Captain America and the Red Skull

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Captain America and the Red Skull
Faneditor Name:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2011
Original Running Time:
124
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
108
Time Cut:
16
Available in HD?
Brief Synopsis:
Steve Rogers is transformed into Captain America, the star-spangled super soldier who must save the world from the mad Red Skull, leader of the Nazi deep science division Hydra.
Intention:
This edit presents a self-contained story that is higher on drama, cohesion, and tension, by making two major changes: Cap is no longer frozen and awoken in the present day, and Red Skull’s presence is edited so he feels more mysterious and formidable. In addition, the aftermath of Bucky’s death is recut for greater emotional impact, and the climax is recut to give Steve a more logical reason for crashing the plane.
Other Sources:
Captain America: The First Avenger Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Alan Silvestri)
Release Information:
Digital
Editing Details:
Note: This fanedit is not in continuity with The Avengers or the wider "Marvel Cinematic Universe" and will instead be followed by a direct sequel fanedit called Captain America and the Winter Soldier.
Cuts and Additions:
00.00.00 - Added fanedit disclaimer.
00.00.45 - Cut Cap frozen in present day. Revealing the film’s ending drains tension from the story.
00.00.55 - Extended “Tonsberg, Norway” location title.
00.14.28 - Moved scene of Zola and Schmidt discussing the blue cube so that it opens scene of Schmidt killing Hitler’s check-in committee (new position is 00.37.08). The scene's original placement distracts from Steve’s story early on in the film.
00.15.30 - Trimmed "Much better" from Phillips' line "And because they are gonna get better... Much better." The joke is funnier when it's subtler.
00.16.52 - Rearranged shots so Steve unhinges the flagpole before being told to fall back in line.
00.20.11 - Trimmed Erskine telling Steve about Schmidt, mainly to remove one of the strange cutaways of Schmidt.
00.31.11 - Moved reaction shot of Stark so he removes his sunglasses after Steve's new body is revealed (new position is 00.31.22).
00.32.07 - Cut Erskine noticing the spy before the explosion at the lab, which ruined the surprise of the explosion.
00.38.17 - Cut Zola and Schmidt testing the blue cube. This scene makes too much of the blue cube’s power, which barely affects the plot or gives Hydra any real advantage. The cube’s power is now first seen when Schmidt harnesses its energy to kill Hitler’s check-in committee.
00.40.37 - Inserted shot of blue cube machine powering down after use.
00.52.31 - Cut Schmidt talking to Zola at factory, so his confrontation with Steve at factory later is a surprise.
00.52.40 - Cut Dugan’s line “You know Fritz, one of these days I’m gonna have a stick of my own.” Dugan appears to speak this line to a Hydra guard, which is odd.
00.56.15 - Cut Schmidt watching security cameras at factory.
00.56.42 - Cut Schmidt activating self-destruct at factory.
00.56.42 - Added “Self-destruct sequence initiated” voiceover when Zola is running to escape the factory.
00.57.06 - Cut Schmidt retrieving blue cube at factory.
00.59.20 - Cut Steve hitting Schmidt a second time on the factory catwalk. The scuffle now ends with Schmidt knocking Steve over, which makes Schmidt look more formidable.
01.00.04 - Cut Steve asking Schmidt why he’s running. This line makes Schmidt look like a coward, and the Red Skull reveal has more impact if Steve is speechless.
01.10.56 - Cut Peggy’s line “You still don’t know a bloody thing about women.” Nothing we can’t figure out ourselves.
01.12.45 - Moved Red Skull driving to the destroyed Hydra base so that it ends the war montage (new position is 01.14.17).
01.13.41 - Cut shot of Cap looking concerned directly after the cameraman sees his photo of Peggy. This is a strange thing to include in a film that's being screened. The photo of Peggy should just feel incidental.
01.14.17 - Cut second slow motion shot of Cap jumping off exploding tank. This felt excessive.
01.14.21 - Cut Red Skull screaming “You are failing!” so he doesn't look pathetic.
01.16.48 - Cut Zola on train. We shouldn’t see him before the heroes capture him.
01.17.09 - See above.
01.17.37 - See above.
01.18.18 - After Bucky’s death, rearranged scene order: 1) Steve mourning; 2) Red Skull speech; 3) Zola interrogation; 4) War room. This new scene order gives Bucky’s death more weight.
01.19.53 - Cut Peggy’s line “You won’t be alone” so that bar scene flows into Red Skull’s speech better.
01.20.53 - Trimmed Zola interrogation so that we enter the scene when Philips sits down.
01.22.12 - Cut Phillips’ line “That would be awkward” during interrogation. Felt like an anachronistic use of the word “awkward.”
01.22.36 - Cut Zola talking about Schmidt during interrogation. Zola has no reason to be so melodramatic after being so mousy for the rest of the film, and we learn everything he says elsewhere in the film.
01.22.37 - Recut war room scene to flow better following previous scene.
01.25.10 - Added short quote of “Rain Fire Upon Them” music when Cap is escorted into Hydra base.
01.25.48 - Cut Red Skull’s line “But he gave you everything.” Erskine didn’t give Steve a stronger serum – the serum was simply unperfected when Schmidt used it.
01.26.03 - Added bass hits when Red Skull punches Cap, to make punches seem harder.
01.28.22 - Cut Cap's line "You're late." This is a very cliched callback to Peggy saying the same line earlier.
01.28.39 - Cut pilots boarding the Valkyrie. In this edit, the bombs are not flown – they are launched automatically. This change gives Cap a better reason to crash the Valkyrie.
01.29.19 - Cut Cap swinging on chain. This is weirdly edited and the slow motion looks cheap.
01.31.20 - Cut Cap fighting pilots and piloting a bomb.
01.31.20 - Inserted Red Skull setting timers for the bomb launch.
01.31.50 - Cut Red Skull’s line “You don’t give up, do you?” He should be focused on trying to kill Cap, and this callback is way too on-the-nose.
01.31.58 - Tightened editing in Cap vs. Red Skull fight to give it more impact.
01.32.13 - See above.
01.33.57 - Recoloured shot of Red Skull so that blinding light is momentarily red rather than blue.
01.34.29 - Inserted shot of bomb labeled “New York.”
01.34.51 - Inserted launch countdown when Cap is piloting the Valkyrie.
01.36.37 - Inserted launch countdown and shot of bomb bay door opening.
01.39.22 - Cut Cap waking up in present day. This scene diminishes the drama of his sacrifice, spoils the charm of the film’s period setting, and has no thematic relation to the rest of the story.
01.41.41 - Replaced “Captain America: The First Avenger” in titles sequence with faneditor credit and fanedit name.
01.48.14 - Replaced “Captain America will return in The Avengers” tag with “Captain America will return” tag.
01.48.28 - Cut Avengers trailer after end credits. This movie shouldn’t feel like set-up for another movie.
Bomb Launch Preview

