Octorox

Hi all! I shared my first Sonic edit on this forum so I thought I’d make a quick post about the follow-up. Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Battle is a continuation of Sonic the Hedgehog DX.

IFDB listing: https://fanedit.org/sonic-the-hedgehog-2-battle/

That edit consisted mostly of light trims, but this one is a bit more aggressive. While the first Sonic movie was a pretty straightforward buddy comedy for kids, Sonic 2 attempts to incorporate more of the video game lore. This is a great thing for us fans, but it results in what I think are essentially two movies competing for attention: a zany family comedy similar to the first film, and a more dense plot-heavy cgi action movie. I’ve attempted to balance these competing tones a bit better, so that the movie feels more focused. In doing so, I’ve leaned closer to the latter movie. It’s still lighthearted and family friendly, with plenty of Jim Carrey antics, but there are fewer extended detours into wackiness. The “Rachel’s wedding” subplot has been heavily pruned to the bare essentials, and an extended “dance battle” sequence in the middle of the film has also been removed. I’ve used some new techniques such as Premiere Pro’s “generative extend” to aid in creating seamless transitions. A full cutlist is below:

25 minutes cut.

-Added disclaimer about fanedits and the use of generative AI, as well as FE.org and Octorox title cards.
-Added a fine layer of grain to the entire film. This was needed because it helps to blend some shots that are zoomed in and/or extended with generative extend a bit better.
-Removed one instance of Robotnik tasting Sonic’s quill and getting zapped. I felt this joke was a bit overused.
-Removed montage of Jim Carrey doing spit takes while tasting the mushroom coffee. Now he just does it once.
-Removed the narration of Robotnik’s plan “Operation Kick Blue Butticus.”
-During opening city sequence, replaced Run DMC’s “It’s Tricky” with “Run Through the Speed Highway” Cash Cash RMX from Sonic Generations.
-Added a dreamlike effect to every flashback in the movie, so that some newly added flashbacks fit in a bit better.
-Rescored Sonic falling overboard with a version of the classic Sonic drowning music from Sonic Generations
-Removed flashback to Tom entering Sonic’s room, which was an extended sequence of fart jokes.
-Removed instances throughout the film of Sonic being referred to by Tom and Maddie as a “kid” as well as Sonic calling Tom “dad”. The themes of family are still there, but I prefer to think of the Wachowskis as a found family rather than a traditional nuclear family unit. Also Sonic is typically portrayed as an older teenager.
-Cut down Sonic teasing Tom and Maddie in the “Sonic Air” boarding sequence.
-Removed the entire scene featuring Sonic Facetiming with Tom in Hawaii, as well as Rachel and Randall’s introduction. After Tom and Maddie leave, we don’t see them again in this edit until the actual wedding.
-Removed Robotnik’s “Wizard of Oz” joke, which felt a bit tired.
-Removed Robotnik calling Knuckles his “bestest friend forever and ever.”
-Trimmed a bit of Jim Carrey acting like he has rabies.
-Sonic still makes a joke about Tails’s “butt turning into a helicopter” but trimmed Tails reaction, including him calling it a “buttcopter.”
-Removed Robotnik saying “Earth is my turf, G.”
-In the scene in Wade’s garage, removed Wade’s introduction, cutting right to Sonic talking about Knuckles and the Master Emerald.
-Cut both instances of Wade’s “Stay Puft Marshmallow Man” reference.
-Cut Wade thinking Longclaw was Sonic or Tails’s dad.
-Trimmed some of Wade’s joke about his classmate named Knuckles.
-Removed entire scene of Tom and Randall playing volleyball in Hawaii, as well as the following sequence with Jojo and Maddie.
-Sonic no longer says “I absolutely cannot find my way” in the snow, since Maddie’s setup is gone.
-Added some extra winter storm ambience to the scenes outside in the snow.
-Used a flipped shot from a later deleted scene to remove the bar patron’s aggressive overtures and Tails passing out. The dance battle sequence is also cut, so it didn’t make sense to foreshadow that the people in the bar might have a beef with Sonic and Tails. Instead they just think they’re a bit weird.
-Removed Robotnik’s joke about “The Secret”
