Cosmogony

When TMBTM announced this project a few months back I was deeply intrigued. Taking the viewer on "a journey about us" is no small feat, and I think if anyone but TMBTM attempted such an ambitious project it would have failed.

It's really difficult to talk about this project as it's more about the emotion than a story per say. That said, it's a beautifully crafted piece that, I think, everyone should experience: fans of films for the entertainment value, and fan editors to see what one can do with fanedits.

I only have a handful of minor criticisms. I would have much preferred 5.1 over stereo. I would have also liked an HD release as this definitely warrants a 1080p viewing in my opinion. (Combined I knocked off 1-star for this.) It did feel a tad long and could have been trimmed by a few minutes here and there. Finally, I think it would have been more effective in the scenes with just music, especially in the beginning, if there were subtle sound effects too. (No points off for this, just a personal preference.)

Some might say this is pretentious. It might be, but the edit is effective is worth at least one watch.

This was pretty badass. The Man Behind The Mask took me on an awesome journey and I felt more at one with the universe.

It's an incredibly ambitious project. I don't think my mind would have ever put half of these films together but the TMBTM has really showed us what can be done with fan edits if you are willing to be bold. Overall, I really enjoyed seeing so many of my favorite films in such a new light.

My first impressions were mixed. I do not think the subheading fits the title, because “Cosmogony” has a high tone that does not gel with the demotic “a fanedit about us”. The cover art was exceptional though and fitted the theme perfectly.

The DVD main menu was simple and effective, with a short, well-chosen clip that avoided the usual trap of animated menus: boring me senseless with a repeating montage of what I am about to see. (It could run for a little longer before it loops though.) The chapter menu is fine, but the black text does not work well against the background image. There is a nice trailer as an extra.

The division of the work into sections, with well-chosen headings, is successful and helps to unify the edit and give it structure; however, some sections are overlong, feel disjointed and feature too much material from the usually-well-selected films from which they are sourced. As a result, there are moments in which the edit feels like watching the originals and loses pace. These include the extended sequence with the proto-humans and the latter half of the one from 1492.

Where it succeeds, the edit is wonderful. Where it doesn't, it is always interesting, even when it has ceased to be enjoyable, and this says a great deal about the scope of the edit and the ambition of its editor. A strong beginning and ending help greatly and serve to bookend an edit that feels more like a fan-creation than a fan-edit.


Video

The video, drawn from a variety of sources, is of high quality for DVD. Extremely rarely, there is some blocking. Perhaps inevitably, the quality is not always consistent, and I couldn't help feeling that some color grading could have been applied to give the edit more of a look of its own.

Unfortunately, the edit cuts between sources that display nominal analogue blanking and sources that do not, with the result that the transition from one source to another is sometimes visible, and this should have been addressed during editing. What effects shots there were did not stand out as being added, which means they succeeded. :-)

Overall, Cosmogony presents a pleasing and generally-stable image.

Audio

The audio is harder to judge. It is well edited. No cuts stand out. Dynamic range is subject to personal preference but, as the edit is largely music-based, it is worth noting that sometimes the volume is a little high. Music choices are a matter of taste, so I shall simply observe that the music chosen usually fitted the subject matter and say that the replacement of the original scoring showed skill.

TMBTM's work is always vibrant and artistic; Cosmogony is no exception. It wavers between the broad, almost dreamlike sweep for which it aims and its focus on individual moments, but is diverting to the last.

Having been intrigued by TMBTM's idea's for this, I went in with both eyes open. And, I can say I'm glad I did. A truly breathtaking experience, mixing stunning imagery, with a stunning soundtrack and a cohesive narrative.

Telling the story of us, where we've been, where we are and where we're going, TMBTM has taken some of the classics of our lifetime (The Mission, 2001, The Outlaw Josie Wales, etc), stripped them down to a core component and slapped them together to create a mind bending voyage of our past, present and possible future. And, it works. Although I would have said the scenes at the end would have been better at the beginning, but this was his choice to put them where he did, and it also works. The imagery at the beginning of space and various nebulae is truly stunning, and gets you in the mood for what is to come, and is also helped along by generous amount of Judas Priest and Beethoven, amongst others.

Picture-wise, it's great, with just a bit of pixellation here and there, but it doesn't stop the enjoyment. The music levels were sometimes a bit too high for my liking, but given the subject matter (and that it's Judas Priest), it can be forgiven.

This is the sort of movie that should be shown at festivals, as it's a thought provoking, moving and epic edit that shows that TMBTM has a true talent.

Kudos to you, sir.