Matrix Revolutions: The Epic Edition

SnooP July 12, 2011 @ 11:53 am

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

DwightFry78 July 31, 2011 @ 9:13 pm

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

Menbailee November 17, 2011 @ 9:54 am

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

Original review: Febuary 1 2012

I finally got to watch this epic edit tonight, and was highly impressed with the skill and creativity that went into it. It looked and sounded superb, made some fantastic cuts and, overall, was a much much more enjoyable experience than sitting through the two sequels (especially revolutions, I still quite enjoy reloaded as a stand alone film.)

Video: I watched the bluray, and was taken to that special bluray place. Thank you for being an HD snob Gemini, we all benefit from it! The picture was brilliant, and I didn’t notice any flaws at all.

Audio: Same deal. Great work, your technical prowess was obvious throughout, and everything was well balanced.

Story: You have improved it a great deal.

Things I liked: Simplifying the story by cutting out many flabby elements, including Smith in the real world, Neo’s powers in the real world, Neo lost in the train station, the multiple 1’s story thread, the 2nd visit to the frenchy who likes to wipe his ass with silk…Great. It plays more like a classic hero tale now in it’s general structure, which can only be a good thing.
- The effects work in the ’source’ scene was a great surprise, and a very clever and original way to avoid meeting colonel Sanders in the tv shop.
- Supporting characters, especially in Revolutions, are now more likable, probably because they’re not surrounded by a load of bolony in the other story threads anymore. I found myself caring about the action in Zion for the first time, so great job there Gem.

Things I didn’t like as much:
- There were a few points where the edits unfortunately did jump out at me and take me out of the film, and these were mostly due to awkward wipes and cross fades. There were about 4 or 5 of these that I thought could have been a bit smoother, but without seeing the alternative, it’s hard to say. Maybe this is as good as it could have been, but they were there so I’ll mention them.

- There were also a few stitching problems, such as after the epic flying truck crash rescue, we almost instantly cut to a very calm Neo, Morpheus and Trinity in the car. There is no response to what they have just been through, and it feels jarring. I also thought the sudden introduction of all of the revolutions minor characters in that ‘bridging’ section felt awkward as well. If this was really intended to be one movie, ideally we would have met those characters in the early meeting scene, but never mind. There’s nothing you could do about that really, and I think you managed well.

- The biggest story problem for me was the lack of a conclusion with Trinity, She’s a major player, and the last we see of her she says “I’m coming with you”… but then she doesn’t. I think this hurt the edit a fair bit actually, as you really can’t leave the major love interest and female heroine stranded like that… but oh well.

- two more minor gripes
1) The movie still felt too long, I think you could easily cut another 30 minutes and tighten up your already tightened narrative further. The heavy handed philosophy is, at times, incredibly cringe worthy. It sometimes, dare I say it, borders on the levels of wooden and cheesy only achieved by one other director that shall remain nameless (George Lucas). “I dreamed a dream…” still makes me laugh out loud. I half expect Morpheus to burst into song, and start singing Les Miserables. And he says “I believe” about 8 too many times. So I guess I would love to see the slightly less epic but more condensed and less wanky edition if you can ever be bothered, but I understand if you’re done and dusted with the matrix after this mammoth effort. You have permission to use that title by the way.

2)The rave. Goodness me I hate that scene. I understand why it’s needed, but I thought a lot of slow motion grindy shots could have been trimmed to tighten that scene further. I guess the problem is it makes Neo look like he has premature problems, given that the climax of the dance is so obviously supposed to coincide with the …ahem. Naked Gun anyone?

But seriously, overall I really enjoyed this edit, and I can’t quite believe you managed to get me invested in the Revolutions scenes. Bravo, and great work on making the Matrix sequels palatable again. I have only watched one other 2 in 1 matrix effort, and this blows it out of the water in my opinion.

Congrats Gem, nice work.

Matrix sequel fan edits are some of the more prevalent on this site. The Epic Edition is certainly going up against some steep competition. Despite the numerous others that have been made this one is now my personal favorite story wise.

First off the editing is near seamless, watching the film I am still amazed on how much was changed yet how little it shows unless you are familiar with the original sources.

Audio work, video work, image quality: all excellent. In terms of audio/visual presentation this easily is equal to or perhaps even surpasses the legendary Dezionized cut.

Now the actual edit was refreshingly new. There are some controversial choices in terms of scenes to keep. In a sense the Epic Edition goes against popular consensus in retaining minor characters, Zion, and the war scenes. As well as the infamous “Dance Scene” and “Heart Restart Scene”.

However do not let these factors dissuade you. Some edits try to make the film work by creating some sort of conclusion at the end of Reloaded. In my opinion Reloaded will always remain incomplete without a least partly including Revolutions. The challenge was creating an edit of the Revolutions material that removed or at least downplayed all that was wrong with the original. This is where the Epic Edition shines. By retaining minor characters that played a part in the war scenes, as well as removing the machine city/smith outside of the matrix scenes, the film takes on a completely different feel that is both faster and more cohesive then the originals.

The boldest edit was a completely different Source scene then the Architect’s office in Reloaded. To me it was pure awesomeness as well as an amazing technical feat. It works better than any edit prior that tried to remove the “multiple Ones” plot twist which nearly everyone hated.

Nitpicking wise I feel that the ending would have been better with the inclusion of one scene. A scene from the beginning of Revolutions with Neo in a coma. Perhaps with some sort of music change to create a different mood such a scene would establish his death a little more clearly then the end Smith battle does.

Also, while I can understand the reason for including the dance scene, I feel the scene is still a little too “in your face” symbolism which was one of the Wachowski brothers main stumbling blocks. Reducing instead of eliminating the dance scene would still have established the main contrast between the Matrix and the real world without that contrast being over emphasized.

The heart restart scene did not bother me. It works surprisingly well in the context of this edit.

There are many fan edits for the Matrix sequels out there. But this is now my solid favorite. Amazing Job!
9/10

Review by LostInTime — June 21, 2011 @ 12:52 AM