-Cut entire dance battle sequence and the sequence leading up to it. Instead we transition from Robotnik, Knuckles and Stone in the Mean Bean to Tails and Sonic lounging on the bar and talking. Used generative extend and a digital zoom to make this transition work. I felt the sequence really dragged down this section of the film, and the bar patrons all felt like cartoonish stereotypes. I prefer the human characters be a bit more grounded to contrast with the zaniness of Sonic, Robotnik and pals.
-Cut Robotnik’s joke about calling an Uber.
-Rescored part of the snowboarding sequence with Tee Lopes’s remix of Ice Cap Zone from Sonic 3.
-Trimmed Rachel’s indignant reactions to Tom’s phone going off.
-As Tom realizes he’s mixed up the rings, added a quick flashback to him teasing Jojo. This was necessary since the earlier scene was cut.
-Trimmed Rachel’s “Snow my God” pun to just “Oh my God”. I don’t think every character needs to be a constant joke delivery machine.
-After Sonic and Tails get washed up in Hawaii, and Rachel says “Oh Lord, there are two of them now”, cut to Knuckles and Robotnik finding the ruins. The entire sequence of Sonic and Tails getting captured by GUN and Maddie having to bust them out is removed, as is Randall’s betrayal and Rachel’s revenge on him. Used generative extend to aid in this transition.
-In the sequence where Maddie, Tom, and Sonic see a green beam appear in the sky, used a combination of cropping, speed ramping, cutting and generative extend to remove Command Walters tied up in the background. He doesn’t appear until later in this edit. Also cut away from the scene early when Tails wakes up.
-In the following scene, cut away when Wade busts in and Agent Stone puts his hands up, removing some additional banter.
-When Knuckles punches through the wall in the ruins, trimmed Robotnik’s joke about interior design. He now just says “Wow, that really opened up the space”.
-Trimmed Robotnik telegraphing his betrayal of Knuckles, including the Limp Bizkit joke.
-Trimmed Robotnik’s “I think I just threw up in my mouth” reaction to Sonic’s earnest speech. This movie has a habit of undercutting nearly every earnest moment with a joke.
-Removed Robotnik’s pun about Sonic “losing the quill to live.”
-Removed Robotnik calling Knuckles a “dimwitted celestial skintag”
-As Sonic almost drowns, added a rendition of the classic Sonic drowning music from Sonic Generations.
-Trimmed Wade and Agent Stone’s banter about the “prop bagel.”
-Cut Robotnik using the Emerald’s power to make autotune music.
-Cut Robotnik and Wade’s “snack plate” exchange.
-When Commander Walter exits the chopper, added a brief flashback from his appearance in Sonic 1 to reorient the audience (since his earlier scenes were cut).
-Cut commentary from the GUN soldier about Wade’s incompetence as a police officer.
-Rescored some of Sonic Team’s encounter with Robotnik’s mech with the Death Egg Robot’s Boss Battle theme from Sonic Generations.
-Rescored Sonic Team working together to defeat the robots with an instrumental version of the Sonic Heroes theme by Crush 40 (instrumental version by “CG Instrumentals” on YouTube".)
-Added a short version of “All Hail Shadow” by Crush 40 after Shadow is revealed in the post-credits scene.
-Added the full vocal version of “Sonic Heroes” by Crush 40 to the credits.

Please feel free to PM for info on how to watch!

I appreciate that. I didn’t mean to suggest you had to follow what some YouTuber thought for your own edit. Just thought it might provide some extra food for thought.

Since I haven’t watched these films in a while, I decided to check out this video which summarizes the differences between the two official cuts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEUlEaeifkE

Overall based on this information I think you mostly made the right choices, but I really will have to watch both cuts again for myself to determine how I feel about each change. I wonder if there are more instances where you could use snippets of EE footage or extra lines without including the whole scenes. This commentator seems to think the Farewell to Lorien and Great River scenes are critical, but ultimately I think sometimes pacing and not losing the audience can be the most important factor.

I just wanted to say that I really like this idea. It’s been a little while since I watched the movies so I can’t really comment on the specific scene choices, but I always thought the EEs dragged a bit so it’s nice to have sort of a “compromise” version.

