Incredible Shrinking Man: B+ Movie Edition, The

Updated
Incredible Shrinking Man: B+ Movie Edition, The
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie Title:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1957
Original Running Time:
78
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
65
Time Cut:
13
Subtitles Available?
Brief Synopsis:
This is the second entry in the "B+ Movie Project", a series of edits that seek to improve on older films, while still maintaining the charm and narrative of the original cut. #2 happens to be another Jack Arnold film, and similarly to Creature from the Black Lagoon, this has had a lot of chaff removed. I’ve tried to strike a balance between promptly setting things up and improving the pacing, while also maintaining some of the atmosphere in the latter half of the film, where the tone starts to become more philosophical.

This edit comes with two audio options:

- B+ Narrative (default) – heavily trimmed narration. Anything that I felt was too pretentious or didn’t add anything is removed and rescored.
- Purist Narrative – lightly trimmed narration. The original voice-over has been preserved as much as possible, with some compromise being made due to the streamlined nature of the edit.

Intention:
My original intention going into this was to completely remove the narration and only keep the opening and closing V/O, but I soon realised that A: This wasn’t really in line with the B+ Mission statement, and B: Some of the narration added a lot more than I thought.

After a suggestion from DigModiFicaTion, I decided to create two separate audio streams – one where I could be as liberal as I wanted, and with the other preserve the narration as much as the streamlined nature of the edit would allow.
Additional Notes:
At the moment only an MP4 is available, but I am planning on bringing out a DVD, along with an alternative cut of the film. The MP4 has had 2 alternate audio streams muxed in, which can confuse some conventional players like Windows Media Player or Quicktime. So I would recommend using something like VLC or Media Player Classic.
Other Sources:
- Fanedit.Org copyright warning template
- My own Scribbling Man Logo
- theryaney's Netflix-style fanedit.org logo
Special Thanks:
Special thanks: To Sinbad and DigModiFicaTion, for feedback. To DigModiFicaTion, for proposing the idea of having two alternate audio streams. To jswert123456 and theryaney for their cover designs. I can be a forgetful soul, so if I've missed anyone out please accept my apologies and thanks!
Release Information:
Digital
Editing Details:
The gist:

- Improved pacing
- Trimmed narration, removing some of the more pretentious and archaic lines
- Reduced bad shots/cuts as much as possible (particularly during the cat and spider sequences)
- No scenes or dialogue have been removed (bar some narration), but many tiny trims have been made throughout, tightening up and polishing what I already believed to be a good film.
Cuts and Additions:
Full(ish) cutlist:

Very few scenes were left untouched, sometimes as little as a single frame being chopped off. I have not kept track of every single change I made, but I’ve listed as many of the more significant ones that I can remember.

