Man Of Steel: Remastered

Man of Steel Trailer #3 is my favorite movie trailer of all time, but Man of Steel the film was in many ways a disappointment. The pacing was laborious, the storytelling muddled and unevenly executed, and the action scenes exhausting. While this is not the definitive edit of Man of Steel for me (As far as I'm aware, that edit doesn't exist yet), it's a really strong alternative way of viewing the film, especially if you had no love for the original. The strongest points of this edit are pacing and economy of storytelling: The Krypton sequence is fast and furious, replacing the exhausting ordeal that was the original. The focus on Lois Lane toward the beginning of the film and the re-purposing and reordering of the flashback sequences was a revelation. The action is trimmed down to a more manageable length. Overall the film feels much more confidently told and was able to grab and hold my attention, unlike the original. Also, one of the most maligned scenes from the original film, Pa Kent's death by tornado, is thankfully nowhere to be found.

However, there were also aspects of this edit that did not work for me. The new color grading is mostly great but sometimes looks a little bright and oversaturated, like it's trying to overcompensate for the darker colors of the original. The original film had beautiful high-contrast cinematography which sometimes gets a little washed out in this color grade. kk650's recolored version of the original MOS tones down the grungy green grade while still playing to the strengths of the original photography.

The John Williams score is cool as an alternate take on the film, but in my opinion it does not really fit as well as the Zimmer score. I am probably in the minority here, but I prefer Zimmer's score to Williams, which was great in the original Superman but it's trumpeting brass and triumphant fanfares sound out of place here, whilst Zimmer's booming percussion and minimalist piano did not. The opening credits sequence also plays way too long for a modern film.

Lastly, I feel that some of Agent9's edits serve to bury some of the themes of the original Man of Steel rather than trying to salvage them. Particularly Clark's anxiety over humanity fearing and rejecting him is still here but is weakened by the removal of the Church scene, and the Williams score does more to hurt in this area, making scenes sound triumphant that should be more pensive. I also think a flaw in the original film that ought to have been addressed by the editor is that Superman dons the suit and takes flight before he's committed to revealing himself to the world. It could have been a truly earned moment but it feels like the film blows its load too early. I know it might be a bit strange to have Superman travel back to the arctic after he's returned to Smallville, but I think this could have been accomplished by splitting the the scene between Clark and Jor-El in two. The suit reveal could have been saved for later.

Audio/Video Quality: 8
Given how much effort Agent9 put into regrading this thing (With glorious success!), I thought it was a shame that it looks quite compressed. The filesize is too small for full 1080p HD encode IMO. This would have looked better at 720p perhaps, or up the filesize to exploit the full HD resolution.

Visual Editing: 8
The new credits look eye-meltingly fantastic. The regrading looks stunning. The editing is mostly flawless. Only a couple of moments stood out: The cut to Jorrel's face at the end of the mural talk (Was there a grading error here?) and the cut from the pod --> to the crashed spaceship. I think I already mentioned this in the ITW thread but cutting from one spaceship crash-landing at night, to a spaceship which has crashed in the day, naturally leads a viewer to think they are the same spaceship. It takes about 5 minutes before this confusion is cleared up.

Audio Editing: 10
Bloody genius! Don't get me wrong, I love Zimmer's score and his triumphant new theme but ooooh the feels having John William's score instead!

Narrative: 7
The narrative is stripped down and stramlined with mostly good effect but I really was not keen on the first act (Thankfully after that is over, it's near perfection for the rest of the runtime). For a fanedit to truly succeed it has to work as a movie in it's own right and I don't think this does. I'd be very surprised if somebody who had never seen MOS before could follow the first act (Sure it made sense to me because I've watched all the bits that were missing). Clark and Lois' relationship was sketchy in the original, here it's just gone. He never saves her life on the spaceship, so that bond is missing for a start. The look Cavill gives her in that moment made him Supes for me, so very sad that was jettisoned. Cavill gets 1 minute of screentime where he doesn't speak, 5 minutes of Russell Crowe explaining the plot to him and then he's suddenly Superman... hurray!...? I think? Who is this guy again? What does he stand for? He's just Superman, with no character building or introduction to get us behind him. As I say, after that opening portion the removals are really effective, so do stick with this edit because it pays off in the end.

