These, and RotJ, are the episodes I’ve been waiting for. My students adore Star Wars in all it’s many forms but there’s a 30ish minute section on Tattooine at the start of A New Hope where I can always see my students’s ADHD attention spans begin to chaff under the relatively slower pace of cutting edge 1970s editing.
#@&* yeah! I’ll be eagerly waiting to devour this one.
If anyone is having problems finding a specific edit I’ve mention, I might be able to help you, but please try to contact the editors themselves first. Like I said, I’m just providing the readers and a handful of edits tailored to some of them.
This project is something I’ve been using with my ESL students for a few years now, and the positive response to my similar Blade Runner/Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Film/Book hybrid has prompted me to make this publicly available as well.
Also, as the 007 franchise is changing hands from the Broccoli family to whatever Amazon’s corporate stewardship might bring, this feels like a good time to celebrate the many wonderful fan edits our community has produced from the Bond films.
This is an alternate version of the Ian Fleming/EON James Bond series of books and films that mixes and matches elements of both into a more complete version that hopefully creates something new and interesting for modern audiences who might be interested in the original character within the time period from which he was created, the Cold War.
The series spans the character’s first becoming 007 in 1951’s Casino Royale to his final mission in No Time to Die (which has now been retrofitted to take place in 1975). Some of the readers are straight up adaptations of the books and/or films, while others are mash-ups of existing material. Some of the readers have their own reader-specific movie edits for them that I’ll include in the link, whereas others can be enjoyed with particular fan edits or the theatrical cuts.
The breakdown is as follows, the strongest and/or most essential material will be marked with a ***
***#1 CASINO ROYALE (1951)
The reader is a combination of the original Fleming novel with the 2008 film adaptation and its sequel ‘Quantum of Solace’, which is very much an epilogue to that story. Both of the original films can be watched with this reader without any need for a fan edit, although I’m sure there are plenty of edits of both either combined or apart you can use.
#2 LIVE AND LET DIE (1952)
This reader blends some elements of the film with the original Fleming novel. I’d pair this reader with the excellent fan edit ‘Love and Let Die: You Know My Name’ by Lapis Molari, which includes subtitles.
***#3 MOONRAKER (1953)
This is one of the best Fleming 007 novels and the reader adaptation stays relatively faithful to it, but unfortunately, the movie version bears so little resemblance to the book that I’d suggest reading this one on its own. If you really want a film to go with it, you could try pairing it with Last Survivor’s ‘Icarus’, but it doesn’t have subtitles. EON’s Moonraker has several fine fan edits, but, again, they bear little resemblance to Fleming’s story aside from a few bits and pieces.
#4 PROPERTY OF A LADY (1954)
This one is still a work in progress. It’s an attempt to repurpose Madeline Swan’s childhood flashback from ‘No Time to Die’ as part of Tracy Draco’s backstory instead, in addition to finding a place for Max Zorin and Mayday, who are great villains stuck in an underwhelming movie.
#5 DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (1954)
This is one of the weaker novels and films. Honestly, I would skip both, but completionists can enjoy them if they’d like. There are a few different fan edits of the film, but I haven’t watched any of them yet.
***#6 FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1955)
One of the best novels and films. I’d suggest pairing this with ParanoidAndroid’s superb ‘From Russia With Love: Excess Excised’ edit, which includes English subtitles.
#7 DR NO (1956)
This novel isn’t one of my favorites, nor is the film but, for completionists, I’d pair this with The Scraggler’s trimmed down edit if you don’t need subtitles.
#8 GOLDFINGER (1957)
I don’t hold either the book or film in as high a regard as many do, but, for completionists, this would again pair nicely with The Scraggler’s trimmed down edit if you don’t need subtitles.
#9 FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (1958)
In an ideal world, this would have starred a young Timothy Dalton as his 007 debut. This is skippable, but completionists can pair it with nostromo777’s edit, but, again, it has no subtitles. The theatrical cut is decent enough, even if the disco music soundtrack is an odd fit for the film itself.
