbers, Neglify had done everything right. His technical execution is flawless and his story improvement leaves no holes and achieves his goals. But the edit itself is exceptionally straightforward without doing anything drastic. It doesn’t seem fair to penalize Neglify for tackling an movie that doesn’t actually start out horrible.

In terms of Story I can only give this an 8/10 simply because it doesn’t make a dramatic change in the film.

Overall Score
However, when looking at the full execution in terms of editing quality and technical quality I have to give the entire edit overall 9/10

Great job!

What a pleasure L.A. CONFIDENTIAL is. A story of cops burdened by their corruption and their consciences, lots of moral ambiguity, and wonderful characterizations and acting. But while I admire the film, I didn’t quite love it when I last saw it several years ago. I wondered, could Neglify’s edit change my mind?

Let’s begin by accentuating the positive. Technically, the edit works on its own terms. Meaning there are no holes created in story, character, etc., and I didn’t detect a single issue in audio or video editing. If I didn’t know the movie beforehand, I wouldn’t have guessed it was an edit.

Some of the choices really worked for me. The editor cuts the beginning and ending from Bud meeting Lynn – following the rule of “enter late, leave early” – a good way to maintain audience interest. And nothing is really lost. In fact, it’s a gain: budding romance is still suggested, but with more subtlety.

I was also happy to skip Bud and Lynn’s first love scene, which felt like it was included in the original simply to tick the “sex” box for the marketing campaign. We don’t need to peep on the couple’s private time. Besides, we get to be voyeurs again when Ed and Jack watch them through a window later.

Other changes I didn’t enjoy as much. Sure, we don’t need Bud discussing the Nite Owl case with Lynn. But I missed the grace note of her Arizona backstory, which gives the character something of a life outside her relation to the film’s events. I also missed Ed talking to Lynn at the station, which provides a breather between scenes of corpses piling up. Without that scene, things start to feel rushed.

Rushed is how I would describe the ending, as well: a big action sequence, fade out, roll credits. To me, the arrival of a film’s end credits feels like the closing of a book. Here, I wanted to linger on the last page a little longer, i.e. I wanted an extra 5 seconds of black with nothing but Jerry Goldsmith’s music before the end credits rolled.

Lastly, I wonder if the editor considered keeping the final scenes of Ed being questioned and receiving a hero’s medal (of course, Lynn would have to be removed from this). These scenes could add some character interest after all the action while still providing a suitably cynical finish. Or were these scenes considered part of the unnecessary Hollywood happy ending with Bud and Lynn?

I’m not sure I’ve succeeded at accentuating the positive in my review… But to be honest, I find that song pretty annoying. So one more positive point: thank you for removing that song from the end credits.

In summary: I appreciated L.A. CONFIDENTIAL RECUT for its subtler romance and for dropping the sugary ending. But a little too much material was cut and the conclusion felt rushed, so I ended up enjoying the edit about as much as the original. 8.5/10.