Master: Re-Processed, The

This is a fantastic example of an edit that I can recommend to all groups: those who really disliked the original film, who really liked it, or who've never seen it. It's really a great feat of fan-editing and an undersung gem here.

The biggest changes for those who've seen the film will be the beginning and ending. For fans, this will provide a lot of food for thought in terms of adding more context to Freddie's (Phoenix) character and his reasons for being such a screw-up. It will also prompt an alternative, potentially more optimistic view of his journey and where he ends up. For detractors of the movie due to it feeling slow-paced or meandering, this moves much more quickly into the heart of the story, cutting down much of the beginning and getting Freddie into his interactions with Dodd (Hoffman).

The film's minor trims and reorganization allow for the best parts of the movie to really shine, imho. And that's the masterful performances of Phoenix and Hoffman. It may take awhile to become evident here, but if you know the real history of L. Ron Hubbard, his parallels in Dodd make it fairly clear that Freddie has stumbled into a kind of cult. The film then becomes a test of wills, with Dodd determined to break Freddie down and remold him into the perfect soldier for the cause, and Freddie desperately searching for validation and purpose, but resistant and resentful of any authority or restrictions, as much as he's attracted to it. The ending of the film now allows you to feel some hope that Freddie has, either despite or because of Dodd's "processing", made some kind of breakthrough and perhaps come out of this experience a more whole person. There is still room for ambiguity, but not to the extent that some people were frustrated by in the ending scenes of the theatrical cut. I doubt anyone will watch this and be left saying "what was even the point of any of that?! What changed?"

A final word on technical merits: despite the inclusion of more (non-70mm) deleted scenes, the difference in visual quality was not especially noticeable for me from other 35mm portions of the film. The sometimes complex audio elements were re-edited tightly enough to excuse any momentary questions I had about music or dialogue matching. The film is nearly wall-to-wall score, and that's a really complex feat to edit. I also have to give DominicCobb a lot of credit for the montage approach taken at several points here. It fits well with the themes of the film and the character and I think sets you up to appreciate the dissociation and breakdown that a cult is trying to produce.

The only quibble I have is the removal of a scene towards the end, right before Freddie's "motorcycle race"... There is a moment where a former stalwart supporter of Dodd is disenchanted with his new book and sort of calls BS on him. It is now absent, and I think that's an error as to me that was the inciting incident that causes Freddie to just keep riding. He's heard naysaying of Dodd before, but it's this turning of a longtime supporter that I think is the proverbial straw. It's the one removal that I think perhaps goes too far here, whereas all the other cuts serve what the faneditor wants for the film: going clear. ;)

I have been aware of this edit since its release a few years back and finally watched it this evening after a second visit to the original. Maybe my spirit was in a different vessel in 2012 as I wasn’t crazy about the film but something was telling me to watch the film again. A neoteric fascination I have with cults and the power of brainwashing was probably the kickstarter - that alongside research and exploration into world of Scientology. A flask of Freddie's potion shouldn’t becloud the fact that there is a real masterclass in acting from the leads. The parallels between Phoenix’s Quell and his Oscar winning Joker performance are uncanny. As for Hoffman – it’s just gut wrenching we will never see him on celluloid again.

I wholeheartedly agree with DominicCobb’s decision to truncate the opening act, this is done skilfully through a series of voiceovers and montages that lead us to Quell stowing away on the Alethia. The rearranging of scenes as flashbacks and added deleted footage really opened my mind to Freddie’s post war struggle with PTSD. I no longer thought of him as just an inebriated arsehole.
The new ending is wonderful –it is certainly not a case of sailing off into the sunset fully redeemed but at one point as I watched the credits I certainly felt it was. The conclusion would have been more impactful if we knew Freddie hadn’t sailed off to China previously when he left Doris but if we look at it from a different angle, is another trip to China just Freddie repeating himself – is he leaving the man he loved when previously it was the girl –never having learned anything never fully reprocessed. He is a paradigm until the moonshine gets the better of him. DominicCobb you have certainly re-processed me into thinking the Master is a modern gem.

I would love to get my hands on a higher quality version. I viewed the DVD on my computer monitor but feel that if i watched this on my TV the picture quality would diminish.

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I'm a huge fan of Paul Thomas Anderson, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix so I was very excited (perhaps too excited) to see this film when it was released. The film really let me down and I easily consider it to be Paul Thomas Anderson's worst. I found it boring and unfocused.

DominicCobb's edit is not an attempt to improve the film, but rather present an alternative take on the material. Edits that take this stance as a starting point at generally make for a very interesting and enjoyable experience and I can say that DominicCobb has been very successful in this regard. And, although he may disagree with me on this, I feel the edit is superior to the original and makes for a better film. The end result still not up to par with Anderson's earlier work, but this is no fault of the editor.

A/V quality and editing is great. The deleted scenes are woven in very well and the slight dip in quality is barely noticeable.

The narrative is still largely unfocused, but it is certainly better than the original.

Overall, DominicCobb has done a great job with the this and I'm sure any fans of the original will absolutely love this edit. For me it was a slight improvement on a film that I consider to be big disappointment. I can't say I really enjoyed it, but this was certainly no fault of the editor. DominicCobb has the right mindset to make some really interesting edits and I'm looking forward to what he'll do next.

I am a huge fan of "The Master" and have seen it more times than I even know. As much as I love it, there are things about it that bug me and I was very intrigued by Dom's idea for this edit.

I've watched this edit 3 times, since I gave feedback at earlier stages, and this is worthy of placement alongside the original. It's not a complete overhaul (as I don't think it needed that) but more a simple re-structure, to get to the story faster and not meander as much.

I loved the added deleted footage and use of flashbacks to give a bit-by-bit insight into Freddie. Obviously the deleted scenes are noticeably lower quality but it melded fine, in my opinion.

If you hated "The Master" I don't know if this will fix it for you, but it's worth a shot.

I very much look forward to seeing what else Dominic Cobb brings to the table.