Would love to hear feedback! Mild spoilers below for those who have not seen the show.
I’m calling this Watchmen (2019) - The Bass Reeves Cut. The show was (in my opinion, and I know plenty of opinions differ) absolutely brilliant. It stayed reverent to the events of the graphic novel while charting its own path. I was was slightly disappointed by the final episode so this edit is my attempt to take one of the central stories and turn it into a film sized experience.
My cut primarily concentrates on Angela Abar and Will Reeves. There’s no Adrian Veidt, no Dr. Manhattan and just a bit of Laurie Blake. It centers on the mystery of what happened to Judd Crawford and who the mysterious Will Reeves is.
This fan edit is meant for those who loved the show and want to experience a condensed telling of Hooded Justice’s origin or for those who are unwilling to commit 9 hours to the show but are intrigued enough to spend 2. With that said, I highly recommend the show in its entirely. The music especially is incredible!
As this pulls 9 hours of TV down to just over 2 hours, here’s a brief outline of what was used or removed:
Most of episode 1 remains. I cut the scene of Captain Crawford talking to the wife of the hospitalized cop. I cut the beating interrogation and action sequence at the ranch. Adrian Viedt is cut from this and all other episodes.
I kept much of episode 2. I removed the newspaper stand chatter. I removed the winged paparazzi. I removed the White Knight attack. I removed / partially repurposed the hospital scene. I removed the Nixonville attack. I removed most of the family scenes and the Crawford wake (but kept Angela sleuthing). Removed Will being pulled into the sky.
In episode 3 I only used Laurie and Angela meeting at the funeral.
From episode 4 I used Angela at the Ances-Tree as well as Angela asking Looking Glass about the pills and hood.
Episode 5 only uses Angela taking the pills.
Nearly the entirety of episode 6 remains. To me, this is the core of the story I was looking to tell. I cut a few small continuity pieces from the beginning and the very end with Lady Trieu.
Episode 7 only uses Angela driving through Red Scare’s blockade (it’s implied they’re stopping her from leaving a hospital).
Episode 8, despite being a great episode, doesn’t see any use in my edit.
Episode 9 uses the theater scene between Angela and Will.
A few scenes play slightly out of order for pacing and / or continuity in my version of the story. Some new scene transitions played out better than I could have expected.
Total run-time is 2 hours 15 minutes with credits.