Yeah I don’t mind the creatures existing in the universe, I generally like creatures in movies. It’s just that the 90s cgi sticks out like a sore thumb. Personally I would remove the rontos, the scurriers, and the cgi droids and bring back the original dewbacks, but keep a lot of the SE establishing shots (minus the helicopter shot).

Dat_SW_Guy said:

Octorox said:

Nice! I always wondered if it would be possible to just remove the rats completely from that shot, but the way they overlap with the speeder probably makes it too difficult.

I only kept two womprats in, as in the following sequence (the SE shot of the Speeder in the narrow street before they get stopped) there are womprats and I decided it would be kept for continuity and consistency to still see the Womprats in the first shot, but greatly reduced to only 2 so that there still would be life in that scene but not too many Womprats that it would overload the sequence.

Gotcha makes sense. I honestly wish all the cg creatures could be removed but I think that’s a personal taste thing.

Nice! I always wondered if it would be possible to just remove the rats completely from that shot, but the way they overlap with the speeder probably makes it too difficult.

For the second game, I would definitely try out the “content restored” mod that reintroduces a lot of content that was cut from the game due to rushed production. Otherwise you can just play the versions on steam or console.

Sounds interesting. Would definitely like to see some clips!

Jar Jar Bricks said:

G&G-Fan said:

He’s voiced that he wants to be done with the Prequels.

And this is precisely why I was pushing for last minute changes he could sneak in there. Imagine in a year or two from now, random newbies to the forum will post on this thread saying “why is this continuity error present in your edit” or “why isn’t this deleted scene that everyone likes in your edit”. My goal was to avoid that headache preemptively, since this is the last time he will be touching them.

Don’t get me wrong, I am very grateful for these alternative versions. Perhaps I should have been clearer about that. I’m sorry, Hal. But I think you’re misunderstanding the motive I had for pushing these things, G&G.

I think Hal has explained in the past that he doesn’t mind leaving in continuity errors and other minor on-set gaffes because he believes they are fun to point out if you do notice them and not really distracting for the average viewer. Definitely a different philosophy from someone like Adywan, who tries to fix all of those types of things. I don’t really have a strong feeling either way about it.

mightyn said:

Not begging for links here, but I keep seeing that this edit is in “the usual place” but have no idea what that means, or even what to search for to attempt to find it. Any hints of how to go about looking very apprciated.

You have to PM the creator. That pretty much goes for any edit. We are not allowed to share links publicly in order to keep the hobby safe.

TheBoogeyman1023 said:

• Bor Gullet. It doesn’t really make sense why Bodhi doesn’t remember who he is without these scenes.
• One shot of Tarkin is missing the deep fake in the first scene. This shot is missing from Shamook’s folder though, so might not be able to do anything about it.
• Krennic commenting on the death star blast, “Oh it’s beautiful.”

I don’t really agree with this. I think it’s more effective that we don’t see it. We can assume he’s been tortured without attributing it to a goofy alien. I do miss “Oh, it’s beautiful”, but maybe the pacing just didn’t work with where NFBisms wanted to split the episode.

As good a name as Andor: The Movie Omnibus is, it just occurred to me that with Rogue One, there will be nine films in this series. Why not “The Andor Saga” as kind of a parallel to the Skywalker Saga? One can imagine a universe of nine-film Star Wars sagas focused on different characters.

As for how to deal with Rogue One, I’ve started watching NFBisms rescore project and I almost feel you could just recombine the parts into a single film and call it a day. His project really fits the Andor tone so well. I would be a like worried about moving Andor footage into Rogue One and vice versa, but if someone comes up with a mockup that works really well, I wouldn’t be opposed to it.

Grand Admiral Thrawn said:

Another small tweak to consider…

• Remove Baze calling Jyn “little sister”

He’s known her like a day at most, that moment has always come across as odd and trying to forcefully add more of a family-type vibe to the group that just isn’t there.

Idk, I thought that thematically dovetailed nicely with the story in Andor about Cassian’s sister. This video explains the connection better than I could: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUvkfaC3hng

In Andor, when Krennic says “unlimited power”, immediately cut to the clip from ROTS of Palpatine saying the same line.

