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- M. Night Shyamalan's Horrifying Hours
M. Night Shyamalan's Horrifying Hours
Updated
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2006 (LITW) / 2008 (TH)
Original Running Time:
110 (LITW) / 91 (TH) minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
77 (LITW) / 60 (TH) minutes
Time Cut:
63 minutes
Available in HD:
Additional Links:
Synopsis:
This is a double feature fanedit release of M.Night Shyamalan’s so far worst efforts “LADY IN THE WATER” and “THE HAPPENING”. Each movie is now a lot shorter and seriously condensed to maximum impact. This is not just for the few remaining M.Night fans, but for everyone interested in mystery movies and in finding out, how much better both these movies could have been.
Intention:
You’re probably wondering why anyone would try and improve “Lady in the Water” and “The Happening”. Simply, I have a deep respect for M. Night Shyamalan. His film “Unbreakable” I consider one of the best films of the decade, and he proved his prowess with it. So how did he go from a brilliant movie like that to stinkers like “Lady in the Water” and “The Happening”?
After re-watching the films I knew what it was. The extra padding he included was poorly done, with excessive dialog and, in the case of “The Happening”, an uninteresting subplot.
My goal was to cut each film down to 60 minutes and release them as a double feature. While I managed to do that with “The Happening” I couldn’t quite achieve that running time with “Lady in the Water”. I really wanted to cut out the Asian woman’s fable, but Shyamalan used this as a crutch to explain what was happening in the movie. Because of this exposition I couldn’t completely remove it for fear of confusing the audience. But with approximately 30 minutes cut the movie does flow a lot better.
After re-watching the films I knew what it was. The extra padding he included was poorly done, with excessive dialog and, in the case of “The Happening”, an uninteresting subplot.
My goal was to cut each film down to 60 minutes and release them as a double feature. While I managed to do that with “The Happening” I couldn’t quite achieve that running time with “Lady in the Water”. I really wanted to cut out the Asian woman’s fable, but Shyamalan used this as a crutch to explain what was happening in the movie. Because of this exposition I couldn’t completely remove it for fear of confusing the audience. But with approximately 30 minutes cut the movie does flow a lot better.
Special Features:
Text Commentary Track
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2006 (LITW) / 2008 (TH)
Original Running Time:
110 (LITW) / 91 (TH) minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
77 (LITW) / 60 (TH) minutes
Time Cut:
63 minutes
Available in HD:
Additional Links:
Synopsis:
This is a double feature fanedit release of M.Night Shyamalan’s so far worst efforts “LADY IN THE WATER” and “THE HAPPENING”. Each movie is now a lot shorter and seriously condensed to maximum impact. This is not just for the few remaining M.Night fans, but for everyone interested in mystery movies and in finding out, how much better both these movies could have been.
Intention:
You’re probably wondering why anyone would try and improve “Lady in the Water” and “The Happening”. Simply, I have a deep respect for M. Night Shyamalan. His film “Unbreakable” I consider one of the best films of the decade, and he proved his prowess with it. So how did he go from a brilliant movie like that to stinkers like “Lady in the Water” and “The Happening”?
After re-watching the films I knew what it was. The extra padding he included was poorly done, with excessive dialog and, in the case of “The Happening”, an uninteresting subplot.
My goal was to cut each film down to 60 minutes and release them as a double feature. While I managed to do that with “The Happening” I couldn’t quite achieve that running time with “Lady in the Water”. I really wanted to cut out the Asian woman’s fable, but Shyamalan used this as a crutch to explain what was happening in the movie. Because of this exposition I couldn’t completely remove it for fear of confusing the audience. But with approximately 30 minutes cut the movie does flow a lot better.
After re-watching the films I knew what it was. The extra padding he included was poorly done, with excessive dialog and, in the case of “The Happening”, an uninteresting subplot.
My goal was to cut each film down to 60 minutes and release them as a double feature. While I managed to do that with “The Happening” I couldn’t quite achieve that running time with “Lady in the Water”. I really wanted to cut out the Asian woman’s fable, but Shyamalan used this as a crutch to explain what was happening in the movie. Because of this exposition I couldn’t completely remove it for fear of confusing the audience. But with approximately 30 minutes cut the movie does flow a lot better.
