u/Fanedit895

It's a technical marvel! I'd almost recommend it over the original movie if I'm being honest. Very close, though.

Batman '89 looks GORGEOUS in black and white. The shot of Batman turning around and walking, his shadow following after him, is immediately striking, even more than in the theatrical version. Joker comes off more terrifying in this rendition, his creepy smile contrasted heavily with shadows and greys, seemingly damaged by time and wear. The art deco vibes of Tim Burton's Gotham City translate well to this style, to the point you'd swear he was going to make it this way but didn't for some reason. I recently saw the 1930s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, so I can definitely say that the compressed audio is a solid match for that era. No alterations needed for Elfman's music, this score slots right in as a part of that era in this state. The new opening titles were fantastic as well, seamlessly transitioning from the old WB logo into the Batman theme. The illusion is great and wonderful.

The only reason I wouldn't qualify it as utterly perfect is because of one thing, probably not something that could be done about honestly. In the midst of this conversion to a 30s noir film, the Prince songs are so undeniably eighties/early nineties they hurt said illusion. They don't ruin the movie necessarily, but if there was a way to replace the songs with more era-appropriate tracks I'd recommend that. There also aren't any deviations from the original film. at least, none that I could see. If you had any mixed feelings about Batman '89, this edit won't address any criticisms. Then again, that wasn't the aim, of course. The goal was to make this fit snugly as a film noir. In that sense, MidnightGhostEdits mostly succeded at the task.

Highly recommend, it is an incredible work that transforms the original if not nearly surpasses it. It's at least better than the actual Batman serials made from that era...

Full disclosure, BaileyEdits specified this edit was an HD remake of an 80s Remix done by LastSurvivor. I'll be sure to point out which edit is from Bailey and which one is from that original edit.

Twenty minutes were cut from the original, mostly related to Rocky's arrival back to America in order to get around his son being older. They do tighten the pace while still getting the major points across, bonus points to Bailey for removing Union Crane's name from a scene, but there's some interesting side effects as well. Rocky V tries to bring Rocky back to his roots, but still holds onto some of the glory from the previous films by people constantly talking up and treating Rocky like the greatest. Because of the trims, the world comes off more cynical and jaded. We don't see Rocky being welcomed home by the neighborhood, we first see him and Paulie being hounded by Tommy and Duke. In a way, this puts us a bit more in Rocky's position since we feel the loss of the wealth more strongly in this version. Like society had moved on from him, even if that's not strictly true given how the crowd reacted when Tommy won. While we miss some nice scenes between Stallone and his son, I do think opening with Rocky Jr. being hounded as a good move. LastSurvivor had a keen eye on what to keep and what to discard.

The music really does change the mood of the story. The edit trades in 90s cheese for 80s cheese. It brings it more in line with its predecessor in terms of the tone, though it helps that the actual song choices were great. My favorite is the one that plays in 16:22, it's an effective tone settern for the darker story. I also appreciate Nothing's Gonne Stand In My Way being used for one of the montages, it actually fits that context pretty well. What I was most shocked by was the song used for the final battle. I won't say what it is, but it surprisingly fits the scene like a glove and >!makes up for the lack of it in Rocky Balboa, like we're seeing the end of this particular era for Rocky!<. I miss Measure of a Man though.

Until Sylvester Stallone releases an HD version of the workprint, this is the best Rocky V will probably ever be. It succeeds at redeeming to the best of its ability the worst Rocky installment, bringing out the strengths more and better align with the first couple of movies in spirit. Recommend!

Additional Note: If Hearts on Fire played in the opening credits flashback, it would have made the cold shower aftermath hit harder imo.

It's a conservative edit by my estimate, but a good one. I think if the theatrical cut released this way there'd be less complaints.

The added scenes were welcome. In particular, I really feel like the funeral scene and the boxing commission stuff should have been in the original version. They better show off how much Apollo's death impacted everyone and not just Rocky, plus better showing how he's defying the rules for revenge. The goodbye scene between him and Adrien is so small but so good that I struggle to think of a reason why it was cut. In general, I like the additions because they served to humanize the characters a bit more when everything else is so bombastic and over the top. The only problem is that, while there aren't any problems with the audio, the new scenes are noticeably different from the rest of the movie. Not unclean, but they're grainier, have a browner tint and slightly more contrast? It's more evident in the scene where Rocky goes to talk to Adrien in the kitchen after Apollo tells them he wants to fight Drago. But there probably wasn't much to be done there.

The new titles were a better match with the rest of the films, so that was a good choice as well. It's ultimately the same movie but with some slight improvements to make it better align with the franchise, especially Creed II. I did like that BaileyEdits used the Russian dignataries leaving instead of giving a standing ovation to Rocky for beating their guy. If you like the theatrical version, this adds a bit more extra to flesh it out.

When you're doing an edit, what's the one thing that makes you go "change IMMEDIATELY"?

For me, I don't like it when a movie explains everything right off the bat. Green Lantern (2011) explaining the Green Lantrn corps, okay I get that, but then explaining that Parallax is their enemy and Abin Sur trapped him? Come on, those could have been revelations within the story itself and actually make the Sinestro/Guardian scenes actually useful. Similarly, I didn't like it when the Ghost Rider movie began with Sam Elliot explaining San Venganza and his rejecting Mephisto when he explains it later in the film more naturally. I feel a story is more interesting when the viewer is asking questions, so if I were editing those films, I would trim the exposition to make things more engaging for the audience.