Superman III : The Supes Vs Supes Cut

[AvP]

What is it about? : This is a cut of Superman III modelled heavily on Father Merrins Smallville cut, but with all the focus being on Superman III material.



Original film name : Superman III
New film name : Superman III : The Supes Vs Supes Cut
Film studio name : WB
Edit crew name : WearneO or Ollie W (from the Superman Cinema forum)
Date Original Film Was Released : 1983
Date Edit Was Released :
Original Runtime : 120 min (NTSC)
New Runtime : 100 min (NTSC)

Amount of time Cut/Added : 21 minutes of footage has been removed along with an additional 1 minute included from STM.

Cuts removed/added/extended :

It must be said right from the outset that this cut is heavily inspired by Father Merrins Superman III: the Smallville Cut.

However unlike FM's release this edit focus only on S3 material (with the exception of the prologue), to present a more tight and less comical picture. I haven't tried to turn this picture into something that it isn't, I've just tried to highlight the good stuff. Richard Pryor wasn't the real problem with S3 and it's not his fault the movie was structured around him. I pin a lot of the blame of the three subordinates Ross, Vera and Lorelei who were poorly written and delivered some fairly uninspired performances. Their scenes have been cut down to a minium thus the dynamics between the characters change a little.

The streets of Metropolis/Main title sequence is included which may bother most people. But whilst I have endeavoured to edit a more serious picture my main goal was to showcase the good parts of Superman III which includes the main titles. Though full of Richard Lester silliness and not really suitable for a Superman film, they're masterfully directed by Lester and superbly scored by Ken Thorne. It also plays well against the prologue in terms of highlighting where Clark's come from.

Here is the basic outline including changes made;

- Black and Red WB logo (with a nice little music edit)
- (prologue) Clark and Lana (from STM) up until Clark kicks football away then dissolve to Superman III titles (the streets of Metropolis).
- Daily Planet/ Gus at work/Factory Fire/Smallville Reunion/Gus receives pay check/Clark and Lana tidy up/Bowling with Ricky
- Gus meets Boss but I've cut out the revolving bar and trimmed some of Ross's speech.
- Gus hacks PC (edited FM style); this features no comedy and no Brad. Utilises FM audio track.
- Columbia (edited FM style); Competition winners are gone, Superman saves Columbia without Gus narration. Tightly edited using FM audio track.
- Clark and Lana picnic.
- Ski slope (edited FM style); Very tightly edited cutting straight into Ross plotting Superman's downfall. Gus is completely absent form the scene. Utilises FM audio track.
- Satellite gets kryptonite
- Clark at the Daily planet but with nothing from the angry holiday winners.
- Gus gets kryptonite
- Superman celebration however Gus's speech has been cut down
- Gus and Boss on Phone/Lana and Superman/Superman late
- Gus and Boss revel in Superman's downward spiral but ends with Vera saying "A normal person".
- Superman at Olympics
- Gus and Boss plan oil scheme though I've cut Lorelei and her intellectual reading.

From here onwards it's the same old Superman 3 other then two minor trims.

- I've cut Lorelei making faces at Vera during the balloon ride.
- Cut out Lorelei and Vera bickering about where's the light switch.

Fanedit details:
DVD NTSC 16:9 widescreen
2.0 Stereo
Static scene selection menus

Your intention for this fanedit: To put together a more serious version of Superman III but without compromising the fun factor.

Hardware and software information: Clone DVD, DVD2AVI, TMPGEnc Enc, Ulead Video Studio.

Time needed for the edition: Difficult to say.

persons involved:
- WearneO or Ollie W (from the Superman Cinema forum)
- Father Merrin: For his generous inspiration and for creating DVD artwork
- AvP; For uploading to rapidshare

 

[jamiemark]

Another new Supes edit, gotta love it .

 

[Ollie W]

Once again huge thank you to AvP for making this edit available and for doing the NTSC conversion as this edit was made from PAL source material.

If anyone doesn't have the ability to download or would like an original PAL version you need only ask and I'll happily mail you out a copy.

Here is the artwork created by Father Merrin, for high res files please PM me;

 

[PinkPantherKubric]

I have begun downloading this. I really disliked Superman 3 and hope this'll change my opinion. Creasy did that for me regarding Man on Fire. So I hold high hopes!

 

[MonkandHam]

This sounds good. Anything to cut down on the silliness is greatly needed.

 

[Molasar]

FanEdit Review by Molasar

Title/FanEditor: Superman III: The Supes V Supes Cut by WearneO

Prologue: Superman III is not a good movie. It's a cartoon. But, it does feature the great junkyard battle between Evil Superman and Clark Kent and the gorgeous Annette O'Toole as Lana Lang. Pamela Stephenson's portrayal of Lorelei Ambrosia is at once both sexy and nauseating. (She looks incredible but every time she speaks, I want to choke myself into unconsciousness. But that's neither here not there.) This is a film ripe for fanediting. There's a great story in there but it's hamstringed by woefully underwritten villains and an unfunny lead performance from Richard Pryor. He looks lost. Anyway, WearneO has attempted to make something watchable (read: tighter, more focus, less humor) from this mess.

The Edit: Based heavily on Father Merrin's Smallville Cut fanedit, WearneO has focused the story on Clark and Lana. The opening credit sequence is left intact but, personally, I like the titles. It's the slapstick I can do without. WearneO has edited out much of the villains inane banter and that's a good thing. There's less Brad, too. Again, thanks WearneO. The cuts are seamless. I neither saw nor heard any jumps, no missed music cues, dialog, or sound effects. WearneO wanted a tighter, less humorous edit and he has achieved this. That's not to say there's no humor at all. Gus still has some goofy scenery to chew and the Leaning Tower of Pisa shop keeper still does his thing. Unfortunately, the villains are reduced to caricatures and their motivations are as deep as a Frisbee -- but they weren't that well-written in the first place. Richard Pryor's dialog looks mostly improvisational and his character benefits most from this edit. He is important to the plot but he doesn't have to be in every scene. My point: the shortcomings of the script are not WearneO's fault. Top-notch editing (despite Father Merrin's inspiration.) *****/*****

Image Quality: This film looks better than WearneO's Superman II fanedit. It has better colors and clarity. On the downside, it exhibits jittery playback, especially in panning scenes. (This could be attributed to the PAL to NTSC conversion.) Overall, one gets used to it during the runtime. ***/*****

Audio Quality: Another 2.0 stereo mix. It won't blow your skirt up but it's fine. ***/*****

The DVD: Static menu divided into 18 animated chapters.

Overall Rating: ****/***** (not an average)

Epilogue: Some hot girls, a more serious tone and good editing make for a valiant attempt at salvaging a sinking ship. WearneO has made lemonade from lemons. Fans of Christopher Reeve's Superman should definitely check it out.

Molasar has spoken.

Reviewed using Sony 51" 16x9 RPTV with Oppo DVD player upconverting to 1080i via DVI and Onkyo 650 Watt 5.1 surround sound.