Green Lantern: The Emerald Edit

Howdy folks,

I have created a fan edit of the 2011 film, Green Lantern: The Extended Cut. I am a long time fan of Green Lantern and was very excited about his first live action movie. I also work in film and video. Being aware of how big budget Hollywood films were made I wasn't flabbergasted when the film came out with mixed reviews. I enjoyed the film because I was getting to see live action Green Lantern but was definitely aware of its flaws. Then, after watching Andrew Kwan's Phantom Edit of the Star Wars prequels a few months ago I got to wondering if the Green Lantern movie could be given the same treatment. I cut it down to about 100 minutes and then watched/read the reviews from Cinema Sins, Red Letter Media, and Screen Junkies, which helped get it down to about 90. After trimming a few more shots and taking out a few more lines I got it down to 85. Then I test-screened it with my girlfriend and some of my friends at Piano Man Pictures and was able to take a few more things out and put a couple of things back in. The film moves pretty fast now, but I think I was not only able to keep it coherent, but possibly even improve the movie; if not just having made it less of a time investment.

I removed the opening monologue explaining what the Green Lanterns are and who Parallax is. I moved the Green Lantern explanation to the end as more of a final words monologue. I removed the first scene with the aliens waking up Parallax. The film now begins with Hal's childhood scene involving his father. I have removed all of Parallax's lines except for when he is speaking to Hector while he is sleeping. I removed many of the jokey lines from Hal at the end of scenes and we don't see him waking up next to the random girl. Now his first entrance to the movie is when he comes in the locker room. I removed the flashbacks when he is crashing the plane, now there is just a bit of his father's voice. His friend Tom is mostly removed from the movie. Hector and the Senator are no longer related. Hal and Carol's relationship is much more apparent in the film now that so much of the other stuff has been cut. I moved Sinestro's scenes closer together and later in the movie so we get more of him all at once rather than in a peppered fashion. Hal no longer gains intelligence from the ring. I removed some of the ring signaling trouble, but some of it had to stay in because he doesn't have a real convincing reason to show up to two of the battles otherwise. Sinestro no longer pushes for making a yellow ring; that has now just been reduced to the surprise of the mid-credits scene. Hal no longer quits the Corps in the middle of the movie and he no longer returns to Oa to ask the guardians to help him. He also doesn't punch Parallax into the sun, it's more of just tricking him into falling into it. There's a lot more little lines and shots cut, trimmed or rearranged, but everything used was from what was already within the film; no added music or shots. I considered adding a green glow that helps mask his identity when he is around people, but decided against it. I didn't want to risk adding something that looked campy and wanted to avoid the grey area of adding an effect in general.

Here is the link to the movie.

Hope y'all enjoy my fan edit of the movie. Let me know what you think on twitter (@erichber), you can use the hashtag #emeraldedit, it looks like it's not a widely used hashtag. Or you can comment here on this page.

Fan edits are a legal grey area. I ask that you also purchase the original version of the Green Lantern: Extended Cut, not only to be able to see the comparison with my fan edit but also so you are properly paying for the material. This movie wouldn't exist without the hard work of the copyright holders so please support them first. I believe that my video falls under fair use because it is a heavily edited and transformative version of the source material. It is a non-profit endeavor and educational in regards to filmmaking and storytelling. I made it out of love for Green Lantern and wanting a fun project to do in my spare time.

Thanks for checking it out!