Enjoyment: 9
I had my problems with the narrative as I've stated but the wonderful new score and impressive regrading more than make up for that. This doesn't replace the original for me but it is a cut that every Superman fan should have on the shelf next to MOS. It's a totally different exciting experience. Very much recommend!

I loved this edit. The original cut is grey and dull, bordering on unwatchable. Agent 9 has brought it back to life and truly made it feel like a Superman film. Some of the aspects I enjoyed the most:
- The opening on Krypton. Beautifully trimmed and the score integration/mirror of 1978 Superman opening was really well executed.
- The credits sequence. They look professionally done!
- The re-ordering of the early scenes to focus on Lois learning about Clark as we do. Brilliant stuff, and through a combination of your visual editing and the insertion of the Lois theme, I really bought into their relationship much more in this cut.
- The colour correction. So great to see the red and blue back on the screen. I don't like my Superman movies to be predominantly grey...
- The Music!!! Amazing work, only very few scenes were the stitches evident. You chose the themes so well, and I could really see the effort that had gone into really nailing the key moments throughout the film in a way the original cut didn't get near.
- The pacing. There was not a single shot that you cut that was missed. And thank you muchly for getting rid of scene in the Church, among many others of its ilk.
- The kiss. No longer cringe worthy, it felt natural and appropriate.
- The final shot. Classic Superman. Should never have ended on anything else!

A couple of minor nitpicks
- I know it's a tough compromise with picture quality and file size, but there was a lot of digital distortion in the blacks/shadows, especially evident when Pa Kent shows Clark his spaceship.
- Despite the awesomeness of your score work, there were a couple of music transitions that were noticeably abrupt, such as from the daily planet theme to superman destroying the satellite.
- Some clunky dialogue that could possibly be trimmed remains. eg, Faora's "Evolution always wins" conversation with Clark.

So, all in all, a very professionally executed score replacement, but also so much more. I'll never watch the original again. This is a fanedit to show to your friends as a great example of what the medium can do. Well done Agent 9!

This is one of the best fanedits that has ever been created. Completely redeems a garbage movie in a way I never thought would be possible. Simply outstanding.

This was a fun edit. :)

Agent 9 has recut Man of Steel using the original Donner's Superman The Movie as a template, and replacing the Hans Zimmer soundtrack with the classic John Williams score.

And for the most part he is very successful.

The cut work is very good, the biggest cuts being the Krypton prologue and young Clark's flashbacks, along with a restructuring of Clark's finding of the Fortress and meeting of Lois. I enjoyed all these changes. It moves the story along faster, Clarks has a more mysterious quality, we learn about him through Lois's point of view and any information lost during the Krypton sequence we learn during Jor-el's education of Clark. In fact, I actually wish more had been cut. In particular, I think the entire Smallville battle could have been cut once Zod departed without significant impact on the narrative and I do wish the Metropolis destruction could have been trimmed even more than Agent 9 had, but I applaud all the clever cuts he did make.

But the real star of this edit is the soundtrack replacement. Agent 9 did exceptional work in this department! BRAVO!!! For the most part, the audio work is seamless and adds a very uplifting, nostalgia quality to the film.

However, there were times where I felt the Superman theme was used too often. There were points where it felt repetitive or too soon or an alternate, more subdued track or cue would have been more appropriate. It was almost too much of a good thing.... it sort of highlighted how these are films of very different era's and how the interpretation of the hero has changed, and the soundtrack did not always quite fit the way one would hope it would.

But overall, this was a very positive alternate viewing experience and I highly recommend it.

THUMBS UP!