Superman: Up, Up and Away Edition

[MusicEd921]

Tackling this edit is so I can take a break from the mind-numbing task of adding music to my Dalek Invasion edit. It's getting a little frustrating.....

So, let me explain. This is in no way going to try and mimic Man of Steel, albeit trying to make the movie a little more serious with less of the tongue-in-cheek humor.

I've always thought Superman the movie packed a little too much story in there while Superman II got right into the action. I respect the movies and will always love them. This edit is more for my own taste. A more cut-to-the-chase kind of idea.

At almost 2 1/2 hours, there is a lot of story there and some scenes do go on a little long (Journey to Earth, Jor-El's teachings, the flying scene), mostly for a repeat viewer. I'm looking to make a more abridged cut of the film. Not to make it better, but to make it move a little quicker.

Here's a bit of an outline of what I'm doing:

-Opening WB logos segue into Krypton
-After Kal-El lifts off, I'm trimming down on the destruction of Krypton
-After we see Kal's ship flying into the deepness of space the music kicks in and the opening titles occur
-Already made the switch so that Christopher Reeve's name is first followed by Gene Hackman, then after the title comes Marlon Brando's name
-Train sequence is gone
-Haven't figured out exactly where to make the cut yet, but after Jor-EL introduces himself to Clark they will speak briefly and then it will fade out and fade in with an 18 years later on screen text as Clark's cab pulls up to the Daily Planet
-Will be trimming some of the stuff when Clark and Lois leave the Planet
-Trim a little bit of the mugger's dialogue
-I was never a fan of Superman saving the cat, so that is going to go
-Not sure if the Air Force One rescue will get trimmed or cut or left unaltered
-The flying scene will be cut in half. Not sure yet what I'm doing with it, but everything after them soaring above the clouds does feel a little cheesy. Believe me, I feel like it is all a classic scene, but I'm trying to tighten up the pacing.
-Otis has always annoyed me. His goofiness will be heavily trimmed. Why would Lex, the so called greatest criminal mind of our time be associated or even trust in a bumbling buffoon like Otis?
-No turning back the world. Never liked it. Wish that Lois was in some other kind of peril that Superman could save her from, but I like the idea of Lois not really being in that grave of danger like she normally would be for the climax of the movie.
-The film will end with the insertion of the rocket opening up the Phantom Zone. Not exactly sure where it's going, but it'll be there.


I've only lightly edited this so far. It's been in my head for YEARS, but now I'd like to make it happen. I see that a lot of people try to combine Superman and Superman II, but they both feel like different movies.

Would love to hear some of your thoughts and suggestions. I love Superman and want to give him a more tighter paced origin story.

Really wish there was a way to make a montage of Clark traveling the world. It doesn't seem like there is a lot of Jeff East footage. Also doesn't help he is blonde. Maybe someone can help me flesh out an idea of having it look like Clark travels the world before heading to Metropolis. Just kicking ideas out there.

 

[addiesin]

Sounds cool, there are a lot of Superman 2 and Superman 5 (Returns) edits. I haven't seen many of STM except Superman: Son of Jor El, and that's a 1&2 combo edit like you said. Superman The Movie did always feel kind of corny, here's hoping you can give it a slight facelift and retain the goodness while excising the badness!

 

[revel911]

The Speed Edition name does make me wonder if you can actually do some speed increases during take off, running, some flight scenes to actually make them look like he took off with any force.

 

[MusicEd921]

The Speed Edition name does make me wonder if you can actually do some speed increases during take off, running, some flight scenes to actually make them look like he took off with any force.

Hmm that is an interesting thought. I wouldn't be apposed to it if we can brainstorm some ways to do it. I have no clue how to do any special effects. Now that I think of it, maybe there is a scene here and there that I can make it seem like Clark super sped to get somewhere. The scene with him and Lois in the alleyway I am hoping to make the thug firing the shot happen quicker so that he shoots and Clark falls. Then we as the audience don't understand why he did that until Lois walks away and we see he grabbed the bullet.

