Large's Ark

March 19, 2011

I came to this from the perspective of a fan of the original theatrical cut who thought that it was a good little character piece that, frankly, could have been a great little character piece with only a little tweaking. Many times the point of the movie either became completely lost from time to time, or was put across in much too pointed in heavy handed ways. A more subtle film would have definitely played better to me, and if you could do that while turning the volume down on some of the oft too broadly comedic or needlessly quirky bits it would be even better. Thankfully, that’s exactly what this edit it does.

First of all let me start by saying I quite liked the presentation of the thing. The sound and picture quality was stellar with the exception of some re-inserted deleted scenes that frankly do look off – though given how important they were to this edit and that there was no way I can think of to make them look better than they did I found that completely acceptable. As for the editing itself, it’s next to invisible. I can’t pick out a moment where I really noticed the editing, which in this type of project I think is the best compliment to pay.

Now, all that said, getting into the movie itself. This is by FAR in my opinion the movie that Garden State always aspired to be but fell short of. The point is put across in a much more subtle, and dramatically satisfying way, with much more emotion and pathos than that original theatrical edition. Not only does this edit it remove much of the distracting and muddled bits, but also it’s gotten rid of some of the over written moments that seemed only designed to make sure even the most dense audience member got the point. But perhaps most satisfying is that it allowed the film to feel less broad, eschewing much of the inappropriate humor while at the same time keeping the quirkiness and skewed view that helped make Garden State special in the first place.

Presented here, all and all, feels like a much more professionally edited, satisfying, subtle, and overall intelligent film than the original version and for my money represents the much preferable edit.

March 6, 2011

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

February 25, 2011

This was just a wonderful viewing experience!
The entire time I just kept saying to myself, “This is a great movie!”.
Never once did I preface it by reminding myself this is a fan edit.
It didn’t feel like an edit to me.
It was just a really good movie.

This is a beautiful alternate version of what I already consider a brilliant and charming movie.
While I still love the original, this version adds greater depth and weight to the overall narrative,
creating for me a very emotional journey and more satisfying conclusion.

While the reinserted scenes are of slightly different video quality, I actually thought this worked in favour of the movie.
It was almost as though the varying picture quality reflected Large’s inner turmoil and emotional state.
So for me, the deleted scenes quality was more of narrative enhancement, than a distraction.
It just goes to show how well written and performed these scenes actually were and what a shame they hit the cutting room floor.
But now we have L8′s version to enjoy Large’s journey in it’s full splendor.

I absolutely loved the music replacement choices. All seemlessly interwoven and a vast improvement over the original soundtrack IMO.

Again, just a wonderful, wonderful moving film.

Well done L8wrtr!

February 22, 2011

Well, I think I need to preface this by saying that I HATED Garden State when I saw it in theaters. Like, seriously despised. And I honestly don’t remember much about it. I remember thinking it came off very pretentious, very “quirky for the sake of it,” and very “I wish I was made by Wes Anderson but I wasn’t.” It was trying to be Indy and charming, which made it feel the opposite.

I love L8wrtr’s edits, and again I didn’t remember a whole lot of the original, so I decided to give this a whirl.

I’m glad I did.

As far as Technical goes, everything is well done. I don’t remember what songs L8 changed, but I didn’t notice any of them. There is a pretty noticeable quality drop from some of the deleted scenes, but I personally found them crucial additions, so that can be dealt with. All other editing is flawless and unnoticeable.

Now as far as the concept, I thought this was made into a real movie. The plot doesn’t feel as meandering and nonexistant as it did in the original, and I can really feel the emotion of Large’s arc (see what I did there?) as the story progressive. The quirkiness becomes sweet instead of overwhelming. The story moves at a nice pace and there’s plenty of hysterical moments throughout. The love story is believable and enjoyable and all of the actors get to shine. Generally, I feel like if I had seen this in the theater, I would not have felt anywhere near as harshly, and might have even liked it. Luckily, I have this version to like now.

Basically, I feel that L8wrtr has taken a really, really craptastic movie and made it worthwhile. I highly recommend this edit!

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Well I just finished watching this fanedit and I thought it was great.

The Edit: Whenever I watch a fanedit its pretty much my policy to read as little about it as possible before watching. I stay away from other people’s reviews, and I don’t look at the cutlist. So this was the approach I took when watching the edit.

I really liked the start of this edit. I never liked the whole airplane scene, it almost seemed like a Fight Club rip off (when Ed Norton’s character says he has fantasies about a mid-air plane crash).

Most of the scenes that were removed from the film I didn’t miss at all. The singing off “Once, Twice, Three Times A Lady” at the funeral. Large working at the Asian Fusion restaurant. Large getting pulled over by the cop (who ends up being his high school friend). It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy these scenes in the original but it didn’t affect the story (or rather their removal aided L8wrtr’s vision for the edit).

I enjoyed all the new songs that were added and really felt that they “fit.” Sometimes new songs in fanedits, or even soundtracks in original movies are just a bit off and don’t seem to be a good match. This was definitely not the case with the new songs. I was also happy that some of my favorite songs from the original were left intact.

I am so glad that the scene of Large screaming at the top of the quarry was removed. My biggest problem with the original is that one scene. It just came off as very corny to me.

I liked the new ending. Although I really have no problem with the original ending, I guess that one line “this is it, this life” is a bit contrived. Although I did miss the song used in the original ending: Frou Frou’s song Let Go but I am an Aimee Mann fan too. Her cover of “One is the Loneliest Number” fit perfectly with the ending montage showing all the people in Large’s life alone.

The only thing I really didn’t like in this edit, was the spill over of Method Man’s voice into the next scene, where he gives the instructions to go to the quarry, and you see Large, Mark and Sam park and walk through the hole in the fence. I know this technique is present in a lot of films, but in this specific instance, I thought at the very least it should have been a bit shorter (maybe removed the part about “im gonna call the guy right now, he’ll be expecting you”).

Video and Audio Quality were great. However there is a noticeable difference with the deleted scenes (at least the one with his father). There is obviously not much that can be done about that and the reinsertion of these scenes was vital to the edit.

Special Features: The “About the Edit” section contained a thorough explanation of L8wrtr’s intention with this fanedit. After “watching” (reading) this section of the DVD, I found myself very impressed with the amount of thought that went into this edit. L8wrtr seems to have a very analytical mind when it comes to the themes and tones of films.

In my opinion L8wrtr successfully achieved his goal with this fanedit. It was great to watch and I would say from an entertainment and enjoyment perspective it is equal to the original film.