Synopsis:

A leaner, meaner and more realistic cut which retains the nihilistic mood and tone of the theatrical cut and minimizes the poor characterization and excess 'emotional' moments resulting in a far darker and better Monster movie... The stars of this version are not the humans, but the monsters.

Intentions:

The theatrical cut, while getting a few things right (namely the tone and mood), ran for far too long focusing on paper-thin clichéd characters: the all-American hero with obligatory wife and kid, the determined but conflicted general, the noble scientist, the not-crazy-after-all kook, etc etc. I love the way the monsters were shot, especially in the fight sequences, but they were way too brief to justify the running time. Moments of monster action were continually bogged down by needless 'human' moments, unbelievable acts of superhero-ism by the lead, and worst of all, this nihilistic tale of the arrogance of man is marred by a typical Hollywood happy ending. I put together a faster paced cut which focuses on the core of the story-- much more emphasis on Dr Serizawa and the military team (relevant to the situation) than on Brody's family (all irrelevant in the big picture) and their attempts to stop the monsters. The dark mood and foreboding tone of the original is retained. If you enjoyed the theatrical cut, I agree that I'm cutting out and losing the (arguably) "emotional" moments of the film (family, power plant, etc) but its only to get a better Monster movie, which is what it is in the end.

Change List:

Adobe Premiere Pro and Godzilla Blu-Ray

Additional Notes:

1. Removed credit sequence and replaced with titles 2. Trimmed helicopter ride/ mine shaft sequences in the Phillipines with Seruzawa 3. Bryan Cranston is one of my favorite actors--but here, he just drags the story unfortunately--entire power plant/Janjira sequence cut. As an intelligent audience, I don't think we need this to piece together what happened to his family when he talks about it with Brody in later sequences/ in his ruined house. It'd be a different story if Cranston was the hero of the film, then it would be more important to retain this sequence, but he is a minor character in this story 4. Mine sequence cuts to San Francisco 15 years later. Cut Ford tucking son in/ making out/ packing. Phone call during homecoming party leads to Japan. 5. Trimmed Japanese detention center scene 6. Trims to Ford and dad in quarantine zone / Janjira plant. 7. Cut Elle (his wife) and son watching news at home. 8. Cut Cranston being choppered away--he dies in the initial attack and is never seen again. Ford and Seruzawa alone are helicoptered to the destroyer. 9. Cut shots of Cranston in bodybag. The debriefing is left intact--I thought this sequence was great. 10. Cut Ford going to Hawaii --He is not a monster magnet like in the theatrical cut, and is NEVER in Hawaii. 11. Cut Brody in train and no kid rescue. Train attack rearranged-- everyone dies ;/ 12. Trimmed Hawaii beach sequence to cut dog/family escaping the tsunami. Everyone presumably drowns ;/ 13. Las Vegas --cut the Elvis "Devil in Disguise" suite. This scene was illogical. Why would a military squad break into a hotel suite? Was the President staying there? 14. Cut Seruzawa's Hiroshima watch scene. Too heavy handed. Nukes are bad. 15. Cut Brody calling his wife / scenes of her in hospital 16. Cut entire train sequence. This did Nothing for the plot-- they chopper the bomb into the city anyway. Worse, I'm not sure if they were going for horror movie tropes with the lone soldiers in the dark and ominous music etc, but it didn't work. If cutting the train sequence and losing a Jurassic Park-style shot of the Mutos in the dark means getting to the main attraction quicker, then cut. Removed references as to why this was an analog bomb 17. Cut shot of helicopter retrieving bomb from ruined train 18. Cut scene of Brody's wife dumping his son on a school bus in the middle of a disaster 19. Trimmed several shots of Brody's son in the bus to de-emphasize his presence 20. Cut Brody looking for his wife in camp 21. Trimmed planning sequence for halo jump by removing references to the train, etc 22. Shortened scenes of finding and evacuating the bomb and edited monster fight sequence to flow closer together uninterrupted 23. Cut Brody and son's reunion with wife--she dies in this cut after the building collapses during the final battle. No happy endings

Other Sources:

Special Thanks: