The Mist -- There Is Hope!


I'm excited about this. . .

Kevin Karstens, a graphic illustrator, who shared with me that he also prefers King's version of the Mist and in particular, our strong dislike for the movies ending.  Kevin wrote,
I had looked forward to a film adaption for over 20 years, and was thrilled to hear they were doing one (and by Frank Darabont, no less)...until I started hearing, 'they changed the ending'....and I personally REALLY did NOT care for the 'new version'...so I did something baout it, and you might find it interesting...
What he did was recut  the movie, creating a fan film titled, "The Mist, The Novella Cut."  Great title!

The movie's webpage does a great job explaining exactly what was done:

 'The Mist-The Novella Cut' is a fan edit of the Frank Darabont/Stephen King film 'The Mist' which was released to theaters in 2007. 
It is in no way meant to disparage the wonderful work created by Mr. Darabont and his brilliant team of filmmakers, it is simply a version of the film meant to more closely adhere to the original text from the Stephen King novella upon which the movie was based. As the original story is my all time favorite King tale, I wanted a version that reflected the source material as closely as possible, especially the original, ambiguous finale...so I created this fan edit for fun. 
Certain scenes have been cut, others added from the DELETED SCENES found on the DVD release, as they mirrored actual sequences from the source material. Chapter 'headings' have been added in areas to reflect the feel of a novella, and the ending now pays homage to the 'Hartford/hope' finale originally seen in King's original text. 
This is from a conversation between Kevin Quigley and I.  Kevin is the overseer of charnelhouse, a Stephen King website.
Talk Stephen King: The novella left the story open ended. The movie, however, chose an ending scene that was rather controversial. King said he liked it. I hate it. Which of us is right?
Kevin Quigley: King and I often disagree about movies.  The ending of The Mist is atrocious.  It’s going for shock value and succeeding at that, but it doesn’t do much for the film itself.  It’s a complete shift in tone and intent, one that feels incongruous with the rest of the movie.  (talkstephenking interview with Kevin Quigley
Wait a minute, you may be saying -- is  the ending to the Mist really that bad? Allison Weaver wrote an article earlier this year titled, "Which Movies Have the Most Terrible Endings?"  She wrote, "Did anyone actually enjoy the ending of 'The Mist'? I don't believe it's possible. Who could be happy after watching the main character give up, shoot his own son, and then head off in search of the perfect way to kill himself? Honestly, though, even if it ended there, it would've been more acceptable than what really happened. Instead, he discovered that he and the rest of his family and friends could have survived the entire ordeal if they had just waited a few moments longer. Oops! Tough break."  My heart cries, "YESSSSSSSS!" (in best Darth Vader noooo voice)

Also of interest to this discussion is Blake Hennon's LA Times article, "‘The Mist’: Frank Darabont, Thomas Jane on ‘angry, bleak’ ending."  (herocomplex.latimes.com)  Hennon quoted Darabont,
“I was really getting something off my chest here,” Darabont said. “So if you hated the ending, I apologize for the two hours of your life I took. … This is an angry cry from the heart from a humanist who is really pretty pissed off about the fact that all the reasonable people seem to be marginalized, ground under the heel of the extremists.”
The good news is that I didn't lose two hours of my life.  The movie is great -- until characters  who had been making solid decisions began acting irrationally.

A producer once offered Darabont a 30 million dollar budget for The mist IF he would change the ending.  Darabont asked, “What ending would you like me to have?  What is your suggestion?”  The answer: I don’t know!  Darabont explained, "This is the ending I’ve been thinking about for 30 years now.  He didn’t have a suggestion."

To be clear  -- It’s okay for the main characters to die – just not that way.  Let them drive away and get eaten by a big dino-monster.  That’s fine.  But a father cannot do that to his child – not a good one.  It messes up the movie for re-watch.  To me, the ending makes the David Drayton unlikable.  As you watch again, you are thinking, “I can’t like this guy, he’s got a major character flaw.”  He does what Mother Carmody wanted to do but failed.  He does it with different intentions.  Simply put, a good reason not to blow a kids brains out when a situation looks really really really bad – is because there might be a miracle.  Not only does David Drayton carry out a incredibly painful act, but the movie rubs our face in it by showing the mist getting blown away by the army.

