ANNIHILATION - NOITALIHINNA

I have no great love for Garland's productions in general. He has a nasty habit of devolving complex beginnings of storylines into incoherent murder festivals and out-of-place inanity when he realizes his plans have far outstripped his intellect; he badly needs a co-director with power equal to his own, as do many big-budget directors of the past couple decades. However Annihilation's visuals are so fascinating that I wanted to give this one another shot. This is way better than the original, with a pile of goofy shit toned down or removed entirely to keep the tone much more cohesive. Perhaps The Scribbling Man should be Garland's co-director?

This felt like a great way to watch a film that I already knew I enjoyed. The changes made to the soundtrack within the simmer and the adjustments made to the flashbacks and traveling made the entire experience flow much more naturally while highlighting the alien environment that we are now in. I do wish the double deer scene was left in place just because I personally found that scene beautiful despite the CG, and it does feel too short lived when used as a backdrop for the description of the shimmer.

The cutting down of a lot of the dialogue was great for a re-watch, but I am unsure how that would have affected an initial viewing of the film. I would wholly recommend this for anyone who was a fan of the original film who is hoping to recapture some of that magic.

Truly a fantastic way to watch this movie. I hadn't even noticed the jarring score before but now that I've seen it this way it's very noticable. It also helps to separate the real world from the Shimmer, and makes it feel like the alien location it was meant to be.

The subtle trims to the characters were great, and helped keep the movie feeling smart rather than condescending. The audience is treated more capably as well.

The only thing I wish was a little better was the "dance" between Lena and the clone. I get what the metaphor is, self-destruction turned literal, you get out what you put in, etc. but I wish it was less awkwardly graceful and strangely threatening. Not much anyone can do about it I guess.

Great work!! It's my go-to for the movie now.

I remember watching Annihilation at the theater and being spellbound and unnerved, especially in the culminating lighthouse scene. Reading over the changelog and comparing some scenes to the theatrical edition, I realize how much more Scribbling Man elevates the film and trims the fat. I agree with others that this IS the definitive version.

The cuts and transitions and newly re-arranged scenes were all professionally done. I did notice 2 changes I wanted to add here for completeness: 1) 19:46 - the fade away from Lena's laugh feels a bit abrupt and 2) 53:22 - Lena's "hold on" almost appears dubbed or out of sync. However, these don't warrant removing editing points for.

Additionally, excellent opening/closing titles, and thank you for including subtitles!

As a whole, this is a seamless edit that I highly recommend and will turn to for future watches. Thank you for sharing your work!

Like other reviewers, I can confirm that this is THE definitive way to watch Annihilation.

While the original was an enjoyable and arguably under-appreciated sci-fi gem, it wasn't as good as it could've been. Scribbling Man's clever, skillful edits are subtle enough that a first-time viewer wouldn't know they were watching an edit (but for the logos and altered credits), while someone watching the movie for the second time will appreciate the changes.

Again, this is simply the best way to enjoy this film, period.