Godzilla: King of the Monsters - The Dramatic Cut

Fantastic version of this film. I found the theatrical quite tonally inconsistent and hard to watch. Your edit clarifies much of the narrative and retains a more dramatic tone that isn't watered down by a poor script. Most of the cuts you've made a relatively seamless, but there are a few that feel like they could be trimmed back further where it's evident you've cut around dialogue. For instance: the wide shot of everyone in the elevator at 23:56 before it cuts to Madison and Emma feels unnecessary. Could easily cut from the elevator numbers right to Madison and Emma and feel much tighter.

Additionally the music borrowed from The Dark Knight is quite distracting when mixed down to mono and can often drown out the dialogue channel, though I realize it can be difficult to blend in seamlessly with a wider surround mix.

Other than those small gripes, a great edit overall!

Not a huge fan of the 'Monster-verse' films, but always liked the fun and occasionally the pathos of Godzilla (in the original and more recently in Minus One), so I had to pick this one up. I was disappointed with the film after viewing but I saw an edit released for it and had to give it a shot. Much, much better. If you want a fun Godzilla movie that also doesn't grate your nerves with juvenile humor in addition to the asinine plot, this edit is the way to go. The typical Godzilla film ridiculousness is here, but it's much, much more tolerable with all of the cringe humor edited out. It even occasionally rises above its genre and got me to take it seriously, so I'd say the edit accomplished its goals. Very tasteful editing and leaves the giant creature awesomeness intact...this is definitely the best way to watch the film!

INIGHTMARES has done a good job of streamlining "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" and removing unnecessary humor and exposition. This edit is a faster-paced, more streamlined version of the story. In most respects, it is an improvement over the original, with a superior tone.

As for cons, I did find myself missing a few bits from the original movie that were cut (like the part where one character asks if they will "Let them fight" before Mark replies that this time they will join the fight). Also, while there were arguably problems with the scene of Emma explaining her motives in the original movie, I felt that the amount that INIGHTMARES removed from it made what she was trying to achieve a little too confusing, as she doesn't give any meaningful explanation of her plan in the edited version.

The video quality is mostly excellent, save for a little banding here and there in a few scenes.

The audio quality is also mostly excellent, except for a part in which the audio volume drops for a few seconds starting around 51:14, and a noticeable audio cut when transitioning from one scene to another at around 1:26:20.

Let me preface by saying that Michael Dougherty's Godzilla King of the Monsters was the most fun I had at the movies in 2019 and is easily my favourite kaiju flick in the new Monsterverse. My only quibble with the original cut is it has too much humour at inappropriate moments that undermined tension or a character beat.

So when Inightmares announced his DRAMATIC CUT, I was delightfully curious, as his cut/goal list sounded very boldly ambitious. And now, having watched his final version (1080 stereo), I can safely say this First Time Fan Editor has achieved something special.

The new opening credits -- which have a very Kubrick/Nolan style/feel -- are BRILLIANT. It immediately sets a very intensely different tone from the original that completely mesmerized me. But I do have a nitpick with it. The editor artistically chose to have the credit play out backwards (starting with the Director credit first) which works great, and is very common in many movies now. However, the credits do not roll out in proper traditional order... from Director to production staff, writers, composers cinematographer and finally with the cast from bottom to top tier... instead, the credits start the director and some production names, then lists all the actors starting with the lead and then goes back to listing production names. I know this is a small thing, and a creative choice, but it did pull me out of the moment.

Pretty much all the ill timed humour (sorry, Whitford & Middleditch) is seamlessly and expertly cut. Strangely, for me, while this maintains, even ups the dramatic tension, some of the "fun popcorn" quality of the original is now gone. So depending where you are on the Monsterverse spectrum (Edwards to Wingard), your mileage may vary.

The character of Emma has been extensively reworked, and while I think it meets the editor's set out goal, I personally felt she was over edited. For me, Emma was one of the best characters out of all the Monsterverse movies -- a very complex, traumatized human being. While the facade of these elements remain, the character now plays a bit less three dimensional, and more standard villain fare. Which brings me to the infamous Evil Plan Power Point Presentation and the hard choices of fan editing. Inightmares has chosen to essentially truncate/cut off Emma's transmission. It is a hard, bold decision. As the perfectly timed, pre-recorded imagery exposition dump does push the bounds of acceptable reality, even in giant monster movie. However, at the same time, it is a vital scene that goes along way to explaining Emma's motivation and state of mind. So while even I cringe at this original scene, I think the narrative is stronger with it than without it.

The video quality is overall strong, with minor dips where the deleted scenes and 2014 footage were masterfully used. The editor does use slow motion a few times in the edit, which really jumps out and looks artificial. I understand why it was done, but it does stand out when watching, especially compared to the actual slo-mo that already exists in the movie.

The scenes with the new music, which again invoke a very Nolan vibe, is blended in very well. Though I did still notice a slight muffle at times, particularly where there was additional foley work. I think my main issue with the new Nolan sound is it is not carried through the whole movie. It is basically only in the first act, so it creates a slight narrative audio discontinuity to my ear.

This a Fantastic Edit! And while the new narrative is not quite for me, I can confidently say Inightmares has stayed true to his creative vision and made something I think all Kaiju Fans will appreciate.

Thumbs Up!!! :)

This totally kicks ass and what it should have been from the start!

I won't dive into more technical details as other reviews have done that. I will simply say, it is really, really well done and nothing took me out of the movie.

I get it for the theatrical release, it's supposed to be a block buster and have something for everyone. Quite frankly I enjoyed it. That said, this fanedit is what I really want. Got rid of the cheese and turned it into a serious movie.

Thanks for all the effort that went into this Inightmares and keep up the good work!