Curious what kind of reviews the recut of The Mist is getting?  Here are a few:


Original Runtime : 126 min
New Runtime : 1 hr 45 min
Amount of time Cut/Added : CUT: Approx 10 min ADDED: Approx 5 min

More about the changes, the website explains:
The added sequences were from the DELETED SCENES which can be found on the DVD release of 'The Mist'. These specific portions mirrored sequences from the book (Mr. Norton speaking with Stephanie before he, David & Billy leave for town, conversations in the store and so on)...also, the entire ending seen in theaters has been dropped and replaced with new scenes that reflect the original, haunting and more ambiguous 'Hartford/hope' angle found in the original text. 
Check out the website at: http://kkarstens.wix.com 

21 comments:

  1. My YESSSS(!) is more tempered, but nonetheless includes a Superbowl victory dance (Happy Thanksgiving, by the way).

    I fully endorse this fan edit, and for all the reasons just outlined. I can't wait to see what it looks like (if ever). There's very little else that I'd change except for the ending. If there's one other element in the film that gives me pause, it's whether or not Mrs. Carmody should have been toned down.

    In the novella, she seems more Machiavellian than a religious nut, and I sometimes wonder what would have happened if they'd gone that route. However, maybe that's just a nit-pick.

    ChrisC

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  2. PrisonerNumber6...I fully agree, RE Mrs. Carmody needing to be 'toned down'...I edited out all of her foul language and bad attempts at humor, making her more quietly malevolent, I think...

    I personally would not have cast Marcia Gay Harden to play that role (only because I think she should have been MUCH older, as the idea of a frail little old woman commanding so much power and instilling so much fear and loyalty is frightening in itself)...I also would not have cast David as an 'action hero' type, a more 'every day guy' would have played better...but overall, the film adaption, save for the bits I attempted to fix in my edit, was spot on and well worth owning...

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    1. Do you have a license to be distributing this?

      I suspect not, which means that what you're doing is illegal. I'm going to bring your site to the attention of Dimension.

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    2. Feel free to do so. I state clearly, all over the site, that you MUST own a copy of the film to obtain the fan edit...it IS LEGAL to do so. Please educate yourself RE fan edits before attempting to complain and ruin the party for everyone else involved...many thanks in advance.

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  3. I'm not a fan of "fan edits." To be honest, I prefer to pretend that they -- like most fan fiction -- don't exist. Re-editing a director's work in this fashion seems to me like a slap to that director's face.

    Zero interest.

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  4. Replies
    1. So do I. It's one of the best endings in all of King-moviedom. I love the ending of the novella, as well. However, the movie is engineered to arrive precisely where it arrives, so taking it apart and putting it back together again to prove some weird point is actually offensive to me.

      Would somebody do that with one of King's novels? If so, I hate to think how angry I'd get; I'm mad enough about THIS...

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    2. " I'm mad enough about THIS..."

      Sounds like you have some issues. The fan edits in no way detract from the original film, BOTH versions are available...why do you feel a need to complain about something you do not have to partake in?

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    3. There's no such thing as BOTH versions. There's only one. Yours isn't legitimate, so don't lump it in with Darabont's as though it is.

      As for my "issues," yes, it's true, they do exist: I stay up too late and sleep in too much. And sometimes engage in hyperbole. And I probably consume entirely too much sodium.

      Other than that, I'm just fine.

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    4. You state 'I prefer to pretend that they -- like most fan fiction -- don't exist', then complain about them...yes, you have issues, LOL...

      |My edit DOES exist, as a fan edit...in that sense, it is 'legitimate', sorry...but I never claimed it to be anything more than that. My question remains: why get your panties in a bunch over someone doing something for the FUN of it that does NOT affect you, sir?

      Fans create these edits to express themselves and be creative...if this 'annoys' you, why not truly ignore it and move on? It certainly does YOU no harm...

      It should also be noted here that I have received multiple emails from various movie fans who hated the ending to The Mist so much they stated they 'had NO interest in purchasing the DVD' until they heard of my fan edit...this prompted them to buy a DVD, so they could obtain the edit. Occasionally, fan edits INCREASE the sales of a film on DVD...

      RE staying up late...same here, I've always been a 'night owl', tho I do NOT partake in sodium as much as I do SUGAR...;)

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  5. If there was a fan edit that fixed the Star Wars, Episode One. . . wait, what am I thinking? That can't be fixed!

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    1. Did you see the preview for the new movie yet?

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    2. Yes. I was happy to see familiar spaceships. But the preview told us NOTHING about the movie itself.

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    3. The new trailer for the Star Wars film looks amazing...I love it.

      OMG, Bryant...does this mean we AGREE on something?...;)

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    4. I guess so. I thought it looked great, too.

