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- SUPERMAN EPIC as Originally Intended
SUPERMAN EPIC as Originally Intended
Updated
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Genre:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1978, 1980/2006
Original Running Time:
151, 116 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
246 minutes
Subtitles Available:
Available in HD:
Additional Links:
Synopsis:
When you watch this I want you to feel like WBD released a brand new 4 hour Blu ray of Superman without any new fancy VFX or anything. It is just a straight up re-edit utilizing all HD footage possible to drastically improve the movie. NO major changes, I don't want you to notice that I edited anything. I'm just trying to make the best film possible. I almost want to call it THE SIMPLE MAN'S CUT.
Intention:
When the Donner cut of Superman II came out back in 2006 they made a big mistake because they tried to deliver a Superman II with as much Donner footage as possible rather than utilizing ALL THE FOOTAGE THEY HAD to give us the best Superman II possible. That being said, the Donner cut showed that Superman II is not supposed to be a sequel really but rather a 2 hour conclusion to Superman The Movie. That was a game changer for me and how I saw this entire production. As much as I love all the fan edits of Superman II, I honestly think the viewer REALLY misses out when they chose to watch these as two separate films because it's not two separate films, it's one film cut in half. Now I just put it back together and I made the necessary changes they should have made back when they released the Donner cut of Superman II. it's supposed to be one giant epic story. That's what they filmed, that's how it should be enjoyed.
Additional Notes:
When I started working on a four hour Superman edit I knew I wanted a version that did not tamper with SUPERMAN THE MOVIE (1978) too much as Richard Donner got to finish that film and it's a certified classic. That fan edit was released as SUPERMAN EPIC and I consider it the more OFFICIAL version for those reasons. SUPERMAN EPIC is the base film here. What makes this edit the ORIGINALLY INTENDED version is I moved the earth spin from part 1 back into part 2 hence ORIGINALLY INTENDED and made the necessary changes around that. This means Lois no longer dies during the earthquake, instead she runs out of gas and is stranded on the side of road (which actually works pretty well w/ the whole gas station explosion scene). The screen test gun scene is also restored as it feels appropriate in this version. Those are 99% of the differences, Lois doesn't die, the screen test scene is restored and the earth spin is moved. Those are the main differences between SUPERMAN EPIC and SUPERMAN EPIC as ORIGINALLY INTENDED. Other than that there's just a few minor tweaks only die hard fans would notice. I really wanted to make this edit also because I can honestly say this version has the strongest STORY arc for Superman. When Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman left the set on their final days of filming this is essentially the movie they were making. Everything makes a lot more sense with the earth spin at the end of the Epic because that is what everything was naturally leading up to. It's not all about Lois either, the whole world is more or less on fire, monuments defaced, Metropolis destroyed, countless dead all because of Superman's mistakes. When we get to the end, Jor El is gone (unlike in S78) and it's now Superman's decision whether or not he can interfere with human history ("the son becomes the father, and the father becomes the son"). He makes the decision to reverse the earth as a one time only thing for all these reasons, not just because Lois is crying because over a tough break up. So in my view it's a much stronger story but one could argue it is slightly less entertaining because we had to lose that SUPERMAN SCREAM at the end of S78 as Lois doesn't die. It's a shame to lose what is arguably Christopher Reeve's greatest scene as Superman but this is why I made the different versions. I love them both and will likely alternate versions for years to come.
Special Thanks:
I want to thank my wife first and foremost for dealing with 914 billion questions about this scene or that scene over the last couple years. THANK YOU. I want to thank every single editor of this franchise as they've all inspired me one way or another with their various takes on the movies. Thanks to Wraith, Heathen3017 & Fran Garcia for always being happy to talk about any and all things SUPERMAN.
Release Information:
Digital
Editing Details:
I'm hopeful any viewer would barely notice anything I did. This is not an extended cut. A lot of thought was put into pacing and keeping the story moving while still respecting the general overall vision and style of Richard Donner. I'm not looking to reinvent the film or anything. My target audience is the people that DO NOT like too many changes in their fan edits. This SUPERMAN EPIC is not so much MY TAKE ON SUPERMAN as it is my take on the best way to COMPLETE this (Donner/Reeve) INTERPRETATION OF SUPERMAN with the footage available. I'm trying to make it the best it can be without forcing on my preferences of this or that.
Cuts and Additions:
Richard Donner's directors cuts of S1 & S2 are the base films.
This brings consistency to both the cinematography and the John Williams Score.
Superman The Movie is a hybrid of the Theatrical, directors cut and extended cut.
