Daredevil: The Man Without Fear

This is one of the best fanedits I ever saw and makes justice to Daredevil! It cuts a lot of bad stuff and adds the best stuff the Director´s cut has. This was a very pleasant fanedit to watch... Saying more will spoil the experience! Congratulations Uncanny Antman!

UA's Man without Fear is a minor miracle for DD fans. This film has been transformed into superhero-noir.
Noir/Crime elements are the highlight: main plot is now Matt fulfilling his self-proclaimed purpose in life as lawyer and vigilante to help an innocent man framed for murder, using his powers to decipher clues (that PI investigation scene was awesome) as through the course of the film he slowly amasses enough info to discover the Kingpin's identity. Subplot is his doomed love with Elektra (fitting too that Bullseye gets away).

Though many have mentioned a disjointed feel re development of the Elektra love story, I felt it right that his jobs (as lawyer and DD) took center stage, and had no problem having the love subplot run in the background. After the introduction of Elektra in the coffeeshop scene, she is alluded to only in dialogue before coming to the fore after Matt's talk w Foggy and his decision to seriously explore matters w her, after which we jump to Matt introducing Elektra to his favorite rooftop spot, the same one shown at the beginning of the film. Here both let each other into their respective lives, sharing a kiss before Matt chooses work once again and leaves Elektra alone as he attends to his DD duties.

One minor quibble re the opening credits: while brilliant to portray Stick and the training montage, I don't think the light brown color works with the overall aesthetic of the film as a whole. Regarding all the other aspects - music, edits, narrative choices - all are spot on. This is a film of its time, and is dated, and UA embraces those aspects, highlighting rather than downplaying them. The fight scenes are solid and bloody, and while some performances w clunky dialogue and delivery still exist (retained for their narrative functions), the film as a whole works, and works well.

Overall this is much more a character study on Matt Murdock, and, though by no means perfect (due to what UA had to work with), is a solid film that respects the character and portrays a gritty, grounded Daredevil that does justice to the source material.

Fantastic work UA!

Well, hello Uncanny Antman!
Let's start by saying I grew up with "Daredevil"'s theatrical cut, him being one of my favourite superheroes and one of my favourite characters growing up and to this day. But, time has helped me realise, how the film actually was flaw filled. The "Director's Cut" makes the film one of the best out there in its genre, for the most part, and I really think if it were released as it was originally intended it would be widely considered one of the best superhero films. The story serves justice, has depth under almost all perspectives, the acting is good, the action good, except specific scenes we know about, Graeme Revell's music cues are particularly good and so is the direction, which can, though, sometimes feel cheeky. What irritated me of the director's cut was, though, the wire work, which is overused and "floaty", as the fan editor calls it, and some computer generated imagery which was bloated at times.
I, out of curiosity, really, watched your fan edit of "Daredevil", "Daredevil: The Man Without Fear" and was overwhelmed by how much the film could actually be much, much, much, much better! Like, now, really Good! Good with a capital G. I loved how all, every little, minimal aspect was payed attention to, from continuity on all scales, to development, to little details in one shot, but most importantly: narrative importance. And by that I mean you gave weight where it was needed, adding it where it was less. This makes "Daredevil: The Man Without Fear" one of the greatest superhero films out there. Furthermore, the stuffed ending is gone, and in its place a brilliant, round-up which brings the story to a closure, with a warm, heart-felt smile toward the future for Matt Murdock.
I would like to add I was stunned by your ability as a music consultant: all the choices of music were great. The human break between Elektra's death and Karen's contribution, with which eventually the Tazio case is solved and that brings Daredevil face-to-face with Daredevil is one of the best things to happen to the storyline. I also would like to touch upon the seemless edits and tweaking of music, all of which for the best. The film never felt rushed, the action always feels deserved, and nothing ever feels gratuitous or called upon, rather deserved. I would finally like to add I saw this the first time when I downloaded it and in a week I think I saw it more than three times.
I would not have the edit one bit different, but would love an extended edition where Quesada's assassination is showed, without his trial. This would maybe give more weight to the theme of Daredevil coming to ask himself if he really isn't the bad guy. Also, if possible another short scene with Elektra and Matt would be nice, perhaps a short conversation before and excluding the park fight?

