Review Detail
9.0 16 10
(Updated: September 15, 2012)
Enjoyment
8.0
Review by UnkwnFactor — April 19, 2011 @ 12:41 am
Well, I decided to come out of obscurity just to review this, the latest BionicBob Star Trek edit.
Please excuse the verbosity of this review. Based on the above reviews, it also seems that I am the minority opinion of this edit.
Before proceeding, I feel it necessary to state that I am a HUGE fan of BionicBob’s ST edits and have enjoyed them all. He’s taken a well-known and well-worn franchise of movies and created something new and exciting.
I have been waiting in eager anticipation, in particular, for this edit. Of all the TOS crew movies, this is by far the least watchable (in its original form) and seems closest to a TOS episode. Not only in the thematic presentation, but the writing and visual effects.
So it is safe to say, I was really looking for to the “BionicBob treatment” of this particular movie over any of the others (including the upcoming ST6). ST 5 would definitely be improved by using Bob’s edit “intent”. If I have understood BionicBob’s intent from his previous four edits, he wanted to make each movie more like a TOS episode – in look, sound and storyline.
I both like and dislike this edit. Prior to writing this review, I watched this edit twice.
Unfortunately, it seems that Bob has strayed somewhat from his original intent. What makes a BionicBob edit of a TOS movie? 1) the editing of the movie itself – removing as much of the “cheese” / silliness / “groan factors” as possible and keeping/rearranging the material to ensure the new story is truer to the characters; 2) using as much of the original series sound effects as possible; 3) use of as much of the original series music as technically and appropriately possible; and finally 4) his new opening/closing credits and music that evoke, in the viewer, that these edits belong to TOS .
As far as the original movie music, YES, I am a huge fan of it. I own the recently released limited edition 2-disc set that has every score, cue etc. used/unused on it. I love the music. I listen to it all the time. I understand why Bob left the original track in (per his DVD commentary), but I think it is a mistake. On this point alone, this caused me to feel like I was watching just another movie edit, instead of a BoincBob “make it more like an episode” edit.
Sure, there were freeze frames and fade to black commercial breaks, but with the ST 1/TNG opening & closing credit music and the original score remaining, I did not get the feel of watching an episode.
Also, gone was BionicBob’s opening/closing credits from his previous 4 edits. This creates of feeling that this edit somehow doesn’t (or shouldn’t) belong with the others (purple font color? Ugh.). Again, increases the feeling that I am watching a movie edit instead of a BioniBob episode creation.
I found his edits done well and seemed to me seamless. The quality was better than the previous 4 edits.
I liked the idea of the footage from other ST movies to give the Klingons something to attack instead of space junk, but they didn’t resonate with me. They were too quick and didn’t create any emotional attachment for me as a viewer. Who was this human they were pursuing across the galaxy? Why were they pursuing him? I quickly forgot about the scene as the movie went on.
The replaced footage also seemed to quick and jaunty to feel seamless to me. I, however, thoroughly liked Bob’s intent behind why he used them.
I definitely liked the idea of the new subtitles and the style, but I found them to be too intrusive (because of the size of them on the video). I especially liked the Klingon symbol used for the subtitles and the Starfleet Logo used for the informational cards.
The audio, like the previous edits, is still plagued with low dialogue and higher music/sound effects. If this didn’t occur in each edit, then I wouldn’t feel like I was watching BionicBob St edit! ;-)
I agree with everything that has been removed from the original and also agree more could have been removed. The “cat girl” fight with Kirk in the bar, most notably. A lot more of the cheesey one-liners as well. Other reviewers have already mentioned a few other points.
Having watched this edit twice, I definitely can tell the love that BionicBob has for this movie. I think this may have gotten in the way of him truly creating an unbelievable “episode edit” from this movie. Like the original movie, this edit strays too far away from the feel and intent of Bob’s previous edits.
To be fair, I gave this edit 8 stars. Why? Because I feel that I why I disliked/was disappointed in this edit is not what most other reviewers are saying and I didn’t want my lone voice to deter others form experiencing this for themselves.