- added fan edit and scribbling man branding
- added new “B+” title
- trimmed opening shots
- trimmed exposure to radiation
- trimmed feeding the cat
- trimmed Louise faffing around the kitchen
- trimmed medical montage
- removed all narration during medical montage (trimmed version restored in purist)
- rescored medical montage (not in purist)
- trimmed argument after Louise tries to get an unlisted line
- removed long pause between Scott shouting “look at me!” And Louise crying
- removed narration over scene following visit to the doctor’s office in which cure is applied (restored in purist)
- trimmed narration when Scott runs away
- heavily trimmed circus scene
- trimmed scenic shots of cafe
- trimmed Louise getting her keys
- trimmed cat entering house
- trimmed Scott moping
- removed narration/contemplating suicide (not that he wouldn’t, but it’s very poorly done)
- trimmed cat entrance
- trimmed cat scratching around
- trimmed Scots reaction time
- trimmed Scott opening door
- trimmed Scott backing away
- trimmed Scott escaping from house
- cut a few dodgy shots of the cat attacking Scott
- swapped out shot of Scott getting hit by cat so that he immediately lands by the lamp
- heavily trimmed cat hissing at Scott
- trimmed Scott’s escape
- altered fade transition slightly when Louise cries over bloodied garment
- cut opening news dialogue, going straight to the headline
- cut narration during Scott’s return to consciousness (restored in purist)
- trimmed return to consciousness
- trimmed escape from box
- trimmed narration during Scott calling out to Louise from bottom of stairs (restored in purist)
- trimmed water discovery
- trimmed narration during Scott observing his surroundings (restored in purist)
- smoothed transition to Scott’s brother
- trimmed Scott exploring
- trimmed mousetrap encounter
- trimmed Scott discovering food
- trimmed running towards box
- trimmed spider entrance
- trimmed climb up box
- trimmed exploration on top of box
- trimmed narration on top of box (trimmed version restored in purist)
- swapped out shot of Scott walking across paint stick
- trimmed walking across paint stick
- trimmed paint stick coming unstuck
- trimmed Scott nearly falling
- trimmed Scott climbing up ledge
- trimmed Scott exploring
- trimmed bird scene
- cut narration after Scott shakes the cage in frustration (restored in purist)
- trimmed food gathering
- trimmed spider chase
- trimmed spider trying to get into Matchbox
- trimmed water dripping
- improved Scott’s response time to water dripping
- trimmed Scott getting swept away in flood
- trimmed Scott’s brother and Louise entering basement
- trimmed Scott crying out to them (in the original film, the audio of him crying out is looped and Scott just alternately calls out to his brother and Louise. I trimmed this and moved the audio around so he calls his brother when he steps towards him and Louise when she steps towards him)
- trimmed Scott’s brother discovering flood source
- trimmed draining
- trimmed Scott’s brother and Louise leaving
- trimmed Scott’s return to consciousness
- trimmed Scott running from spider
- trimmed Scott running back to Matchbox
- trimmed narration as Scott prepares for a second climb
- trimmed second climb
- trimmed hike across paint tin
- trimmed Scott walking towards web
- heavily trimmed Scott trying to get attention of spider
- trimmed spider chase/battle
- slightly sped up spider crawling towards Scott
- removed less than impressive shots of spider
- trimmed Scott getting his weapon back
- trimmed Scott climbing out from under spider
- trimmed Scott walking towards cake
- trimmed narration as Scott approaches cake (restored in purist)
- the ending is awesome, so is left practically untouched.
Cover art by theryaney (DOWNLOAD HERE)
image

Teaser Trailer

User reviews

4 reviews
Overall rating
 
9.7
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.8(4)
Audio Editing
 
9.8(4)
Visual Editing
 
9.8(4)
Narrative
 
9.5(4)
Enjoyment
 
9.5(4)
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Minimal narration Version watched.

I have seen the OG a long time ago, and never had the chance to see it again.
So this Version is a rewatch and a first watch and this edit makes it fast, proper and good pacing, the VO cuts are trimmed to whats really needed and the editing work itself, is flawless to me.
It was great fun to see this edit and feel the whole movie again, the Tricks used are excellent considering the age.


User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
V
Top 100 Reviewer 47 reviews
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
An improvement over the "Creature from the Black Lagoon" entry in the B+ Movies series, TISM feels almost like a modern movie with its wealth of visuals and special effects and psychological insights into its characters. This is a classic, iconic movie for a reason and without all the filler, we're free to ponder man's eternal and greatest nemeses: basement spiders, angry cats, radioactivity and not being able to reach stuff because you're too short. An excellent preservation of a movie that feels timeless and endlessly fun, if much bleaker than I remembered. I can't wait to dive deeper into the B+ movie series, keep up the good work, Scribbling Man!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
R
Top 10 Reviewer 156 reviews
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 2 0
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
I have fond memories of first watching this film with my dad when it played as a late-night creature feature on TV in the 1970s. I've seen it several times since then and it's always been a minor favorite.

In the minimal narration version of his edit, The Scribbling Man has done an excellent job of reducing redundant narration and trimming excess fat in the story that slowed the pace of the release version of the film. Top marks!
Owner's reply April 22, 2018

Thank you for the review! Much appreciated :)

B
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Just watched the minimal narration version of this, another fine edit from the scribbler! Cracking pace, no narrative issues, set pieces were trimmed and pruned beautifully (video and audio) ,could do with a refresher of the theatrical cut as its been a while to review properly but it didn't feel at all like anything was missing that should have been there. Just goes to show Scrib is achieving exactly what he set out to do with these B+ editions. Have to say considering the age of the film those special effects are still pretty impressive in the way they are composited together for the most part. Another fine B+ edition, roll on the next one!!

Looked great in 16:9 too!
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