By the way, wanted to say congrats on the “purist” version of Attack of the Clones. I just watched the full movie and I really feel like this is the edit that’s going to work for prequel fans and haters alike. Really the first edit that I think I could watch with friends and not get questions of “why did they cut that scene out?” (Except maybe the Death Star cameo. Personally I agree that it muddles things with Rogue One but there is a Rebels episode based around the Geonosians’ involvement in the design), yet the characterization of Anakin and the romance arc is so improved. It’s a masterclass in achieving a lot with a light touch.

Hal 9000 said:

Fair point, and I guess those lines would be fine. The “fun begins” line was removed because it was an OT reference that doesn’t need to be there, but you’re right that people like it so that may let it win out for a ‘crowdpleaser’ alternate edit.

And by all means, please let me know about that music transition you find jarring.

Maybe it’s because I’m too familiar with the score, but It’s at 15:41 in the current edit. Grevious lands in the escape pod bay, then there is a cut to the bridge where Obi-Wan and Anakin are fighting, and the score is truncated and kind of repeats itself in an odd way. I think if you actually cut a little but more of Obi-Wan and Anakin mowing down the droids it would smooth it out. Essentially the musical phrase would play out once instead of getting cut off early then repeating. I’ll try to provide a video.

I can definitely understand that perspective Broom Kid, I think the reason I struggle with it is that I don’t find Jyn to be a particularly compelling character to center a film around. Her arc, in the material we have to work with, feels underdeveloped. Cassian often took a backseat in his own series, but it was serve other characters that were just as, if not more compelling than him. Elevating Cassian to more of a deuteragonist role I see as taking advantage of all the work the series did to expand on his character, rather than diminishing Jyn. Maybe it just means that this won’t be the Rogue One project for me anymore though.

arabian said:

Would it be possible to add scenes of Kleya, Willmon or Vel anywhere?

Would be cool but I can’t really think of a convincing way to do that, other than repurposing footage from Andor, which would presumably stick out.

Would it be advisable to restore a couple of the meme lines in the Purist version (I’m specifically thinking “this is where the fun begins”, and “I am the senate”.) I know ultimately it’s still a fan edit and isn’t going to please everybody who loves the original version, but I feel like those lines have reached such an iconic status online that they’re absence from the movie is somewhat jarring. I feel this is a pretty different situation than the sand line in AOTC, which is more infamous for being bad. These are lines that I think people genuinely like.

Also there’s an music cut early on in LOE that I notice every time I watch and should be relatively easy to clean up. I Will try to post an example video later.

I think it still works in a less literal sense. He’s been fighting to survive against outside aggressors since his childhood on Kenari. Doesn’t really matter if it was the Republic at that time or the Empire.

Grand Admiral Thrawn said:

After the final episode of Andor, I definitely feel this change should be reverted for the next version of this edit:

• Removed introductory scene to Cassian

Agreed. The question would be how to do it smoothly without reintroducing the surrounding scenes as well.

I agree that the arc released this week was by far the strongest of this season, but I disagree with a lot of people on these forums saying that first two arcs should have been truncated or skipped over. I think it’s all important setup and character work. Andor has always been a slow burn show where the tension broils up over time. Personally, I think this is one of the few Star Wars properties that I’m not all that interested in a fan edit of.

It would be cool to have two audio tracks, one with JEJ and one with Ryan Golden.

aGreatHumanBeing said:

If Padme says Obi-Wans name in that sentence, won’t that make it seem like he is the one she was talking about when she said she knows a jedi they should consult?

Yes, that’s the intention. To sort of slowly create a wedge between Padme and Anakin so when Anakin says “you’re with him!” (Meaning Obi-Wan) at the end of the film it makes a little more sense for him to think that. Earlier in the film, Padme asks Anakin to talk to Palpatine about letting diplomacy resume, and he shuts her down, so she realizes that she can’t really expect him to come through for her on this issue and pivots to Obi-Wan instead.

Personally I think it works better if you keep in a little more of Anakin’s paranoia around Obi-Wan, e.g. “Obi-Wan’s been here, hasn’t he. What did he want?” but I don’t think Hal is really interested in reinstating that bit.