Hook - The way you (want to) remember it

Would be difficult to believe that more than half an hour has been removed from this film, no loss at all of narrative coherence. Since I only saw it once (and at least fifteen years ago) just a few absences stuck out immediately, big Tinkerbell, the baseball game at the beginning and the "scarily lit shots when kids get kidnapped". I was surprised when my first reaction to the latter was of disappointment, I suppose that this particular sequence left a greater impression on a young me than I thought, but on reflection and comparison I think that it rather does give away a bit too much and dilute the suspense.

Otherwise this edit lives up to its title and was a nice revisit, only just realised that this film contains the embodiment of Prince Zuko while the 2004 live-action "proper" adaptation of Peter Pan (the one I grew up with) stars Admiral Zhao as Hook himself! The purist in me wonders though if there could be a way of altering Tinkerbell's statement about the way to Neverland back to "Second to the right and straight on till morning." (is it a coincidence that Star Trek VI from the same year features the same "incorrect" line?), never saw the Disney animated version this references and the modification from the original irrationally irks me!

Technically excellent, only issues I noticed were a couple of audio cuts (80 mins in, bookending the shot of Peter looking over the cliff where he says "I have a plan") sounding a little abrupt. Thank you lapis molari for sharing your work!

I live in a household divided on the subject of Hook, as I don't have the love for it that a lot of my generational cohort does (although weirdly, I remember liking the comic adaptation a lot), and my partner counts it as one of her favourite childhood films. Well, I came away really impressed by how coherent and streamlined lapis managed to make the character arcs in the film, although Julia Roberts' Tinkerbell gets shortchanged a bit, I'm OK with that as her crush on Peter was nonsensical and slightly off-putting anyway. Nevertheless, she does seem rather surplus to the film now. Anyway, Dustin Hoffman gets to shine as the good captain, Robin Williams is less pathetic and more just a beleaguered but likeable yuppie dad, and Bob Hoskins' Smee steals the show, as he should. The title sequence lifted from a trailer is a vast improvement as well.

And ultimately my ladyfriend, as expected by the title, found Hook every bit as good as she remembered -- if not better.

Enjoyed this edit greatly!

Lapis got rid of the bloat and some of the goofiness to the film. Like the daughters song, bloated baseball scenes, and the jealous tink subplot.

Only issue would be to let the Rufio death scene go the full length.

Excellent cut!

A wonderful bloat-free edit of a Spielberg classic.
This edit is a major improvement over the original, and removes almost all of the cringe from it. The trims are seamless and added deleted scenes are integrated well. The all-in-all result is a fun adventure film for the entire family.
I personally would have preferred an edit which will further trim the mermaids kissing Peter and reintegrate some of Rufio's scenes, but that's me.
To sum - a highly recommended edit.

This is a very nice trimming of the classic children's Spielberg movie. Some 'director's indulgence' has been removed and what remains tells the story in a straightforward and unintrusive manner. The new introduction to the movie is much more inspired than the original--although the deleted scenes are somewhat obvious (particularly the first).

I would argue that some of the character of the movie has been excised with the editor's chosen cuts; nevertheless, all the chosen edits were skillfully handled and they flow nicely. I also appreciate that the creepy lighting/kidnapping scenes were trimmed, especially for younger viewers. I am mixed about any of Robin Williams' scenes being cut but *not* sorry about losing the 'big Tink' scene in the slightest, ha.

In summary, this edit is a good choice if you want a tight, condensed version of the film with less 'cringe'.