Dark Knight Saga Recut, The - Part I

This won't be a long review. I watched the entire trilogy this weekend and thought that NJVC made all the right cuts from all three.

Audio / Video quality was superb and I detected no problem cuts whatsoever.

When I'm itchin' for some Dark Knight this is what I will watch.

This is a tough one. Batman Begins is, I think, the best movie of the three: coherent, tightly edited, with heart.
But njvc showss that BB can be tweaked. No major cuts here, just little nips and tucks everywhere which, for the most part, greatly improve the film.

First, the negatives:
I missed "SWEAR TO ME!" - I think it's funny, but no biggie.

But these next cuts make the edit a companion piece rather than a replacement to the original:
Cutting Bruce's hesitant response to Rachel and de-emphasising the "it's what you dooo" weakens the link they have. His soul is laid bare in the "it's not what you see, it's underneath" - you see the deep connection Rachel has for him - she is his link to normalcy. Removing it removes his link to normalcy, which considerably weakens not just this film but the next two as well.
It also makes her realisation that he's Batman really random. In the original their interaction sticks out in your mind - his vulnerability is so unusual. In the edit the scene is forgotten - so much so that at the kiss at the well I thought "huh? how did she know he's Batman!"
The kiss is also very weird. I know Holmes delivery is iffy, but without the dialogue their reactions are just extremely odd. She needs to tell him that his mask is his normal face - because that's a major theme (will the Bat consume the Man?), which is also a callback to "hwo I am underneath" (which is probably why you removed it?)-
A v2 re-inserting all three scenes "it's me underneath" "it's what I dooo" and stregnthens the characters immensely and would replace BB (for me, at least!).
I'd also either cut Flass threatening the kids or put back the voodoo-vision for him - at the moment it just seems that he's going to randomly murder some kids. I know he's an ass, but he wasn't THAT bad!

Then the positives:
Wow. Just wow. Nipped and tucked and tweaked - this edit is amazing. Lots of tiny, flawless trims to dialogue.
The Mr Earl sideplot, although amusing, is easily disposed of and strengthen the movie.
Ra's is more threatening with the removal of acres of exposition. Now he's focussed, brutal, to the point.
The weird voodoovision is flawlessly removed - and the movie is SO much better for it.
The editing is amazing!

Audio: There was one point when I noticed a flutter in the music (the 10,000 cowl's scene), otherwise flawless to my ears. Impressive.
Video quality is superb (watched HD mkv).

I rated BB a 8/9 originally. This edit is better in so many ways, but because of the Rachel /Bruce scenes mentioned above I can't replace BB. So it comes in as a solid 8.
For those who aren't bothered by those scenes- you will never watch the original again.
Outstanding work njvc.

I hadn't watched Batman Begins in years but I remembered being disappointed in TDKR so I wanted to find an edit of it. I found this trilogy edit and wanted to give it a shot.

Technically I never found a problem. I didn't notice any areas where the video or audio was messed up in any way. Having not watched this for a while I couldn't remember most of what was cut out minus some of the humor and the creepy toxin shots. I personally could have kept a few of the bits of humor, but that's just me. The pacing was definitely improved towards the end which is my favorite part of this edit.

Overall fantastic, though I don't know if this would replace the original as my go to watch for this trilogy.

A technically brilliant feat, the editing is stellar throughout. A great improvement from the original, though I felt one or two cuts could've stayed. Probably some of the humor I want back but that's subjective, of course.

Highly recommended saga, the three films really shines in njvc's take on 'em.

Brief: this surpasses the original. It can easily replace the theatrical cut Batman Begins for any viewer a bit underwhelmed by the first installment of Nolan's trilogy.

Long:
NJVC has done excellent work on this edit: there are no pacing issues, the story remains intact but streamlined, and video/audio quality is superb.

Constructive criticisms:

1. The initial confrontation between Jonathan Crane and Rachel Dawes jars slightly, as it used to be followed by a quick conversation between her and her boss. The new cut removes that second conversation and goes straight to Wayne watching Dawes from a pay-phone. The cut is fine, but the scene switch comes quite jarringly. It may have been better to keep that second conversation to maintain the smooth flow of those scenes, and also to introduce the minor character of Dawes' boss. As it is the character is a one-shot, who is suddenly introduced in Act II and then never seen/heard from again.

2. The sub-plot of the Microwave Emitter comes a bit from left-field, and probably could have been retained in some places (particularly as it kills of Dawes' aforementioned boss, resolving his character). The conflict between Fox and Earl was suitably gone, but that earlier introduction would be valuable.

Really these were the only scenes I noticed that (I felt) should have been kept. Which is excellent for a film with this many trims!

The sub-plot of Earl vs Wayne + Fox is gone, and not missed. Although it is always lovely to see more Rutger Hauer, I can see why it's cut. That subplot basically resolved itself as a status quo: Wayne owns Wayne Enterprises at the start, and he owes it at the end. There is no change to that situation, so it wasn't necessary. Good work!

Overall, this is an excellent cut, and will replace my DVD of Batman Begins for sure. The colour correction is a stand-out: the film no longer looks like it was dipped in mud before shooting.

9.5/10 for narrative, 10/10 for all other elements.