Under Construction

Back before Joel Schumacher was putting nipples on Bat-Suits and apologizing for Mr. Freeze's bad puns (i don't care what anyone says, i love those bad puns) in a DVD commentary, he was making some pretty decent films, such as The Lost Boys and Falling Down. So i was mildly interested going into this fanedit.

I can understand the whole being sick of the “I’m-a-cop-and-today-is-the-last-day-before-I-retire-and-I-really-should-just-sit-behind-a-desk-like-everyone-tells-me-to-but-there’s-just-this-one-case-that-only-I-can-crack-so-I’m-going-to-investigate-it-and-in-the-process-rediscover-my-love-for-police work-and-maybe-I-won’t-retire-after-all” cliché, as Adabisi puts it. If anything, the joke character in comedies has become a cliché itself.

Overall, this edit is good and gets what the editor wanted across. But the fact that the original movie was meh (interesting, but meh) to begin with leaves little in this edit's favor. I kinda like the cop, because it broke the movie up with something that wasn't the "angry white man" for the entire movie. It also helps with the cop appearing at the end instead of making us think "Where did he come from? Thank god that specific cop was there"

All in all, i can't really recommend this edit, due to it not being "interesting" enough for an edit, but i have no complaints towards it, as it's both well edited and gets the point across.

While I enjoyed the focus on Michael Douglas, too much of Robert Duvall was edited out, making his sudden appearance at the end scene feel completely out of context. I appreciate the edit, but perhaps it was too much.

November 15, 2009 @ 4:46 pm

I loved this edit.
I’ve only seen this once before, I believe at the theatre, and forgot how much I love this movie.

It reminds me of Robocop’s social commentary and Network’s “I’m mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore” theme. Hell, the nazi in the basement reminded me of Pulp Fiction, which was released after this movie, if memory serves me correctly.

Editing, audio and video – it’s all top notch.

The police investigation is not missed at all and makes for a great viewing experience.

The only nitpick is the presentation. No chapter menues – Just a static main menu with a Play button.

Overall 9/10

Thanks for this. This is what fanediting is all about!

November 15, 2009 @ 10:24 pm

Keeping the focus on Bill really maximizes his journey. Great edit. I agree with zeppelinrox’s comments regarding social commentary – it stands out even more presented in this manner.

This is quite a radical edit in that Duvall's character only appears at the beginning and end of the film. The entire investigation into D-Fens is ignored which I can understand to provide an alternate viewing experience. As a by product the removal of Duvall's scenes means D-FENS moves around L.A at a frenetic rate, enjoyable (if a little fast paced for me). Editing was smoothly handled as far as i could tell from a casual watch, well worth a view for the uniniated as a streamlined version of a cracking flick. I would probably have interspersed a little more of the investigation into D-Fens into it personally but then I guess you end up with something very similar to the original movie which negates the need to edit in the first place Nice job Adabisi!