Special Features:
Text Commentary Track
Trusted Reviewer reviews
4 reviews
Overall rating
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
10.0(1)
Audio Editing
10.0(1)
Visual Editing
10.0(1)
Narrative
8.0(1)
Enjoyment
7.5(4)
Overall rating
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
8.0
Enjoyment
7.0
Well these movies can't be fixed but that wasn't the point. If you like Shyamalan’s films you'll get a kick out of this. The b&w looked great and the editing was top notch.
A/V Quality - 10
Editing - 10
Narrative - 8
Enjoyment - 7 (originals 5)
Recommended drink: Hidden Nightmare (Everclear, rum, Jager, etc.)
A/V Quality - 10
Editing - 10
Narrative - 8
Enjoyment - 7 (originals 5)
Recommended drink: Hidden Nightmare (Everclear, rum, Jager, etc.)
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
(Updated: September 08, 2012)
Overall rating
8.0
Audio/Video Quality
N/A
Audio Editing
N/A
Visual Editing
N/A
Narrative
N/A
Enjoyment
8.0
September 1, 2010 @ 12:07 AM
I lost all my expectations for Shamalamadingdong the moment the credits rolled after Unbreakable. To follow up something as enjoyable as Sixth Sense with something as plodding and boring as that did not bode well for his career, and M’s career has been consistently erratic ever since.
By the time The Happening and Lady came out I had just plain given up all together and I simply didn’t even bother to watch these. But intrigued by Q2′s creative idea I trudged out and picked up copies of these maligned flicks, and proceeded to see what Q2 had achieved.
Overall, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by both movies of this double-feature. For this review I watched the Single Layer DVD5 and the video quality was good on both TV’s that I watched this on (32″ LCD and 52″ Plasma) Audio was good for both, although my rears are currently not working so cannot fully evaluate the 5.1.
The Happening.
Even after Q2′s editing, it remains that not very much happens in the Happening. It is a listless, meandering narrative. A neat idea, but not a visually interesting one. It is such a painful emulation of Hitchcock’s The Birds that I almost feel bad for Shamalamadingdong. However by slicing out the pointless sub-plot and cleaning up the more gratuitous gore, I found that overall I found the movie more interesting and more enjoyable than the original. (I watched his edit before watching the original, and upon watching the original was even more impressed). Q2 has polished this movie about as much as it can in my opinion. The movie is not great, but the editing was good. The commentary track was also very entertaining and interesting, particularly the apology
Lady in the Water
Contrary to those who reviewed this before me, I found I quite enjoyed Q2′s take on Lady. The black and white worked even more for me on this as it helped place them in a sort of undetermined twilight that helped make them feel more isolated and in a fairy tale. I wasn’t bothered by how the participants in the plan quickly bought into the story. For me, it was simply a matter of them all sensing that something bigger than themselves was going on. It was obvious that Q2 had cut out a ton of really boring exposition and useless dialog which Shama seems to bloat his screenplays with, and this kept the movie focused and moving forward. My only major critique was the manner in which he handled Giamatti going into the pool to recover her ‘key’. Not seeing him even enter or exit the water really threw me for a loop at first and it took me out of the movie while I had to figure out what had happened. While I did figure out what happened, the lack of visual assistance severely interrupted the flow of the movie and it took me a few minutes to find myself back into the movie.
Overall Enjoyment
If I had to watch either of these movies again, these are the only versions I would consider watching. Technically well executed, these are both improvements on the original.
8/10
I lost all my expectations for Shamalamadingdong the moment the credits rolled after Unbreakable. To follow up something as enjoyable as Sixth Sense with something as plodding and boring as that did not bode well for his career, and M’s career has been consistently erratic ever since.
By the time The Happening and Lady came out I had just plain given up all together and I simply didn’t even bother to watch these. But intrigued by Q2′s creative idea I trudged out and picked up copies of these maligned flicks, and proceeded to see what Q2 had achieved.
Overall, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by both movies of this double-feature. For this review I watched the Single Layer DVD5 and the video quality was good on both TV’s that I watched this on (32″ LCD and 52″ Plasma) Audio was good for both, although my rears are currently not working so cannot fully evaluate the 5.1.
The Happening.
Even after Q2′s editing, it remains that not very much happens in the Happening. It is a listless, meandering narrative. A neat idea, but not a visually interesting one. It is such a painful emulation of Hitchcock’s The Birds that I almost feel bad for Shamalamadingdong. However by slicing out the pointless sub-plot and cleaning up the more gratuitous gore, I found that overall I found the movie more interesting and more enjoyable than the original. (I watched his edit before watching the original, and upon watching the original was even more impressed). Q2 has polished this movie about as much as it can in my opinion. The movie is not great, but the editing was good. The commentary track was also very entertaining and interesting, particularly the apology
Lady in the Water
Contrary to those who reviewed this before me, I found I quite enjoyed Q2′s take on Lady. The black and white worked even more for me on this as it helped place them in a sort of undetermined twilight that helped make them feel more isolated and in a fairy tale. I wasn’t bothered by how the participants in the plan quickly bought into the story. For me, it was simply a matter of them all sensing that something bigger than themselves was going on. It was obvious that Q2 had cut out a ton of really boring exposition and useless dialog which Shama seems to bloat his screenplays with, and this kept the movie focused and moving forward. My only major critique was the manner in which he handled Giamatti going into the pool to recover her ‘key’. Not seeing him even enter or exit the water really threw me for a loop at first and it took me out of the movie while I had to figure out what had happened. While I did figure out what happened, the lack of visual assistance severely interrupted the flow of the movie and it took me a few minutes to find myself back into the movie.
Overall Enjoyment
If I had to watch either of these movies again, these are the only versions I would consider watching. Technically well executed, these are both improvements on the original.
8/10
(Updated: September 08, 2012)
Overall rating
8.0
Audio/Video Quality
N/A
Audio Editing
N/A
Visual Editing
N/A
Narrative
N/A
Enjoyment
8.0
June 29, 2010 @ 10:48 PM
I’m feeling like the other reviewers although I probably liked Lady in the Water a bit more.
Problem is indeed how everyone react so irrational. I mean, it’s a kind of “fairy tale” but I need to feel what the characters feel to care for them.
It worked at some level for the Giamatti’s character, but everyone else looked like part of a puzzle story just waiting for the right moment to play their part and this is the only problem I had, but it’s a big one.
Other than that the editing work is perfect in both movies. Pictures quality is VERY good, menu are great.
The Happening is SO much better now it’s incredible. I mean, it’s the same story, same characters, but I could feel the tension that was not present for me in the original. GREAT job at making good something bad.
I can understand why other reviewers gave it a 7/10, but I was so pleasantly surprised by this DVD that I can’t rate it less than 8/10.
I’m feeling like the other reviewers although I probably liked Lady in the Water a bit more.
Problem is indeed how everyone react so irrational. I mean, it’s a kind of “fairy tale” but I need to feel what the characters feel to care for them.
It worked at some level for the Giamatti’s character, but everyone else looked like part of a puzzle story just waiting for the right moment to play their part and this is the only problem I had, but it’s a big one.
Other than that the editing work is perfect in both movies. Pictures quality is VERY good, menu are great.
The Happening is SO much better now it’s incredible. I mean, it’s the same story, same characters, but I could feel the tension that was not present for me in the original. GREAT job at making good something bad.
I can understand why other reviewers gave it a 7/10, but I was so pleasantly surprised by this DVD that I can’t rate it less than 8/10.
(Updated: September 08, 2012)
Overall rating
7.0
Audio/Video Quality
N/A
Audio Editing
N/A
Visual Editing
N/A
Narrative
N/A
Enjoyment
7.0
May 17, 2010 @ 4:07 AM
Unlike flyboy, I had seen (and detested) The Happening before, but never Lady in the Water.
