Daredevil: The Man Without Fear

As a fan of some of Uncanny Antman's previous work, I couldn't resist checking this out. Also it had been ages since I'd last seen it and I'm a fan of the character.

From what I can remember of the original and from what I read in Antman's description of changes, there is a mix of good and bad here from a story standpoint. The tone of the story seems much improved, more serious, realistic, & dramatic. He did a great job cutting out the cheese. Unfortunately the story really falls apart after Electra's death. It may well be that this is an unavoidable consequence of cutting out the cheese, or maybe that is the case in the original too. But in either case the end feels extremely rushed and unfulfilling. They make taking down the Kingpin seem about as easy as taking down a local thug, and Bullseye has no conclusion.

I applaud Antman's efforts on this. It is a great alternative to the original, but it also makes me suspect that there may be no way to salvage the story in this movie.

I only watched the SD avi of this, but based on that I would say the video and audio quality and editing are excellent if not flawless. It isn't 5.1, but that's fine. Its an older movie.

Let me start by saying, I am one of the few fans of the original theatrical version of Daredevil. I also enjoy Evanescence and their particular brand of what I call "drama rock." Then the director's cut came out and addressed some of the problems with the original, but it still wasn't ideal. Finally along comes Uncanny Antman with "Daredevil: Man Without Fear." If Marvel or 20th Century, whoever owns the rights to this film currently, were smart they would enter into negotiations with UA in order to release this cut as a "for profit" venture on DVD. It is that good. The editing, music editing, credits, and effects were as professional as any movie I have seen.

I will say this movie, the way it was cut by UA may have those not already familiar with Daredevil scratching their heads a little bit, thinking they are missing something. But if you are familiar with DD, you are in for a real treat.

my below comments contain some spoilers.

The handling of the murder of Jack was much better with him being shot, presumably by Falcone instead of having Kingpin do it (too on the nose). The interactions with Foggy were left mostly intact. I always felt the back and forth between Matt and Foggy was well played in this film. I liked the insertion of Matt's nun mother and Stick in short dream sequences, revealing glimpses into Matt's past. UA effectively ditched most of the bad wirework and CGI from this cut, leaving the action with a pretty gritty feel. All of the added soundtrack was great, but I was also happy to see some of the Evanescence tracks left in place. The rearrangement of the scenes was very well thought out and the film flowed very well. I was very happy with most of the material cut, including the subway killing of Quesada. All of the credits were incredibly professional looking and the placement of the opening credits was well thought out. It was good to see S.H.I.E.L.D. get due credit for its assistance in the making of this film in the end credits.

Now as far as nitpicks go, I would say I could have done without Matt's vision of the murder of Lisa Whatsername. Also, I am maybe the only guy on earth that prefers seeing Matt stay with Electra instead of running off to beat some people up. To me it makes him more human and gives their relationship along with her later feelings of betrayal and shock more impact. Finally, the showdown with Kingpin loses its connection and meaning due to the story rearrangement. It kind of leaves the viewer wondering why Matt is so pissed off at the Kingpin when 'twas Bullseye that killed his lady love. No real solid evidence is left in the film that Kingpin ordered Electra's killing. To me, the Kingpin comes off as a profit motivated gangster who will eliminate anyone in his path, but any connection to Electra's killing is merely circumstantial.

Technically, this cut seemed perfect. I didn't detect any problems at all with the video or audio edits. I've only seen the avi so far, so I can't comment on the menus and special features.

It took UA a long time to complete this edit and it took me a very long time to get it downloaded, but by God it was definitely worth the wait. UA, I seriously think you could do film editing for a living (if you don't already). What is the release date for Daredevil: Return of the Kingpin? It looks like a great sequel.

Certainly the best way to watch Daredevil. The editing was smooth as butter on both the video and audio side. Had I not known it was a fan edit or already seen the original I wouldn't have suspected a thing.

The main plot points were all hit, and there were only a couple of areas that were VERY slightly jarring due to cut footage, and it was so minor that I'm not sure I would have really noticed had I not known something had been skipped.

I loved pretty much all of the rearrangements and stylistic edits (no cheese-ball narration!).

All in all a mediocre flick was transformed into something I actually enjoyed watching quite a bit. Well played, sir. Well played.

Okay, full disclosure, I've seen a LOT of FanEdits. I don't use these forums a lot but I've also done several edits of my own and sometimes when people describe their edits they seem too ambitious. I felt like this would be good but for real, despite limits to resolution and audio, this is BEYOND what a lot of people think they're doing with their work.
Song choices were nice on top of being REALLY thoughtful about the character and the title/art work and bits from "Elektra" and "Forbidden Kingdom" were EXCELLENT. The image scrubbing for the bandana tails was INVISIBLE. I want to THANK UA again for doing this work and sharing it. As someone who became a fan of DD after seeing the 2003 movie as a 12 year old, this was like getting to dive into that movie with no shame/reservations.

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.