Review Detail
9.0 2 10
(Updated: September 18, 2022)
Overall rating
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
8.0
Enjoyment
8.0
This is an edit I myself thought about doing many years back. I was put off in the end, because the payoff really isn't that great. When one cuts out the flashback sequences, we are left with a pretty mundane, stilted story.
That said, the cuts we are presented with seamlessly follows the narrative, without really 'missing' any of Riker's memories. The fact we see none at all, probably works better than selecting only a handful from the original episode. I guess it also means we have to use our imagination and/or empathise with Riker, rather than be fed his mental experiences.
I like the 'bottle show' concept that we now have, and it largely works. (If the producers had decided to go down this route and not re-use footage, they could probably have filmed a few more non-memory scenes to pad the story out, and maybe just a very few 'new' memories, such as childhood memories, or other basic/cheap-to-make snippets on one set. Sadly this was not to be). The transitions all weave together smoothly. There's just a few (unavoidable) abrupt camera angle changes where footage has been excised, but the audio perfectly cleanses these brief moments.
The source material isn't in the best condition, despite being from the blu ray disc, but this isn't the editor's fault.
The title is perfect - a lovely inside joke with fellow Trekkies, and particularly TOS fans.
This isn't necessarily an improvement on a pretty dire episode, but it's certainly a decent alternate take.
That said, the cuts we are presented with seamlessly follows the narrative, without really 'missing' any of Riker's memories. The fact we see none at all, probably works better than selecting only a handful from the original episode. I guess it also means we have to use our imagination and/or empathise with Riker, rather than be fed his mental experiences.
I like the 'bottle show' concept that we now have, and it largely works. (If the producers had decided to go down this route and not re-use footage, they could probably have filmed a few more non-memory scenes to pad the story out, and maybe just a very few 'new' memories, such as childhood memories, or other basic/cheap-to-make snippets on one set. Sadly this was not to be). The transitions all weave together smoothly. There's just a few (unavoidable) abrupt camera angle changes where footage has been excised, but the audio perfectly cleanses these brief moments.
The source material isn't in the best condition, despite being from the blu ray disc, but this isn't the editor's fault.
The title is perfect - a lovely inside joke with fellow Trekkies, and particularly TOS fans.
This isn't necessarily an improvement on a pretty dire episode, but it's certainly a decent alternate take.
T