Synopsis:

Make the main character more likeable and focus on the ships and crew rather than alien hand to hand combat.

Intentions:

Conceptually this movie might seem a bit silly - a flashy summer Hollywood blockbuster based on a classic board game, with a plot about naval ships versus aliens. But at the end of the day it has good bones, it just tries to do too much. What really drew me to the film was the ships, and the action sequences with alien closeups and hand to hand combat detracted from this. So I wanted to strip all that away and keep a balance of human characters and naval action that was a little less mainstream - no quota of comic relief scenes or over-explaining the action we're seeing. And once you scrub off all the excess Hollywood I feel like this film is a pretty fun ride.

Change List:

-trim the slapstick nature of breaking into store -cut the brother dressing down after arrest -cut soccer match rivalry -cut long sequences of character stuff prior to carrier group, esp anything related to soccer rivalry and fallout from it -trim awkward scientist dialogue -cut dramatic shots of alien stuff crashing into buildings in foreign countries -trim out of place shot of comic relief boat guy -trim two minions yelling foreshadowing "bad idea" remarks -cut comic relief guy wondering if it's a super secret government test +reshuffled some footage for better visual transition -trim narrative "who are we fighting" comment -trim narrative "we're hit!" -trim several more unnecessary intercut scenes of of comic relief guy -trimmed end of alien balls scenes, over-explaining the friend-or-foe recognition and going on too long -trimmed mick complaining -cut initial police sequences -cut studying alien body, sort of relevant to later plot but too lengthy to be worth the small clarity it adds -trim horses and alien encounter -trim scientist freaking out about prosthetics -remove more alien helmet and global scenes -recut strategic conversation to remove part that's narratively incoherent +reinsert part of strategy session we cut earlier in a better narrative spot -trim comic relief guy saying it's a stupid plan +reinsert a small scene of scientist retrieving equipment -trim repeated dialogue in an overly dramatic pause sequence -trim unnecessary map visual -trim several parts of balls attack on ship to tighten it up and be less overly dramatic -cut anything mick and girlfriend have to do with aliens, bunch of scenes intercut throughout final sequences -trim overly long dramatic monologue before impact +moved forward a scene of satellite dishes blowing up, seemed out of place later -trimmed part of post-award photos -cut post-credits scene