The Snyder Cut Versus Justice League: How Editing Can Change Everything

In 2017 Joss Wheadon's Justice League movie was released and for the most part, reviews weren't great. The movie seemed like a bad mishmash of conflicting ideas and tones, which lead it to be panned critically and it was also a financial disappointment. After years of campaigning, Zack Snyder's original vision is here and it feels like a different movie. 

A recent video from Thomas Flight takes a deep dive into the differences between the originally released Justice League movie and the Snyder Cut. After re-watching both movies, it's clear that there are many distinct differences between both versions and it's not just the previously unseen footage. 

As much as the "new" scenes in the Snyder Cut impact the tone and depth of the movie, it's the subtleties that seem to add a great deal to the overall feel. Color, for example, is one of the key ways to control the mood and feel of any given scene. The simple act of using a slightly different color palette makes a huge difference and it's felt quite clearly between both of these movies. The choice of music that is used between both movies dramatically changes how each scene is felt too.

The video above goes into a great deal of detail, breaking down many of the editing choices. Exploring these changes and their impact on the overall feel could be a great help to those still developing our skills. This could be one of the few occasions where a big blockbuster movie can be directly compared to itself. Seeing how each director implanted their vision into the movie could be a great way to learn and improve our filmmaking skills. 

Usman Dawood's picture

Usman Dawood is a professional architectural photographer based in the UK.

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11 Comments

This isn't just a cut or edit. They said that only like 5 minutes have been reshot, but the movie is 60% CGI anway and a LOT has been redone. The cost is apparently between 40-70 million - more budget than lots of movies.

The movie is better, but not much. Took out bad parts to replace with other bad parts, way too much exposition through dialogue, no chemistry/bond.

Ornithologists don't have to be birds

Pot kettle, possibly?

You were criticizing his video of a critique because you say his video lacks the technicality of which he speaks. Yet, your videos are absent which might display some ability of which you speak.

I've never heard of this dude, but, whatever he's doing or talking about, people are watching, jump cuts and all.

--- "I have a simple rule of thumb. Don't actually display a distinct lack of skill on one hand and then critique the skills of others with the other hand."

That is so flawed. I don't have to be an actor to know bad acting when I see it. I don't have to be a FX specialist to know shitty special effects when I see it.

--- "People will watch almost anything, so if that is the new criteria for making TV, then again I fear for our industry."

C'mon, man. Let's be real. I seriously doubt he's going to bring down the TV and movie industry into jump cut world. smh

oy vey that editing style... it's the reason I can't watch Phillip DeFranco and his ilk. Homage to the Bob Rock school of rock editing I suppose.

sentence <cut> word <cut> word <cut> word word <cut> senten<cut>

Virtually unwatchable.

It's also one reason I hold talented radio DJ's in such high esteem. Back in the day, even if a radio show was recorded, it was typically spontaneous and at least partially unrehearsed. Great DJs not only had a distinctive voice but also had well developed vocabularly, quick wit and the ability to rapidly adapt to changing situations.

Kids producing videos today could learn a lot from those guys.

Initially, I thought Snyder's cut was a totally new movie. And, the 4 hours felt like 2 hours.