Elseworlds: The Prelude To Crisis Edition

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Okay, I'll say it: Bionic Bob should be hired as the showrunner for the Arrowverse. Or an advisor for the showrunners, at least. As someone who grew up on a steady diet of comic books in the 80s these shows have quite a bit to offer me and there's a lot they get right about most of the characters, but as I frequently say, the continuous emphasis on soap opera stuff keeps putting me off and I tend to lose interest. So I'm eternally grateful to Bob for distilling these event arcs into versions centered on the parts that do hold my attention, so I can finally watch without any fears of ending up yawning every ten minutes, and concentrate on all the excitement and all the references to the most diverse eras of DC history that long time comic book fans appreciate so much. It's often said that movies are life minus the boring parts. And that's exactly what these edits are.

Sure, Elseworlds is in itself not as interesting or engaging as Crisis on Earth-X, lacking an evil world as fascinating as that one and coming across as a bit too episodic, but there's still a lot of fun to be had here. The road towards Crisis on Infinite Earths is set, and the references start here. It's always great for an old-timer like me to see 90s Flash show up, here playing basically the role that Pariah had in the original COIE (and even teasing John Stewart - come on, it's about time they give us a worthwhile live action Green Lantern!), and the fact that the story even plays around with the possible death of the two major casualties of COIE is a welcome wink. And complete with a Superman the Movie nod, at that.

Technically-wise it's perfectly achieved, and the pacing is kept consistent all through. Even some bits that I thought could have been cut end up having a payoff. Initially I thought the Clark and Lois conversation about the Argo City stuff could have been lost and that the Clark/Kara conversation that follows it inmediately was enough to set up Barry and Oliver's arrival, which it would have been... but then there's something towards the end that justifies keeping it. Everything ends up being connected.

Now, I'm absolutely ready for the Bionic COIE. Worlds will live, worlds will die... and Arrowverse fanedits will never be the same!
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10.0
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Bob does it again! Always love his distilled take on the Arrowverse & this was no different. No creeping "Special Guest Star" credits this time, & the deleted scenes added really help seed the idea of the third act twist this special brings (especially since the recaps are cut). The only bits that felt off to me were the removal of Frost & Alex's banter (Frost now refers to a conversation that doesn't exist) & the lack of an overt teasing of the upcoming crisis before the credits roll.

I think the latter could've been mitigated if, after Oliver & Barry toast, we fade into the time vault, replay the v.o. of the Monitor saying the universe is a complex machine, & then see Crisis pushed up by a few years. That sets up the need to prepare for the crisis, & plays into Oliver's line about savoring time because you never know how much of it you'll have.

Besides that, great edit. I am waiting on baited breath for Bob's COIE Trilogy, especially since one part is being made essentially out of whole cloth. Can't wait!

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Yes
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This cut was absolutely phenomenal. BionicBob did a fantastic job sewing together what I assume was a hot mess of a TV show. I never bothered finishing any of the Arrowverse shows because they were too drama heavy and often felt like a soap opera more-so than a comic book series. Bionicbob fixed that, and created a viewing experience that feels like a really great movie. Thank you kindly, Bionicbob! Now I can finally enjoy all of the DC TV content in the best way possible. :)

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Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
F
1 reviews
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Overall rating
 
9.8
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10.0
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9.0
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10.0
Bionic Bob delivers on this 3 part tv Arrowverse crossover.
The video was great, all visuals remained clear throughout.
The audio was clear for the most part, except for one small part and this may have been done by the original tv audio. Some of the early audio when they arrive in Gotham City felt a bit low in my audio equipment (of course, my audio equipment is a 10 plus year 5.1 home theatre in a box, so make of that what you will). It's only a minor nitpick. Everything else felt clear. No channel reversals detected. Characters talking were always understood, sound fx always had just the right omph.
The edit itself was well done. I did not feel like I was missing anything. No strange hard cuts, every shot naturally moved on from the previous one. Not having watched the originals in 5 years, I could not remember when everyone was introduced as the story progressed, but if the main 3 (Flash, Arrow, Supergirl) introductions changed compared to the original tv edit, in this edit, they were always introduced at the right time. While I initially thought that some subplots should be removed, like Arrow & Felicity having relationship issues, their meeting up later on justified keeping that in. Good eye on that. If corny jokes were removed, I did not detect it. Thank you though, for keeping the corniest joke when the Grant Gustin really really hams it up. That joke was just too good and had to be kept in.
One final positive item: my wife, who is not a superhero fan, watched this with me and her reaction was also very positive, so the edit succeeded in not only getting fans to appreciate this, but also non fans.

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Yes
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T
1 reviews
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Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
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9.0
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10.0
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9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
This is another very solid superhero edit from the ever reliable Bionic Bob. The differences here have certainly improved the pacing of what was already a very long story - for example, I never for once felt the story drag here, with more or less every scene having some weight of importance to it. Sure, there's still plenty of time for some moments of light relief (after all, who wants a 100% deadly serious Arrowverse show), but none of them feel particularly superfluous.

Admittedly, I'm a bit late to the game on this one, but I really admire the hard work that Bob has gone to in presenting his version of the Crisis storyline, and this verision of Elseworlds certainly acts as the perfect prelude. It really makes you want to start watching is Countdown to Crisis edits immediately afterwards. Coming from someone like me who can easily suffer from superhero fatigue, that's meant as a huge compliment.

On the technical side it's nearly 100% perfect. I did notice a couple of scenes where audio levels did vary - i.e. one scene suddenly has slightly louder dialogue. It's no big deal at all though, and things quickly correct themselves. Bob did an awesome job with the cropping and zooming in to remove the title cards and episode credits. It was so good on my 55 inch TV that I had to check with him to make sure he hadn't discovered an amazing editing tool which could remove titles, but no, it was just skillful cropping.

All in all, an extremely entertaining 2 hours and I feel suitably pumped and excited to enter the Countdown to Crisis! Highly recommended.
L
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