Cameron Samurai

Edit is complete and released!

I have a few ideas for a version called “Batman V Superman: League of Justice”, which would try to merge a lot of Man of Steel, BVS, and all the introductionary scenes of the JL members from ZSJL.

I love Friends, but for me it went on way too long and I sort of tuned out around season six, coming back for the last ever season. I still kept track of it in all that time though and I’m glad I stopped out when I did as the plots just got more and ridiculous, Joey got dumber, Ross and Rachel just would not settle with one another despite having a child. Only Monica, Chandler, and Phoebe seemed to come out of the whole thing largely unscathed. and developed organically and with less convolution.

So I figured, having watched the whole series lately and realised absolutely nothing from season six through to the end of season ten was worth exploring, that I would bring the series to an end with season five’s “The One In Vegas”, using the absolute bare minimal of “The Last One” bolted on at the end, complete with a “Five Years Later” card. The last scene of Friends doesn’t actually reference any real developments from the last few series and exists as an island onto itself. Monica and Chandler having adopted kids isn’t really a concern as you can just assume they had them in the ensuing five years anyway.

So there you go. Ross and Rachel get drunk, get married, you can presume Chandler and Monica don’t chicken out of their own Vegas wedding, very little to do with Phoebe’s lurker sub plot or Joey’s identical hand twin stupidity. This is the one to end it all!

Oh don’t worry, I fully intend to create a cut that resolves all the plot lines for everyone, and will be waiting for episode six, I just thought it’d be a fun experiment to try and end it with just what’s presently available since it gives you so many avenues for that, at least for Sam.

As for Bucky, I’ve found it less time consuming not to focus too much on Yori. I still have him being referenced as a name on the list, but I haven’t used any of his and Bucky’s scenes so far. When I get the sixth episode, and if he’s included, I might include the stuff I missed out on episode one to maybe extend their scenes together if they’re short. Though, as you say, I’m being very speculative.

I think I can squeeze just about all of episode six into the run time, so it’ll come out at close to a three-hour cut.

Having had a bit of a think, I definitely see potential for two versions

Take 1 could be “No Regrets”, which would still include next week’s episode six, while trimming down episode five considerably, maybe lopping off 30 or so minutes

Take 2 could be the more unique one…an edit where the Flag Smashers are largely stopped due to Karlie realising she’s gone too far.

After John kills the Flag Smasher, we follow him through the battle with Sam and Bucky, then his court martial and discharge, but edit out his meeting with the Countessa. Sam visits the former super soldier and there’s the big history lesson/BLM lecture, then the talk with Bucky at Sam’s home, then Sam talking with his sister, then we end the film on him training to be “the next soldier”. End the film here. Post-credits can be Walker forging his own shield (just like the actual mid-credits of episode five) and a bonus post-credit scene of Zemo dancing in the club to George Michael’s “I’m Your Man”…because in THIS version, Zemo isn’t taken into Wakandan custody and escapes

Falcon and Winter Soldier Episode Five…

God this one was boring…but what’s wilder, is if you wanted to, IF you wanted to, you really could just end your feature edit right here.

Oh sure you could argue you need episode six for a climatic battle…but that’s only to see Sam in his Cap suit to combat Karlie and the Flag Smashers, and possibly round two between Sam and the disgraced Walker, but I don’t think you honestly need that. Radicalised people are always going to exist, their threats are ongoing, and Walker doesn’t have the title, rank, or shield, all he carries with him is a grudge at this point. And do we care about Sharon Carter power broking? ('cause that’s obviously who she is)

Besides that, it’s all over bar the shouting. We got a battle between Walker, Sam and Bucky. Zemo was apprehended (far too easily), Sam got the shield. All that’s left is for him to ‘prove’ himself…so, again, depending on your preferences, you could

1. Trim down Episode Five and add it to Episode Six runtime (were you making an episodic cut)

2. If making a feature cut, end it like Amazing Spider-Man 2, with everyone in danger and a hero about to rise. Mid-credits can even be Falcon showing up in the Cap suit.

Or, OR…

3. Maybe…don’t show Karlie escaping after she kills Walker’s partner in episode four? Have her just remain there while Walker chases after the one guy escaping because he’s so blinded by rage.

Still making minor and major adjustments to this, sadly I couldn’t get it ready in time for Wrestlemania weekend, but I hope to have it out soon.

