Dark Knight Saga Recut, The - Part III

I have been a vocal opponent of TDKR since I saw it in theaters. I was upset at the sense of slowdown in the story right from the beginning. Its a tough film to enjoy in some ways. This edit has addressed much of the problems with it and streamlined the story. There were a few noticeable audio issues, mostly in scenes cutting from one to the next, but I LOVED the addition of the score during Bane vs Batman fight. I also really enjoyed the ending of the film. Personally I would have liked to see more of the "clean slate" cut out, but it works well in this context. For now this will replace my original copy, I just wish some narrative and audio issues were addressed. You have some brilliant ideas here. Overall, very well done!

The Dark Knight was a phenomenal movie and in no way did I had the same expectations from the third Dark Knight film. Actually, when I first saw it in cinema I liked it, although I was "feeling" something was off, that I couldn't kind put my finger on because I was blinded by the excellent cinematography by Christopher Nolan. When I got past that, in future re-watch, I started to see aaall the problems with this movie and my enjoyment factor dropped to like a 5.

Technical wise, the audio and visual editing was great! I didn't noticed or "felt", at any scene, that something was tampered with. So job well done here.

On the narrative side of things, which is the most important for me, this edit was definitely an improvement. I believe the editor removed as much as it can be removed, without having the film feeling inconsistent and all over the place. I had watched a more aggressive edit before this and it didn't work at all. Also, excellent choice having the Batman die at the end. Better ending to this saga, since we are not going to see him again and with the way Nolan took things with the story. Be that as it may, it still felt as a slow burn, but not in a good way, plus, it still has a couple of my major problems with it, like Bruce/Batman retire for the past 8 years, after like a couple adventures as Batman, just because Rachel died. I mean, talking about throwing the whole ideology of why he became the Batman out of the window! Also the ridiculous way that Blake knows Wayne is Batman. I mean, what, orphans have a secret code or something and see through each other? I guess Wayne being the only one with the money to have all these "toys" or the fact that when he retired, the Batman retired also, wasn't pretty obvious. And some other things, but we are not here to criticize the film, but the edit.

I will say this, definitely check this edit out! I mean, if you want to have a closure when you rewatch Nolan's trilogy, this edit is the way to go! For me it will be. I haven't watched the editor's previous edits of the Dark Knight, because I love the originals, so I didn't have a reason to watch another version.

Thank you njvc and thanks to anyone who read my review!

Great cut, always love watching njvc's work. Technically flawless, although I did notice Bane's voice was higher in the mix than everything else, I'd assume that was on purpose so we could understand him.

The first half of the original movie is pretty rough, for example I find that whole first scene in the plane unnecessary. njvc left in that scene but did a fine job at improving the rest. All of the changes involving Selina are great. But the second half of this edit really takes off. Pacing was perfect, and I could not take my eyes off the screen. Also of note, he did a great job making the cop fight at the end less ridiculous.

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)

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. :)