Review Detail

I've seen the original and loved it. I've seen this edit twice now, and it's really enjoyable. Second time was with friends, and we loved it.

I'd say the quality of the visuals is tip top. Even if there's a weird bit at the end with the retrieved footage a bit dodgy, it was still excellent. What I find really decent is the way this works in B&W. It truly sticks out as super high quality B&W, with deep blacks and a lot of shades replicated. Check out the shot where Kurt Russell is standing next to his helicopter and says the Norwegians are Swedes, the picture in his shades is extremely clear. Good sign of terrific technical prowess around the cameras of 1951.

There are a couple of jarring audio edits. The classic lines where the swear words have been removed sound quite stitched together and definitely need some more dialogue editing to get them to sit naturally.

There are a couple of unnatural parts with the visual editing where in order to fit the picture into the 4:3 aspect ratio there has been some faux-tilting/tracking in the camera. Towards the end where Kurt Russell looks to one side the editing has added some tracking, and it's quite obvious without the smoothing out of the movement, as it's quite jagged.

In a matter of taste I'd say there are a few shots that are cut down a little too much in the famous 'testing' scene where we don't get to see so much of the original VFX. Then again, I understand that for pacing and flow getting this just right for everyone is almost an impossible task.

The narrative is great, it really flies along with this edit. Extremely enjoyable right from the get-go, and the poster is very much appreciated for the home media server. 100% recommended to watch.