Hi, i'm watching "Born on the fourth of July" mostly because it's an editing oscar-winning movie :)

And i'm wondering, at the beginning of the movie between shots 21 and 22 of the wrestling sequence when Tom Cruise wraps his arm around the other wrestler (i don't have his name i'm watching the movie writting the comment :O), the arm movement is kind of redondant for me. I'm not dissing or anything so far i agree with the award but i'm wondering if it could not have been well.. less redondant ^^

I do not remember the specific cut You're talking about, but many times some 'mistakes' are intentional, other times there was no other option, or it was the least damaging choice, wrong for a part of the action and right for another, and the editor/director decided to give prority to one thing over another. One usually looks at the eyes/face of the subject, the arm comes 'after', if it comes at all, maybe it was more important not to have a redundant move of the head. Sometimes an action is 'doubled' as a way to strenghten it. The scene has to work, if it works nobody will notice a 'wrong cut' or a mistake. If it doesn't everybody will spot that mic coming from above, or the camera and crew reflected in a window, or a movement continuity mistake, and so on. Movies are full of mistakes, there are tons of books listing them, the mistake belongs to the handcrafted manufacturing process of any product, including movies, and it's a part of their beauty. IMHO.

Hi ! I totally agree with all you said it's all about the final result in indeed ! Maybe i was too much thinking in a "perfect editing to get the award" way ^^

Doubling the action to strenghten is an interesting point !

I gave up watching movies with editor's eyes to fully enjoy them!

luca.mg:

I gave up watching movies with editor's eyes to fully enjoy them!

Agree 100%.  And I bug the hell out of anyone I watch a film with ("See that continuity error?"  "That's a bad edit right there."  "I would have cut to a wide shot there..."  Drives my wife crazy!).

"Why have they stayed tight there?"  "Why can't we see her reaction now?" "Call that continuous action?  You're joking!"

I wonder how many comments like that have broken up marriages...

Haha, funny thread in the end.. i'm gonna watch a sequence-shot for the occasion !