Nomis wrote:Much prefer the fade to black and then the cut back to Tommy.
I'm not saying this because this particular circumstance or anything like that (trust me, I've done alterations to many things other than films, including songs, photos, etc.)... but something tells me that if Nolan originally had it the way that I edited it and vice-versa, you'd say that you'd prefer the direct cut to Tommy.
In other words, people normally tend to like the original more at times, either because they're used to it (as the first they've seen) or they respect the director's intent.
Now, this is only my sneaky suspicion. Of course, you may feel free to deny it. Of course of course, you also just may actually prefer it instead, in which case you absolutely have your right to your opinion. I would love to hear why you like the fade-to-black moment though, whether it was something Nolan said (which I don't remember if he added why he faded to black) or something that speaks to you when watching it.
I swear the first time I saw the film I thought it was a projection mistake. I thought better of it a few seconds later and chalked it up to being an intentional film edit, but it really caught me for a loop and felt very out-of-place. By the fourth time I saw the film in theater, I kind of caught an "audience reaction" to the moment. You get a couple people flinching as they kind of adjusted in their seats, ready to get up... and I even heard a single clap as that individual was ready to burst into applause. No matter what, I just feel it's an awkward false ending, even if it's just for a split-second.
Now, that's my opinion and my reason behind it. I'm much more interested in hearing about people's opinions who prefer the original, because I may end up liking that more if I hear it more, and I'll have more need to justify it. As you can tell, I edited the moment to a cut-to-black instead of a fade-to-black after somebody else stated their opinion, and I stood corrected when I saw it for myself. It just worked better.
Spider-Man 2 has a fade-to-black that works for it, and this works better as a cut-to-black I suppose.
One final consideration I made was going
straight to the credit music when the black begins, as opposed to having any silence before it whatsoever (bringing the credits up maybe a second or two earlier). Don't know if I'll try this edit unless anyone else asks for it, though.
One thing I think we can all agree on though is that going back to Tommy
is a good idea, even though ending on the plane would have also felt theatrically appropriate. Curious if you like the paper sound effect at the end as well, by the way.