Here's a question that I'm not 100% sure I know the answer. I have the ABC cut of the film and there are definitely some things I would like to add in (and yes I know it's full framed and is clearly from an old VHS), would I be allowed to throw my own extended edition out there using some of those scenes or because it hasn't been officially released it is off limits? How about if I just use a couple clips of audio from it? Scenes I'm talking about involve the subplot with Lois and the Native American talking about the land not having water and a little bit of Lana in terms of extra footage and audio clips would be mostly from Jor-El.

Thoughts on how to work in Clark traveling and seeing the world before heading to Metropolis or just leave the screen fade in? I'll mess with it today and post a clip of how I want to transition from the fortress to Metropolis using the fade out/fade in idea. We don't need the first flight scene and costume reveal until he saves Lois for the first time.

 

[Dethryl]

I would have the scene with the rocket flying off into space and hitting the Phantom Zone after the very end of the credits, ala the Marvel movies. It's the perfect teaser after everything in the main movie is resolved that screams "SEQUEL!" They tied things off except for one small thing... that causes the entire plot of the next movie.

 

[TV's Frink]

Here's a question that I'm not 100% sure I know the answer. I have the ABC cut of the film and there are definitely some things I would like to add in (and yes I know it's full framed and is clearly from an old VHS), would I be allowed to throw my own extended edition out there using some of those scenes or because it hasn't been officially released it is off limits? How about if I just use a couple clips of audio from it? Scenes I'm talking about involve the subplot with Lois and the Native American talking about the land not having water and a little bit of Lana in terms of extra footage and audio clips would be mostly from Jor-El.

This should answer your question:
http://www.fanedit.org/forums/content.php?609

Also, is this actively in the works?

 

[DominicCobb]

I've always thought that Superman 78 could use a good edit, and these all seem like the right cuts to me. Will be looking forward to this.

 

[MusicEd921]

Also, is this actively in the works?

Yup, so far I've cut about 20 mins out. Still have a ways to go and will definitely be looking for people to preview it.

Also, thanks for the link!

 

[TV's Frink]

Thread moved to ITW.

 

[flatscan78]

Hello Musiced921,
sounds like a great idea.
Are you using the the Director's Cut or the Theatrical Cut for your edit?

I once tried to make a similar cut of Superman the Movie.
You could cut the Larry Hagman sequence, where he feels up Ms. Teshmacher.

Another sequence, you could cut is where Superman walks through the tunnel to confront Luthor (e.g where he gets frozen by snow cannons, always felt silly to me).
Here's a little video of that scene:

And you could get rid of the horrific "Can you read my mind" flight scene (at least half of it, like you mentioned).

Good luck to you.

Flatscan

 

[MusicEd921]

Hello Musiced921,
sounds like a great idea.
Are you using the the Director's Cut or the Theatrical Cut for your edit?

I once tried to make a similar cut of Superman the Movie.
You could cut the Larry Hagman sequence, where he feels up Ms. Teshmacher.

Another sequence, you could cut is where Superman walks through the tunnel to confront Luthor (e.g where he gets frozen by snow cannons, always felt silly to me).
Here's a little video of that scene:

And you could get rid of the horrific "Can you read my mind" flight scene (at least half of it, like you mentioned).

Good luck to you.

Flatscan

Thanks for your interest FlatScan!

I'm using the director's cut as I rather have more footage to work with and trim from.

The whole rocket tampering sequence I thought was silly and corny. I have currently taken the whole thing out and the audience can assume it has happened off screen. I still need to watch it to see if that works. Otherwise I'll figure something out.

You know what's funny, a lot of people mention how much they dislike the scene of Superman walking through the gauntlet. I personally like it and plan to leave it in at the current time. I kind of thought of it more as a mind game that Luthor was playing on him where Lex knows that kryptonite will harm Superman, so he's toying with Superman before revealing the bright green rock that will destroy him.

Agreed, Can you read my mind was pretty horrific. I haven't gotten to it yet, but my plan is to cut the sequence in half so that they still end on the balcony, just less flight time.

Hope you enjoy the finished product when it gets there.

 

[MusicEd921]

Ok, so at this point, the running time is 115 mins. w/o credits.

