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- Dick Tracy - The Noir Edit
Dick Tracy - The Noir Edit
Updated
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie Title:
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1990
Original Running Time:
106
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
89
Subtitles Available?
Available in HD?
Additional Links:
Brief Synopsis:
As an adult I have never felt a ton of love for due to the outrageous color scheme, and the makeup fx were always downright nuts to me as well. Its amazing that this came out the year after the first Burton Batman movie - its a complete ripoff, blasphemous in retrospect really. I can't believe I didn't notice back then it was THIS similar to the Batman. Hindsight is 20/20.
But I was amazed at how I could actually appreciate everything in this movie without all the color - even the makeup isn't quite as bad - it seems like THE PERFECT movie that a Young Bruce Wayne would have watched. There are so many similarities to Batman, besides of course the Elfman soundtrack: Big Boy seems like a hybrid of the Joker and the Penguin, Dick Tracy seems like Batman if he were a cop, the "Kid" is basically Robin. Elliot Ness similarities, sure, but this is a superhero before there were superheroes. Its so weird how much this copies and tries to be a prequel. I don't think I noticed before with all the color and ridiculous makeup. But it also hit some pretty iconic "noir" beats too.
Main Changes:
• B&W
• More noir vibes, more adult focus. Tracy edited to have a bit more confidence, less doubt, except when it comes to women.
• Original songs trimmed when the narrative allows, Miles Davis added where possible.
• Removed excess shots of bad makeup.
• Lots of dumb lines removed or edited for pacing.
• Big Boy lines are trimmed to seem darker and more menacing, less of a parody.
(That worked well for a while. Then, he had a few jokes that landed that I couldn't remove. So Big Boy starts off more menacing, but I let Pacino off the leash after a while.)
...
But I was amazed at how I could actually appreciate everything in this movie without all the color - even the makeup isn't quite as bad - it seems like THE PERFECT movie that a Young Bruce Wayne would have watched. There are so many similarities to Batman, besides of course the Elfman soundtrack: Big Boy seems like a hybrid of the Joker and the Penguin, Dick Tracy seems like Batman if he were a cop, the "Kid" is basically Robin. Elliot Ness similarities, sure, but this is a superhero before there were superheroes. Its so weird how much this copies and tries to be a prequel. I don't think I noticed before with all the color and ridiculous makeup. But it also hit some pretty iconic "noir" beats too.
Main Changes:
• B&W
• More noir vibes, more adult focus. Tracy edited to have a bit more confidence, less doubt, except when it comes to women.
• Original songs trimmed when the narrative allows, Miles Davis added where possible.
• Removed excess shots of bad makeup.
• Lots of dumb lines removed or edited for pacing.
• Big Boy lines are trimmed to seem darker and more menacing, less of a parody.
(That worked well for a while. Then, he had a few jokes that landed that I couldn't remove. So Big Boy starts off more menacing, but I let Pacino off the leash after a while.)
...
Intention:
To uncover a solid (in slightly basic) detective story beneath the color and music distracting original that hasn't aged well.
Additional Notes:
Subtitle file available
Other Sources:
Miles Davis tracks from "Ascenseur pour l'échafaud" and a cover track of the Love Theme from Chinatown (1974)
...
...
Special Thanks:
Thanks to @revel911, @bionicbob, @addiesin, @Zagadka, @revstevens, @Darth Kermit , @Scar, @MusicEd921 who provided valuable feedback, great music ideas and better tools for music removal, and also @Elby, @Last Impressions , @Workshed, @J_Scarp1273 for the motivating feedback! All of you have helped make this edit so much better than I initially planned.
...
...
Release Information:
Digital
Special Features
Subtitle file available
Editing Details:
Main Changes:
• B&W
• More noir vibes, more adult focus. Tracy edited to have a bit more confidence, less doubt, except when it comes to women.
• Original songs trimmed when the narrative allows, Miles Davis added where possible.
• Removed excess shots of bad makeup.
• Lots of dumb lines removed or edited for pacing.
• Big Boy lines are trimmed to seem darker and more menacing, less of a parody.
(That worked well for a while. Then, he had a few jokes that landed that I couldn't remove. So Big Boy starts off more menacing, but I let Pacino off the leash after a while.)
• B&W
• More noir vibes, more adult focus. Tracy edited to have a bit more confidence, less doubt, except when it comes to women.
• Original songs trimmed when the narrative allows, Miles Davis added where possible.
• Removed excess shots of bad makeup.
• Lots of dumb lines removed or edited for pacing.
• Big Boy lines are trimmed to seem darker and more menacing, less of a parody.
(That worked well for a while. Then, he had a few jokes that landed that I couldn't remove. So Big Boy starts off more menacing, but I let Pacino off the leash after a while.)
Cuts and Additions:
• New B&W Grade added.
• Intro music and radio voiceover replaced with "Générique" (Miles Davis) with some foley added as it fades.
• Shots of Little Face removed.
• Shots of Dick and Tess inside the Theatre removed.
• Removed some of Tess and Dick dialogue leaving theatre.
• Shortened Breathless song.
• Tightened Flattop arresting Lips and Breathless
• Tightened Tess and Dick dialogue outside the diner.
• Tightened Dick fight in the slums and Kid's reaction time.
• Tightened up Big Boy's encounter with Lips.
• Removed Dick's hesitation in diner.
• Removed close up shot of Dick stiring a can of beans.
• Tightened Dick's witness-badgering.
• Shortened Mumbles interrogation.
• Removed some of Big Boy's rehersal to highlight his menacing nature and avoid the slapstick.
• Tightened Dick's arrest of Big Boy.
• Reedited Dick and Breathless's first meeting and rescored it with "Le Petit Bal #Take 2" (Miles Davis)
• Tightened Dick returning home
• Tightened Big Boy leaving jail
• Reedited Dick and Breathless's second meeting in dick's office and rescored it with "Chez le Photographe du Motel" (Miles Davis) with some foley added as it fades.
• Tightened Big Boy's proposal with the bosses for more menace, less attributing where the quotes came from.
• Tightened Big Boy's kidnapping and attempted murder of Dick Tracy for more menace, less sillyness.
• Removed Dick and Kid discussion about Dick's badge after the certificate ceremony.
• Tightened Dick and Breathless metting at Dicks appartment, removed the kiss and rescored with "Julien Dans l'Ascenseur (Miles Davis)"
• Tightened No Face's dialogue with 88 Keys.
• Tightened Bog Boy's dialogue with 88 Keys.
• Removed Dick saying "reload" to himself when covered in cement.
• Removed Breathless and 88 Keys Duet and rescored with a cover of the Love Theme from Chinatown.
• Removed Tess asking her mother to repeat herself.
• Tightened Dick and Kids orphanage discussion
• Tightened Dick being drugged and framed.
• Removed 88 Keys laughing goofily.
• Tightened the second Mumbles interrogation scene and the following car ride discussion.
• Tightened New Years Eve Party scenes for more directness, less silliness. (left the weight joke.)
• Added old timey car horn foley.
• Tightened Big Boy escape with Tess.
• Tightened Big boy and Dick scene inside drawbridge tower.
• Tightened Breathless reveal and rescored with "Séquence Voiture #Take 1" (Miles Davis) with some foley added as it fades.
• Shortened final "The End" shot
• Rescored credits with "Générique" (Miles Davis)
• Intro music and radio voiceover replaced with "Générique" (Miles Davis) with some foley added as it fades.
• Shots of Little Face removed.
• Shots of Dick and Tess inside the Theatre removed.
• Removed some of Tess and Dick dialogue leaving theatre.
• Shortened Breathless song.
• Tightened Flattop arresting Lips and Breathless
• Tightened Tess and Dick dialogue outside the diner.
• Tightened Dick fight in the slums and Kid's reaction time.
• Tightened up Big Boy's encounter with Lips.
• Removed Dick's hesitation in diner.
• Removed close up shot of Dick stiring a can of beans.
• Tightened Dick's witness-badgering.
• Shortened Mumbles interrogation.
• Removed some of Big Boy's rehersal to highlight his menacing nature and avoid the slapstick.
• Tightened Dick's arrest of Big Boy.
• Reedited Dick and Breathless's first meeting and rescored it with "Le Petit Bal #Take 2" (Miles Davis)
• Tightened Dick returning home
• Tightened Big Boy leaving jail
• Reedited Dick and Breathless's second meeting in dick's office and rescored it with "Chez le Photographe du Motel" (Miles Davis) with some foley added as it fades.
• Tightened Big Boy's proposal with the bosses for more menace, less attributing where the quotes came from.
• Tightened Big Boy's kidnapping and attempted murder of Dick Tracy for more menace, less sillyness.
• Removed Dick and Kid discussion about Dick's badge after the certificate ceremony.
• Tightened Dick and Breathless metting at Dicks appartment, removed the kiss and rescored with "Julien Dans l'Ascenseur (Miles Davis)"
• Tightened No Face's dialogue with 88 Keys.
• Tightened Bog Boy's dialogue with 88 Keys.
• Removed Dick saying "reload" to himself when covered in cement.
• Removed Breathless and 88 Keys Duet and rescored with a cover of the Love Theme from Chinatown.
• Removed Tess asking her mother to repeat herself.
• Tightened Dick and Kids orphanage discussion
• Tightened Dick being drugged and framed.
• Removed 88 Keys laughing goofily.
• Tightened the second Mumbles interrogation scene and the following car ride discussion.
• Tightened New Years Eve Party scenes for more directness, less silliness. (left the weight joke.)
• Added old timey car horn foley.
• Tightened Big Boy escape with Tess.
• Tightened Big boy and Dick scene inside drawbridge tower.
• Tightened Breathless reveal and rescored with "Séquence Voiture #Take 1" (Miles Davis) with some foley added as it fades.
• Shortened final "The End" shot
• Rescored credits with "Générique" (Miles Davis)
User reviews
12 reviews
Overall rating
9.5
Audio/Video Quality
9.8(12)
Audio Editing
9.6(12)
Visual Editing
9.8(12)
Narrative
9.2(12)
Enjoyment
9.1(12)
Overall rating
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
9.0
I had watched this movie as a kid when it was in theaters. I had good memories of it, but had given up on trying to watch it as an adult - the movie seemed too outlandish and childish for me to get back into. I was excited to learn about this fanedit and watched it recently. It's very well-done and captures the spirit of the original without the jolting kids-movie elements that initially turned me off to this as an adult. I won't say this is a mature adult film now, because the base footage is just never going to compare to films like The Dark Knight or Logan, but this fanedit is about as good as this film can get.
The soundtrack additions are seamless and add a lot to the film, really making this feel like a noir film and matching the black and white aesthetic. The edits themselves are well done and nothing is jolting or out of place. If you didn't already know this was a fanedit, you probably wouldn't be able to tell.
Bravo to Wakeupkeo for taking on a challenging film and making it palatable, allowing me to rediscover some of those childhood memories.
The soundtrack additions are seamless and add a lot to the film, really making this feel like a noir film and matching the black and white aesthetic. The edits themselves are well done and nothing is jolting or out of place. If you didn't already know this was a fanedit, you probably wouldn't be able to tell.
Bravo to Wakeupkeo for taking on a challenging film and making it palatable, allowing me to rediscover some of those childhood memories.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
P
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
Thank you for this great edit. You took a bad movie and made it much, much better, even if it's still imperfect (not your fault...the theatrical version was flawed). The editor did everything he could do - less comedy, more noir, better music - and the result is a fun flick. Check it out.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
T
Overall rating
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
8.0
Enjoyment
9.0
This was so good and super refreshing to watch. This removed so many of the parts of the original movie that distracted me and really enhanced others. The music is great, the cartoon / pulp fiction style is complimented in this format instead of it being a weird garish distraction and the music changes are fantastic.
Of course, the whole premise is ludicrous, but what this edit does crucially is keep to within the rules of what the ludicrous world is, instead of snapping in and out. The dialogue is great now, Madonna is watchable - and really good! as is the kid , the villains are amplified up , the new Miles Davis music choices are stunningly selected and the contrast between Tracy's confidence with women and gangsters is great.
The end scene where the mysterious face-less person is unmasked, and the end scene where Tracy is trying to tell Tess that they should get married is great, and have so much more emotional impact. I felt new emotions which I hadn't when I first watched it.
Such is the fast episodic lurch between scenes, I think this would have made a great 4 part 20ish minute serial: there are enough cliff-hangers and quite frankly the new pace leaves the viewer with so much to take in.
I best compliment I can give is that I reckon that if this version of Dick Tracy had been the theatrical release there would have been sequels - - and I really liked Warren Beatty in this : I didn't in the original!
SPOILERS************************
The only scenes which slightly snapped me out were
1) When the kid cuts Tracy free - it almost looks like the kid just happens to find a knife on the floor when it would probably make sense as a delinquent that he'd have a knife on him already - or perhaps he can just un-tie Tracy.
2) Probably because I had just watched "The Killing Joke" I was struck with how Batman tries to separate himself from the Joker and in the end tries to bring him in "By the book". Having Tracy knock Big Boy off into the Abyss at the end felt a little anti-climatical. I wish there was a way that part could end with him being arrested instead.
Well done Wakeupkeo
Of course, the whole premise is ludicrous, but what this edit does crucially is keep to within the rules of what the ludicrous world is, instead of snapping in and out. The dialogue is great now, Madonna is watchable - and really good! as is the kid , the villains are amplified up , the new Miles Davis music choices are stunningly selected and the contrast between Tracy's confidence with women and gangsters is great.
The end scene where the mysterious face-less person is unmasked, and the end scene where Tracy is trying to tell Tess that they should get married is great, and have so much more emotional impact. I felt new emotions which I hadn't when I first watched it.
Such is the fast episodic lurch between scenes, I think this would have made a great 4 part 20ish minute serial: there are enough cliff-hangers and quite frankly the new pace leaves the viewer with so much to take in.
I best compliment I can give is that I reckon that if this version of Dick Tracy had been the theatrical release there would have been sequels - - and I really liked Warren Beatty in this : I didn't in the original!
SPOILERS************************
The only scenes which slightly snapped me out were
1) When the kid cuts Tracy free - it almost looks like the kid just happens to find a knife on the floor when it would probably make sense as a delinquent that he'd have a knife on him already - or perhaps he can just un-tie Tracy.
2) Probably because I had just watched "The Killing Joke" I was struck with how Batman tries to separate himself from the Joker and in the end tries to bring him in "By the book". Having Tracy knock Big Boy off into the Abyss at the end felt a little anti-climatical. I wish there was a way that part could end with him being arrested instead.
Well done Wakeupkeo
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
B
Overall rating
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
9.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this entirely different take on a flawed movie. Turning it into black and white is a great idea, but some shots could have benefitted from a higher contrast. The effect of the added Miles Davis music blew me away from the beginning, it works astoundingly well. As far as I'm concerned, all Elfman music could have been removed in favor of Davis' music. I consider Elfman's Batman to be one of the greatest scores of all time, but I never quite liked his music for Dick Tracy - especially the romantic stuff is downright appalling. I wonder if the editor would have gotten rid of all Elfman's music if that had been possible. I think a lot of noir movies don't have music during action sequences, an approach that might have worked for this fan-edit as well.
Getting rid of a lot of the overdone comic dialogue was a good idea as well, and executed flawlessly. Luckily Pacino's 'I'm getting a thought' during his last scenes was kept in - that one always has me in stitches. Too bad his silly silent laughing was kept in when he makes a phony call after he learned that he has been bugged - that could have been edited out as well.
Save for these small details I think this is a very enjoyable fan-edit that I prefer above the original. Well done!
Getting rid of a lot of the overdone comic dialogue was a good idea as well, and executed flawlessly. Luckily Pacino's 'I'm getting a thought' during his last scenes was kept in - that one always has me in stitches. Too bad his silly silent laughing was kept in when he makes a phony call after he learned that he has been bugged - that could have been edited out as well.
Save for these small details I think this is a very enjoyable fan-edit that I prefer above the original. Well done!
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
S
Overall rating
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
8.0
Enjoyment
8.0
Dick Tracy: The Noir Edit - Wakeupkeo
Filesize = 8 GB, Video = 1920 X 1040p AVC, Audio = 637 kbps, 5.1 AAC. Subs yes!
The 1990 film remains a powerful example of style over substance.
The set design, primary color scheme, makeup, songs, all top flight.
Story though? Originally meant for Disney, shifted to Touchstone as it was deemed too adult.
Nevertheless, this is still a cartoon.
Wakeupkeo’s intent to transform this into a Noir is intriguing, though I suspect Tracy harks back to gangster films of the 1930’s rather than post WWII Film Noir.
Straight off, the “look” of high contrast black and white is outstanding.
Using Miles Davis themes from “Elevator To The Gallows” darkens the mood immediately.
More would have been better, though I grasp dialogue interference.
The sound is a swaggering 5.1. Crank those bullet scenes, boys.
For all the trims and cuts, the narrative remains a problem.
This is a kiddee film. Violent, but aimed at juveniles.
Noir was always aimed at adults, with hard boiled themes.
The Kid is insufferable. Al Pacino’s Big Boy is a ranting buffoon.
Blame the source, not the faneditor.
This is a good, alternative view, of a disappointing movie.
Afterthought. There is an actual Noir story buried in **Dick Tracy**, although one would have to subvert the original pitch.
This would run about an hour, jettison the Kid, many of the goons, Tracy’s cops.
Typical of Noir, there is a femme fatale, smart plan, overreach, rotten end.
The stripped down story? That of Breathless.
Filesize = 8 GB, Video = 1920 X 1040p AVC, Audio = 637 kbps, 5.1 AAC. Subs yes!
The 1990 film remains a powerful example of style over substance.
The set design, primary color scheme, makeup, songs, all top flight.
Story though? Originally meant for Disney, shifted to Touchstone as it was deemed too adult.
Nevertheless, this is still a cartoon.
Wakeupkeo’s intent to transform this into a Noir is intriguing, though I suspect Tracy harks back to gangster films of the 1930’s rather than post WWII Film Noir.
Straight off, the “look” of high contrast black and white is outstanding.
Using Miles Davis themes from “Elevator To The Gallows” darkens the mood immediately.
More would have been better, though I grasp dialogue interference.
The sound is a swaggering 5.1. Crank those bullet scenes, boys.
For all the trims and cuts, the narrative remains a problem.
This is a kiddee film. Violent, but aimed at juveniles.
Noir was always aimed at adults, with hard boiled themes.
The Kid is insufferable. Al Pacino’s Big Boy is a ranting buffoon.
Blame the source, not the faneditor.
This is a good, alternative view, of a disappointing movie.
Afterthought. There is an actual Noir story buried in **Dick Tracy**, although one would have to subvert the original pitch.
This would run about an hour, jettison the Kid, many of the goons, Tracy’s cops.
Typical of Noir, there is a femme fatale, smart plan, overreach, rotten end.
The stripped down story? That of Breathless.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
V