Fan Edits Of Movies That Were Better Than The Original

The Matrix is one of the most influential movies of modern times. Not only did it repopularize the sci-fi genre at the turn of the century, but it had a huge impact on the style of Hollywood action films. Sibling directors the Wachowskis reproduced some of the first installment's impressive fight choreography in the two sequels, but they stretched audiences to breaking point with the plot. While second chapter The Matrix Reloaded has slowly worked its way into the hearts of critics, the trilogy's conclusion, Matrix Revolutions, remains widely regarded as a missed opportunity, with many fans sharing the belief that the second two movies, which were shot back to back, should have been one.

Fan editor team 'CBB' turned that shared vision into a reality with The Matrix DeZIONed, which combines Reloaded and Revolutions to come up with a thoroughly enjoyable single sequel. According to the creators, the trick to the edit was simply removing all the scenes relating to Zion and the war for man's last city, instead making Neo's in-Matrix battle with the agents the main focus. "Leaving out the Zion scenes was a major improvement of pace and plot development," they explained. "And the most interesting thing about it is that these scenes are not missed when left out."

The new runtime shows just how much footage was deemed unnecessary, with the fan edit lasting 146 minutes. The two sequels ran at 138 and 129 minutes respectively, which means a whopping 120 minutes got the chop.

One of the most famous fan edits, The Phantom Edit takes the widely panned Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and manages to turn it into an entertaining movie. It's something you have to see to believe, but it's out there, still a hot property on the bootleg circuit decades after it was cut. Director and avid Star Wars fan Kevin Smith was rumored to have been behind this shorter version of the film, but he claimed that while he'd seen it, he didn't make it.

Soon copycat versions appeared, with other fans keen to share their own take on how Episode I should have played out—even former That '70s Show star Topher Grace was at it, re-editing all three prequels into a single 85-minute film. The fad gathered so much steam that George Lucas responded via his spokeswoman, who said he wouldn't be watching any of the new edits and reminded fans that "massive duplication and distribution" of copyrighted material was an infringement.

Many re-edits later the fad eventually died, but the definitive fan edit remains the one first put together by Mike J. Nichols, named as the creator in articles by The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. Nichols' version cut away almost all of Jar Jar Binks' scenes and, in his own words, reworked the film "with the care and attention of a Lucas team member" while "concentrating on creating the storytelling style that Lucas originally made famous."

He may be the mastermind behind the Alien franchise, but Ridley Scott is as human as the crew members he loves sending to their grisly fates. The director has admitted he missed the mark with 2012 prequel Prometheus, recognizing that fans were frustrated with the direction it ultimately took. "They wanted to see more of the original [monster] and I thought he was definitely cooked, with an orange in his mouth," he said. "So I thought: 'Wow, OK, I'm wrong.'" He used those mistakes as a learning curve when writing the next installment in the franchise, Alien: Covenant, though Prometheus was doomed to be the black sheep of the series.

That didn't sit right with fan editor 'Severian,' whose cut of the film utilizes deleted scenes and supplementary footage to address many of the plot holes that have frustrated fans for years—including the often mocked moment when Shaw and Vickers flee a giant rolling structure in a straight line when stepping two feet to the side would have saved them. Prometheus: Giftbearer also loses the scenes with Shaw jumping over the widening plates in her effort to survive, given that "she's already been asked to do so much in her post-operation state" at that point in the film.

This version also chooses not to open with the Engineers (beginning instead with Weyland and Shaw driving) and uses an alternate end conversation between David and Shaw, which better suited the tone of the movie.

If someone told you that they'd cut almost half an hour of footage from a Michael Bay movie without removing any of the explosions, you'd probably have them committed—but you'd regret it after watching the 'Kevinicus' edit of 2007's Transformers. This is the same fan editor behind Avatar: Recycled (which does away with the "extreme environmental and political overtones" of the movie) and The Kung Fu Kid (a "tighter" version of Jaden Smith's Karate Kid), though neither of those re-edits are quite as enjoyable as Transformers: Reformatted.

The reviews weren't kind to Transformers when the tentpole popcorner came out a decade ago, kicking off what would become a divisive but wildly profitable franchise. The five films released thus far have grossed over $1.3 billion, though despite viewers continuing to flock to cinemas in droves, Bay can't catch a break with the critics. "Films directed by Michael Bay are usually like being shouted at by a halfwit for two and a half hours," The Times wrote, "and Transformers is no exception."

Removing dialogue from such a film might seem like a good way to dumb it down even further, though what this re-edit does is focus on the stuff Bay does well—the action. "My intention was to cut out as much material from the film that I thought didn't work or detracted from the important aspects," the creator said. "I also wanted to remove what I considered were some loose ends and/or plot holes within the movie."

Looking back, it almost seems as though Universal really didn't want Waterworld to succeed, despite having sunk $175 million into it. The film pulled in less than $90 million domestically and is remembered as one of the most high-profile box office bombs of all time, though even when the studio had the chance to prove that there was a good film in there somewhere (and recoup some cash in the process) they messed it up. When they released the so-called Extended Edition of the Kevin Costner flop on DVD they didn't fool anyone—all they'd done was repackage a version cut for TV.

This meant that all the violence, profanity and nudity had been replaced with cutting room floor fodder, something fan editor 'Zaaacharias' couldn't abide. "I was so p***** off when I found out that the Extended Edition—which I believed to be the "Ultimate Edition" of Waterworld—was a censored, softened edit for TV," the creator said. "Universal wasn't able to release a proper version on DVD so I thought I had to do it on my own."

All it took to make Waterworld a genuinely enjoyable experience was a little bit of editing 101, with simple changes like the improvement of some sketchy sound effects and the removal of a continuity error doing wonders. Of course, the restoration of all the violence, profanity and nudity helped some, too.

There have been plenty of high-profile disappointments over the last few years that could do with a once-over from a dedicated fan editor, but one recent picture that looked as though it was on to a sure thing only to end up missing the mark is Passengers. This Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence sci-fi romance failed to win over the critics (the Rotten Tomatoes consensus concludes that their chemistry isn't enough to overcome a fatally flawed story) and bombed at the box office, but one viewer has shared a simple idea that could potentially fix this broken film.

A video essay called Passengers, Rearranged argues that Morten Tyldum's movie would be a far more interesting watch if the big reveal (if you haven't seen it and plan to, click away now) of Pratt waking Lawrence up from her hibernation 90 years early was placed in the last act. As it is, this shocking moment of selfishness comes in the middle of the movie, but the video suggests that Lawrence should have been seen waking up at the beginning with the truth withheld from her (and the audience) for greater effect upon reveal later. 

Whether this small tweak would transform the entire movie remains to be seen, but it sure seems like there's a decent film lurking in there somewhere, and we're waiting for someone with the time, energy and editing chops to prove us right.