Thanks very much for the link Spence, I just watched it this evening and really enjoyed it. The pace is considerably improved and more kinetic, and having only seen the film once before I didn’t have exacting knowledge of what you cut but for the most part it wasn’t missed and the movie still ‘worked’ in its shortened form.
There were just two exceptions where it felt like we went from A to C without passing B. Dementus (now ‘The Red’) showing up to attack the Citadel (which we’re seeing and hearing about for the first time), that lost me a bit and maybe needed some explanation. Later the scene with Praetorian Jack saying he’d teach Furiosa, and then the next scene he says words to the effect of I’ve taught you all I know - I wonder if there was a way to add a sense of ‘passage of time’ to better bridge those two scenes?
I liked what you did near the end of the film by repurposing the war montage, it now played out as Dementus’ forces being wiped out by Immortan Joe in one fell swoop. At the films very end I felt you could go even further with the cuts, it still feels slow with too much monologuing. Perhaps it could work well that after Furiosa snips the teddy off his groin you segue straight into the final shot of withered Dementus with the fruit tree growing out of him? Just a thought.
Regardless of these small suggestions it’s an entertaining and very effective edit. It keeps all the good stuff and modestly trims a bit of the fat, thanks for putting the effort in, it’s a big thumbs up from me!
Thanks for the feedback! I honestly wasn’t sure if that jump to the Citadel would work, but I thought I’d try it anyway. I don’t know that the context for why he’s there or why he’s red is really needed, but if that’s the general feedback I’d consider adding some scenes back in.
As far as the Praetorian Jack stuff, I actually didn’t cut anything in there so that’s how it plays in the original version too.
My argument for not cutting any of the climactic scene with Furiosa and Dementus is that I actually think it’s a really strong, really well acted scene. It could technically be trimmed down, but I think my personal preference is to let it breathe.