Synopsis:

I have trimmed the film in many areas, to improve the pacing. The original soundtrack was great, however to me it didn't seem to fit the tone or atmosphere of many scenes, so I have changed the music in several areas to help create a more sombre, stark tone to the film. I have also adjusted the colours, to give the film a slightly colder colour palette.

Intentions:

I have liked this film since it was first released; my main intentions were to alter the tone and atmosphere of the film, and to vastly improve the pacing whilst not ruining either the story or characters.

Change List:

Slight adjustments to the colours, to remove a lot of the warmth, and give the film a more stark, cold atmosphere. In some parts, I have relocated the audio of Ghost Dog reading from the Hagakure book, and cut the on-screen text showing passages from the book. This was done mainly to improve the pacing. The Blu-ray subtitle file I have doesn’t come with captions for the parts that are read by Ghost Dog, so I have added in new subtitles for the sections that I have cut. I’ve removed at least 90% of the on-screen text showing quotes from the book, however have kept all of Ghost Dog’s dialogue. Many scenes throughout the film have been trimmed in order to improve the pacing. I’ve changed several songs throughout the film; the original soundtrack was great, however for this edit I wanted to create a more sombre, darker tone, which the original music didn’t do. For scenes that have been trimmed or relocated, I’ve added in replacement SFX and background ambient sounds. Added in most of a deleted scene, of an accountant speaking with the gangsters. The scene speaks volumes about the financial health of the gangster’s organisation, as well as the importance of Vargo’s daughter Louise, all of which is vital in helping to explain the story. The footage has some damage, which I have repaired. I’ve lightly upscaled the aforementioned deleted scene, to bring it up to the visual quality of the main film. Trimmed the scene of Louise and Handsome Frank watching a cartoon. At the end of the altercation in the side street after Ghost Dog buys bird food, I’ve relocated his reading from the Hagakure to when he is doing his martial arts training. Removed the dream / flashback sequence, and made a few small trims to when Ghost Dog receives the message via carrier pigeon. Removed the scene of the young boy throwing toys at the gangsters. The conversation between the men is repeated later, so this scene is irrelevant. Trimmed the old gangster’s loud outbursts, as well as his racist language. Removed the conversation and flashback to when Louie rescued Ghost Dog. Removed Sonny trying to rap; it didn’t sound great, plus slows the film down somewhat. It also made his character seem a bit too comical. Removed the repetition of “Ghost Dog?!”, as well as the conversation about American Indian tribal names and hip-hop nicknames, as it slows the pacing of the film, and adds nothing to the story or character development. Removed the freestyle rapping in the park, and trimmed a small part of Ghost Dog sitting on the park bench, in order to improve the pacing. Removed the scene of the gangsters hassling the American Indian guy. Ghost Dog finding his birds have been killed: I’ve changed the music for a sound that is much more sombre in tone, plus added background ambient sounds. Ghost Dog walking at night: I’ve used different, slightly more menacing music, relocated his reading of the Hagakure from when he was gathering his weapons to when he is walking, plus trimmed the scene to improve the pacing. Vargo watching cartoons: trimmed the first part of the scene in order to improve the pacing. Relocated the reading about the head cut off to when he’s going to steal a car. Trimmed the slow-motion driving past the woman going to the nightclub. Searching for a person to rob: changed the music, and replaced the SFX. Removed the shot of looking at the bird through the gun scope. Removed Vargo and Louise watching cartoons in the car, to improve the pacing. After giving the suit to Raymond, I’ve relocated the narration to when Ghost Dog is walking at night. Trimmed the aforementioned scene of walking at night, to improve the pacing. Driving to kill Sonny: I've trimmed the driving scene, plus changed the music, and relocated Ghost Dog’s reading from the book. Removed Sonny singing to a Public Enemy song, as it looks far too comical and forced. I’ve greatly trimmed the scene, and changed the music to a different Public Enemy song. Different music during the end credits, plus details of the extra songs I’ve added in.

Additional Notes:

I've added in most of a deleted scene, which goes a long way towards explaining the situation that the gangster characters are facing. This deleted scene had a lot of scratches, specks of dust and dirt, which required some restoration work to be done to it. I have added two separate captions (subtitles) tracks: #1 main version: same as the theatrical version, but with some extra subtitles for many (but not all) of the sections in which Ghost Dog recites passages from the Hagakure book. #2 alternate version, which includes English translations for the dialogue spoken by Raymond, and the Spanish boat builder, as well as the extra subtitles mentioned above in the main version. I’ve elected to not have any forced subtitles for Raymond, which is how it was in the original film.

Other Sources:

I've added in nine new songs, plus new SFX for areas in which I had to rebuild audio.

Special Thanks:

JasonFlippy and PanteraSteel, for providing feedback on audio I changed.