Batman Begins: Dark Cut

WARNING: I have not seen this movie in about a year, I don't normally watch this movie as I don't really like it that much

This edit makes the movie significantly better, the changes made to the film are very subtle but improve the story drastically. The edit is called "the dark cut" and it does exactly what you would expect: it makes the movie darker. By removing campy humour, silly lines, and strange writing/directing-related decisions (looking at Gordon driving the batmobile). JMB also has done a great job at changing Rachel's voice in order to improve her (awful) acting.

Video/Audio quality was fine, nothing wrong that I noticed. Visual editing was great, cool effects with the batmobile's GPS/AI interface. Audio editing was superb, Rachel's voice was amazing and video game lines were perfectly integrated into the film. The narrative is now much better and flows quicker with more developed and less goofy characters making the story way more interesting.

I really enjoy this version of Batman Begins, it is now my go-to version of the movie if I ever feel like watching the movie. Good work, JMB! :)

Foreword: I haven't seen the original in sometime, which prefer for watching edits and I also didn't review your changes ahead of watching, which I also prefer. I looked at the edit list back when I downloaded the edit, but I like to not know exactly what I'm walking into so I don't watch an edit for a few months or more after downloading them.

What I liked: It did feel darker, but I wouldn't say it felt more batman. There are so many version of batman, that, yes it felt more like a dark batman but not the "true" batman. I really thought everything flowed after the first 30 or so min. I Also, like how you repeat the childhood scenes throughout the movie, much better than I remember the original doing this. I also, thought batman seemed more put together with your version than what I remembered the first time watching.

What I didn't: I think my only complaint coming into this not familiar with the original (meaning I hadn't seen it in years) was that the beginning felt a little rushed and jumpy compared to the remaining 3/4 of the movie which I thought was overly clear. I also thought some of the humor left in felt more out of place than it did in the original since I remember one liners being through the movie. And my last thing is I had thought the movie would be streamlined a little more down to say 90, not a big deal, I just remembered a lot of filler in from the original that I thought wasn't needed, so this last thing is more me than necessary.

Overall: I really liked this, but I think it might have made the point more to put things in more linear, start with this childhood (you did some), then flash forward to the court room stuff, and then after he disappears start with him in prison and such.

Extra: This edit would benefit from a re-encode from the source material, also you should include the commentary on the avi, as extra audio tracks are very easy to embed.

Great work

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.

I’m sorry man, this didn’t really work for me.

The Good -
All the cuts you made to the story were great. It definitely felt more like Batman. Especially the Docks.

The Bad -
Holmes’ voice. Very distracting for me. I understand the reason behind it but it just didn’t work. She didn’t sound like a natural human being to me. It screamed of digital editing. Every time she would talk brought me out of the movie. It’s ironic because Katie’s natural voice brings you out of it, so I guess now I know how you felt.

Certain parts sounded perfectly fine but other lines sound way off. A great example is around the 1:20:18 mark. When she answers the phone, the first part (“Rachel Dawes… who authorized that?”) she sounds like a transvestite. Then the next part (“Get Crane down there right now…”) she sounds like a normal person.

Sad to say but the new manly sore throat voice was a deal breaker for me.

FANEDIT RATING – 8

Audio/Video Quality – 9
Visual Editing – 10
Audio Editing – 7
Degree of Editing – 9

(NOTE: “Degree of Editing” is a 100% arbitrary rating that I keep in mind when reviewing edits. This is not meant to insinuate that a faneditor is lazy or not. Some fanedits require a lot more work than others and I take this into account.)

MOVIE RATING – 7

Narrative – 8 (original is 8)
Enjoyment – 6 (original is 9)

OVERALL RATING – 7

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