Hook - The way you (want to) remember it

Wait, you mean to tell me this ISN'T the original? The map with Hook's hand was trailer footage and not the real opening? Get out of town!

Tight is the best I can describe this edit. Every scene flows naturally and organically from one to the other, some cuts creating more powerful moments as a result of the lost content. Peter promising to be at his son's baseball game, and the next scene being him arriving at an empty baseball field hits way harder than an extended sequence would have. I like that the edit cuts out Hook's attack and keeps the audience guessing alongside Peter, keeping us in the dark for as long as possible before Tinker Bell confirms what we were beginning to suspect all along. The trims around many scenes keep the story focused, delivering smoother characters arcs across a shorter running time, to the point where it feels like it was a cut from Spielberg himself! I miss "I wish I had a dad... like you." but in the context of this edit, you're not bound to notice it's absence, as Rufio's arc is a little bit toned down from the original, which may be the only real mark against the edit narrative wise. The two deleted scenes were also integrated well, though the music was a touch loud during the first one (which honestly I wonder why that was cut, we learn the names of the other Lost Boys in there?!)

There is a leftover shot at 33:46 and a few awkward audio cuts as a result of the scenes being gone (along with a weird dip in the audio when Maggie is trying to take Hook's, erm, hook), but as far as I'm concerned the edit lives up to the title. It is the definitive version of Hook.

Wow, It was fast to watch, and good vibe that got, THIS should've been the official cut for it, really, it could've been a great sequel to 53's movie Peter Pan. I DEFINITETLY recommend this edit.

Audio/Video Quality: 9/10
The video looks great and completely what you would expect from the file size. I know you said you used the AC3 from the 4k and mentioned that it was the soundstage audio. I've never heard this mix and it's pretty different than the DTS that I'm used to I guess. It's not an audio issue, but I definitely prefer the other mix as it feels like it has a bit more life as well as softness to it.

Visual Editing:
There are moments where the cuts didn't quite work for me as some scenes felt like they were a bit too tightly packed together and needed some breathing room. The deleted scene was fun to see. It didn't quite match the coloring and contrast of the movie, but it did add a bit of Neverland nostalgia.
I like the faster pace of the final battle, but there was a bit of feeling like it was edited due to some audio edits that gave away some of the visual cuts.
The ending deleted scene of Peter somersaulting over the car was something I'd never seen before. Like the other one, I think the color was slightly over saturated. The visual editing to remove Peter's hesitation/focus on his job were executed well and helped move the scenes forward and focus more on Peter's potential to become Pan as there is still hope that he hasn't fully grown up. 8/10

Audio Editing:
Most all of the visual cuts worked well and those that didn't often were a case of the audio betraying that something was changed. There were also some drastic changes in intensity of scenes and music that perhaps could be smoothed out a bit more. 6.5/10

Narrative:
The only real issue I had with the narrative of this is the omission of the baseball game. I get the intention to remove it, but removing it left it feeling like something was missing for me. I think there is possibly a way to abbreviate the scene to get through it a bit faster. It doesn't disrupt the narrative flow as there is no mention by Jack or Hook that Peter missed Jack's baseball game later in the movie. This is an excellent example of show don't tell during the scene in the museum by Lapis Molari to make this edit choice work.
The removal of the abduction scene worked fantastically. I really liked the mystery it creates and the increased sinister disturbance not knowing it was magical/ridiculous looking when they were abucted. Great work here! I wasn't too sure about the removal, but it improved the scene :)
The removal of Big Tink, but the retaining of "I have a plan" felt jarring narratively. I think it would work to jump from Rufio acknowledging Peter is the Pan straight over to the lost boys prepping for war.
The removal of Tink and Smee in the real world was a GREAT idea and executed very well :)
I liked most of the narrative changes, but missed others 8/10

Enjoyment:
Some scenes feel a bit rushed, but that's most likely because I've memorized this movie from watching it so much. When I read "the way you want to remember it" for me that means from the eyes of a child. I ate up all the ridiculousness. This being one of my favoirte movies, I know that I'm majorly biased against doign anythign to it, but I love to have my perceptions challenged. For the most part this edit accomplished things that I didn't think were going to work. I did miss Maggie's song as the music uses that cue throughout to bridge the gap between Neverland and home for the kids.
I still teared up at the end so ofcourse I enjoyed this :)
Due to some editing choices that I personally would have liked to see stay and some audio cuts that stick out to my ears, my enjoyment score is currently a 7/10. With some adjustments to the audio this would easily raise to an 8/10.

This started great; cutting the baseball game and office stuff was nice but cutting Rufio's entrance and last breathe is sinful.

Other Fixes:
-Cut Peter saying "I have a plan" and just get right into them gearing up. Add Maggie's song back if you need to acknowledge the 3rd day has ended.
-Add tink finding peter in the rain instead of looking like she just abducted him and cut him going home before wendy's

Firstly I'll say this is the fan edit I didn't know I needed :P before I watched this edit I did not realise the reason I haven't watched Hook since I was a kid is because I find the movie somewhat slow, bloated and unfocused, which was unconsciously causing me to avoid it.

I tremendously enjoyed this edit :D thanks for making it. Conceptually its great and I didn't notice any jarring narrative issues.

I won't be able to review every change as I simply don't remember the unedited film well enough but I particularly like the tightened up beginning, much better pacing, gets to the point much more effectively and basically cutting entirely the "neverland makes you forget" thing that bogs down some later parts of the movie.

As for the editing, bearing in mind that the best edits were the ones I didn't notice and so can't rave about them here, was largely good. There were only three negative issues worth talking about here (forgive me :P you did ask for a review)

- The "falling through vines" cut at 00:43:34 was super harsh (on the video and audio) I assume there was a reason but that bit kicked my mind out of the experience
- There is an audio/dialogue weirdness at 00:44:56 where Tinkerbell has an extra line in the background that's really quiet (I watched with HiFi headphones) the line is "Hook has got his kid's", Is there a technical reason that's there or a mistake?
- This is the only one I'd call a "bad" creative choice, the "I have a plan scene" at 01:19:57 was unnecessary, it makes the two cuts either side of it kinda rough and you seem to have cut a voice line when peter clearly continues to talk. I would have preferred a fade to black on the wide shot just before that then cut to the "preparing for battle" scene

I will say again that I had a great time with this edit before I bullet point some other issues I noticed but that are largely unimportant ;P

- There are some harsh dips and flicker to "pure black" either side of your title cards with the yellow font (I think I can only see this because of how my TV is tuned, I believe this is the kind of thing reference monitors are used for but I'm not an expert)
- I think I noticed an audio pop at 00:14:59 (Can only tell with headphones and it may have been in the source)
- "mermaids" to "pan's back" cut was just a little jarring

Side Note -
Anyone else find the "boy kissing a sleeping girl (on the lips even) while her mum watches" scene kinda creepy in 2021, I wouldn't want to cut it but I wonder if some creative editing could turn it into an implied "forehead kiss" I mean Pan is supposed to be super innocent. Although this is straying into censorship which I don't like either so what can ya do :/