Only a few minutes added to Superman 78 from the 3 hour extended cut. 99% of it is before we hit Metropolis.
ZERO DELETED scenes from either version of Superman II (again for visual consistency).
Obviously scenes from Richard Lester's Superman II are included where appropriate.
"General would you care to step outside" is restored
Superman reverses the earth ONE TIME not twice. ***NOTE in this specific version it's moved to the end of the 4 hour runtime as....originally intended.***
Ursa's iconic arm wrestling scene is restored
The overall tone is a continuation of the changes made in the Donner cut of SII. I tried to keep everything more serious where possible.
More Lois Lane
More Superman
More Ursa
More Jor El
100% of the footage is from an officially released versions of Superman The Movie or Superman II. NOTHING from Superman III, IV or Returns
No intermission, I see no need. We all have a pause button.
90% of the film is Richard Donner footage. 10% is Richard Lester footage.
This brings consistency to both the cinematography and the John Williams Score.
Superman The Movie is a hybrid of the Theatrical, directors cut and extended cut.
Only a few minutes added to Superman 78 from the 3 hour extended cut. 99% of it is before we hit Metropolis.
ZERO DELETED scenes from either version of Superman II (again for visual consistency).
Obviously scenes from Richard Lester's Superman II are included where appropriate.
"General would you care to step outside" is restored
Superman reverses the earth ONE TIME not twice. ***NOTE in this specific version it's moved to the end of the 4 hour runtime as....originally intended.***
Ursa's iconic arm wrestling scene is restored
The overall tone is a continuation of the changes made in the Donner cut of SII. I tried to keep everything more serious where possible.
More Lois Lane
More Superman
More Ursa
More Jor El
100% of the footage is from an officially released versions of Superman The Movie or Superman II. NOTHING from Superman III, IV or Returns
No intermission, I see no need. We all have a pause button.
90% of the film is Richard Donner footage. 10% is Richard Lester footage.
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Genre:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1978, 1980/2006
Original Running Time:
151, 116 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
246 minutes
Subtitles Available:
Available in HD:
Additional Links:
Synopsis:
When you watch this I want you to feel like WBD released a brand new 4 hour Blu ray of Superman without any new fancy VFX or anything. It is just a straight up re-edit utilizing all HD footage possible to drastically improve the movie. NO major changes, I don't want you to notice that I edited anything. I'm just trying to make the best film possible. I almost want to call it THE SIMPLE MAN'S CUT.
Intention:
When the Donner cut of Superman II came out back in 2006 they made a big mistake because they tried to deliver a Superman II with as much Donner footage as possible rather than utilizing ALL THE FOOTAGE THEY HAD to give us the best Superman II possible. That being said, the Donner cut showed that Superman II is not supposed to be a sequel really but rather a 2 hour conclusion to Superman The Movie. That was a game changer for me and how I saw this entire production. As much as I love all the fan edits of Superman II, I honestly think the viewer REALLY misses out when they chose to watch these as two separate films because it's not two separate films, it's one film cut in half. Now I just put it back together and I made the necessary changes they should have made back when they released the Donner cut of Superman II. it's supposed to be one giant epic story. That's what they filmed, that's how it should be enjoyed.
Additional Notes:
When I started working on a four hour Superman edit I knew I wanted a version that did not tamper with SUPERMAN THE MOVIE (1978) too much as Richard Donner got to finish that film and it's a certified classic. That fan edit was released as SUPERMAN EPIC and I consider it the more OFFICIAL version for those reasons. SUPERMAN EPIC is the base film here. What makes this edit the ORIGINALLY INTENDED version is I moved the earth spin from part 1 back into part 2 hence ORIGINALLY INTENDED and made the necessary changes around that. This means Lois no longer dies during the earthquake, instead she runs out of gas and is stranded on the side of road (which actually works pretty well w/ the whole gas station explosion scene). The screen test gun scene is also restored as it feels appropriate in this version. Those are 99% of the differences, Lois doesn't die, the screen test scene is restored and the earth spin is moved. Those are the main differences between SUPERMAN EPIC and SUPERMAN EPIC as ORIGINALLY INTENDED. Other than that there's just a few minor tweaks only die hard fans would notice. I really wanted to make this edit also because I can honestly say this version has the strongest STORY arc for Superman. When Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman left the set on their final days of filming this is essentially the movie they were making. Everything makes a lot more sense with the earth spin at the end of the Epic because that is what everything was naturally leading up to. It's not all about Lois either, the whole world is more or less on fire, monuments defaced, Metropolis destroyed, countless dead all because of Superman's mistakes. When we get to the end, Jor El is gone (unlike in S78) and it's now Superman's decision whether or not he can interfere with human history ("the son becomes the father, and the father becomes the son"). He makes the decision to reverse the earth as a one time only thing for all these reasons, not just because Lois is crying because over a tough break up. So in my view it's a much stronger story but one could argue it is slightly less entertaining because we had to lose that SUPERMAN SCREAM at the end of S78 as Lois doesn't die. It's a shame to lose what is arguably Christopher Reeve's greatest scene as Superman but this is why I made the different versions. I love them both and will likely alternate versions for years to come.
Special Thanks:
I want to thank my wife first and foremost for dealing with 914 billion questions about this scene or that scene over the last couple years. THANK YOU. I want to thank every single editor of this franchise as they've all inspired me one way or another with their various takes on the movies. Thanks to Wraith, Heathen3017 & Fran Garcia for always being happy to talk about any and all things SUPERMAN.
Release Information:
Digital
Editing Details:
I'm hopeful any viewer would barely notice anything I did. This is not an extended cut. A lot of thought was put into pacing and keeping the story moving while still respecting the general overall vision and style of Richard Donner. I'm not looking to reinvent the film or anything. My target audience is the people that DO NOT like too many changes in their fan edits. This SUPERMAN EPIC is not so much MY TAKE ON SUPERMAN as it is my take on the best way to COMPLETE this (Donner/Reeve) INTERPRETATION OF SUPERMAN with the footage available. I'm trying to make it the best it can be without forcing on my preferences of this or that.
Cuts and Additions:
Richard Donner's directors cuts of S1 & S2 are the base films.
This brings consistency to both the cinematography and the John Williams Score.
Superman The Movie is a hybrid of the Theatrical, directors cut and extended cut.
Only a few minutes added to Superman 78 from the 3 hour extended cut. 99% of it is before we hit Metropolis.
ZERO DELETED scenes from either version of Superman II (again for visual consistency).
Obviously scenes from Richard Lester's Superman II are included where appropriate.
"General would you care to step outside" is restored
Superman reverses the earth ONE TIME not twice. ***NOTE in this specific version it's moved to the end of the 4 hour runtime as....originally intended.***
Ursa's iconic arm wrestling scene is restored
The overall tone is a continuation of the changes made in the Donner cut of SII. I tried to keep everything more serious where possible.
More Lois Lane
More Superman
More Ursa
More Jor El
100% of the footage is from an officially released versions of Superman The Movie or Superman II. NOTHING from Superman III, IV or Returns
No intermission, I see no need. We all have a pause button.
90% of the film is Richard Donner footage. 10% is Richard Lester footage.
This brings consistency to both the cinematography and the John Williams Score.
Superman The Movie is a hybrid of the Theatrical, directors cut and extended cut.
Only a few minutes added to Superman 78 from the 3 hour extended cut. 99% of it is before we hit Metropolis.
ZERO DELETED scenes from either version of Superman II (again for visual consistency).
Obviously scenes from Richard Lester's Superman II are included where appropriate.
"General would you care to step outside" is restored
Superman reverses the earth ONE TIME not twice. ***NOTE in this specific version it's moved to the end of the 4 hour runtime as....originally intended.***
Ursa's iconic arm wrestling scene is restored
The overall tone is a continuation of the changes made in the Donner cut of SII. I tried to keep everything more serious where possible.
More Lois Lane
More Superman
More Ursa
More Jor El
100% of the footage is from an officially released versions of Superman The Movie or Superman II. NOTHING from Superman III, IV or Returns
No intermission, I see no need. We all have a pause button.
90% of the film is Richard Donner footage. 10% is Richard Lester footage.
User reviews
1 review
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0(1)
Audio Editing
10.0(1)
Visual Editing
10.0(1)
Narrative
10.0(1)
Enjoyment
10.0(1)
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
This is the perfect edition of Richard Donner's Superman filmography all seamlessly combined into a 4 hour epic spectacle.
Everything is perfectly edited, without any technical or audible hitches; if I had to make a direct comparison, this edit is the equivalent of TheMilkmanConspiracy's reconstruction of Kill Bill the whole bloody affair.
It is now my definitive version of watching the two Superman movies, only this time everything is one single story without continuity issues as in the basic versions; excellent job, PanteraSteel
Everything is perfectly edited, without any technical or audible hitches; if I had to make a direct comparison, this edit is the equivalent of TheMilkmanConspiracy's reconstruction of Kill Bill the whole bloody affair.
It is now my definitive version of watching the two Superman movies, only this time everything is one single story without continuity issues as in the basic versions; excellent job, PanteraSteel
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
