Review Detail

This edit introduced me to the Beach Boys before I even watched it, now they are probably my favourite band!

I consider the theatrical cut to be a great film, much more interesting than the standard "Walk Hard" biopic formula, and the edit on the whole succeeds as a standalone piece. I showed it to someone else fresh and they said that they would have had no idea that it was derived from a longer film.

The only issues for me are that the viewer is now deprived of Paul Giamatti (Marty Wolf taking a dark turn) and that the ending feels somewhat abrupt. While this may just be me being too used to storytelling conventions, somebody less familiar with Brian Wilson's story might wonder what happened in the forty-odd year period between the end scenes and the credits with real-life footage (not that the original is in any way comprehensive).

Great technical quality overall, new edits and integration of deleted scenes not noticeable. Definitely a version that you can show people with no prior knowledge, useful if you need to save 48 minutes!