Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Extended Edition

Now this is something that I didn't think I'd ever see: something made on Windows Movie Maker that's actually watchable! For that only, Sportsman deserves credit.

The edit itself doesn't make that big of a narrative difference from the theatrical release, more of a version for fans than anything, but I'd say the development is a bit better than the official cut, with some amusing bits added here and there. Even if it's something the editor wasn't really sure about, I particularly enjoyed the Nega Scott cameos early on, the buildup makes the outcome (or lack thereof) funnier IMO. So I guess it worked.

Video quality is somewhat disappointing, for a 720p 3GB+ file it doesn't look much better than a 700mb xvid, which is maybe a limitation of the dreaded WMV format. Video blocking is noticeable all through, and given that this movie has a lot of fast cuts and camera movements during the fights, it can be distracting. Audio sounded pretty good to me, the only "off" bit being an added exchange between Knives and Young Neil early on that seemed slightly louder than the average level of the movie.

The editing itself was good for a first-time attempt, no hard audio cuts or flash frames, but I've noticed that the transition to some of the deleted scenes (such as Scott and Ramona's extended first date) is made through a fast video dissolve rather than a straight cut, and that called attention to itself as "edited" to me.

But hell, I doubt I would have been able to make something this competent with such lame software. Kudos to Sportsman, hoping he'll keep polishing his promising editing skills.

Review by kaine23 — November 10, 2011 @ 10:22 pm

As a Scott Pilgrim fan, I decided to give this Firstling a shot. This extended edition adds in a number of the deleted scenes from the commercial release of the film, so sure the audio/video isn’t up to par as the rest of the film, but it wasn’t totally jarring or a distraction.

Video:
Found very few issues, video was clean and the deleted scenes and extra bits were added seamlessly. Some of the deleted scenes added you can tell by the slightly lower video quality, but as I mentioned before, it’s not totally distracting and shouldn’t turn off the viewer(s). A couple of the additions from the Clash at Demonhead gig playing do seem off, but that was based on the material available to the fanediter.

Audio:
Found no issues, the fanediter mentioned there were a few audio hiccups here and there, I couldn’t really notice them, save for when deleted scenes were inserted in some places.

Movie itself:
This extended addition of Scott Pilgrim feels like a more complete movie. Sure most fans know the movie came out before Book 6 was released and those who read all six books know of the other changes and parts from the movie were added to Book 6. The added exposition between Scott and Ramona and the slower pace regarding the exes made the film feel more complete. Knives more prominent opening fleshed her character out more so it didn’t seem like she just showed up with a throw away line explaining who she is. Todd and Gideon benefited from the extra screentime as well. The extra one liners inserted in from Envy, Wallace, and the rest of the cast were funny and fleshed out the rest of Scott’s cast.

In all, I give this a 9 out of 10 and very much approve. Sportsman picked a great film to start out with. He could benefit from learning more from the fanedit.org staff and improving his craft with other programs too.

December 6, 2011 @ 11:36 pm

This was an enjoyable EE. Not better than the theatrical cut, but very well done.

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I'm a big fan of Scott Pilgrim in both comics and film form, so when I saw that Sportsman had put together this edit I grabbed it straight away.

As with any extended edition there's a tradeoff between audiovideo quality and additional material; the scenes are inserted into the main narrative in a mostly-seamless fashion but the drop in quality is noticeable although not problematic.

As a fan of the material, I think it's worth it though - there are some good extra gags and there's a better sense of why the characters are friends. It's a shame the animated segment wasn't included, however.

If you like the film as is, I'd recommend checking out the edit. If the theatrical release wasn't your cup of tea, this extended edition won't change your mind.