The Happening: Great job! It becomes a compact little thriller of perfect lenght (one longs for the classic film days in which 60-minute-long movies were allowed in theatres) which could almost be part of a Twilight Zone type series. B&W works fine for this despite the minor mood ring thing, the buffoonery is gone, and the lover subplot is thankfully nowhere to be seen, by which it all is no longer as much of a poster-film for The Sacrosanct Institution of Marriage, Total Sexual Exclusiveness Division. Sadly, nothing could be done about that turd “love conquers all” ending, and Marky Mark is still as believable as a science man as I would be as Marilyn Monroe. But I did enjoy the movie this time around. Quite a bit, actually. The only technical downside is the abrupt music cut at the very end of the final credits.
Lady in the Water: I’m afraid I can’t be anywhere near as kind, but, as this is the only version of it I have seen, it probably has more to do with the original being bloody awful than with the faneditor’s work. The story can be followed, but it is barely logical, worst aspect of it being the ease with which everyone accepts the fantasy of it all. Yeah, right. B&W doesn’t work nearly as well in this one, probably because of all those night sequences (B&W night photography is a very specific process) that makes all details merge into the background, while The Happening was all set in daylight. Editing seems quite well done, but there are two moments that make me go WTF: one is that “key” thing, which we first see when Giamatti covers it so the Asian girl can’t see it, the existence of which had been mentioned but it hadn’t been properly visually introduced; and the other is a short sequence of Giamatti in a pajama eating a cookie in front of the Asian girl and her mother. Where did that scene come from, and what the hell is its purpose? Otherwise it’s technically well done, but I found the movie just plain atrocious.
DVD menus are good looking and the transitions are original, even if I wonder why the title menu for “Lady” was kept in color.
Overall, 7/10. Worth watching for The Happening.
Unlike flyboy, I had seen (and detested) The Happening before, but never Lady in the Water.
The Happening: Great job! It becomes a compact little thriller of perfect lenght (one longs for the classic film days in which 60-minute-long movies were allowed in theatres) which could almost be part of a Twilight Zone type series. B&W works fine for this despite the minor mood ring thing, the buffoonery is gone, and the lover subplot is thankfully nowhere to be seen, by which it all is no longer as much of a poster-film for The Sacrosanct Institution of Marriage, Total Sexual Exclusiveness Division. Sadly, nothing could be done about that turd “love conquers all” ending, and Marky Mark is still as believable as a science man as I would be as Marilyn Monroe. But I did enjoy the movie this time around. Quite a bit, actually. The only technical downside is the abrupt music cut at the very end of the final credits.
Lady in the Water: I’m afraid I can’t be anywhere near as kind, but, as this is the only version of it I have seen, it probably has more to do with the original being bloody awful than with the faneditor’s work. The story can be followed, but it is barely logical, worst aspect of it being the ease with which everyone accepts the fantasy of it all. Yeah, right. B&W doesn’t work nearly as well in this one, probably because of all those night sequences (B&W night photography is a very specific process) that makes all details merge into the background, while The Happening was all set in daylight. Editing seems quite well done, but there are two moments that make me go WTF: one is that “key” thing, which we first see when Giamatti covers it so the Asian girl can’t see it, the existence of which had been mentioned but it hadn’t been properly visually introduced; and the other is a short sequence of Giamatti in a pajama eating a cookie in front of the Asian girl and her mother. Where did that scene come from, and what the hell is its purpose? Otherwise it’s technically well done, but I found the movie just plain atrocious.
DVD menus are good looking and the transitions are original, even if I wonder why the title menu for “Lady” was kept in color.
Overall, 7/10. Worth watching for The Happening.
