The Superman Of Krypton

[Avid4D]

In my continuing mission to turn Superman I, II, III, IV and Returns into a new trilogy in High Def, I have completed the second installment and open for previewers and feedback. It is called The Superman Of Krypton, and aims to achieve the following:

• Use footage primarily from Superman III & IV
• Use scenes from Donner's II that I didn't use in The Superman
• Enhance some effects during the Clark vs Supe battle
• Give the effect of Jor-El merging with Clark when he gets his powers back
• Eliminate as much silly humor as possible - Gus Gorman or Lenny do not take the spotlight

A significant element in The Superman Of Krypton is highlighting the urgency of nuclear terrorism. I wanted Superman's disarmament decision to be remotely plausible, and so I have added news footage from various sources on the topic of nuclear weapons and terrorism.

Now as the fans know, we are dealing with 1980's special effects and an aging Margot Kidder. I've tried my best to address that, but I place the highest priority in storyline, so the effects and Kidder may let me down in some scenes

New opening credits similar to what I created for The Superman. Closing credits include a subtle hint to Superman flying into space to look for his home world, as indicated in Superman Returns. I also kept one scene with Otis because he references the first film, and I have created another reference to the first film later in the movie. This is my effort to bridge all three in my trilogy.

They are the main points, but many more I could mention. This edit is approx 135min, and in 1080p AC3 5.1 surround.

 

[bionicbob]

Watched and posted a review on IFDB.

WARNING! This review will contain SPOILERS!!!!

Reveal message

One of my all time favorite Superman fan edits is ADM's SUPERMAN REDEEMED, merging SIII and SIV into a single adventure. This new fan edit by Avid is similar in concept but much bolder and grander in scope.


There tons of great things in this edit that I enjoyed immensely. The use of real news footage about the Nuclear Threat added some much needed weight to the storyline. The diner scene with the news report of Nuclear Man attacking Metropolis was perfectly done (great work on the audio!!). I loved the inclusion of the flashback of young Clark from Superman Returns, it really made the scene incredibly emotional and heartfelt. Gus has been fantastically edited and toned down, he now feels like a member of the ensemble rather than an out of control scene stealer.


That said, there were some things about the new narrative that did not work for me or I thought was unneeded. I thought the prison scene with Lex and Otis was completely unneeded and served no purpose since Otis is never seen again. I think Lex in the rock quarry would have worked sufficiently to reintroduce Lex.


The fact Lex and Superman never physically meet in this version was a bit dissatisfying. More so because the two fight scenes between Superman and Nuclear Man at Lex's headquarters play very choppy because of Lex's removal.


The turning Superman into Evil is the same as Redeemed, but I think it would have been clearer and played stronger if you had included the scene of Clark being sick afterwards to at least suggest he is undergoing some sort of transformation.


But these are all minor compared to one thing that completely did not work for me -- the reinterpretted romance between Superman and Lois. Superman's motivations come across as very murky at best..... and complete douche bag at worst. In this version, Superman seems greatly perplexed by the nuclear debate, he invites Lois over, reveals his identity to I assume to discuss his dilemma but surprisingly there is no discussion of the nuclear crisis. Instead he takes her back to the Fortress and seduces her. He then disarms the planet and then gives up his powers. For me this plays very hollow. As a stand alone movie, I think the story would have worked better without this subplot but I am assuming you are setting up your third act with Lois and Clark's love child.


Otherwise, the rest of the edit works very well. I was really surprised how well the two completely different plots played off each other and how you were able to cleverly interconnect them. Lots of tight editing over all, some great video/fx polishing and over all the audio is solid though again a few cue transitions could have been smoother.


While I don't agree with some of the narrative choices, I do acknowledge there are some very innovative and fresh ideas that make this edit worth watching. And it is definitely action packed, featuring some of the very best moments of Superman III and IV, making for a very entertaining experience.


Thanks for the show Avid. You have made me very curious what you are going to do for your final act of your Superman Trilogy.