FINAL THOUGHT: Curiously, I thought the same thing after watching the original ST 5 in the theater, “Well, at least there’s another movie to look forward too.” ;-)
Well, I decided to come out of obscurity just to review this, the latest BionicBob Star Trek edit.
Please excuse the verbosity of this review. Based on the above reviews, it also seems that I am the minority opinion of this edit.
Before proceeding, I feel it necessary to state that I am a HUGE fan of BionicBob’s ST edits and have enjoyed them all. He’s taken a well-known and well-worn franchise of movies and created something new and exciting.
I have been waiting in eager anticipation, in particular, for this edit. Of all the TOS crew movies, this is by far the least watchable (in its original form) and seems closest to a TOS episode. Not only in the thematic presentation, but the writing and visual effects.
So it is safe to say, I was really looking for to the “BionicBob treatment” of this particular movie over any of the others (including the upcoming ST6). ST 5 would definitely be improved by using Bob’s edit “intent”. If I have understood BionicBob’s intent from his previous four edits, he wanted to make each movie more like a TOS episode – in look, sound and storyline.
I both like and dislike this edit. Prior to writing this review, I watched this edit twice.
Unfortunately, it seems that Bob has strayed somewhat from his original intent. What makes a BionicBob edit of a TOS movie? 1) the editing of the movie itself – removing as much of the “cheese” / silliness / “groan factors” as possible and keeping/rearranging the material to ensure the new story is truer to the characters; 2) using as much of the original series sound effects as possible; 3) use of as much of the original series music as technically and appropriately possible; and finally 4) his new opening/closing credits and music that evoke, in the viewer, that these edits belong to TOS .
As far as the original movie music, YES, I am a huge fan of it. I own the recently released limited edition 2-disc set that has every score, cue etc. used/unused on it. I love the music. I listen to it all the time. I understand why Bob left the original track in (per his DVD commentary), but I think it is a mistake. On this point alone, this caused me to feel like I was watching just another movie edit, instead of a BoincBob “make it more like an episode” edit.
Sure, there were freeze frames and fade to black commercial breaks, but with the ST 1/TNG opening & closing credit music and the original score remaining, I did not get the feel of watching an episode.
Also, gone was BionicBob’s opening/closing credits from his previous 4 edits. This creates of feeling that this edit somehow doesn’t (or shouldn’t) belong with the others (purple font color? Ugh.). Again, increases the feeling that I am watching a movie edit instead of a BioniBob episode creation.
I found his edits done well and seemed to me seamless. The quality was better than the previous 4 edits.
I liked the idea of the footage from other ST movies to give the Klingons something to attack instead of space junk, but they didn’t resonate with me. They were too quick and didn’t create any emotional attachment for me as a viewer. Who was this human they were pursuing across the galaxy? Why were they pursuing him? I quickly forgot about the scene as the movie went on.
The replaced footage also seemed to quick and jaunty to feel seamless to me. I, however, thoroughly liked Bob’s intent behind why he used them.
I definitely liked the idea of the new subtitles and the style, but I found them to be too intrusive (because of the size of them on the video). I especially liked the Klingon symbol used for the subtitles and the Starfleet Logo used for the informational cards.
The audio, like the previous edits, is still plagued with low dialogue and higher music/sound effects. If this didn’t occur in each edit, then I wouldn’t feel like I was watching BionicBob St edit! ;-)
I agree with everything that has been removed from the original and also agree more could have been removed. The “cat girl” fight with Kirk in the bar, most notably. A lot more of the cheesey one-liners as well. Other reviewers have already mentioned a few other points.
Having watched this edit twice, I definitely can tell the love that BionicBob has for this movie. I think this may have gotten in the way of him truly creating an unbelievable “episode edit” from this movie. Like the original movie, this edit strays too far away from the feel and intent of Bob’s previous edits.
To be fair, I gave this edit 8 stars. Why? Because I feel that I why I disliked/was disappointed in this edit is not what most other reviewers are saying and I didn’t want my lone voice to deter others form experiencing this for themselves.
FINAL THOUGHT: Curiously, I thought the same thing after watching the original ST 5 in the theater, “Well, at least there’s another movie to look forward too.” ;-)
U