Review Detail
9.7 25 10
Overall rating
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
9.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
8.0
Enjoyment
9.0
This edit offers a significantly different experience of a classic in a seemingly almost effortless way. I enjoyed it a lot, despite loving the original (theatrical) cut which I first saw in the cinema when it came out - and watched too many times ever since.
My thoughts in detail:
- The fading out of the first two songs is too abrupt in my opinion. If the original song doesn't have a fade-out at the end, it might have worked trying to make short versions of the songs (ending with the final beat of the song). Or the fade out could have been longer, or it could have transcended into a radio playing somewhere in the building.
- Replacing the Serra score when we first see Mathilda works great. I like Serra's music a lot, but it lacks subtlety, it is sometimes too naive (especially in this scene), and most of all: there's too much of it. I think there are only a few scenes in this movie that actually benefit from Serra's music.
- I would have skipped all scenes in Leon's apartment until Mathilda has entered there (save for the shots of Leon watching Stanfield's thugs). So no Leon working out and walking through his apartment (and also not visiting Tony). The audience's lack of additional knowledge about Leon will only make them identify even more with Mathilda.
- Adding the black and white flashbacks from Nikita would work great in the original version of the film. In this version though, we want to focus on Mathilda. Adding those flashbacks works against that.
- I've always wondered why Besson didn't use music from Beethoven during the massacre (Clockwork Orange, anyone?). Maybe it would have been worth a try?
- The 'Human Behavior' song eliminates too much of the tension during the third act. An instrumental version could have solved that problem, but maybe it would have been better to stick to the original score.
- Good replacement of the Serra score during Leon's final walk.
- Reversing the last shot before the end credits is nothing short of brilliant. Wauw.
Maybe the greatest accomplishment of this edit is proving that the original movie didn’t need those controversial scenes in the first place. ‘Mathilda’ gives the audience as intense an emotional, enjoyable and fulfilling experience as the orginal - just in a different way.
My thoughts in detail:
- The fading out of the first two songs is too abrupt in my opinion. If the original song doesn't have a fade-out at the end, it might have worked trying to make short versions of the songs (ending with the final beat of the song). Or the fade out could have been longer, or it could have transcended into a radio playing somewhere in the building.
- Replacing the Serra score when we first see Mathilda works great. I like Serra's music a lot, but it lacks subtlety, it is sometimes too naive (especially in this scene), and most of all: there's too much of it. I think there are only a few scenes in this movie that actually benefit from Serra's music.
- I would have skipped all scenes in Leon's apartment until Mathilda has entered there (save for the shots of Leon watching Stanfield's thugs). So no Leon working out and walking through his apartment (and also not visiting Tony). The audience's lack of additional knowledge about Leon will only make them identify even more with Mathilda.
- Adding the black and white flashbacks from Nikita would work great in the original version of the film. In this version though, we want to focus on Mathilda. Adding those flashbacks works against that.
- I've always wondered why Besson didn't use music from Beethoven during the massacre (Clockwork Orange, anyone?). Maybe it would have been worth a try?
- The 'Human Behavior' song eliminates too much of the tension during the third act. An instrumental version could have solved that problem, but maybe it would have been better to stick to the original score.
- Good replacement of the Serra score during Leon's final walk.
- Reversing the last shot before the end credits is nothing short of brilliant. Wauw.
Maybe the greatest accomplishment of this edit is proving that the original movie didn’t need those controversial scenes in the first place. ‘Mathilda’ gives the audience as intense an emotional, enjoyable and fulfilling experience as the orginal - just in a different way.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
S