Superman Epic

As a die-hard Reeve Supes fan, I must say that this was a solid edit by PanteraSteel.

Nothing too drastic changed nor any major scenes removed. This is simply two great films blended together back-to-back, with a few extra scenes that weren't present in the Donner Cut of II. And the transition between I and II was pretty darn seamless that I actually couldn't tell at first.

If I had one criticism it would be that the overall ending was a tad confusing. I totally get not wanting to include the magic amnesia kiss or Supes reversing time (as it already happened halfway through the edit, and even removing that scene wouldn't have helped), but it didn't really make much sense to me that Lois would act like she forgot about Clark's identity, and Clark being "jealous" of Superman. Maybe it was an act, and she was keeping her promise from the scene before. I'm not sure, it just didn't seem clear to me.

But aside from that, this version pretty much demonstrates what the original plan for the story would have been if Donner wasn't fired in the first place. It may not be accurate, but it's pretty close. Great to watch if you're feeling nostalgic.

This is an excellent attempt at editing these films by PanteraSteel. Generally when I watch the official Blu Rays I watch both films over the course of two days, but watching this digitally provides a seamless transition between both films and as such there is motivation to watch as one giant epic. As PanteraSteel says, the changes to the official releases are generally understated, and the vast majority of the films remain intact while providing more seriousness and very intelligent pacing - it isnt a reinvention of the films, it's more tweaked in terms of pacing and tone as well as an attempt at creating one giant movie. I was able to watch all 4 hours 7 minutes in virtually one sitting, save for making a sandwich about 75 minutes in. At no point did I feel like the film was dragging or I was lacking the stamina, which could be the case if I watched the two Donner releases back-to-back. The film is a smoother watch all around since the two official releases total about 4 hours 19 mins.

If I had to make one or two criticisms, it wouldn't be with the quality of the narrative or the scene editing, but more with the audio and visual quality. I watched this via streaming through Plex and a good wi-fi connection on a 50 inch 4k Samsung TV - at some points the film looks and sounds stunning, but at others it looks like a product of its time rather than looking and sounding as if it was filmed yesterday ( as the Blu Rays tend to). However, this makes complete sense since the Blu ray files of both official movies are much larger than the approximately 5.5 gb file of the epic that I watched, I'm not sure if there is a higher quality/larger file size edit of the epic that PanteraSteel has made, but I am really being pedantic here - I do love how 4k and blu ray discs look and sound, but more important to me is the quality of the film and this edit delivers that with aplomb.

Overall I greatly enjoyed watching this, and even the inconsistencies in the audio and video quality did not scupper my entertainment. A brilliant addition and PanteraSteel should be proud of it.

Highly recommended.

Edit: good idea to omit both Lester's kiss and Donner's dull repetition of Superman going back in time. I suppose you can argue it makes less sense then why Lois still can't remember who he is (unless I have missed something in the edit) but overall I think your ending is far stronger than either Lester's or Donner's (after a discussion PanteraSteel clarified a few things about his ending and it makes a lot of sense as he has explained it).

Edit 2: much thanks to PanteraSteel for making public what the issue was with (the TV cut). That makes complete sense and is clearly out of your control. To reiterate, it's a brilliant edit that everyone who loves the character should watch,

This is another good edit of a pair of films that have already been seen numerous versions both official and by editors. I must admit that I have probably seen too many at this point so they're starting to blend together, but this edit is certainly worthy of joining the strongest of the edits. It's not doing anything extraordinarily new or unexpected but it is worth your time if you'd like to revisit these films in a better form than the circumstances of their original production allowed.