Where The Wild Things Are: The Wild Rumpus Edition

March 16, 2012 @ 5:47 am

I had not seen the original when I decided to watch njvc’s take but that’s often how I choose to watch my fanedits. In this particular case I had an idea of what to expect; already being a fan of the director Spike Jonze, I knew that anybody who chose to fanedit one of his movies would have a deep connection to it and that he wouldn’t disappoint.

I was right; the entire movie transported me into another world, and was felt more like a song than a cinematic experience. The new music njvc chose fit perfectly the mood of each scene and felt as though it had been the original choices made by the director. I can’t comment on the cuts because everything felt so natural that I didn’t once feel like something was missing. In fact, everything felt perfectly in place.

The presentation probably helped; we are treated with beautiful menus and a nice set of extras, including one I particularly enjoyed: the “Storybook Edit”

All in all, a fantastic package. One of the best fanedits I’ve seen on this site.

9/10

March 1, 2012 @ 8:53 pm

I haven’t seen the original (YET) so I can’t compare it to this edit, but I can say that this edit is one of THE BEST FANEDITS I have ever seen. The music is spot-on and the cutting between the real and wild world is perfect.

Technical quality – 10/10 – I was really anxious to see this, so I opted to DL the DVD first and once I get a chance to pick up some BD’s, I’ll watch the Blu-ray. But even on DVD, the video quality was gorgeous. I was listening to the audio on headphones, and it was very sharp.

Editing – 10/10 – I can’t even explain how well the addition of new songs and the nonlinear style of storytelling worked. njvc has pulled both of these off incredibly well. There were no hard cuts at all, and the whole movie seemed very streamlined and well paced.

Presentation – 10/10 – the menus were very nice and I’m glad njvc took the time to name the chapters – some editors avoid this. The extras were really great. I must admit that I did not listen to the entire commentary, as I had just watched the edit, but from what I saw it was very well thought out. The deleted scenes were very informative, as I have not seen the original, and helped me understand more the purpose behind this edit and how it was pulled off. Then there was a magnificent Storybook Edit that takes the narration of the book and combines it with clips from the movie. The original trailer is a nice addition as well, since it was the inspiration for the edit, and the nice collection of FE trailers was entertaining. Two great music videos are also included. All in all, I can say the menus and extras were very well designed indeed. I can also say that the cover art is top-notch (wink wink).

Entertainment – 10/10 – well, let’s start at the start. I was hooked from the very beginning. The opening sequence of Max playing with his dog and the accompanying music caught my attention right away and never let go. The switches between the real world and the wild world were so incredible that I couldn’t believe the original DIDN’T tell the story in a nonlinear format. njvc picked the right scenes to switch to, and pulled it off masterfully. He also selected a soundtrack of indy-rock songs that fit the mood so perfectly that it gave me chills in a couple parts. The new ending was, quite simply, beyond perfect. All I can say is, this edit combined the original video with new music to deliver a really powerful emotional experience and was extremely entertaining. In fact, I only have two (very minor) suggestions: the first is the title appearing a second time on the freeze frame. I thought about this some more and then thought it would be cool if you just changed this title to the title of your edit and omitted the first title (totally up to you of course, this really didn’t have any effect on the edit overall). Secondly, if you could somehow intercut between the snowball scene and the scene where the Wild Things throw rocks at each other to draw a parallel, that would be really amazing. Either way though, this is one of the best edits I have seen. It was also really cool to see my name in the credits (thanks njvc!).

Overall – 10/10

March 1, 2012 @ 10:10 am

When njvc first announced this edit I was skeptical how well he would pull off his intention due to a lack of “real world” scenes. I can safely say that my fears were quelled.

njvc has made an absolutely perfect fanedit. This is a beautiful piece of work and it should be seen by everybody. Well done!

The quality is top-notch, even in the single-layer DVD. And the extras were a real treat, especially the commentary with Mr. and Mrs. njvc.

10/10!

So I bought and watched the theatrical WTWA based on all the good feedback this edit was receiving. I watched it this past weekend. I thought it was decent. Although I did feel it was a little long (even though it was only in the 1 hour and 40 minute range).

Enter The Wild Rumpus Edition. I only watched the edit portion of the dvd, so when i go back and watch the special features I may have to edit this post. I just finished watching the edit, and this is one of the few times where I knew what to expect going into the edit. Usually I like to watch an edit without knowing the changes made, but I already knew before watching this that there was going to be knew music added, and that in this version Max would be making multiple “trips” to the place where the wild things are.

This “multiple trip” way of telling story worked great. I think this aspect of the edit (along with the reduced runtime) made it more enjoyable for me. As far as the new music that was added – rescoring and/or adding music is always a risk. Its hit or miss. It’s one of those things that IMO really has to “fit” in order to work. Well njvc definitely picked music that works. None of the extra music he chose to use felt odd or out of place, to me it all felt natural and fit the tone of the movie.

I enjoyed the new opening bit and I really liked the new ending!

As far as editing goes, technically it seemed fine. I noticed no problems with the audio or video.

I give this edit a 10/10 and I definitely find this version to be more enjoyable than the theatrical version (which is something I rarely say about a fanedit – there are fanedits that have been equal to the theatrical but rarely for me more enjoyable. This is one of those times though). I’m very stingey with my 10/10s (i think i’ve only rated 2 fanedits 10/10) but this is very deserving of the score. Great work!

I was spoiled by viewing njvc's version before the theatrical cut, and comparing the two is like asking which one gives off more warmth, a campfire or a match?

njvc finds the film's poetry and removes the semiwet concrete in which it's encased. Here, the protagonist is less of a brat, and that works better. The original soundtrack was serviceable, but njvc's sonic selections drew me more deeply into the movie.

And the intercutting between the real and the fantastic was inspired. The original kept the fantasy world tucked away from the introduction, as if the fantasy were a reward the audience had to wait for, according to some worn code of ritual. But njvc mercifully throws us into max's dreamspace without unnecessary ado.

This version has greater brightness in the nocturnal scenes, and that's for the better. Some of the lackluster dialogue remains, but that's not njvc's fault; enough was removed to elevate what was left.

Bravo, njvc. 10/10.