User reviews

11 reviews
 
82%
 
18%
5-7 stars
 
0%
3-5 stars
 
0%
1-3 stars
 
0%
Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.9(11)
Audio Editing
 
9.9(11)
Visual Editing
 
9.9(11)
Narrative
 
9.4(11)
Enjoyment
 
9.0(11)
View all user reviews View most helpful
Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Once I found the fanedit community, this was probably the edit I was most excited to see. A cut of First Avenger that makes the film a self-contained period superhero movie? Sign me up! I couldn't help but compare this to another Joe Johnston-directed underappreciated period superhero movie, the Rocketeer. And this edit really goes a long way to recreating that same pulp feel in First Avenger.

I was excited to see a self-contained Cap movie that had a bit more of a Joe Johnston pulp hero / original golden age Kirby-Simon feel to it, but what I didn't expect, and what pleasantly surprised me the most, is how this edit literally benefits every single character.

Steve was Captain America before he even got the serum, and this made me feel that. I think it was the moving of the scene where Zola and Schmidt discuss the blue cube, but the flow of the movie here was much improved, to Steve's character's benefit.

Much of the cut time benefits the other characters as well, I felt like I'd gotten to know Peggy, Col. Phillips, Howard Stark, and many of the Howling Commandos much better than in the original movie. Maybe it was the overall flow of the movie, or maybe it was that, by omitting the other scenes, they just had a higher screen time by overall percentage, but I really felt it with these characters specifically.

Zola is weaselier. Schmidt is colder and more threatening, and more unhinged. This was a truly fantastic performance by Hugo Weaving that I don't feel I appreciated before seeing this edit.

The only parts that didn't really work for me were the slow-mo shots (throwing the shield at camera and jumping off the giga-tank) in the "destroying Hydra" montage... they just felt clumsy and dated, but I don't know that there's much editing could do for those specifically. And the other part that didn't work was the first confrontation between Steven and Schmidt, and the big reveal of the Red Skull. It felt like it came up way to abruptly, with no real lead-up, and the whole sequence just felt kind of awkward to me. And it's weird the way its edited that Skull and Zola just kind of... show up, mouth off, do a quick fight, and then leave. I know the reason to be because of the self-destruct sequence, that they just run into Bucky and Cap on their way out, but I definitely didn't feel that pressure prior to or during the scene. It felt like Skull was just leaving for the hell of it.

The cut of the reaction to Bucky was brilliant, and vastly improves that part of the movie. The cut of the final confrontation and the ditching of the plane are ESSENTIAL improvements of this movie. They actively make the sequence better and make more sense.

This is a great edit that gives me Rocketeer vibes, AND makes me appreciate every single character in this movie at least a little bit more. Loved it.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
B
1 reviews
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Overall rating
 
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
So much better than the original. I remember being so bored when I watched it, but this edit kept me entertained the whole movie. I couldn't tell where any edits were. I think the biggest improvements were around Bucky's death scene being more impactful, and overall the movie being shorter with better pacing. Still not one of my favorite Marvel movies, but it is much better now.
A
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(Updated: July 21, 2022)
Overall rating
 
8.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
Third time watching this movie, hadn't seen it for years.... I just recall not really liking it, had potential but visible flaws.

And all I can say is this edit does a great job at correcting and trimming those flaws. Pacing is excellent, editing is flawless... Overhall changes are subtle, but everything is on point. The experience is more dramatic, fun, climatic.
From a pretty average MCU cut to a Top 10 one for me.
(Top 10 not being a MCU fan, it's "just" a cool movie for me, Great improvement nonetheless)

Really nice job there.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 1
Overall rating
 
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
Definitely my go-to version to the first entry of Captain America trilogy. PE plays magic with the original source to deliver the best possible edit. The pace is consistent. This is not an Avenger's movie where you would expect a big end climax and more thrilling feelings. However, PE gives to the movie the right resonance in all dramatic aspects. I care about the characters (Captain and Agent Carter), I believe that relationship and empathize with them. Red Skull is better presented and trimming of some lines helps him to create a more authentic character. I particularly love the end of this edit, the way tension is managed.

My enjoyment cannot score higher due to the source material... No fan editor can fix that. Finally, and my only criticism is the Audio/Video quality. It's still 2chanells (now fanedits tend to come in 6) and the image seems 720p with low bitrate. Anyway, file size/quality ratio is superb 3,48Gb. An updated version in these regards would be awesome to make a perfect edit.

Congrats PE!! Such a good job =)

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
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View all user reviews