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- Mission: Impossible 2 - The Spence Edit
Mission: Impossible 2 - The Spence Edit
Updated
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie Title:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2000
Original Running Time:
123
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
101
Time Cut:
22
Subtitles Available?
Available in HD?
Additional Links:
Brief Synopsis:
- Replace the majority of the music with music from other films in the series.
- Up the pace. This movie has a weird structure in that there really isn't a big action scene till almost halfway through the film, and then it's just non-stop action for the second half. The middle third of the film needs some serious trims to get the film moving.
- Remove a lot of the over the top John Woo moments. I love John Woo, and I definitely still want it to feel like a John Woo film, but they go so hard on some of his trademarks that it ventures into parody. Slow motion scenes that drag on or show the same shot from 5 different angles will be trimmed. Some of the slow-mo will be trimmed just for action pacing.
- Up the pace. This movie has a weird structure in that there really isn't a big action scene till almost halfway through the film, and then it's just non-stop action for the second half. The middle third of the film needs some serious trims to get the film moving.
- Remove a lot of the over the top John Woo moments. I love John Woo, and I definitely still want it to feel like a John Woo film, but they go so hard on some of his trademarks that it ventures into parody. Slow motion scenes that drag on or show the same shot from 5 different angles will be trimmed. Some of the slow-mo will be trimmed just for action pacing.
Intention:
Mission Impossible is my favorite franchise, I've enjoyed every film in the series so far. However, I always found Mi-2 to stand out from the group a bit. I really enjoy the story of the film and some of the action beats are great, but it feels incredibly dated. It sticks out so much because it's the only film in the series that is so clearly from the time it was made. It's full of late 90's/ early 2000's rock music, Matrix-y slow motion, and other "cool for the time" elements that haven't aged well at all.
But! I think there's a really good movie in there. The script, by the legendary Robert Towne, is a solid Hitchcock esque caper full of twists, turns, backstabs and reveals. The performances overall are great, with Tom Cruise giving a charming turn as a softer and more romantic Ethan, a deliciously dirtbag villain, and one of the best female leads the series has had. Also, though they lay the "John Woo-ness" on a little too thick at times, the action is well staged and choreographed.
So the goal here is to remove the dated elements of MI-2, pick up the pace, and bring it more in line with the other films in the seires.
But! I think there's a really good movie in there. The script, by the legendary Robert Towne, is a solid Hitchcock esque caper full of twists, turns, backstabs and reveals. The performances overall are great, with Tom Cruise giving a charming turn as a softer and more romantic Ethan, a deliciously dirtbag villain, and one of the best female leads the series has had. Also, though they lay the "John Woo-ness" on a little too thick at times, the action is well staged and choreographed.
So the goal here is to remove the dated elements of MI-2, pick up the pace, and bring it more in line with the other films in the seires.
Other Sources:
Additional music from the following films was utilized in this edit:
Mission: Impossible by Danny Elfman
Mission: Impossible III by Michael Giacchino
Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol by Michael Giacchino
Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation by Joe Kraemer
Mission: Impossible Fallout by Lorne Balfe
Bad Times at the El Royale by Michael Giacchino
Mission: Impossible by Danny Elfman
Mission: Impossible III by Michael Giacchino
Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol by Michael Giacchino
Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation by Joe Kraemer
Mission: Impossible Fallout by Lorne Balfe
Bad Times at the El Royale by Michael Giacchino
Special Thanks:
ArtisDead
AdvisorOk4636
Darth Kermit
BionicBob
L8wrtr
AdvisorOk4636
Darth Kermit
BionicBob
L8wrtr
Release Information:
Digital
Editing Details:
Overall goals:
- Replace the majority of the music with music from other films in the series.
- Up the pace. This movie has a weird structure in that there really isn't a big action scene till almost halfway through the film, and then it's just non-stop action for the second half. The middle third of the film needs some serious trims to get the film moving.
- Remove a lot of the over the top John Woo moments. I love John Woo, and I definitely still want it to feel like a John Woo film, but they go so hard on some of his trademarks that it ventures into parody. Slow motion scenes that drag on or show the same shot from 5 different angles will be trimmed. Some of the slow-mo will be trimmed just for action pacing.
Here's a more detailed cutlist of what I've done so far, I'll update it as I get further in.
- Remove the opening sequence that explains Chimera, as it gets reiterated multiple times later on. The film now starts on the plane.
- Remove Ethan climbing the mountain. It's cool but useless. It's mentioned that he was on vacation later, which gives enough set up and gets the movie moving.
- We now transition from the plane crashing to an all new title sequence that's more in keeping with the later films.
- We and Naya do not see Ethan until he pops up behind her in the bathtub. This gives a more intriguing start.
- Trimmed some of the car crash ballet so it doesn't feel like they're staring at each other for 3 minutes straight.
