Batman Begins: Dark Cut

I don´t like Batman Begins but JMB made me like it with his fanedit! The 15 min in cuts made a lot of difference and other small stuff like Rachel´s new voice, the dialogue from the videogame, the small insert of bomb in the final fight on the train... Such small and effective things! It was a great job and improved the movie a lot. If someday I rewatch Batman Begins it will be this version and not the official.

What a treat JMB has given us! So far, this is my favourite fan edit and, in my opinion, an improvement on the original version of Batman Begins.

Cheesy lines and cliche jokes have pretty much all been removed, resulting in a consistent tone throughout the movie. Very atmospheric.

I really liked that Batman was even more of a loner in this edit (having the AI drive the batmobile at the end instead of Gordon, and tweaks to several scenes involving Rachel)

The adjustments made to the last scene with Rachel (in the rubble of Wayne manor) were especially impressive and actually resulted in an ending (in regards to their relationship) that made more sense and felt more in line with the essence of Batman (from the comics).

Rachel's voice! With JMB's adjustments to her voice, I could actually take her seriously rather than feeling like I'm listening to an annoying child.

I like that the over-the-top-ness of the bad guys (main villains like Falcone and Scarecrow, as well as henchmen) was toned down. I found them kind of silly in the theatrical cut.

And while I really liked the rooftop part of the batmobile chase scene in the theatrical cut, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the chase sequence worked without that segment (and the god-awful acting by the cops). I really liked that Rachel no longer asks "what are you doing?" and Batman says, "shortcut".

There were various adjustments made to imagery and audio throughout, but they were never out of place. The editing seemed quite professionally done. The only time an edit seemed slightly choppy was when Batman told Alfred (via radio or something) that the batmobile was his failsafe (when he was going after Ras in the train). Even then, it wasn't blaringly obvious or intrusive, and in terms of the plot and nature of Batman, it actually made more sense than having Gordon drive it.

Overall, an exceptional fan edit that I think is a lot better than the original version. I wish this is the version that I had seen in theatres. From now on, I will be watching this edit when I want my Batman fix.

Thank you very much JMB.

for people who fanedit and like to watch fanedits their number one reason for doing so is to re-watch a film with a different experience to when they first saw the film. i fondly recall seeing the batman begins at the cinema for whatever reason i didn't rush to see it but instead saw the last screening of it. they was just me and a mother with her two sons at the front but i remember just being blown away with what i saw and that ending which led us into the sequel i still believe to be one of the best endings to a film i've seen. so of course i bought it and fast forward some years later and i'm looking to re-watch the series i thought why not try a fanedit version.

the problem with this trilogy is that it has to pander to the summer blockbuster audience so often these films have humor that seems so out of place. thank god this edit cuts this out (the homeless guy and the jacket) though the cuts made are all done very well because i've seen this film a few times now it often took me out of the film (i didn't read the cut list before hand) but this happens a lot with fanedits and is in no way a negative against JMB.

so the big selling point is the voice change to Rachel, for me it's not a major concern when i first saw the original but obviously for JMB it was. so doe's it work? strangle enough i found it doe's, while cuts may have took me out of the film the new voice i found fits perfectly. i'm sure the more times i re-watch the edit the more i'll pick up the imperfections. i pretty sure you could show this edit it any casual fan and they wouldn't know the difference until you told them at the end.

the only change to the story that i feel didn't work was removing Gordon from the Batmobile. while it's done really well and to a degree i myself didn't like his involvement on repeated viewings, his removal here impacts on the characters final. overall i just felt that why did batman want gordon to have the antidote. in the original batman of course needs gordon but here it just seems like batman saves gordon and rachael but to hell with everyone else. now all gordon doe's is knock-out / chain his work college so he doesn't kill anyone.

overall i say this is a really good fanedit, it takes what was a very good film and improves certain aspects to it. i'm not sure when it comes to re-watching batman begins again that i'll go back to this version but i can say that i enjoyed watching edit and would recommend it to anyone who would like to see a different take on batman begins

The little things that bugged me about Batman Begins are almost all gone.

I really enjoyed this edit as it removed the silly parts, eg Gordon driving the batmobile, "gotta get me one of those" line, the rasta man, etc. I'm with Neglify with the voice change though. At first I liked it, but then it became very distracting.

Audio/Video: The quality is great, the menu is great, it's great. 10/10

Visual Editing:
Almost everything is smooth, but some of the cuts were a bit choppy/quick, eg. Rachel during her first conversation with Bruce/Batman. The video editing made her responses to quick imho. Also, the insert of a sniper was a bit jarring to me. Other than these examples, I really enjoyed your visual editing. Editing out the rooftop chase, the added drugged effects to Rachel's perception of batman during the chase and the mobile batmobile ui were great! The video editing was done very well. 9/10

Audio Editing:
Rachel's new voice is a little inconsistent as Neglify states. I liked it during the initial viewing of this edit, mostly for the novelty effect. But, after viewing this edit about 4 or 5 times, the voice just isn't working for me anymore. Other than the voice, the rest of the audio editing is superb. 7/10

Narrative:
The story is played out pretty much the same as the original source. The only narrative changes come by way of Rachel and Bruce's relationship, which I feel wasn't necessary. The kiss at the end is even more awkward to me as they jump in emotion so quickly, almost akin to anakin and padme in sw2. The sniper was an interesting idea, but I thought the original narrative made Falcony more dangerous and menacing, ala Bane's men willing to die for him without thought. I also missed Rachel saying "Bruce?". I think this line is key to the scene. She isn't saying "bruce is batman" she's just exclaiming naturally as a person would. No insult to the audiences intelligence here imho. The narrative did uphold Batman's no gun rule for all the purists out there. I'm giving it 7/10 because of minute changes that I personally didn't care for and/or thought added awkwardness to characters and pacing.

Enjoyment:
Initial enjoyment was a solid 9/10. Returning enjoyment is an 8/10 due to narrative changes and Rachel's new voice. I still watch this version if I'm going to watch Batman Begins simply for the no rooftop chase and no Gordon driving the batmobile editing alone. Thanks for the edit! I'd recommend this to all Batman Begins fans.

Definitely my preferred version of Batman Begins.

Technical quality – 10/10 – Great!

Editing – 10/10 – Sometimes I forgot I was watching a FanEdit, which is, in this case a good thing. I just got into the story and didn’t notice any cuts that took me out of it.

Presentation – 10/10 – No problems here.

Entertainment – 9/10 – I loved the redone scene of Chill’s shooting, the added dialogue, the changes to Katie Holmes’ voice, the trimming of unnecessary humor, the little blond kid being gone, and the changes to the Tumbler chase. Basically, I liked all of your cuts except for one: Gordon not driving the Tumbler. One thing I loved about Batman Begins is the fact that Gordon’s isn’t utterly useless like in the 90′s series. I liked how he was involved in the climax. Now it’s just a GPS and isn’t explained terribly well. I was also hoping you’d keep the “I’ve got to get me one of those” line. So I’m taking one star off the entertainment factor.

Overall – 9/10