The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing

This documentary is a general overview of how film cutters evolved into film editors and took their place among the giants of the film industry.

We are introduced to methods and philosophies used down through the ages and the metamorphosis from celluloid to digital recordings.

As informative as this documentary is it suffers from sound-bite-itus instead of concentrating on one person or thought, we are leaped back and forth through a collage of people, techniques, and time. This method of presentation can become quite boring after a time. Still, the documentary (that only shows highlights and nothing practical) is worth viewing.

This is a first-rate job of work, one of the best documentaries on film-making that I've ever seen, opening up the fascinating world of film editing by letting great editors and directors speak to us directly about the mysteries of film cutting--supported by illuminating examples drawn from real films. I can't praise too highly the thoughtful choice of speakers, from Thelma to Dede to Walter Murch and on down the line. Nice to see director Joe Dante too. I was particularly pleased at the inclusion of early film editing examples, such as Dziga Vertov's Man With a Movie Camera and, of course, the down-the-stairs sequence from Potemkin. (The film includes a few sequences from later films that echo the Potemkin sequence, but I bet there's at least five examples they missed!) Bravo! Michael Goodwin

In the 80's I watched a Hollywood how-it's-done film called "Scream Greats." It was the how-tos of horror. They showed many of the tricks for the blood, guts, and gore that I was sneaking to watch.

"Cutting Edge," I would say, is the partner to that film. To this point I had no idea what a film editor was. If I was given a hundred guesses I probably wouldn't have gotten it right. They are the people who piece the movie together from the thousands of frames of film. They have to cut, splice, intersplice, and more. Regardless of what order the movie is shot in, the editors can put it together to give the viewer the impression that it was one seamless and chronologically cohesive movie. If a movie incongruously jumps from one scene to the next, that's the editor. If a movie has seamless transitions from one scene to the next, that's the editor. "Cutting Edge" was some really fun and eye-opening stuff to watch.

"Cutting Edge" gives a history of the film editor, some of the most influential film editors, and the methodology of some current film editors. These hidden heroes are essential to the movie making process--probably as important as anybody--yet so unheralded. If "Cutting Edge" does anything it gives them at least a little bit of just due.

Do you know of the importance of the Film Editor to making a great film or to leave the best on the cutting room floor? Did you know that Spielberg & Scorcese will not let any Actor into the Cutting Room (but that Sean Penn will do so)....that earlier there were "Basic Rules" to editing but that the rules went asunder under the French "New Wave"! PLEASE: Ignore the low score and note that almost all viewers gave this documentary either a TEN or a one....and we all know that there is a small percentage of IMDb'ers that truly HATE films and will do anything in their zeal to burn their path of ignorance behind them in an effort to bring everyone to their level of ignorance. How sad to disdain our basic need to learn about life and specifically to learn about what make a Great Film what it will become.

This is one of the two feature-length documentaries on the 2-Disc Special Edition DVD of Bullitt. With a running time of 95 minutes, it is the longer one, by about 12 minutes. It consists of interviews and film clips(old, new, fiction, documentary(including propaganda works), famous and unknown, and a little real life footage; note that there are spoilers for many of the movies) used as examples or such, and narrated well by Kathy Bates. It is ironic that the invisibility and underrating of the role of the editor is somewhat shown by the fact that a couple of the directors here are actors first(big names, of the kind that draw attention), but other than that, I can say nothing negative about this. Everyone here has something to say(no, I know, I didn't expect much from Rob Cohen, the man behind xXx, either), and those who have the most to offer genuinely *are* the ones we see for the majority of this. Speaking as someone who *loves* the art of cutting, I can't say if this will be as compelling to those who aren't into the craft, however, this is clearly made for said group, and if you find yourself in it, you will not regret watching this. Before seeing this, I would not have dared suggest that one could successfully tell the history of its development and cover this amount of ground on the "theory" of it(like the line I quote in the summary, to give just one example) in a mere hour and a half. The whole thing is extremely interesting and informational. It has a great sense of humor without trying too hard. The numerous analogies and the like are excellent. As is fitting for the subject, this is put together rather well. There is a little strong language in this. I recommend this to anyone who wants to know more. 8/10