***#10 THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (1959)
This is a short film that mixes the prologue and opening scene of the film adaptation with the Fleming short story. I like this one a lot and is easily Dalton’s best work as 007 for me.
***#11 A VIEW TO A KILL (1960)
This is essentially just GoldenEye’s prologue given the name of one of Fleming’s short stories. It’s a fun little side adventure that will get a proper follow up later in the series.
***#12 ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE (1961)
This is one of the best Fleming books and also one of EON’s best films. If you don’t need subtitles, I recommend pairing this with Last Survivor’s award-winning fan edit, or you can use my trimmed down edit included with the readers that mixes LS cut with the theatrical version.
***#13 YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1962)
The film adaptation came too early for this one to really have the emotional impact that Fleming’s novel does, but the reader does incorporate some aspects of the film with the book. An edit with the bits from the movie that are in the reader is included, but it isn’t a complete story, but just a video supplement to the reader. If you don’t need subtitles, you could pair it with Last Survivor’s edit though.
***#14 THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1964)
This reader combines the best parts of the Fleming novel with the EON film to create a more satisfying story in my opinion. A heavily trimmed down version of the movie scenes that are used in the reader is included with subtitles.
#15 SKYFALL (1968)
You can pair this reader nicely with the film. The only change here is the idea that this is the original M’s death rather than the one played by Judy Dench, who is introduced in the next reader.
#16 GOLDENEYE (1969)
This continues the story begun in A View to a Kill. You can pair this with the great edit by PoorAndin that replaces that awful music from the original. This edit includes subtitles.
#17 THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1971)
The embarrassing Fleming novel is tossed completely in favor of a brisk adaptation of the fun EON film. Inessential, but well worth a watch if you haven’t seen it. Arguably Moore’s best overall film.
***#18 OCTOPUSSY (1972)
This repurposes two scenes from the film adaptation and merges it with the Fleming short story, making for a fun little side adventure that bids farewell to Roger Moore’s 007. This short film is included with the readers.
***#19 THUNDERBALL - NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (1973)
This is a combination of the screenplay/novel by Fleming & McClory with the film adaptations, but it leans more heavily on Never Say Never Again to give a proper send-off to Sean Connery’s 007. The World of James Bond’s lovingly-made EON cut of the film would be the best pairing with this reader, but as it doesn’t have subtitles, I’ve included a trimmed down version of it that mixes their edit and the theatrical cut with subtitles. Since the 3rd act of NSNA is pretty underwhelming, I’ve also included the final part of Thunderball from Lapis Molari’s wonderful Kiss Kiss Bang Bang cut as an alternative ending. Just squint and pretend Connery is 20 years older, and Kim and Klaus have magically become Auger and Celi 😉
#20 NO TIME TO DIE (1975)
Like with Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, this is a combination of Spectre with No Time to Die. If you don’t need subtitles, I’d recommend pairing this reader with BroomKid/StraightCutsNoChaser’s Spectre edit. I’ve also included a major reworking of Spectre and No Time to Die as a two part movie that is heavily indebted to his excellent edit. I don’t think No Time to Die is necessarily the strongest ending for the character, but it’s the best we’ve got at the moment.
If anyone has a 007 fan edit they’d like to recommend be added to this list, please let me know and I’ll revise this post. I’d love for this to bring more attention to the great work done by fan editors on these films.
I will be giving out links to the readers and the selected movie edits through Private Messages.
I know this edit is going to have a microscopically small audience, but I figured I might as well make it available for anyone who might be interested. And if it brings some more attention to Wakeupkeo’s excellent ‘Good Guy Deckard’ cut of Blade Runner, great. Keo’s edit is the basis for my own, which is a heavily trimmed down version of the film that I use in conjunction with an ESL adaptation of ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ that’s been tweaked to include more of the film’s most iconic elements. This cut is a mere 1hr 10min, so it skips over a lot of stuff. There’s also great parts of the book that I can’t show because they were never included in the film like the idea that Rachel and Pris were the same ‘model’ so Rick is essentially killing the woman he loves when he faces her. There’s also a sequence in another police precinct that is fantastic.
This is primarily for my ESL students so it has hardcoded English subtitles, as will any further edits I might release in the future. It’s much easier to edit that way. If that’s a deal breaker for you, please enjoy the plethora of other fan edits available out there. The hybrid Blade Runner/Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Reader is also included if you’re interested.
Please contact me through private message if you’d like a link.
Awesome, thank you, I grabbed the full movie length cut. Thanks for doing that!
My pleasure. I’d only cut it into pieces so I could have TurboScribe generate subtitles for it, but since those turned out pretty badly, there was no reason to keep it from being movie length anymore.
I’ve uploaded a new cut of the film. One with English subtitles, one without. This edit is about five minutes shorter based upon feedback I’ve gotten from my students and other viewers.
Sure thing, I’ll give it a shot when I have a moment.
I’ve uploaded a movie length cut without subtitles.
A new cut of the film with hardcoded subtitles is coming, that will be even shorter as I found more bits and pieces to snip in order to keep the pace up.
I was unsatisfied with the quality of the AI generated subtitles so I’ve rebuilt this edit from scratch with English subtitles hardcoded onto the screen. The original edit without subtitles is also still available.
I was unsatisfied with the quality of the AI generated subtitles so I’ve rebuilt this edit from scratch with English subtitles hardcoded onto the screen. The original ‘episodes’ without subtitles are also still available.
100% agreed on the subtitles. Creating subtitles for fan edits is a gigantic pain. I’ll be rebuilding this edit from scratch with English subtitles hardcoded to make things easier this time. AI transcription still has a long way to go.
I also had that damned ‘hero’ theme stuck in head for a week after recutting that hospital scene. Trust me, no one is more sick of it than me. 😉
I’d love if someone with VFX skills could add blood to Alex’s death.
I’ve got no problem with the meteor shower so it’ll be staying. That shot of them running away from the giant meteor on the catwalk is too great to lose.
The weird relationship between Reinhardt and Maximilian is also something I’d never mess with. It’s part of the film’s charm to me.
Thanks for the feedback though! It’s appreciated.
Now that I’ve gotten the blessing of both editors whose work I’m using, this project is ready to see the light of day. This is a reshuffling of Superman Returns incorporating ITHoTMK’s Superman Restored, Tomahawk’s Superman Returned, and the theatrical cut. I’ve removed the idea that Superman left Earth without telling anyone. Everyone saw the same news reports about a message from possible survivors from Krypton, but the trip into space was meant to last a few months, not years. I’ve also taken out any implication that Lois lied to Richard about being Jason’s father. They got together after Jason was already born and Lois had given up hope that Superman was ever coming back. Beyond that, the intent of this edit is to get the story started with a bang, and compensate for the sometimes languid pace by breaking it up into a miniseries of five ‘episodes’ of about 20 to 30 minutes each.
There are English subtitles included. If you’d like to check it out, please send me a private message. If you’ve already watched any of my previous edits, the link is the same.
All the ‘episodes’ should stitch together perfectly if you make a playlist with them. I use them in my ESL classes so I don’t really need a full length movie cut. Also, the subtitle files are synched to the episodes.
I’ve added a cameo of a live action Ahsoka at Padme’s funeral (by 21C Peasant Fan) to SiliconMaster’s Revenge of the Sith - Rebalanced. This can be paired with the final episode of Clone Wars, which Bailey has intercut with Hello There’s Battle of the Heroes. If you’d like a link, it’s in the same place as the Galaxy of Adventures. If you don’t have the link yet, please send me a Private Message here. Thanks.
All the English subtitles have been included and I’ve used Handbrake to reduce the file to more reasonable sizes. Same links as before.
Great to hear! ESB absolutely was the movie that got the most attention from Titmouse Animation. You can tell how much love they have for the movie. Unfortunately, RotJ kind of got the short end of the stick in comparison. There was absolutely no footage from the 3rd act for Hal9000 and Bailey to work with. However, I think they still managed to craft a satisfying story out of the existing material. Hopefully, it works for you.
Just saw A New Hope, and oh my! This was Star Wars on speed! 😄
This was really high paced, with no place for a little breather for an old man like myself. Action, action, action! But indeed a fun watch. I especially liked the flashbacks and to see a clip of Han changing his mind about helping the rebels.
Amazed by the skills of the editor. Looking forward to watch the rest!
Thanks for the feedback! I was very happy with how Wakeupkeo was able to weave them all together so seamlessly for his A New Hope edit. I agree with you about the little additions Titmouse Animation made to the original films, like showing the moment of Han changing his mind or Luke & Han’s stunned reactions to Leia’s badassery–that bit gets a huge laugh from my classes every time.
Please let us know what you think of the next two. With ESB, Irishpunk was the luckiest of the editors because he had the most footage to work with. That edit, like the movie itself, tends to be the most popular with my students. However, I continue to be very impressed with how well Hal & Bailey managed to stick the landing with their RotJ edit. Not one of my students has noticed thus far that the animation styles for the space battles are completely different 😉
This is such an excellent edit. Very well done. Maybe it’s just me but I felt like battle of the heroes portions are of a slightly lesser quality than everything else. It just doesn’t look as sharp. Anyone else see this?
My guess would be the lack of sharpness is the ‘film grain’ that Bailey added to better match the much higher quality animation of the Clone Wars episodes. Since the Batttle of the Heroes fan film is serving as a ‘Force Vision’ that Ahsoka’s having, it worked for me.
As I discovered with his Galaxy of Adventures RotJ work, Bailey’s very good at coming up with creative solutions to these sorts of things. Obviously, the ideal situation would be for Disney to cough up the cash for a proper version of it, but I’m not holding my breath 😉
I’ve made some further cuts and tweaks to this. I’ve made the ‘lobotomy’ scene from Chapter 5 a bit more intense than the original and made more snips to the unsuccessful attempts to keep kids from getting bored. The links are still the same. Thanks.
The Black Hole is an odd duck of a movie. It’s trying to be a deep sci-fi film like 2001, a fun space opera like Star Wars, and a creepy haunted house in space story, all while trying to be family-friendly Disney fare. It fails to be all of them at once. However, there’s some good stuff in there once you chip away at a lot of the fat and the scenes clearly added to keep kids awake during another scene of middle-aged character actors talking.
I was surprised to find an ESL book adaptation that I found much better than the actual movie. It’s very similar, but moves much faster and cuts a lot of the less successful stuff. I tried cutting the movie to be closer to the book, although there are certain things that I can’t do. For instance, the ship’s pilot is a young Asian woman in the book, Borgnine’s character is also quite different. and B.O.B. isn’t in it at all.
As a result, the main changes in this edit are that much of B.O.B.'s scenes are cut, as is the robot playroom shoot out scenes. There’s a few trims for pacing here and there, but otherwise, the film is what it is, for better or worse. My fan editing skills aren’t able to accomplish much more than that.
The movie’s split up into several ‘chapters’ that follow the book. Each one is about 20 minutes as I’m using it for my ESL classes. English subtitles are included. Please send me a PM if you’re interested.
I suspect the deluge of Clone Wars finale edits was the reason yours was lost in the pack. I know I certainly didn’t notice your edit when it was first announced. I probably saw it, rolled my eyes, muttered “another one?” and kept scrolling 😉 It’s an issue I’d imagine a lot of Hobbit edits have, too.
Well, the good thing is, now that enough time has passed, people are ready for what you cooked up.
I’d agree. This is the strongest edit I’ve seen of the final Clone Wars arc. Excellent work!
I was flooded with so many requests for these edits that Reddit’s AI banned me for ‘spam’ because of how many links I’d sent out. As a result, I can’t answer requests there anymore, so, if you’d like a link, this is the place to get it.
I’d love to check this out!
Not sure how well they’d mesh, but presumably someone must have tried this already, right?