Split Unbreakable Glass

I haven’t been at this very long, but I’ve already seen some tremendously creative edits from very talented editors. Split Unbreakable Glass is the epitome.

I find M. Night Shyamalan endlessly frustrating. He has great directing chops and interesting ideas, but he can’t seem to get out of his own way. My favorite of his films is Unbreakable, but I liked elements of The Village, The Visit, Signs and The Sixth Sense. He’s an auteur in need of a collaborator, Bergman without Nykvist. After watching this edit, I’m convinced what he’s missing is an editor.

M. Night Shyamalan’s best film is this one.

As a radiologist, I’m trained to notice details, so there were a few transitions I picked up (literally a few), but that‘s the only thing I can criticize about this film. Wraith has taken one great film, one good one and one poor one and crafted a masterpiece. One of Shayamalan’s most effective scenes is the car accident flashback in Signs. This whole cut plays like that. Everything is stitched together for maximum effect, and each cut drives the narrative forward without giving too much away. It’s just riveting.

Watch this. It’s excellent.

Thanks to Wraith for linking me.

I loved the original trilogy and this cut does an incredible job of retelling the story in a completely fresh way. It holds your attention for the entire 3 1/2 hour running time. The flash back/ flash forward structure works brilliantly. The choices Wraith has made on what material, plots to keep and how he has restructured the narrative and edited it all back together is mind blowing. I think this may be the first fan edit I have given top marks to in every catagory. Loved it!

I watched this last year and have repeatedly said that I would leave a review, only to not deliver on my promise. I think part of it was that the IFDB page wasn't up yet when I watched it so I couldn't leave a review immediately after, and then by the time the page was up I forgot, and then kept forgetting. Months later I realized that I would have to watch the edit again since much of it had already left my memory. So I continued to not write a review, waiting until I was ready to watch it again, and then I just never got around to watching it again. Time went on and Wraith released more and more projects that looked incredibly interesting, but I felt guilty about not leaving a review for this yet and didn't think it would be right to request more edits before that.

If I remember correctly, in the Why Don't People Leave Reviews thread, Wraith mentioned that he doesn't necessarily expect super long and in depth reviews, that even short reviews are helpful. So without further ado, I'd like to post something finally. This has gone on long enough. It won't be the long, in depth review that I initially wanted to leave, but it's at least something.

-Audio/Video Quality - From memory, I believe everything looked and sounded fine. Nothing to really mention here.
-Visual Editing - A lot of the editing was seamless. The one thing I remember standing out was some points where shots were slowed down to extend them, it was noticeable and didn't look natural. However, I'd rather this than a shorter shot that doesn't flow as well with the new music, and I know that it's not simple to slow down a shot and have it look perfectly. I also only watched the first version of the edit, so this very well could have been fixed later on. I don't feel that it'd fair to remove points for this. I know some people completely write off reviews that give everything a perfect score, but I hope it's understandable as long as I explain myself.
-Audio Editing - I don't recall anything sounding jarring or out of place. For one thing, I know that Wraith rescored scenes extensively, and it all sounded like it belonged. Same goes for foley replacement.
-Narrative - I went into this edit mostly blind, having only seen Unbreakable many years beforehand and never getting around to watching Split or Glass. Even with this, I was able to follow the story just fine, it doesn't at all rely on the audience being famlliar with the films. So I would say that the narrative is solid.
-Enjoyment - With the time this came out and its length, I remember thinking "Forget Zack Snyder's Justice League, this is a much better super hero epic!" so I think it's safe to say that I enjoyed this. Wraith did a great job at telling a compelling story, that's long yet doesn't feel long, and just overall something that sticks in your mind. All this time later, I may not remember everything, but I remember the unconventional but highly effective structure, I remember the character introductions, I remember the general feeling of watching it, I just want to recommend it to everyone.
In conclusion, this edit is great and really shows the extent of what fan edits are capable of achieving.

Wraith, I have the utmost respect for you.

Again one is amazed by how the threads of a story can be unpicked and rewoven to make something spectacular, Have not yet seen Glass but was aware of the less enthusiastic response towards it compared to the earlier entries, in this edit at least I never felt at any point that these parts were weaker. Was gripped throughout and looking forward to watching Wraith's mirror image edit.

Unlike the other people who have provided reviews, this review is somewhat unique. I own copies of Unbreakable, Glass and Split, but I have only watched Unbreakable. The other DVDs have been sitting on a shelf collecting dust for the last few years, and my wife and I have just never gotten around to watching them. This meant that both of us watched Wraith's fanedit 'blind' (with no idea of what were were going to see).

Seeing Wraith's fanedit was an eye-opening experience. It conveyed the storyline in an easy flowing manner with no spoilers and no superfluous information (no repeated exposition). The [sometimes] convoluted editing and narative style of M. Night Shyamalan has been smoothed over, creating a film that could be effortlessly watched and comprehended, even by viewers who had never seen the original movies... well done Wraith!

My wife and I will now watch the original films, and see the material that Wraith had used to create this version...