Cyborg I: The Retro-con Cut

Dwight Fry Feb 25 2012

I loved this edit! I’m not all that familiar with the source material, but it’s hard to tell this was a fanedit at all. The elements I know were fanedited, were integrated in such an organic manner that seem to belong there from the beginning. I particularly liked how the transitions to the flashbacks were handled, with black and white bits marking the beginning and end of each one, but avoiding the all too easy (and tired) temptation of making them all B&W.

The episode that forms the bulk of the story was well chosen, it’s compelling and has a very Twilight Zone flavor, particularly at the start with the deserted town, the bodies, and the doll. Given that it was the first one in the series, it has that introduction feel that fits nicely with Steve’s backstory. There were two little (fanedited) bits I particularly loved: after Dr. Forbes asks Steve “What’s underneath your shell?” Bob inserts a shot of the bionic arm. That made me smile. The other one is, when in a flashback Steve, recovering from the operation, closes his bionic fist for the first time, the bionic sound effect is inserted and I thought that made the moment very powerful and heroic.

Not all was perfect, though. A couple of things didn’t totally convince me. One was the opening credits sequence, as it’s on a black background and with each of the names staying for a bit too long. It can be off-putting. Maybe I would have used the first half of the first flashback, before the plane starts to fail, as the credits background… My second quibble was with the scene between Goldman and Dr. Wells. Not only I thought it wasn’t narratively needed and included a mention to the villain of the second TV movie that is a non sequitur, but since it’s part of a flashback, how can Steve remember a conversation he didn’t witness?

Technically, this might be the most polished Bionic Bob edit to date. ZERO interlacing issues. I’m not totally sure about the aspect ratio, though: it feels like it should be full 4:3 but is slightly stretched horizontally with slim black bars on the top and bottom. Nothing too distracting, though. And the audio might include the odd pop and crackle, but so do official releases of old TV shows.

The Lost Mission was fun, and better than I expected. Probably because I was fearing Roger Moore quips and you had Steve not utter a single word. But the only thing I thought sucked was the demise of the villain, not even thinking of getting out of the way of the missile and patiently waiting for it against a background of wrinkled paper. But the edit itself was very nice, and could almost be part of the upcoming silent consecution. And, of course, excellent music.

If you make more edits of the show, I will be definitely watching. Keep ‘em coming! 9/10.

LastSurvivor Feb 24 2012

I can’t deny that television series from the 70’s and 80’s have certainly remained ingrained in my memory banks. Needless to say, the idea of a fanedit from one of my most fondly remembered shows, The Six Million Dollar Man, certainly set that old “nostalgia” part of my brain ticking – and when it’s a Bionic Bob edit, well, you know you’re in pretty safe hands.

The main bulk of the edit is based on the 1st episode proper once the series was given the green light, “Population:Zero”. It’s a wise choice, as it’s certainly one of the strongest from the first season, with a wonderful eerie “small town” style atmosphere to it. Not only that, but it actually lends itself remarkably well to the way in which Bob wanted to approach this edit, which is to basically make this as the perfect TV pilot to introduce us to the man who is, Steve Austin. This in itself is a blessing, for as much as I like the first TV movie, “The Moon and the Desert”, it really does drag in terms of pacing and once you push aside all the intriguing scenes of Steve’s accident and his process of recovery after becoming the world’s first bionic man, there is little else left to engage the viewer – well, at least this viewer anyway.

By inserting scenes from the first TV movie in the form of flashbacks, CYBORG becomes a much more multi layered version of the Population Zero episode. Of course, there is a real danger of such scenes feeling very random if they’re used too much or at the wrong moment, but one of the advantages by using this particular episode comes in the fact that Steve ends up wearing what appears to be the same space suit which he wore during the ill-fated test flight, resulting in the flashbacks feeling very natural for the most part. A shame therefore that the very last one, between Oscar and Rudy, whereby they discuss the psychological affect which the bionics are having upon Steve, does feel a bit forced. This is due to a) the fact Steve was not present and therefore would have no memory of this and b) because it also involves the shady activities of another villain from a different story which therefore have no relevance to this edit. However, Bob kind of gets away with this because on the flip-side it does work in relation to leading up to the “Lost Adventure” which makes for a very enjoyable bonus feature.

Having started to watch season1 of SMDM recently, one aspect I did miss was the bionic sound effects which I remember so fondly. I didn’t even realise that they simply didn’t exist in the first season! So, I was very relieved to see Bob has inserted these at every “bionic super feat” opportunity (Even if I think I worried my girlfriend, as every time it happened I appeared to have the smile of a 8 year old plastered across my face!). The added music also works very well – to the point where it’s hard to tell when it’s new and when it’s part of the original source. I also liked the POV zoom effect for Steve’s bionic-eye – very nicely done.

On the technical side, Bob’s editing is nicely executed, particularly the way in which the flashbacks are utilised (nice use of the heartbeat sound effect and they feel very much like they come from the time period in which the programme was originally produced). Picture quality is fine throughout for a programme of this age and I couldn’t really notice any interlacing on my TV, something which I know he had issues with when making the edit. As DwightFry mentioned, the aspect ratio appears off a little – it’s still 1.33:1 (or 4.3 if you prefer) in theory, but it does have little black bars at the top and bottom which give the impression of something in the region of 1.66:1. if you were to zoom the picture up. But hey, it’s not a real big deal and after about 5 minutes I’d forgotten about it.

Now, as much as I’m a fan of all BionicBob edits, the audio side of the equation can occasionally fall a little short. Certainly it’s a side of fanediting which has got better for Bob on each edit and I’m glad to report that CYBORG continues the upward trend of smooth transitions and sound levels which for the most part appear just about right. Good job mate

All in all then, CYBORG is everything I wanted this edit to be. It genuinely has become the ultimate Six Million Dollar Man pilot for me and to anyone who was coming to the series for the first time, I would quite honestly show this over any of the three TV movies. A well deserved 9/10.

Oh, and as for the news that there will be at least one more SMDM edit to come? All I can say is you’ve made me so excited that I want to go on ebay and purchase the “Bionic Transport and Repair Station” – my favourite toy which I used to have when I was about 5 or 6! Thank you Bob

rogue-thex feb 24 2012

This review is based on my opinions and my personal viewing experience, nothing is meant as an attack. Spoiler warning!

I really liked this edit! I like the music replacement because i could never tell where there was new music; so it is very well done. There are some volume issues, but probably wont be noticed by the casual viewer and they did not spoil the experience for me. I think i heard a small pop at the closing of one of the flashback scenes that i don’t think was supposed to be there.
I would have worked on the style of the transitions between flashbacks more, Bob almost had the Easy Rider type transitions going in a few places and it would have been better if perfected a bit more IMO (however interlacing issues may have may have made it very difficult for Bob to do all the things he would have liked to do in this matter). When Steve is looking into the fire: i thought it would have worked better if you cut to a shot of a garbage can burning (close up shot of fire, not necessarily a burning garbage can) and have it zoom in on the fire, as it zooms in it blurs and transitions into the flashback, then when the flashback is over use the same method only reverse: unblur/unzoom -> shot of steve watching fire, then you wouldn’t have had to re-use the eye shot (which wasn’t colored for night). Some of the transitions felt a bit forced but if i didn’t know it was a fanedit i probably wouldnt have thought about it (but there’s only so much to work with when fanediting). But that’s just me. I like the slick use of the heartbeat, and black and white to color and back again works just right!
I felt a few bits of dialog in the flashbacks were odd as i wondered what they were talking about (when they would mention stuff from another episode).
I think BionicBob accomplished what he set out to do, Great Job man!
I must say that i liked The Lost Mission bonus edit the best, it was hilarious and fun as hell!
The menu design is the best Bob has done thus far IMO and the extras are very nicely executed.
I mentioned earlier in this review that Bob was faced with interlacing problems and had to use some filters to make sure it wasn`t apparent, i NEVER ONCE noticed any interlacing on my tv so Good work, Bob!

8.75/10

Keep up the good work Bob, you rock!

blueyoda mar 3 2012

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

mar 3 2012

This was a great edit. BionicBob has grown stronger as an editor and it really shows with his Cyborg edits.