Thor: The Dark World - Converged Edition

100% forgot to leave this review months ago, but this edit is fantastic. I always wanted to see what Alan Taylor had originally, like Louis Leterrier his cut was botched by the era of Perlmutter and the Creative Committee. I still hope Leterrier and Taylor can release their cuts one day (Granted, I'm the kind of cinephile that would love to see literally every movie have its full blown Assembly Cut released, even if it's awful, just for the research/historical element so I may be biased there. I don't support the Ayer Cut for example because I think it's somehow gonna be gold, I support the Ayer Cut because I love studying film editing and I think it'd be interesting), but until then I always felt Tomahawk's Hulk cut was a fine enough alternative there. But for Thor 2... there was nothing until this cut. This was the first time I think I've seen Thor 2 in a way that seems more like what Alan Taylor probably had.

In this form, this jumps Thor 2 from being my least favorite Thor film, to my second favorite behind Ragnarok. I actually prefer this version of the movie to Thor 1 and 4 (Both of which I put firmly in the "It's fine" category). In fact, here I can see the kind of Thor film I'd really like to see, one that really delves into the epicness of the character and a darker tone (Though, that may just be the Snyder boi in me talking). Granted, some things still don't work like Eccleston is never not gonna be a little wasted and the cinematography still has that Phase 2/3 "Everything is muddy grey concrete" look to it. But what worked works better, and a lot of what didn't is fixed.

Excellent job, and let's get a #ReleaseTheTaylorCut going.

I remember enjoying the theatrical, so all the improved pacing and the extra scenes in Asgard made a good movie great! My only nitpick is that using the alternate ending where Thor accepts his destiny as king makes the film work as a stand-alone feature, but doesn't narratively connect as well to Age of Ultron and Ragnarok as the original ending does.

Overall, I believe this is a superior cut to the theatrical and I highly recommend it!

I can't believe it has been almost nine years since it was released. Most parts of the original movie were lost to me completely. So, it's nice to have a new watching+ experience.

I love how significant runtime is set in Asgard (Of course, it is always wonderful for more Asgard). We were able to see and learn the culture of Asgard. More screentime for the Warriors Three and Lady Sif is always a yes. Loki's ascension illusion is also very well placed. All Asgardian primary character is well developed. We could see the sadness when the queen passed away.

Malekith shown as a borderline psychopath with w intention is to bring darkness to the world. This is great, I like how the villain is truly evil. I don't want to sympathise with a crazy maniac.

The final battle is better paced—more clarity to what happened.

Is the ending changed? The movie is so much better than the theatrical version. And it connects nicely with the rest of the MCU.

This movie is the faithful Thor The Dark World is supposed to be. Anyone who has never watched Thor The Dark World should watch this version instead.

Tips: don't ever watch the original movie again. Watch only Thor The Dark World Converged Edition. It will make you love Asgard, which in turn will make you appreciate other Thor movies even more.

A much more complicated edit than Bobson's extended editions of MCU films, and he mostly pulls everything off. My thoughts on the film in general are here: https://letterboxd.com/nottheacademy/film/thor-the-dark-world/
For this edit in particular, I have to bring up some of the feedback in other reviews...
I did not notice any audio issues, hard cuts, repeats, etc. Possibly they had a problem downloading the file?
The restructuring of the beginning makes perfect sense. Not only does it clear up the narrative here, but avoiding introducing Thor is a perfect thematic choice. This is a sequel, not a standalone film. The last film ended with Thor being cut off from Earth, and we should feel his absence. Here, we do.
The added scenes fleshing out Asgard through Jane are very welcome. Bobson does a great job getting around unfinished effects, and this both strengthens Jane's character, helps build the romance, and makes Asgard a more fully-realized world.
Not all the scenes are added though, and what IS added is sometimes only partially so, or with other bits cut. One questionable choice for me was in cutting Malekith's "Kill her!" order when confronting Frigga with Kurse. This made the scene play jarringly to me, as it seems that they're getting what they want and then a major character dies with no explanation. It veers into "fridging" and isn't fulfilling.

The alternate ending: (SPOILERS) - Bobson states that this makes the film match better in the MCU after the events of Ragnarok. It's certainly true that Ragnarok made it hard for Thor to fit with the other movies. The ending here is a much better explanation of why Thor and Jane aren't together than just Ragnarok's "we broke up" pithy joke. HOWEVER, it still doesn't really fit because Bobson cut out the throne room scene with "Odin". I think to truly patch up the plot holes, you need to include bits of both. Here, Bobson shows Thor coming back to Asgard and implies him taking over leadership there (presumably to be coronated shortly after). He says "Let's begin!" while looking over his faithful Asgardians. When next we see Thor, he's in Age of Ultron, where he's been helping the Avengers chase down Hydra. Whuh?? Or if you just skip ahead to Ragnarok, then we're back to Thor being gone a really long time and "Odin" building statues to Loki and making big changes while he was gone. How do we get from the "Let's begin!" ending to that?? I think the only way this works, is if you cut the two endings together so that Thor both turns down the throne to go protect Earth, but also has Jane say they can't be together. And that throne room conversation works a lot better if Loki has already changed into Odin, lending a lot more delicious subtext to the scene since Thor doesn't realize who he's talking with. Moving that to some kind of end credit stinger is unnecessary and takes away from this scene.

So all in all, I don't think the ending quite works as well as Bobson wants, but the rest of the film is definitely the best version yet. It also skirts a running issue with Bobson's releases, which is a lack of any subtitles when people aren't speaking English. Reworking those and hardcoding them is VERY appreciated! This ends up as a shelf-replacer for The Dark World, despite the ending not totally working. Thanks again for all the inspired work, Bobson!

This was a great edit, I loved everything about it. Makes you wonder why this was not the version they put out.