- Trimmed a little of the bedroom scene when Ethan and Naya wake up for pacing.
- Trimmed Hopkins' line to just "She's a woman, she's got all the training she needs." Same effect, slightly less creepy.
- Trimmed the EXTREME introducion of Luther and Billy. I also cut the majority of Luther's references to his expensive clothes. I did keep "punk put a hole in my Versace" because it's actually funny and we need a joke at that point.
- Cut that really silly "reflection in Ethan's sunglasses" bit.
- Trimmed the "Oh no the satellite isn't working!" stuff out when Naya reaches Ambrose. They're just spying on her as normal.
- Cut the finger cutting scene. It's not necessary, that dude's finger can just be busted as a character thing. It doesn't need a back story and Ambrose ignores him anyway.
- Retained the majority of the betting track scene. It's the most Hitchcock the movie gets and I'm here for it.
- Trimmed down some of the Brendan Gleeson interrogation/exposition scene. Some of the dialogue in there is... not good. And it slows down the movie tremendously.
- Made Ethan's trip through Biocyte to destroy the Chimera samples a little faster. We know Ambrose is coming for him, so unless they're in the worlds slowest elevator, it shouldn't take that long for the bad guys to arrive.
- Cut up a lot of the big Biocyte shoot out to remove some silly shots and slow-mo. Also, I'm not sure why there's like 4 establishing shots to show that Ambrose is there, but I decided one would suffice.
- Cut up a lot of Ehtan's raid on the Chimera sale for action pacing.
- Cut up the rest of the movie for action pacing.
- Reworked Ambrose's death for impact. The shot order they used for that made absolutely no sense. Why do we see Ambrose get shot, then Ethan continues firing, then Ambrose is still just still slowly rolling over? It could be a cool moment but as edited it's really strange.
- Replace the majority of the music with music from other films in the series.
- Up the pace. This movie has a weird structure in that there really isn't a big action scene till almost halfway through the film, and then it's just non-stop action for the second half. The middle third of the film needs some serious trims to get the film moving.
- Remove a lot of the over the top John Woo moments. I love John Woo, and I definitely still want it to feel like a John Woo film, but they go so hard on some of his trademarks that it ventures into parody. Slow motion scenes that drag on or show the same shot from 5 different angles will be trimmed. Some of the slow-mo will be trimmed just for action pacing.
Here's a more detailed cutlist of what I've done so far, I'll update it as I get further in.
- Remove the opening sequence that explains Chimera, as it gets reiterated multiple times later on. The film now starts on the plane.
- Remove Ethan climbing the mountain. It's cool but useless. It's mentioned that he was on vacation later, which gives enough set up and gets the movie moving.
- We now transition from the plane crashing to an all new title sequence that's more in keeping with the later films.
- We and Naya do not see Ethan until he pops up behind her in the bathtub. This gives a more intriguing start.
- Trimmed some of the car crash ballet so it doesn't feel like they're staring at each other for 3 minutes straight.
- Trimmed a little of the bedroom scene when Ethan and Naya wake up for pacing.
- Trimmed Hopkins' line to just "She's a woman, she's got all the training she needs." Same effect, slightly less creepy.
- Trimmed the EXTREME introducion of Luther and Billy. I also cut the majority of Luther's references to his expensive clothes. I did keep "punk put a hole in my Versace" because it's actually funny and we need a joke at that point.
- Cut that really silly "reflection in Ethan's sunglasses" bit.
- Trimmed the "Oh no the satellite isn't working!" stuff out when Naya reaches Ambrose. They're just spying on her as normal.
- Cut the finger cutting scene. It's not necessary, that dude's finger can just be busted as a character thing. It doesn't need a back story and Ambrose ignores him anyway.
- Retained the majority of the betting track scene. It's the most Hitchcock the movie gets and I'm here for it.
- Trimmed down some of the Brendan Gleeson interrogation/exposition scene. Some of the dialogue in there is... not good. And it slows down the movie tremendously.
- Made Ethan's trip through Biocyte to destroy the Chimera samples a little faster. We know Ambrose is coming for him, so unless they're in the worlds slowest elevator, it shouldn't take that long for the bad guys to arrive.
- Cut up a lot of the big Biocyte shoot out to remove some silly shots and slow-mo. Also, I'm not sure why there's like 4 establishing shots to show that Ambrose is there, but I decided one would suffice.
- Cut up a lot of Ehtan's raid on the Chimera sale for action pacing.
- Cut up the rest of the movie for action pacing.
- Reworked Ambrose's death for impact. The shot order they used for that made absolutely no sense. Why do we see Ambrose get shot, then Ethan continues firing, then Ambrose is still just still slowly rolling over? It could be a cool moment but as edited it's really strange.