Having seen episode four, there’s nothing too drastic I’d cut from it this time, the flashback at the start might be worth slotting into an edit of Civil War if you’re thinking of minor alterations to that though.

Marvel also released the full extended Zemo dance

Wouldn’t it be awesome if you inserted the Zemo dance sequence into a cut of Civil War as a way of him celebrating how much he’d divided the Avengers?

While your prequel edit was a great little 3-in-1 that tackled the baseline of that trilogy, this was where the meat of your overall saga starts to tenderise…and boy was it worth the heartache and hard work. This was such a great film to watch from start to finish.

I was bowled over by how darn COMPLETE it was, you left breathing space for all of the pay offs, the themes all make sense, Luke’s growth over a span of hours feels just as rewarding as spending three films with him going through this, his Jedi training and his youthful naivety is far more logically structured when they’re paced back to back rather than months and months later like in the gap between A New Hope and Empire.

It also makes perfect sense for the Death Star to be in a continuous state of construction and not resemble it’s trademark ‘whole’ self, it lends itself well to scenes from A New Hope where they’re discussing the Death Star’s vulnerabilities.

Han and Leia’s blossoming love story is a real highlight, no longer feeling like we missed any information at the beginning of Empire, the romance is founded in the first act, goes through some teething in the second, and blossoms in the third.

I kicked myself recognising beats from Empire, and then seeing so many swerves with the narrative. It was just an epic sort of editing, really taking a creative approach, Han escaping his carbonite fate entirely has rarely been a concept utilised by other editors, with yours being amongst the first, and perhaps even the best at it so far unless I’m missing any.

The bridging of Luke heading to Dagobah and the battle over Hoth was smartly crafted, I like the idea of Luke involved in an X-Wing dogfight that doesn’t require the Death Star trench, there’s so little of them besides A New Hope.

I found no hard cuts, no quick cuts, no extra frames, nothing, the editing was of a very consistent and professional standard.

Since this is Wrestlemania season, I figured this would be as good a time as any to see if I can work a little magic editing one of the grandest stages of them all.

The last two years have seen Wrestlemania divided into two distinct nights. Last year I put together a private edit merging both nights of Wrestlemania 36 into one show. With this one, which I’ll try to make more public, I’m splitting it into two nights.

Right off the bat, yes I’m aware which Wrestlemania this is and no I have no intention of ‘erasing’ Chris Benoit’s big moment from the show of shows. He and Eddie’s celebration still closes out the programme.

I tried out a test draft of this last night, but found it wasn’t satisfactory, so I tweeked the cards ever so slightly, here’s the new structure as of this writing:

Night One

-Open with performance of “America The Beutiful”
-Randy Orton and Evolution cutting a promo on The Rock’N’Sock Connection
-Intro/U.S Championship match between John Cena and Big Show
-Coach chilling with Teddy Long
-Christian vs Chris Jericho
-Main Event: Evolution vs Rock’N’Sock Connection
-Hall of Fame 2004 Class Honoured

End Night One

Cuts To Night One

-Removed Bischoff ordering Coach to seek out Undertaker
-Removed Bobby Heenan and Mean Gene making out with Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young
-Bumped RAW Fatal Four Way Tag Title Match (I might add this back in as the current draft is a little underlength)
-Bumped Bra and Panties Tag Team Match

Night Two:

-Open with “Where It All Begins Again” Promo Package
-Eddie Guerrero talks with Chris Benoit
-Goldberg vs Lesnar trimmed down to just fifty-nine seconds so it’s more in line with their 2016 match
-WWE Championship: Eddie Guerrero vs Kurt Angle
-The Undertaker vs Kane
-World Heavyweight Championship Match: HHH vs HBK Vs Chris Benoit

End Night Two

Cut to Night Two:

-Removed Vince McMahon ‘Thankyou’ Speech
-Removed Jesse Ventura interviewing Trump
-Removed Fatal Four Way Smackdown Tag Titles
-Cut WM XX post-show video package, ends with a very brief reprise of “One Man Had A Vision”

BrotherOfSasquatch said:

Cameron Samurai said:

Maybe the action sequence would be too much and promise something will pay off later when it doesn’t?

That’s exactly what my line of thinking was. lol.

Kind of psychic, lol.

I’ll see what I can do, I know people who can colour grade, this should be a synch for them. I’ll likely add it to the feature version.