I was able to condense the flying sequence and basically cut it in half. It may need to be a little tighter, but it looks good for now.

Little trims here and there (don't call me sugar, dimples, a friend spoken once not twice)

One major thing left hanging is the transition from meeting Jor-El to the Daily Planet. Not sure what to do other than a fade to black and on screen text that reads 12 years later..... It just feels a bit of a cop-out.

Would love some suggestions.

 

[MusicEd921]

Any takers on viewing a workprint of this?

 

[MusicEd921]

Quick update!

Thanks to Bob and Dwight for checking out my workprint!

The only major things left to do shouldn't be too bad. I still need to:

*Rework the opening titles a little bit as the Zod trial is gone, so his name as well as the others needs to be removed from the opening credits list (they'll have to stay put in the closing credits).

*A little more cleanup for the end of the flying sequence

*Making some final decisions on the Clark/Jor-El/building of the fortress scene

Would love some suggestions for the moniker of this edition. I don't want to retitle the movie, but more or less call it a so and so edition. I'd rather not call it the MusicEd921 Cut or Edition, but something a little more catchy.

 

[Dwight Fry]

How about "Superman: The Action Cut"? As a homage to Action Comics, and because your version is, by being leaner, more action-packed than the original.

 

[MusicEd921]

Back for an update!

With credits, I have the running time to 116 mins.

I'm happy with what I came up with and would like to share my last workprint for review.

Here's a quick rundown of what has been done since last time:

*Took out Terence Stamp, Jack O'Halloran and Sarah Douglas' names from the opening credits by inserting footage of Kal's ship during the journey to Earth
*Cut out silly Phantom Zone line about Jor-El creating it (thanks Dwight)
*Added the hold on the last note of the Superman march so it connects to his ship entering our atmosphere (you'll see what I mean)
*Tried to mess a little bit with the alley sequence where Clark catches the bullet. If it doesn't work in your eyes, I'll put it back to normal
*We do not see Superman change in the revolving door. After he does the shirt rip we cut back to Lois as she is about to fall.
*Took out Superman flying down to catch burglar scaling building. Now burglar looks up and immediately we see Superman landing with him.
*Took out shaky crowbar on the boat
*No more Clark watching new reports on TV
*Tried to make it look like Lois wasn't sitting in her broken down car for too long. Couldn't do anything about Superman's look of relief after seeing her. One could assume he was just glad that after all the chaos he just went through, he's relieved to see Lois and to see she is alright.

I think that is it for now. Lots of little bits of work here and there.

Any takers for my final go round before release? PM away!

 

[FantasyWorkshop]

This looks promising. I REALLY like the idea of showing the Krypton stuff before the credits, thats really creative & will be sure to make your stand out from the rest!

 

[MusicEd921]

This looks promising. I REALLY like the idea of showing the Krypton stuff before the credits, thats really creative & will be sure to make your stand out from the rest!

Thanks! I figure it works nicely showing the ship traveling while the credits are running.

Another idea, as suggested by BOB, was to start the credits at a different spot and either take out all of the Krypton stuff and/or just flash the title and move on. I may mess around with that later on.

Right now, this edit is how I envisioned the movie to be when I started first messing around with editing almost a decade ago. I always had this in the back burner waiting for the right time when I felt like I was ready to tackle it and make it happen. I'm very pleased at this point!

 

[tylerdurden389]

Just a quick idea for cutting down "Can you Read My Mind". Since Superman and Lois are holding each other the same way when he catches her as he is towards the end "when they fly through the clouds", you could probably cut that part seamlessly. I'd also suggest using the soundtrack for audio editing here, as there's an instrumental version of the song on it.

 

[Dwight Fry]

Just a quick idea for cutting down "Can you Read My Mind". Since Superman and Lois are holding each other the same way when he catches her as he is towards the end "when they fly through the clouds", you could probably cut that part seamlessly. I'd also suggest using the soundtrack for audio editing here, as there's an instrumental version of the song on it.

From Ed's earlier workprint, I can confirm that he got rid of "Can You Read My Mind" in a perfect, seamless way.