Oblivion Redeemed

(Possible spoilers to follow.)

This is a highly successful fanedit that noticeably improves upon the original film. The pacing has been improved. Poor dialogue from the original has been erased. Characters I found annoying in the original, namely Sykes (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Beech (Morgan Freeman), have been made far more palatable. The film as a whole is a much more enjoyable experience as a result of Beezo's edits.

I do have a few minor criticisms. While I appreciated that Beezo removed the VO from the beginning and end of the film, its absence was rather noticeable in the fanedit's opening. I found myself thinking, "Oh yeah, this is where the VO was." A more succinct opening may have alleviated that problem and fit better with the overall tone of the film. At times the music felt overpowering, though I don't recall how much of that existed in the original film. I'm torn about the new ending; I understand why the change was made, but it left some questions unanswered. What happened to the other survivors? What happened to 52?

All in all, this is an excellent fanedit and I highly recommend it to both new viewers of the film and those who had issues with the original.

I know this movie gets a bad rap in terms of narrative, but I've always liked it. The cinematography is gorgeous and Tom Cruise, well he's Tom Cruise at the top of his game here. Beezo's edit tightens up the pace and eliminates some light dialogue that otherwise doesn't directly effect the plot. I've probably watched this edit 3 or 4 times and it's usually the one I go when I watch this movie. There are little lines from the theatrical version that I miss (the stuff where Jack talks to Bob), but there's not really a moment where you feel something is lost when watching the edit. Beezo's edit makes for an enjoyable experience that is on equal footing with the source material, though I wouldn't necessarily say it's a replacement of the source.

Audio/Video Quality: 10/10
It looks and sounds the part that it should for the resolution and file size.
Visual Editing: 10/10
Again, I don't notice anything out of place and don't see any obvious editing choices. Another round of great work!
Audio Editing 10/10
I don't notice anything out of place and don't hear obvious editing choices. Great work!
Narrative: 9/10
I do miss a few inconsequential elements (dialogue and Tech 52), but nothing that makes me turn off the edit and go back to the theatrical when watching. The changes in no way create narrative conflicts so I'll only take one nitpicking point off for the Tech 52 ;)
Enjoyment: 8/10
Two subjective points taken off because I do like some of the omitted elements. A solid 8 for great editing and a slightly faster way to watch Oblivion. This edit is a showcase example of clean cuts and great execution of edits. Great work Beezo! Sorry it took so long for me to write a review.

Quite a solid edit, though I think a little more could have been cut (for starters I've done away with the entire epilogue). Beezo clearly likes this movie more than I do, I feel like it's just another blockbuster, not a terrible one but not particularly memorable, and quite déjà-vu all the way. But in any case, this cut is preferable to the original and less dumb. If you like the theatrical cut, you'll love this edit. If you don't, the edit isn't all that different and might increase your appreciation for the movie just a bit.

Video editing is flawless, audio editing is very good too considering the difficulty of cutting around the music in some places. The only slightly off edit happens at 1:06:32, during the canyon chase, when it cuts from a closeup of Olga's to one of Cruise's right before hiding behind a waterfall, but it's only the fact that the music beat is a tiny bit off that gives it away, otherwise the transition is well done.

I watched the DVD-5 version, quality is pretty good but it comes in the form of a 3.56GB ISO, which means that a whole GB is blank, and that could have been used for better compression.

Beezo also provides an audio commentary that was very entertaining, informative, and fun to listen. Main menu is not very sophisticated but looks good.

Overall a very nice job, and for sure if I ever feel like rewatching this movie, it will definitely be Beezo's cut.

You have absolutely saved this film for me! Your editing choices were well thought out and you executed them perfectly. The image quality was amazing and I found nothing wrong with any of the audio. This is a well done edit. Bravo.

Thank you for un-dumbing this movie. I don't know why studios insist on inflicting the SciFi audience with lazy storytelling cliches like a VO narration. Blade Runner didn't need it, Dune didn't need it, yet it persists. I've watched my Oblivion Blu-ray about half a dozen times now and I always skip over the beginning because I detest the narration.

I liked the opening montage and didn't miss the VO one whit. I don't know how someone who had never seen this movie before might react, but I knew right away this was a post-apocalyptic Earth tale. If that wasn't enough, you have the (re)telling of the story by Jack to Julia and all of the other references about going to Titan, etc.

Visually, this Fanedit looks even better than my Oblivion Blu-ray when viewed on a large plasma display, if that's possible. I did find the audio to be cranked up a bit in spots and had to use a db cut to my subwoofer to keep peace in the neighborhood. However the soundtrack and sound editing were very good and added to my enjoyment of the movie.

Of course opinions are going to vary about the alternative ending, but I'm glad you made some choices there. Its yet another reason why I would watch this Fanedit as opposed to another repeat viewing of the original. The result is a more immersive and thought provoking movie experience.