Synopsis:

An Italian hit man protects a New York orphan.

Intentions:

The source was a Japanese Blu-ray, which presented quite a few challenges with the sound, making the editing process stressful. At that time, the software I was using did not provide satisfactory results, and I often wondered why I decided to release it. A lot of work had gone into it, and I didn't want to discard it. But later, it ended up in the trash. Working with Adobe and with the improved technical capabilities, I saw what I could achieve. This sparked the idea to remake "The Cleaner." That idea was put on hold for several years, but I'm grateful because we now have 4K technology. With the high quality available today, I finally had the means to create something new from the original material.

Change List:

The childish interactions between Leon and Mathilda have been removed, giving the film a fast-paced, rollercoaster-like feel. Leon takes care of Mathilda, and their relationship is portrayed more like that of a father and daughter. The feelings that Mathilda has for Leon, along with any sexual attraction between them, have also been eliminated. This change was made to focus on the action and the character of Oldman, and a more straightforward narrative, not due to any moral objections. Overall, the edit is much more to the point. The audio editing is now exactly how I want it. It looks nothing like the version that was released in 2017. I appreciated the "Mathilda" cut from a few years ago, but the alternative music choices didn't resonate with me. In this edit, I used the original music as much as possible, but I also re-scored some scenes with different music. The source is 4K, and the sound quality is EAC 5.1 surround.