Nice idea there, I had considered other small scenes (like the cage fight from X-Men), but felt the ‘Logan’ scene was the closest in ‘atmosphere’, that would work well for the bar scene I agree, and it’s short and contemplative enough. Maybe the action sequence would be too much and promise something will pay off later when it doesn’t?

Ideas for an episode three re-cut of Falcon and Winter Soldier (I’ve seen it twice more to be sure), to reduce the run time. Some of these ideas can also be used for the “Next Soldier” feature edit version:

Again, big spoilers below:

-Maybe remove the banter about Marvin Gaye

-Insert sequence from the beginning of Logan (where he’s massacring the hoods and protecting the car) while we’re exploring the streets of Madripoor

-Reduce the more sympathetic bits with the Flag Smasher Kharlie, retaining only the final scenes for her and her partner as they blow up the building

-Alternatively, keep all the sympathetic stuff in, and end the episode after she blows the building and save Bucky’s cliffhanger for possibly the pre-titles of episode four.

Alrighty, watched episode three

MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW

Alas, not much on John Walker at all in this other than a couple of minutes at the start and at the end, but plenty of action with Zemo and Sharon, keeping the Cap connections coming thick and fast. Will have to find a way of cutting it down to at least half an hour, that can be done by removing some of the Flag Smasher moments in this episode.

I might be able to squeeze in a Hugh Jackman cameo considering they base a lot of the action this week in Madripoor.

If and when they prove crucial, I’ll consider placing them back in, possibly as ‘breather’ scenes between the action and other such goings on.

I feel the therapy can be cut back, but you can still retain Bucky’s friendship with the father of the man he killed for instance.

I’m beginning to map out an outline for a feature version of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, making it the fourth Captain America movie

I would start by removing as much of the drawn out stuff from episodes one and two, the therapy sessions for Bucky in particular don’t contribute anything from what I’ve seen so far, and his arrest simply for not checking in with his shrink was silly. Gone too, will be Sam’s family life and troubles with the bank.

The portions of episode one I would use to begin the feature are as follows:

Sam relinquishing the shield in Washington, has a talk with Rhodes
-Cut to his friend’s altercation with the Flag Smashers in Switzerland
-He contacts Sam while he’s watching the news
-John Walker is announced as the new Captain America
-This segues straight into the Marvel Studios logo and from there the majority of episode two.

This will be continued next week as soon as I see Friday’s episode. I’ve already put some of these ideas into practice with a 44 minute “alternative” episode one, PM me if curious.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League has a lot of sequel bait set up in it, it includes an extended Knightmare sequence with Jared Leto’s Joker, and supplies Ray Fisher and Aquaman with significantly more backstory. I got to thinking…suppose Snyder went a step further with Batman v Superman, and used it to set up much more than just a tentpole Wonder Woman franchise and the main villain of Justice League?

We could extend the sequences of S.T.A.R labs studying the Kryptonian ship while connecting it to the mystery of the motherboxes, we could see the ‘bell being wrung’ when Clark lets out his primal scream, we could see Cyborg listen in to the death rattle, or see him learn more about himself. Basically, all the backstory that would otherwise have been lost in a theatrical Justice League cut could be deposited here.

Instead of the footage Diana observes on her laptop, replace it with shots from the Snyder cut of the future League members doing small favours for the community, Flash saves Iris, Cyborg helps the woman out with the cash dispenser, Arthur can be the only one who’s still a part of the CCTV footage as he attacks, if you like.

And you can even have just a bit more of Lois Lane mourning Clark’s loss, visiting his memorial each day, and bonding with ‘Martha Manhunter’

And the Knightmare sequence can be altered to end on Superman cornering the remaining League members, Joker, and Batman, with Bruce waking up in the Batcave and the film carrying on as normal.

I’d actually end Batman v Superman with Martian Manhunter’s visit here, it fits much better, and him warning Bruce of an impending invasion segues perfectly into what would now be a more streamlined action-packed theatrical Justice League cut

Two other things I’d like to change

-Do we even need Arthur meeting Bruce and turning him down? You could just follow him around on his own for a bit, rescuing fishermen and drinking, and then link up Steppenwolf’s attack on Atlantis straight after, similar to how it’s stitched together in the Whedon cut, and then have Arthur follow their trail to Gotham and he meets up with the League that way.

-Don’t have Clark battle the League. I don’t particularly care for that action beat, once he spots his memorial and stares back at the League, just have Lois already there and cut to Lois and Clark touching down on the farm.

Here’s a potential timeline for the opening act to a three hour cut

Reveal message
-Open the movie with Lois in mourning, fetching her coffe, visiting Clark’s memorial, segues into Diana’s mission to thwart the bombing.

-Steppenwolf seizes the first Motherbox, Amazons discussing sending the arrow to Diana, but we don’t need to see it shot and land or Diana discovering the all too convenient shrine to Darksied. She relays all necessary information to Bruce later.

-Bruce dreams of Knightmare Superman only, wakes up, and is visited by Martian Manhunter, who offers to help, this provides better motivation for why he helps Lois out as ‘Martha’ later, doing his own small part, and it also enables Bruce to become more aware that an invasion is immanent rather than the gut feeling he has.

-End the prologue with Diana and Bruce discussing Darksied and Diana asking where the others are

-Begin Chapter One: “Don’t Count on It Batman”

Episodic cuts are ready and available.

Notable changes (SPOILERS AHEAD)

-Episode One is almost entirely made up of Civil War and X-Men footage, the “Five Years Later” caption from Endgame is used, and the final scenes are Monica being sucked into Westviw and the 1950s Wandavision intro

-Episode Two consists of footage from episode four and the middle act of episode five

-Episode Three consists almost entirely of episode six, but utilises sequences from X-Men: The Last Stand featuring Magneto and Multiple Man. I’ve also removed Darcie’s line “she recast Pietro?”

-Episode Four is drastically different…most of episode seven’s dire Vision and Darcie comedy has been removed. Also cut down a great deal of episode eight…now we cut to Wanda and Vision’s talk at the Avengers compound right after Wanda and Pietro’s parents are killed. Agatha is more interested in the immediate ramifications of Wanda’s motivations, she doesn’t need a mammoth history lesson. There is footage of X-Men: The Last Stand utilised to have Magneto and Xavier ‘interact’ with Wanda. Agatha calling Wanda the scarlet witch and a ‘myth’ cut.

-And lastly, episode five removes Agatha almost entirely from the last battle, she’s crushed by the car (I imply that it’s Xavier that uses it to kill her), allowing Vision to pretty much save the day when he resolves his own conflict. Also gone, as I said in the previous post, is Wanda’s drawn out farewells to Vision and the kids at home. Wanda relinquishes the hex immediately after the battle of the Visions is over. The post-end credits are almost the same, with the addition of Xavier sending Logan and Storm on a mission to head out to Wanda’s cabin at the lake.

This idea occurred to me after the disappointment of Wandavision’s finale. A Wandavision edit with some X-Citing additions!

Basically, if you want to create the illusion of the mutants being in westview, use the scenes where they’re visiting Jean Grey at her home in X-Men: The Last Stand. Switch out Jean with scenes of Wanda ‘interacting’ with Xavier and Magneto.

I also think you can still remove Agatha from the final fight entirely, you can have Wanda wrestle with her conscious, but she no longer waits until the boys’ bedtime to relinquish her hold over the town. Now she releases everyone after Vision defeats his doppelganger and embraces his boys. No goodbye scene for Wanda, it’s best to pull the rug out from under the selfish bitch and deny her a goodbye.

Lastly, I had an idea about using a scene from Logan for post-credits, but instead I think I’d rather keep Wanda at the cabin instead…but just as she hears her boys calling to her and there’s that flash of crimson energy, we cut to Xavier sensing it and telling Logan and Storm to head to the lake…and then we end it.

I’ve been managing these episodically, as it made it a lot easier. Five episodes have been made in total. Many of the sitcoms are now gone or severely downplayed in favour of advancing the plot a lot quicker.

It’s left ambiguous as to whether or not Agatha is a witch or a member of Magneto’s brotherhood of evil mutants. No origin flashback, and we cut to Wanda’s motivation for the siege of Westview much quicker

I’ll let you know when the eps are ready.

That was good, I’m glad you started from after the twins were born, my one nitpick was the credits for the 80s sitcom intro were partially cut off by the widescreen

Hey, would you mind hitting me up with your Wandavision edit?

I definitely want to include the Diana and Bruce drama from Whedon’s cut.

Maybe make a cut cantering only on Cyborg and The Flash, since the original plans were to include Fisher in Ezra’s solo movie.