In conclusion, this is probably one of the best fan edits out there and my personal favourite of the few I have seen, also thanks to the original material, with which, as I have said, I have grown up with. This is the definitive version of the film, and will change your mind about the film if you thought you didn't like it! Watch "Daredevil: The Man Without Fear" and you will beyond love it!

P.S. The cover and DVD are pluses. Stunning!

-- Canon Editor

Daredevil was a movie I wanted to like but couldn’t. Sure it was occasionally fun, but the CGI silliness, OTT antics, and convoluted plot obscured what could have been a engaging and relatable origin story. There were enough worthwhile elements to make me hopeful for the spinoff Elektra, but I was sorely disappointed, and while Daredevil seemed good by comparison, a second viewing of it on DVD reminded me how bad it really was.

I originally couldn’t find a different Uncanny Antman (UA) fanedit I was looking for, so I thought I’d sample a portion of one of his other works just to see what he could do. I was pleasantly surprised when I reached the end of his “Daredevil: The Man Without Fear” fanedit without dropping it or hitting fast play, and feeling eager for more.

The opening title sequence with the Marvel Knights logo was an auspicious beginning. The focused prologue with its simple human drama was satisfying but felt unfamiliar, almost as if I was watching a reboot, but using the same actors. Only when it came to Affleck’s initial outing as Daredevil (DD) did I start to feel anything was amiss. The transition almost directly into DD’s violent confrontation felt abrupt, though a first time viewer might not notice anything missing. However, that concern dissipated as the rapid pace of the story carried me along and I realized showing DD’s initial foray without preamble symbolized the rudderless state of his life at that point and makes his self-affirmation at the end all the more powerful.

My biggest gripe is the lack of buildup to DD’s romance with Elektra. While I agree with the artistic reasons for cutting Affleck’s initial athletic flirtation with Garner, I felt their romantic development was already underdeveloped in the theatrical cut. I like UA’s restructuring to eliminate flashbacks, but perhaps one or two flashbacks to that cut scene could have been used to lend credibility to their romance. Unfortunately the two leads have no other costarring roles to mine for new material and I doubt Pearl Harbor had anything useful given Garner’s small role in it, but possibly scenes shot from the perspective of her love interest (implying it’s DD’s perspective) in some other role(s) she’d played could’ve been inserted to support the romance. Still, sufficient chemistry shone through and I was satisfied with where things ended.

The soundtrack UA ended up with felt perfect and did not distract from the unfolding of the story like in the theatrical cut. The audio and visual transitions themselves felt seamless. I would’ve like to have seen more contrast in some of the night scenes, especially since DD can “see” in the dark, but I understand the limitations of the source material and the symbolism of keeping things in the shadow.

By the end of this edit, I felt the right amount was told about Daredevil, but to expand the story in a satisfying way would’ve required a whole nother feature film. The original can be put in storage and this fanedit can be put on the shelf as a worthy professional quality replacement.

Bonus points for the fantastic DVD menu and extras UA produced for his release. The “Removed Material” while interesting examples of filmmaking technique certainly did not belong in the film proper. The fictitious “Return of the Kingpin” teaser makes for an interesting what-if. “Law & Order: Hell’s Kitchen” if actually produced could bring me back to watching police procedurals. Finally the “Nelson & Murdock” 80’s TV spoof almost makes me think Netflix should just skip their upcoming Daredevil series and go directly to a wacky retro procedural spinoff. I look forward to watching more features and shorts from this editor.

I'm only knocking the A/V due to the unavailability of an HD version, but for a DVD release, it's a 10.

I'm not going to apologize, but Daredevil was always a guilty pleasure movie for me. It was one of the first of the golden age of comic book films that actually showed the main character make each day a physical struggle. You can see a lot of pieces that were used in better films like The Dark Knight with a protagonist that gets hurt but keeps pushing forward. That said, it's a guilty pleasure for a reason. The script is weak and the direction is a mess.