User reviews
4 reviews
Overall rating
7.0
Audio/Video Quality
N/A(0)
Audio Editing
N/A(0)
Visual Editing
N/A(0)
Narrative
N/A(0)
Enjoyment
7.0(4)
(Updated: September 08, 2012)
Overall rating
7.0
Audio/Video Quality
N/A
Audio Editing
N/A
Visual Editing
N/A
Narrative
N/A
Enjoyment
7.0
May 27, 2010 @ 7:53 am
*This rating was given before reviews were required*
*This rating was given before reviews were required*
(Updated: September 08, 2012)
Overall rating
7.0
Audio/Video Quality
N/A
Audio Editing
N/A
Visual Editing
N/A
Narrative
N/A
Enjoyment
7.0
June 9, 2010 @ 12:28 AM
My rating of 7/10 is for the Happening part of this edit. While I still didn’t think the movie was very good, it was much improved over the original, there’s just not much of any good material to work with. So, my score is mostly for the effort and improvement, than for my enjoyment of the end result. I did think the black and white worked really well in some scenes, but felt a bit flat in others.
My rating of 7/10 is for the Happening part of this edit. While I still didn’t think the movie was very good, it was much improved over the original, there’s just not much of any good material to work with. So, my score is mostly for the effort and improvement, than for my enjoyment of the end result. I did think the black and white worked really well in some scenes, but felt a bit flat in others.
(Updated: September 08, 2012)
Overall rating
7.0
Audio/Video Quality
N/A
Audio Editing
N/A
Visual Editing
N/A
Narrative
N/A
Enjoyment
7.0
April 29, 2010 @ 10:24 PM
Tranzor says it all.
I have never seen “The Happening” so I watched it first also. I liked it, but could definitely see how the original probably wasn’t good.
Of the two, “The Happening” is the better of the two.
Worth the D/L.
Tranzor says it all.
I have never seen “The Happening” so I watched it first also. I liked it, but could definitely see how the original probably wasn’t good.
Of the two, “The Happening” is the better of the two.
Worth the D/L.
(Updated: September 08, 2012)
Overall rating
7.0
Audio/Video Quality
N/A
Audio Editing
N/A
Visual Editing
N/A
Narrative
N/A
Enjoyment
7.0
April 28, 2010 @ 8:34 PM
Being that I am in the minority of actually liking Shyamalan’s films, I felt it appropriate that I should give a review. I have not watched Lady in the Water or the Happening since their dvd/theatrical releases. Therefore in watching these edits now, it would give a fair unbiased opinion to see how it flows since most of the original scenes have left my mind (to some varying degree)
Honestly I really do not know why people dislike Shyamalan’s films so much? They are not that terrible and certainly miles above most of the crap shoved down our movie watching throats nowadays.
I loved Lady in the Water and I really enjoyed the Happening. I looked forward to seeing this editor’s work:
The disc opens up with a nice menu and watery or windy transitions for each edit. The menus are well done. I did not yet watch his commentary subtitled versions and I am sure it will pinpoint many of the smaller things I might have missed that he did work on for each edit.
The video quality is decent enough. All video and audio had no hard cuts or errors to speak of. I am using a regular analog 27†tv for viewing as well as sound. Each film edit on here is presented in Black and White, something I am a fan of.
I really wanted to see this new take on the Happening, so this is what I watched first.
Wow! This was one heck of an improvement over the original. The editing was pretty flawless and the film’s pacing was not hampered down. In fact I do not miss anything that was removed and likewise, if you never saw the film, you might be hard pressed to find what was taken away. The only problem I do have is the use of black and white. I tend to prefer films in black and white as it brings across a greater atmospheric feeling on the screen, however for the complete first half I felt it worked against it. It just did not feel right and should have been left in color. The second half of this worked well and the black and white use (especially during the sequence at Mrs. Jone’s cabin) was very effective. I would have to double check my original, but I thought one scene towards the end was slightly re-arranged. The pacing really stands out on this and keeps the whole film going without any downtime. I think many that were disappointed with the original would find this as a breath of fresh air.
Lady in the Water:
I am glad I watched this one second. This feels very disjointed and does not make that much sense. It opens with strangers talking and saying things that normally one would not say in a conversation with someone you just found in your pool. It gives a very strange and surreal feeling. So far it reminds me of something I would see in a foreign art film. As this edit goes on, the damage to the film’s story and integrity increases. This is one film where it is critical for more characterization and back story. Instead due to the removal of many such scenes, you are given a general plot idea, but it moves way too fast and removes too much to be anything of interest or sense. It really killed the film and only 30 mins in I am having a hard time viewing it.
