Dark Knight Saga Recut, The - Part III

Thank you NJVC! :]X

Overview - Third part of Nolan’s trilogy was the most ambitious, was the longest, was sluggish, and was weighed down by already irrelevant political stances. njvc made judicious edits, severing the lulls, pruning the Occupy nonsense (in three years few will know what Occupy meant, none will care), fashioning an even darker version of the finale.

Video - Seamless work here. This editor’s projects are always professional, and this was no different. Picture quality was great and all changes flicked by unnoticed.

The only technical issue I had was the file itself. I burn to disc. This would not fit, even on a dual layer. I attempted light compression many times - fail. Finally converted it (which is not a compression) and I was happy with the resultant DVD, but this is a heads up for others who prefer to burn.

Audio - Robust 5.1 score. Work here on par with video editing. Listened with headphones, also cranked the speakers. Blow the roof.

Narrative - The plot moves quicker now and I don’t check to see how much time remains - something I still do with the original. The overall tone is considerably darker, especially with the bulk of humor removed. Batman is not Noir territory, but the fatalistic themes weigh heavy here. Everything about this edit is top shelf, and this ought to be my preferred go-to from now on. However ...

Enjoyment - Second time I watched this, an uneasy perception cast it’s shadow and I was never able to shake it. The ending (and njvc has already alerted viewers to this in his cutlist) goes as dark as it gets for the caped crusader. Indeed, the “Hollywood” ending of Bruce and Selina in an Italian cafe is gone gone gone. Which made me view all Wayne’s efforts, his sacrifices, his dedication as a big pile of nothing.

Batman is now a doomed tragedy. Dying for a city of ingrates. Squandering his fortune on his useless cause, personal trauma demons. Batman becomes as pointless and meaningless as the excised Occupy have-nots. Wayne is Don Quixote, a loser with the Joker’s mocking L on his forehead. There is no peace, no espresso with a female he had chemistry with. Only a big bang demise for citizens who, quite frankly, were undeserving.

That second viewing, as Batman vaporized, I was thinking, “What a schlemiel.” And that is not how I want to perceive him. In every way this edit was stellar, surpassing the original in so many scenes, except - for me - the ending, which rolled around in my mouth like a mouthful of rotten food.

Could be just me, though.

A terrific improvement, the only thing I'd also have removed is the few frames of the batman silhouette standing on top of the suspention bridge at the end. (thumbs up)

I loved the original movies and watched them all multiple times, that is except this one. This is the first time I saw this one since it came out at the cinema.

This is a great edit and it does it's best at fixing what was unfortunately a horribly bloated movie. The story flows well yet it still suffers and I feel is still too long and drags a bit. But thats a problem that likely cannot be fixed.

The only issue I had was there was a hard cut when the mayor is giving his speech and the volume was barely audible when I watched it on my computer.

My personal impression of Nolan's final entry in the Dark Knight trilogy is that it is an excellent film, but a very bad Batman movie. After loving the first two movies, I left the theatre after watching RISES feeling very frustrated. On one level, blown away at the craftsmanship and artistic nature of the film. On another level, completely blown away at how out of character everyone was from not only the last two movies, but from the iconic source material too. Thus, RISE is my least favourite of all the Batman films (yes, I even like Batman and Robin better...LOL-- I really need to see a therapist)

But now I have NJVC's version of RISES to enjoy. And enjoy it I did. While the film still suffers imo from many inherent character development/motivation issues that can not be altered, I loved how njvc has cut away all the excess baggage, and streamline the story so it is now moving like a runaway train.

This may sound odd, but I really loved that njvc cut out Mathew Modiene as much as he did, as I have always loved the actor's work, and by removing all his smarmy scenes, he really redeemed the character and made his death more tragic to me.

I will not repeat all the praises that others have posted, as they are much more eloquent than I could ever be.... Technically, it is solid edit with great cut and audio work. If I am to nitpick, I wish njvc had taken the time to dial down all of Bane's dialogue, as I was constantly adjusting my volume control on the remote during and after every single Bane scene. I also thought the Gordon hospital scenes where Blake is promoted to detective felt a bit choppy.

For me, this cut is a definite improvement from the original, though still my least fave of the Nolan trilogy. NJVC is to commended for his great work. Thumbs Up. :)