Synopsis:

This edit aims to provide a more complete, satisfying and enjoyable telling of Elton John’s story, particularly for fans. Deleted scenes are restored, including Elton’s first suicide attempt and a subplot regarding the AIDS crisis. Two egregious factual inaccuracies are removed: Elton taking his last name from John Lennon (the real-life origin, from blues singer Long John Baldry, is well-known) and Elton playing his ‘80s hits in the ‘60s. The tone and pacing are also improved by cutting Elton’s last argument with his mother (a miserable scene that is too similar to the argument with Bernie Taupin directly following it). Finally, a couple musical Easter eggs are added to the film’s score.

Intentions:

To create a more complete, satisfying and enjoyable telling of Elton John’s story.

Change List:

00.00.00 – Added fanedit disclaimer. 00.01.51 – Added subtitle “Diamond Edition” to title. 00.27.00 – Cut Elton John looking at a photo of The Beatles and taking inspiration from John Lennon for his new last name. The real-life origin, from English blues singer Long John Baldry, is an often-told story. Baldry was an important part of Elton’s early years and shouldn’t be completely scrubbed from history like this. 00.32.51 – Cut Elton singing “I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues” (1983) and “Sad Songs Say So Much” (1984) in Dick James’ office in the late ‘60s. This movie bends the truth a lot (for example, Elton hadn’t written or recorded “Crocodile Rock” when he played at the Troubadour), but this was too much for me. It’s like if you made a Beatles biopic and showed Paul McCartney performing Wings songs in the ‘50s. 00.37.31 – Cut Elton claiming that he and Bernie Taupin have never had an argument. They argue several times in the movie, so this doesn’t ring true. 00.37.37 – Inserted deleted scene “Elton in the Gas Oven” which shows Elton’s infamous first suicide attempt. This event inspired the song “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” so it deserves to appear in his biopic. 00.38.44 – Added brief guitar instrumental of “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” to the film’s score. This song is from an autobiographical album that Elton and Bernie wrote, so I thought it would be appropriate for the song to appear in the movie. 01.29.23 – Added Elton's line “I have f***ed everything that moves. And I have taken every drug known to man – all of them. Do you know what? I enjoyed every last minute of it” as voiceover narration to the “Bennie and the Jets” orgy montage. This line was cut later in the movie when I cut Elton’s argument with his mom, but I wanted to keep the line, so I used it here instead. Perhaps it's a thought in Elton’s head, or a statement he says to the therapy group. 01.29.54 – Inserted deleted scene “The Blood Test” which shows Elton learning about the AIDS crisis, getting tested, and telling the therapy group that the test came back negative. This shows the potential consequences of Elton’s lifestyle at the time, and how he considers himself lucky to have not contracted AIDS. AIDS would become important later in Elton’s life, when he set up a charity dedicated to AIDS prevention, education and care. The deleted scene also introduces Elton’s future wife Renate to the movie earlier, which makes her feel like a more real character. 01.37.47 – Cut Elton arguing with his mom in a restaurant and then looking at himself in a mirror. At this point, we have scene after scene of Elton feeling miserable, and it’s depressing and redundant. We get it – his mom is a mean and nasty person. The scene doesn’t tell us anything we don’t already know, and it feels even more repetitive due to the following scenes (Elton argues with Bernie in a restaurant and then looks at himself in a mirror). The makeup/CGI used to age Bryce Dallas Howard is unconvincing, as well. 01.54.34 – Removed inaccurate and/or overly affected statements from the written epilogue that describes Elton’s life after finishing rehab. 01.58.48 – Replaced end credits song "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with a piano instrumental of "The One" so that at least one song from the '90s appears in the movie (every other decade of Elton’s career is already represented). "The One" is also from his first album after rehab, and it could be seen as a reference to his future husband David, so it is appropriately placed here. 02.00.51 – Added song credits for “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” and “The One.” 02.00.56 – Added faneditor credit.

Additional Notes:

This edit is not an extended edition. Although many deleted scenes were released, the majority of them are redundant, distracting or ineffective. I chose to include only the deleted scenes that add something valuable to the movie.

Other Sources:

Special Thanks: