Review Detail

Last Survivor's very welcome comeback edit does not disappoint. My biggest grip with Skyfall, that it's a Christopher Nolan clone with little personality of its own, can not be fixed by a fanedit, but otherwise I found this edit very preferable to the theatrical cut, and more "Bondian" too. The pacing is better and, with 25 minutes of fat removed, it never feels like anything is missing. If anything, I'd have cut a few more bits, like Eve telling Bond about the YouTube upload (we've already seen that in the previous M scene, never deliver the same info twice on a movie, we can assume Eve did tell him offscreen) or the GB bumper sticker on the Aston Martin, which not only makes a SECRET agent's car more identifiable, but also if this is the same car we've been seeing since Goldfinger, and I assume it is since it has the machine guns, a bumper sticker of a particular country renders the rotating international plates useless.

LS succeeds in making Silva more menacing and less over the top. I liked his new intro, yet I could have done without the blurring, one isn't likely to find that in a theatrical release. A simple video cut would have worked fine. The replaced music is great, it really increases the overall Bond feel that I find lacking in the theatrical cut.

Despite the editor's high opinion on the cinematography, I do wish he had done some color correction. Roger Deakins is a good DP who has made fine work, particularly with the Coens, but here it tends a bit too much to the generic teal-and-orange look that's everywhere these days. I wish it had been toned down.

I'm also glad we finally got the audio commentary. I enjoyed it a lot. And thanks for the name dropping! :)

Recommended to all Bond fans, regardless of their opinion on Skyfall. Mission accomplished!