User reviews
24 reviews
Overall rating
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
9.8(24)
Audio Editing
9.5(24)
Visual Editing
9.8(24)
Narrative
9.6(24)
Enjoyment
9.4(24)
Overall rating
8.4
Audio/Video Quality
7.0
Audio Editing
7.0
Visual Editing
8.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
Mission Impossible 2: The Spence Edit certainly does what it sets out to do, the whole film has the mature and less comedic tone of the original version: Like said in other reviews, the new opening credits transition and sequence is great! I loved how it was edited, I acrtually bought MI:2 specifically one for my collection, but also to see it's cheesiness, but I wanted to try the more serious version first and it delivers! I really like what Spence did here and think this fits as a great installment in the series, despite it's uneditable flaws. Only complaint? The cliff climbing scene was so 2000's come oN!! :D Should've kept it in!
But no in all seriousness, great work!
But no in all seriousness, great work!
User Review
Format Watched?
Digital
P
(Updated: November 12, 2023)
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
The Spence Edit is the best version of Mission: Impossible II, and one of the best fan edits I’ve ever seen. After I finished watching it, I said, “You cut 22 minutes out of this film? The theatrical cut must have had a lot of filler, because I didn’t even notice anything missing.” That’s a little bit of an exaggeration, of course. There were some bits where I was like, “Oh wow. That part is gone. But that’s a good thing.”
One of my favorite parts about this edit is the opening title sequence. Cutting from the plane exploding to the fuse lighting? Brilliant. And the title sequence itself is edited just like the title sequences in past and future films in the series. It’s so expertly done, and feels much more like a Mission: Impossible film to me than the theatrical cut does.
I think the new score works well and is more consistent with the rest of the series. But I must admit, I do kind of miss the heavy metal score from the theatrical cut in a couple of places. I know it’s over the top and hasn’t aged well. It’s just what I’m used to hearing when I watch the second film. It’s bad, but in a cool way. You know?
I’m sorry to say that even this version of Mission: Impossible II is still the worst in the series, but there’s not much you can do to fix that in the editing room. That being said, taking out as much of the bad stuff as you can really does elevate the overall quality of the film.
The next time I have a Mission: Impossible marathon, I’m going to drop this version into the playlist instead of the theatrical version. Great job!
One of my favorite parts about this edit is the opening title sequence. Cutting from the plane exploding to the fuse lighting? Brilliant. And the title sequence itself is edited just like the title sequences in past and future films in the series. It’s so expertly done, and feels much more like a Mission: Impossible film to me than the theatrical cut does.
I think the new score works well and is more consistent with the rest of the series. But I must admit, I do kind of miss the heavy metal score from the theatrical cut in a couple of places. I know it’s over the top and hasn’t aged well. It’s just what I’m used to hearing when I watch the second film. It’s bad, but in a cool way. You know?
I’m sorry to say that even this version of Mission: Impossible II is still the worst in the series, but there’s not much you can do to fix that in the editing room. That being said, taking out as much of the bad stuff as you can really does elevate the overall quality of the film.
The next time I have a Mission: Impossible marathon, I’m going to drop this version into the playlist instead of the theatrical version. Great job!
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
I
Overall rating
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
9.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
9.0
Kudos to Spence for making this movie feel much closer to Mission Impossible (at least the movie series)! Nice trimming of a few over the top scenes and "John Woo moments". The first half now feels like a proper spy thriller. The last half ends up being a lot of shooting and action but that's rather baked into the thing. My only criticism is that, due to the ambitious re-scoring of the entire project (which is phenomenal), some of the sound design gets lost or has its punch diminished. I listened on reference speakers so it's possible this is less noticeable on other systems. But the ability to enjoy another MI movie without suffering through Limp Bizkit is worth a small sacrifice!
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
T
Overall rating
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
8.0
This is a very well made edit, but, after watching it, I have to admit that I'd rather have rewatched John Woo's orginal with all its cheesiness and excesses. While watching Spence's version, while perfectly fine, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was watching a watered down version of something that was intended to be an over-the-top ridiculous action opera. I felt like having a Diet Cheesecake when the entire point is the decadence and richness. None of this is Spence's fault, mind you. I thought I wanted a version of M:I 2 that was more in line with the rest of the franchise, but I was completely wrong. I actually wanted John Woo's outrageous love letter to Tom Cruise's flowing hair and gun ballet, so I have this edit to thank for helping me come to that realization.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
B
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
MI:2 as you all know is infamous for its intense action scenes, slow-mo, and doves. For me, it is a fun action-pack thrill ride to watch but this day, it hasn't aged well compared to MI: & 3 and to the modern films that we have today which I can agree on. Thankfully, I can say that Spence did a phenomenal job with his editing work on this film. The dramatic slow-mos were reduced and the rescores pulled from the other MI films fit smoothly. Even better is that he even incorporated a new intro. It feels so much closer to MI: and 3 and doesn't stick out like a sore thumb in the series. I highly recommend giving this fan edit a watch for those who haven't seen the original for so long.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
K