Back to the Future: The Reality Cut

Spoilers ahead -

Technically speaking this edit was pretty well done for the most part. I really enjoyed that the scenes in 1955 were pillar boxed and in black and white.

Other than that, this edit was pretty lack luster. Not much (if anything) is changed besides the censoring a few lines from the TV dub. I found this change odd as I don't really see how it makes the story more "realistic" but it doesn't really detract from the experience either. When the edit ended right after Marty is hit by Lorraine's dad's car I was kind of upset. The "where are they now" segment was amusing but I don't think watching 40 something minutes of an edit that hasn't really changed much is worth it for that punchline. Also that segment seemed to cut a bit too quick between subtitles before I could finish reading them.

It was fine - sorry

LMAO

If you haven’t seen the original edit that this is based on, spoilers follow.

Video/audio quality was excellent – no complaints.

For what it is, narrative is fine, although it seems redundant to have certain elements during the setup when they aren’t going to be revisited (e.g. The clock tower).

Visual editing is flawless - zero complaints there. The black and white filter and transition to 4:3 is well done, though as a preference, I would have maybe gone a step further and added a bit of grain to the 1950's scenes. Audio editing is also very good, although the audio changes noticeably in quality and volume when Doc says “when this baby hits…” and “serious stuff”. Other than this, I didn’t notice a single audio transition and I thought that the rest of the audio swapping was well masked.

The language censoring is frustratingly inconsistent. There is one instance of “sh*t” at 41:29 that was overlooked, and none of the instances of “damn” and “bastard” were censored, which I believe were censored in the original. There could have been some nice creative cuts here, so it’s a shame they weren’t removed. I have no issue with the language being there, but I think if you’re going to do something, go the whole way.

Enjoyment is pretty low, I’m afraid. I must admit I was pretty disappointed. The editor insisted on not putting together a proper cutlist, because he didn’t want to ruin the little “surprises” along the way, but the only surprise you'll find is that there is nearly nothing that separates it from the original, bar technical proficiency. The lack of cut-list and description made it unclear whether this was just a cleaning up of the original edit, or whether things differed in any way. It turns out the edit does indeed differ a little bit from the original "Reality Cut", but not in a way that I would say is to it's merit. In fact, in some ways I would go as far as to say that this is worse than the original.

Why? It’s nearly a carbon copy remake. Quality is better, editing is slicker, but in terms of recreating the original he only went halfway. Only some of the language is censored, the ending is exactly the same except we don’t see Marty “vanish” like we do in the original (as lame as that was); it just ends, accompanied by the same “where are they now?” style closing montage.

The reason I would argue that the original is in fact better, is because at least with the original there is entertainment value to be had due to just how bloody awful it is. Abrupt jump cuts abound and the ending is so out of nowhere and amateurly done that, although anticlimactic, is actually quite charming. Whereas Bobson hasn’t really added anything new of note, and hasn’t been entirely faithful in remaking it either. Sure, he does make some tiny trims here and there along the way - all of which are well done – but I imagine these were chiefly to improve the pacing and get things going, because I honestly can’t see any other reason why they’d be cut.

Fair enough if the editor merely wanted to update and polish what was previously unworthy of an IFDB release - I'll admit I was expecting something more to be added, which had a bearing on the enjoyment rating. However, I'm not convinced it was an entirely faithful remake either, but somewhere in between. Either way, I wouldn't class this as a fanmix as such, but as either a "Preservation" or "Special Project", since this isn't really an original work.

It seems to me that the best thing to have done would have been to just take the concept of the original edit, and draw inspiration from it to create something entirely different. Unfortunately, what we have here is a classic example of what Hollywood so often does with their remakes - "upgraded" production values, predictable narrative (if you've seen the original) and lacking heart.

Having seen both versions, I have a hard time picking which one is my favorite even with all the errors of Moviejim's take...there's something incredibly endearing about his effort and his choice of cuts and his take on the ending...nevertheless, it needed to find it's way on here so Bobson has taken the effort to recreate, and even slightly tweek, the original creation. Not something that ought to be spoiled, but the use of different aspect ratios and a B&W filter to represent the differing timelines was an inspired choice of the original edit and for this one.

Another small touch is the editing of the mild profanity, replacing it with dialogue from censored versions of the film.

Experiance BTTF in a way that actually...makes sense? Such is life.