Ok look, I was only able to make it to 52 mins before I started skimming with the fast forward button. I just could not watch it any longer past this point. Even if the ending does work well, there is already too much damage committed that seeing the rest is not worth the bother. I am really sorry to sound like this, but this edit just fails horribly. Keep in mind I did see the film on dvd before and this edit only slightly makes sense with the knowledge of what is already going to happen. God knows how one would interpret this particular edit if they never saw the film beforehand?
The use of black and white on this feature does hamper it and removes most of the fantasy element by making it feel kind of dreary and dull in addition to my previous thoughts about what the editor removed. I just cannot recommend this half of the edit at all. In theory it was an interesting idea, but on the screen it just failed to translate over
Overall this edition is worth viewing alone for the great improvement with The Happening, but what a horrible mess for Lady in the Water
7 out of 10 stars.
Being that I am in the minority of actually liking Shyamalan’s films, I felt it appropriate that I should give a review. I have not watched Lady in the Water or the Happening since their dvd/theatrical releases. Therefore in watching these edits now, it would give a fair unbiased opinion to see how it flows since most of the original scenes have left my mind (to some varying degree)
Honestly I really do not know why people dislike Shyamalan’s films so much? They are not that terrible and certainly miles above most of the crap shoved down our movie watching throats nowadays.
I loved Lady in the Water and I really enjoyed the Happening. I looked forward to seeing this editor’s work:
The disc opens up with a nice menu and watery or windy transitions for each edit. The menus are well done. I did not yet watch his commentary subtitled versions and I am sure it will pinpoint many of the smaller things I might have missed that he did work on for each edit.
The video quality is decent enough. All video and audio had no hard cuts or errors to speak of. I am using a regular analog 27†tv for viewing as well as sound. Each film edit on here is presented in Black and White, something I am a fan of.
I really wanted to see this new take on the Happening, so this is what I watched first.
Wow! This was one heck of an improvement over the original. The editing was pretty flawless and the film’s pacing was not hampered down. In fact I do not miss anything that was removed and likewise, if you never saw the film, you might be hard pressed to find what was taken away. The only problem I do have is the use of black and white. I tend to prefer films in black and white as it brings across a greater atmospheric feeling on the screen, however for the complete first half I felt it worked against it. It just did not feel right and should have been left in color. The second half of this worked well and the black and white use (especially during the sequence at Mrs. Jone’s cabin) was very effective. I would have to double check my original, but I thought one scene towards the end was slightly re-arranged. The pacing really stands out on this and keeps the whole film going without any downtime. I think many that were disappointed with the original would find this as a breath of fresh air.
Lady in the Water:
I am glad I watched this one second. This feels very disjointed and does not make that much sense. It opens with strangers talking and saying things that normally one would not say in a conversation with someone you just found in your pool. It gives a very strange and surreal feeling. So far it reminds me of something I would see in a foreign art film. As this edit goes on, the damage to the film’s story and integrity increases. This is one film where it is critical for more characterization and back story. Instead due to the removal of many such scenes, you are given a general plot idea, but it moves way too fast and removes too much to be anything of interest or sense. It really killed the film and only 30 mins in I am having a hard time viewing it.
Ok look, I was only able to make it to 52 mins before I started skimming with the fast forward button. I just could not watch it any longer past this point. Even if the ending does work well, there is already too much damage committed that seeing the rest is not worth the bother. I am really sorry to sound like this, but this edit just fails horribly. Keep in mind I did see the film on dvd before and this edit only slightly makes sense with the knowledge of what is already going to happen. God knows how one would interpret this particular edit if they never saw the film beforehand?
The use of black and white on this feature does hamper it and removes most of the fantasy element by making it feel kind of dreary and dull in addition to my previous thoughts about what the editor removed. I just cannot recommend this half of the edit at all. In theory it was an interesting idea, but on the screen it just failed to translate over
Overall this edition is worth viewing alone for the great improvement with The Happening, but what a horrible mess for Lady in the Water
7 out of 10 stars.
