Since the concept of these threads is still new, considering as of this writing there is only one other in existence, I'll link to it here so that those who missed it can read the intro and get a feel for what this is all about.
I'm a big fan of recommending deserving videos, so you'll probably be seeing me post these threads here quite frequently - I have a massive backlog of older videos I feel deserve recognition, and this seems to be a perfect outlet for that, so if you're interested in watching good videos that probably went under the radar, keep an eye out for any other review threads I post. I don't know what kinds of videos godix and FC/Dr.Dinosaur (and anyone else who decides to join in) will choose to focus their attention on, but most of my threads will almost definitely be focused on older (read: pre-2007) videos. Of course, like FC said in his thread, if you feel there's a video that deserves recognition but you don't want to start a thread yourself, you can always shoot it my way as well; I don't have a whole lot else going on.
All that said, on to the rules and the review.
1) The video will not be posted by the creator (we have announcement forums for that)?
2) The video will not have a currently active announcement thread.
3) The thread creator should post their thoughts on the video to initiate discussion.
4) The thread will start with a copy and paste of these 4 rules.
Video:
You probably recognize DarkXPower as the editor of one of the most beloved comedy videos of the early Avatar Music Video years (and the .org's third entry into its database), Pokemon - Bitches? But DarkXPower has another video, and one that I feel is more genre-essential; if anyone ever came up to me and told me they wanted to edit action, I would first point them to this video, tell them to study it very hard, learn it by heart, remake it from scratch, and then go on to try their hand at their own video. This, plain and simple, is how action should be done. The cuts, the scene selection, and the internal sync are all perfectly orchestrated and arranged. There's no story beyond Street Fighter characters beating the hell out of each other, but this is one of those "random action videos" where that's actually acceptable, simply because the rest of the video is executed so well.
Probably my favorite aspect of this video's editing is the internal sync. Anyone who knows me decently knows that I have a personal love for videos that do a lot of internal sync; I feel it makes a video's flow a lot smoother and simply more interesting to watch. As such, those who don't care much for internal sync probably won't be able to appreciate all the times it's used throughout this video, especially because several times it's not entirely obvious. But without the almost constant use of internal sync throughout this video, DarkXPower would not have been able to maintain the butter-smooth pacing that puts this video miles above similar action videos. Usually, especially in action, when the song slows down, the video loses its momentum and has to start again from the beginning once the music picks up again. But this video utilizes a constant-build philosophy that never fails to keep me hooked until that final scene (and creative transition to the credits)?
Action editors take note. This is old-school action editing at the top of its game. Although many older editors here would probably balk at the idea of me calling a 2004 release "old school", you don't see this kind of editing very much anymore. This video's age shows only in its lack of effects; in many ways, this is the kind of editing we don't see nearly enough of in modern times.



