Superman: Son of Jor-El

Very good edit. Includes the essential elements of Donner's two Superman movies and mostly feels cohesive.

This is old, but I recently watched this and wanted to drop my thoughts. For years, I've felt like Superman (1978) was so close to being the perfect comic book movie. The first half and Reeve's performance are incredibly mythic. The camp really brings it down though. I always thought combining the beautiful Smallville sections with the more dramatic Superman II would be interesting. This edit does that and it's close to becoming my definitive Superman movie. By stripping most of the camp and focusing on the core character of Clark Kent, the editor really is able to create this character driven piece. The recurrent theme of Clark's humanity and destiny (presented to us in the form of Jor-El), coupled with the strong focus on the Lois relationship, makes this feel like one coherent movie. Importantly, it's never disrespectful to the source material. It's fun, but it's also mythic and powerful. That new ending scene is fantastic. I also liked the looming threat of Zod that was present throughout the movie. It's a really creative device that ties both movies together and adds momentum.

As some have mentioned, the big problem that really signals that this is actually made up of 2 longer movies is the sudden appearance of Lex. It does feel out of place. The structure is also a bit weird. As I said, adding these recurring scenes of Zod and Co. was a good way to break up the plain structure of the first two-thirds. Some scenes feel like they should be closer together though. I think the part on the moon feels pretty awkward as is. We see Zod on the moon. We go back to the A-plot for 30 minutes or so. We come back and they're still on the moon. That feeling of momentum is lost. I would also personally add in some extra scenes in those first 2 hours. Since the camp and all subplots have been stripped out of the Superman I and Superman II Niagara scenes, the movie gains a lot of dignity. Unfortunately, it also loses a bit of the "super." We have this core plot about Lois and Clark with nothing else until Zod arrives on Earth. It's nice, but the singular focus is a bit monotonous and it feels a little like we're watching a compilation of Clark/Lois scenes instead of a fully fledged movie. I think adding in some fat (the cut scenes from Superman I) would round it out a bit. This will also give the impression that some time has passed. Currently, it feels like the whole movie takes place in a week.

Aside from those points, this is a fantastic edit. I'll definitely rewatch it L8wrtr ever revisit it.

I loved this fanedit. Definitely is the real Superman.

An interesting cut, which I enjoyed despite some of the problems which have been pointed out by others. The late arrival of Luthor didn't bother me as much as I thought. What did bother me is that throughout the film everyone seemed to know so much about things that they shouldn't have. The characters had a history with each other that is not supported by the timeline.

All of the scene transitions seemed fine and I didn't discern any real problems with the audio. I thought there might have been a bit of leftover audio at about 39:30 where Jor-el was saying something that was cut but you could stil hear bits of it. It also seemed as if the video quality skipped around between higher and lower quality resolution throughout. Some of the scenes seemed fuzzy while others were sharp and clear.

The editors used the superior Donner cut for the reveal of Superman's identity, which is distracting because of the problem with his glasses switching types, but this is a limitation of the source material. I still enjoyed seeing these films in a different light and would recommend it.

While on paper this may seem like a great idea the final version creates so many plot-holes it takes away the overall enjoyment I had for the edit.

Within a week superman aka Clark Kent joins the daily planet and befriends Louis lane, a few days later miss lane falls from a helicopter to which Clark Kent becomes superman for the first time. the next night Louis interviews superman, then the very next day Louis suspects Clark Kent to be superman and then that very evening her suspension are confirmed. Our hero then decides to fly Louis to his secret hide out were he then gives up his powers because he's in love and no-longer wants to protect the earth. All this occurs within a week?

As others have said the lack of lex luthor creates many problems, how doe's he know so much about superman than anyone else and how doe's he know about superman’s hideout. Not only doe's his character need fleshing out but he also needed a conclusion. As it is it would appear superman has just left him to freeze to death the attic conditions

the edit doesn't suffer from too many hard cuts or audio glitches overall though it doe's suffer for a narrative perspective which took away overall enjoyment I had for the edit.

my superman 1 & 2 score 8/8
my fanedit superman score 6/10