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  6. I think what made this fan edit worthwhile is that it worked to bring the film closer to the novel.

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    1. To what end? The novella is readily available; anyone who prefers that version of the story has only to read it. (Or listen to the full-cast radio drama version.)

      I understand the urge to want to see a cinematic adaptation that retains the novella's ambiguous ending. I love that ending, too. So I get it.

      This is the wrong way to do it. Taking Frank Darabont's work and perverting it in this manner is an implicit denial of Darabont's right to make his movie as he sees fit. I love his version. Somebody else might not, but that doesn't give them the right to strip it into its components and then use whatever bits they deem worthy of not being discarded so as to "create" their own version. I mean, sure, do it privately if you like; but making it available for public consumption is a step across the line for me.

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    2. "To what end? "

      To the end that there are a lot of fans of the novella out there that wanted to see the BOOK ending in the film. This fan edit does NO harm to the real, theatrical version...why does it anger you so?

      As you yourself stated, you do not pay attention to the fan works out there...but then you post here again and again, stating your dislike for such efforts....I just do NOT get people like you, I really do not.

      You piss all over parades that do not effect you...I ask YOU, 'to what end'?

      I was in no way looking to anger anyone with what I did for FUN in my fan edit...why do you feel a need to react so?

      "do it privately if you like; but making it available for public consumption is a step across the line for me"

      Fine.
      Then why post HERE about it? If it's just 'for you' that it upsets you, why subject others to your rantings?

      I personally have received dozens of 'thank yous' from people who really enjoyed what I did, again, for FUN...it is NOT 'perverting' anything, the original film is readily available, easy to obtain, whereas the fan edit requires one put effort into getting it. If you do not like it, ignore it, as you claimed you do with fan works. But calling my fan works 'perverted' and 'the wrong way' is IMHO, crossing a line.

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    3. I've been commenting on this blog for literally years. I've interviewed, and been interviewed by, its author.

      I should keep my opinions to myself because it gets on your nerves?

      Not gonna happen.

      By the way, I don't recall labeling your edit as perverted. I referred to it as a perversion of Frank Darabont's work; and it is that.

      You could make the argument that Darabont's movie is a perversion of King novella, of course. You'd need to know what the word "perversion" means in order to do it, though.

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  7. "I should keep my opinions to myself because it gets on your nerves?"

    Where did I suggest this? I did not. I simply request that you be less insulting to something you claim to have 'zero' interest in, but feel a need to insult endlessly at the same time...

    Question: Have you even bothered to view this fan edit?

    No?

    Then how exactly do you feel you are qualified to insult it or make comments? I would ask that you simply give it a chance...if not, your commentary here is really quite baseless...

    Fan edits are not 'an insult to the original film maker'...FAR from it. I LOVE Darabont's film (well, about 90% of it, anyway, LOL) and the ONLY aspects I altered in any real sense of the word were the finale elements...the rest of the edits were mainly to INCLUDE footage HE shot (which sadly ended up on the cutting room floor, but it really did reflect portions of the novella) and trim a few minor bits that did not appear in the book.

    I personally respect the hell out of Mr. Darabont, I own ALL of his works. But I also have fun doing editing work with existing properties, and do MANY other fan film editors. Fan films can be extremely entertaining, as they are being done by FANS...people who adore the source material, and simply would like to see a varied version of their favorite films.

    hell, many fan edits have received high praise from the film makers themselves...George Lucas saw a cut of 'Phantom Menace' that he stated he enjoyed quite a bit (Lucas supports all aspects of fan filmdom, bless his heart)...and many people prefer the fan edits to the theatrical originals...so where is the harm in that?

    Fan Films have a devoted following, and we only do it for the FUN of it, and for fellow fans...check it out, there are a LOT of resources out there...I personally adore the Adywan cut of the original Star Wars so much, I will NEVER watch the theatrical version again, LOL...that guy is a creative genius, and he has THOUSANDS of fans who agree that his work is exceptional...

    https://bytesizegeek.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/star-wars-revisited/

    Some Fan Film resources...

    http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/wish-a-classic-film-could-have-been-better-these-fan-edit-websites-can-help/

    http://whatculture.com/film/10-fan-edits-that-totally-transform-famous-films.php

    ...in other words, I would politely request that you at least give these efforts a try or two before throwing up blocks and anger towards them...they mean you no harm, and I most certainly do NOT mean to insult or anger anyone with my meager efforts to be entertaining for a select few...;)

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