Thankfully, Uncanny Antman has delivered with an exceptional edit that rearranges the narrative in surprisingly effective ways. If you hate Daredevil, this may not turn the tide, but it's certainly far more interesting (especially if you have yet to see the Director's Cut).

Starting right from the beginning, losing the narration lets the images speak for themselves and expects a bit more from the audience. The story is there, but it doesn't spoon-feed what the characters are thinking, which is nice. Also, keeping the music period to the 80s in the origin story is key. The Theatrical Cut always felt messy because of the constant barrage of current music. This cut widens it, not worried about selling a soundtrack CD.

The opening title sequence is the biggest nail in the coffin of the theatrical version. Uncanny Antman's new sequence is amazing and does so much with such a little amount of time that brings the viewer into the present, while not short-changing Matt's training and his mission over a long period of time. Amazingly well-crafted and utterly professional that is miles above the insipid original titles.

Cutting down Quesada substantially is also a stroke of genius. We only see him in the biker bar and Daredevil beats him and his goons down without saying a word. No stupid lines about justice or giving the devil his due. Just a hard-hitting beatdown. Also, Uncanny Antman THANKFULLY removes the shot of Daredevil stopping mid-fight to "watch" bullets wizzing by through one of the worst uses of the CGI for super-hearing. Daredevil doesn't kill anybody this time around, but they're surely heading to the hospital.

The only weak link in the chain is in Elektra. Unfortunately, by removing the playground fight completely, it feels like there is a piece of the story missing. It truly sticks out that we don't see Matt use his charms at all on Elektra. We see her act coldly to Matt in the coffee shop. Then the next time we see her, she's on the rooftop in a romantic scene with Matt. It's an A to C moment that is a bit jarring. We also never see that she actually is a bit of a fighter. I would love to have seen just a tiny bit of the beginning of the playground fight, that ends the scene at Matt saying, "You sure you don't want to tell me your name?" and before all the crazy flipping around and terrible score kicks in. It's too bad that Elektra takes off her jacket because it creates a continuity error to use the bookend of the Director's Cut sequence when Elektra's bodyguards show up, which would have helped wrap the scene.

Despite my misgivings about Elektra's story, which is truly hindered by the original film that Uncanny Antman worked from, everybody else's story and performance is boosted by removing extraneous comedy and melodrama. It's a wonderful domino effect that leads into major moments of the ending being removed entirely. At first, it felt like it may have removed too much, but watching it a second time and unburdening myself from the original film's structure, I realized that the indeed the church fight and Ben Urich learning the truth about Daredevil are truly unneeded. Urich still has an arc because he's the tie to the truth in the Lisa Tazio case and Bullseye is just an assassin with no personal vendetta to Daredevil. He killed Elektra, job done.

Side bar: I loved the "Psycho Killer" bar darts sequence. Very creepy use of music and tone. Also, the new Kingpin introduction with a moody orchestral is definitely the way to go. N.E.R.D. is a welcome casualty of this cut.

The fight scenes are much shorter, but they have more brutality in its ferociousness. It just plays better without all the Crouch Tiger style flying about. Kudos on these cuts. There are many and they all work for the better, especially in the final fight with The Kingpin. There were numerous times in this version that I was wincing. Even what looked stupid in the original cut (Kingpin tossing Daredevil across the room into a wall) is expertly sped up and just on the right side of believable. Also, no "use the Force" moment with Daredevil remembering his water trick to see The Kingpin. Truly amazing.

Honestly, there's so much that's great here and the restructuring of scenes was surprising in a way that left me wondering why it wasn't done that way in theatrical cut! By giving Matt some time to grieve, it gives more weight to losing Elektra and ties in better to Uncanny Antman's subdued and hopeful ending. No "here's where all the characters are" type of ending montage, just a look of actual happiness for the first time on Matt's face. Cut to credits.

Finally, that swinging bit to kick Bullseye off the motorcycle. Genius.

Watch this version. You won't be disappointed. It's definitely my go-to in the future.