Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me - Teresa Banks and the Last Seven Days of Laura Palmer

The faneditor has done a great job integrating a hell of a lot of deleted scenes into a movie that is already longer than a traditional length. Transitions are generally pretty clean both in terms of audio and video. I'm not a TP fanatic, just a fan, and the placement of the scenes is logical to me. I know that some of them don't follow the shooting script but it is what it is and what "it - is" is pretty freaking awesome. David Lynch doesn't do directors' cuts and in the absence of that this is about as good as you're going to find. Thanks to the faneditor for his time and effort on this.

I watched through all of the original Twin Peaks and Fire Walk With Me recently. I was going to watch The Missing Pieces before moving onto The Return, but I decided instead to experience the bulk of it in the form of being reintegrated into the film - cue Q2. Thanks so much for putting this together! I have no regrets about watching the material in this form.

Visual editing is seamless. I did notice one audio transition, but it was niticky. My main gripe here (which it seems only one other reviewer mentioned) is that some of the dialogue is very quiet. It's quiet in the original film, but portions here are exceptionally so, and this (as far as I could tell) was only during some deleted portions. I had to crank up my volume and still couldn't really hear at times, and then had to turn it way down again for the following scene. Either way though, I think this is a film/edit in which subtitles would be valued.

Many have said this - the result of an exhaustive extended edition is that the pacing is affected by unneeded time away from Laura's narrative. But Q2's intent was to make a full extended cut and it is nicely done. Plenty of the scenes add a lot and, while they don't necessarily answer questions, they bring a bit more clarity to parts of the narrative and help things feel a little less random and rushed. Bowey's scene, for example, and also the initial dinner scene with Laura's father teaching them a foreign language - that scene is pretty pivotal IMO, since it so starkly contrasts his character for the rest of the film. Seeing him as the "good" dad makes the rest all the more impactful.

Overall, great to see everything integrated and I'm glad that I had the option to view the deleted scenes in a rewatch of the film rather than in isolation. I do think that a lot of these scenes improve the film and that a balanced cut is the way to go; one that leaves out stuff that is more or less irrelevant to the main plotline with Laura.

A fantastic edit by Q2. Do all of the additional scenes NEED to be in there? No. Are they all gloriously Twin Peaks and the film is better for having them? Yes. From a technical standpoint, the audio and visual editing is seamless. Of course, the film meanders more with all the added scenes but to be honest, that feels more like Twin Peaks to me. I think the film is narratively improved by some of the additions and the experience is improved by pretty much all of them.

Let me start off by saying that I'm not sure if the quiet dialogue in some scenes may be because of my setup or if it was the source. No one else has mentioned it, so it must be something on my end. Aside from that.....

This was a GREAT edit! Some of the additions really let this film breathe and you could get more into the oncoming terror that was inevitable as you watch poor Laura in her last days. As an extended edition, this was super well done and achieved it's goals. Is this the go to from now on? I wouldn't say so. The check-ins with the other residents from Twin Peaks isn't necessary to the main plot. This is more of a companion piece to view after watching the original run of the series and it is a must. If you just want to watch the essential last days of Laura, you may want to stick with the original film, though that could use its own tweaking for sure given how much better Laura's last days are told in this extended edition. Awesome job Q2!!!!!

Overview - I am absolutely NOT the Lynch guy. Watched S01 when it initially aired 20+ years ago, and was infuriated with Lynch because he did not (or could not) live up to the promised resolution by seasons end. S02 was longer, and even more of a mess, which led all but the hard core to believe his concept was rudderless. Ratings dipped, show was canceled, and Fire Walk With Me was judged incomprehensible.
With Internet forums and opinionated explanations for everything, Twin Peaks reputation not only survives, but stubbornly ascend. For early victims / cynics, go figure.

Q2 has refashioned FWWM with deleted scenes, outtakes, to better follow Lynch’s vision. Maybe. With Lynch, one never knows.

Video - Editing really good here. Jump cuts and fades. Some of the material was never remastered, so one cannot judge against that.

Audio - Anything by Lynch is worth “listening” to. No exception here. Sound design in FWWM is dazzling. From tiny sounds to noise to the hypnotic roadhouse band. Also solid editing. No quick fade-outs or mid drops. Masterful use of layering music to link new material. I listened on headphones, I cranked the main speakers. Both ways - great.

Narrative - What in the hell ...
I am convinced there is a tight story in here, but an extended version just pumps more fog into the confusion. FBI subplots seem meaningless to the plot. Just Lynch ridiculing them. I would have dropped references to all agents. Blasphemy, yes, but keep the focus on Laura. Weave the Lodge, especially BOB.

The extended narrative wanders aimlessly for over an hour, then it locks in and grows inspired. The sound mix, the brooding tone, the fatalistic dread. A one-way Noir ticket to Hell.

End of the film, there was more here I liked than disliked. I will also be the first to admit hard core Twin Peaks fans will revel in this extended edition.

Enjoyment - Did I like like this? No. Did I watch it repeatedly? Yes, twice already, and I will rewatch again.
Do I like Lynch’s work in general? No. Aside from Mulholland Drive, not at all. His whole ouvre is baffling, incomprehensible, self-indulgent, and seems lost in a thicket of brilliant ideas with no one capable of reining them into cohesion. Of course this also helps to explain its enduring popularity.
On the other hand, I watch, and rewatch his movies. There is clearly craft and the utmost intelligence in them. Lynch does not concoct mindless action fare for teens, or romantic twaddle for selfie texters.

Should you watch Q2's edit? Absolutely! This is a must!
Yet it you have never watched any season of Twin Peaks, do yourself a favor and watch those first.
Rest assured, if you get confused there are piles of websites and boards to offer answers or suggestions to any questions or puzzles. Maybe. With Twin Peaks, nothing is certain, nothing is as it appears.
One way or another, we are still adrift.