Skyfallen

If the original movie was somewhat flawed, I don't knock the editor if his finished product isn't an A+. You can only work with what you got. Based on the theatrical cut, this edit is a great improvement. The story was improved as was the understanding of the plot. I always prefer the classic bond theme, so I liked this change. Thanks for the hard work!

I haven’t seen the theatrical in many years so I was watching more or less with fresh eyes. The only places where I noticed changes were the weird fade in to Silva on the island, the change in theme song, and the lack of booby traps. I clearly got a general sense of Silva being toned down, which was appreciated, but the aforementioned fade in felt like a fan edit, so I’m assuming it was one. I can’t say I agree with the change of theme music. Swapping out Radiohead for Sam Smith in Spectre sure. But the Adele theme is one of the better themes in my opinion and the replacement isn’t as good. But I suppose that is personal preference. Finally, the omission of the booby traps I think works very well and is a welcome change. I'm not sure what the original video quality was. I had to convert to MP4 in order to watch on my Apple TV. But the quality was noticeably lacking. I didn't really deduct though because I can't be sure the quality issues were due to my Handbrake conversion.

On to the movie itself. I think this is one of the better Bond movies and for me it is the most beautiful to look at (@TM2YC is insane in his dislike of Deakins :P ). But it’s a movie that is clearly trying to raise the bar. And as such it needs to be judged that way. In my opinion it fails to achieve what it clearly set out to do. It wants to make you think about themes such as how expendable human capital is in military and intelligence, the changing nature of conflict in the world, among other things. But the movie merely pays them lip service and doesn’t rise to its own challenges. That’s why, for me, Casino Royale remains the best of the Craig Bond movies.

It's still one of the better Bond movies and LS's edit is an improvement in most areas.

This is one of the best Skyfall edits. It's too bad I can't find an HD version. LastSurvivor handled the final battle the best out of all the fanedits and I'm glad he took out the home alone stuff. It didn't seem fitting for a Bond movie to me. At first I was missing Adele's Skyfall and I didn't know what the other song was but I think it actually served the narrative more somehow. I wasn't expecting that. I still love her song though. If I can find an HD version I'll be set.

A truly brilliant edit from last survivor, the pacing is much better, bond's back story feels more fleshed out as a result and silver's monologues are thankfully toned down.
as mentioned in other reviews the only noticeable cut to me is on the island, the fade feels like something done on imovie and doesn't really fit with the rest of the film, although the choice of where to cut is exemplary.
the musical choices are great as well, the addition of motifs from other bond movies is excellently placed and makes the film score much more like a traditional bond movie. Although i didn't have a problem with adele's song, the choices made for the opening and end credits are well done and do not feel out of place.
as often with last survivor, this has now become my goto version of the film,
(my only two changes would be to remove M's F-word and silver's jaw pulling sequence as both are superfluous to the plot and make this difficult to watch with a child.)

Now if only someone would edit On Her Majesty's Secret Service or Octopussy. hint hint

Skyfall can be best described in the actual movie, "A Rubix Cube That Keeps Fighting Back", it presents a great deal of editing challenges to smooth over and perfect certain over-excesses in narrative and set-piece structure, and here Lastsurvivor does his best to present a leaner, more efficient production. His choice of song for the opening credits has been an ear-worm for me since I first saw his samples and Bond avoiding an encounter with hulking henchmen and terrible CGI dragons is most welcome and he makes his appointment without much fuss, a little bit of a grounded moment in Bond never hurts.

There are some areas I felt could have needed more work, Silva's first scene is transitioned into awkwardly with a slight blur in imagery, and there are slight audio dips when Bond is contemplating shooting at Severene, and again before the helicopters arrive to assist Bond. However, I loved his little touch with Bond now feeling slightly moved. This is a character we saw go through two movies of morning someone he got intimate with, so caring more about scotch is out-of-character for this take on Bond.

Aside from that, everything else worked well, and I like Silva taking the initiative and blowing the tunnel without that cartoonish goading. Guy has a job to do, faux pleasantries should not be a pastime.

Catchy tune, slimmer package, Skyfall is one of my faves because it represents a creative challenge, and Lastsurvivor is one of our top challengers