 

[Avid4D]

Thanks BionicBob! This edit was always going to be my most challenging edit so far, and was expecting feedback similar to yours. Lex in prison with Otis? You're right, it serves no purpose other than to link this film with the first. Lex wouldn't be loyal, and seeing him escape with someone else plays to that, but yes I could have skipped it. The Lois romance... I wanted to use it because she is so hurt in the last movie, and even though she won't remember Clark is Superman I think seeing her go through this process makes her hurt in the next film more believable (because Kate Bobsworth couldn't act to save herself!) Supe does say to Lois when dining in the fortress "for once in my life, everything is clear" after we see him so confused about nuclear issues. He then goes off to solve world issues, come back and dedicate his life to Lois thinking there are no more threats. After the events that follow, your description is perfect - Supe has been a douche bag! Wiping Lois's memory would also make her forget his actions. Supe doesn't know Luthor has escaped, never sees him and so never captures him which will match with the beginning of the next film where he is not in prison. Lex even says they'll lay low for a few years - which also marries up well in the next movie where Supe has been away for several years too. It's far from perfect, and I take all your thoughts on board as they are quite justified, but with a little bit of "Hollywood assumptions" I hope people still enjoy the scenes that work. Appreciate your review and hope you still find time to watch the third and final installment when I complete it.

 

[Zarius]

Finally managed to download this after weeks of no luck in that area, so here we go (As I write this, I am still downloading The Superman)

This is a very inspired bit of editing here and there are plenty of strong points to list, first off, I love the use of news footage to convey the severity of the Nuclear arms issue and adding in representing footage of the failed conference was a very good touch. The introduction of Gus and the opening exchanges between Webster and his women were very well handled and provide a much stronger introduction to everyone.

By far my favourite part of the edit was the transistion from Clark at the farm to the flashback footage from Superman Returns, it's such a great little set-up for the third entry in your saga which will make use of SR footage and it was a brilliant transistion both back in and back out again. Expertly handled. Clark gets depowered and learns of Nuclear Man's attack with custom voice-over? It's a trick that's been done before in other Supes edits but it's never an unwelcome sight to see some flexible ingenuity to make the movie serve your purposes.

I was very much hoping you'd avoid the memory kiss ending and give Clark and Lois have more of a bitter parting to set up your next film, I do hate that gosh darn memory kiss and I feel that scene works just as well without it. Just my personal gripes as a writer and an editor though, it works perfectly fine, and I love how you used Clark speeding away right after commiting the deed.

If there are negatives to yap about, I suppose it comes down to some weird narrative choices. I feel the evil Superman thing wasnt needed. At all. It felt like there was too much going on and if Spider-Man 3 is now being used to teach narration classes than I certaingly don't want to graduate. Too many things were going on and the movie became less "grounded", all of a sudden the more outlandish traits of Superman III began to properly intrude on what had been a pretty good representation of II and IV. There were also a lot of ackward cuts in some exchanges, particulary when Gus and Webster meet and when Clark shows up out of nowhere after Perry and the group talk about Webster and company.

I feel if you had gone down the simpler route of making it a hybrid of II's depowering and IV's disarmanent plot, you would have a much tighter, stricter movie, as it stands, trying to add so much of the movies in one sitting left me kind of exhausted and, with me being far too overfamiliar with these films now, it's left me feeling less surprised, and I think there are still ways one can do that with these old Superman classics

Overall, it's still a fun romp, it just needs to rein itself in a bit. i look forward to your handling of Superman Returns

Overall score: 7.5/10

 

[Avid4D]

Thanks Zarius... there is definitely a lot going on in this edit and can see your perspective. For this project I didn't want to simply retel one of the movies, as that's what The Superman was in effect, as too will The Superman Returns when I complete it. Sure I've edited them both, but for this movie I really wanted to go the extra mile and all the material from multiple movies gave me the opportunity to setup a roller coaster ride for Supe. I'm glad to hear you still enjoyed parts of it though and appreciate your review, and hopefully my third installment will make amends

 

[Lu-Wii]

Is there anywhere too watch this?