Mr. Blue's Batman V Superman

[revel911]

Just surprised you kept it since it was kind of an odd scene.

BTW, loved your ending,

 

[TM2YC]

I've finished reviewing @"Mr. Blue" 's BvS edit for inclusion on ifdb and I really enjoyed it (as much as you can enjoy BvS).

It's an excellent focused cut, trimming away all the clutter so the film builds smoothly towards the final battle with a purpose and without keeping getting sidelined in pointless subplots. The audio and visual editing is just about seamless. The rescoring amps up the MOS theme which was welcome, so even if Superman isn't doing anything heroic, it at least feels like he is . The image quality isn't stellar for a 4GB 720p file but it's acceptable.  Proving the problem with BvS about scenes being random, @ "Mr. Blue" takes the scene of Clark talking to his father from the end of the movie and puts it at the start. This and other edits frame Clark's character as feeling guilty about how many people died in the Zod fight, right from the start, leading out of MOS. Okay a mopey Superman still isn't great but it's a genius way of at least making it logical and natural story wise.

The trims of the scene where Superman rips open the Batmobile are surprisingly successful (I thought the scene was unsalvageable). While Superman doesn't act exactly like Superman should in this scene, now he comes across as grimly doing something he must do and not like a hate filled monster delighting in intimidating Batman. Batman's "...you will!" line was removed for some reason, which I really missed.

I maybe enjoyed @"reeseevans" 'No Justice' cut a touch more but because that edit removed all JL stuff (and Wonder Woman!) it didn't quite satisfy. @"Mr. Blue" retains all the material you need to watch BvS next to JL and the Wonder Woman movie, so this replaces the official cuts for me. It's still a dark, grey, joyless take on the characters and the endless action in the second-half drags but at least it's a consistent narrative. Highly recommended.

Unfortunately two technical problems need to be fixed before this can be approved...

01.56.46 - Audio glitching sound as we cut to the wake interior.
02.11.51 - 9 seconds of glitching feedback finish out the edit.

...and if you are going to fix that, you might as well have another look at your opening Mr.Blue titlecard. It looks poor and unprofessional due to heavy pixelation on the text (see screenshot below). It's not part of the actual film and is your own thing, so I can live with it but it'd be nice to have another crack at it.

(By the way... the Ghostbusters "D*ck" joke at the very end was not to my taste)

 

[revel911]

Mr. Blue, have a better rendered version ready go over after these fixes? Some people may not mind, but I am pretty stickler about reduced artifacts on these kind of CGI high budget movies. I hate to already put this aside from being a movie that may otherwise be quite good.

 

[TM2YC]

Unfortunately two technical problems need to be fixed before this can be approved...

01.56.46 - Audio glitching sound as we cut to the wake interior.
02.11.51 - 9 seconds of glitching feedback finish out the edit.

The latest version has these two ^ audio problems fixed, so this approved. Congratulations . Thread moved to completed.

 

[Zarius]

Congratulations Blue.

 

[Mr. Blue]

Excuse me for a moment. I need to go celebrate to the point of excess.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

Congratulations!

 

[Wakeupkeo]

Congratulations Mr. Blue!

 

[SpectacularSMan]

Congrats, Mr. Blue! This was the first BVS edit I saw back when you worked on it, and it is still one of the best ones so far. Good to see it getting accepted.   That final bit with the death of Superman and such is fantastic in particular. Great rescore.

 

[TM2YC]

This is now on ifdb. Cherry Jolly Ranchers for everybody!

 

[Zarius]

So when's Clark gonna start keying car roofs and shop lifting from Lydl?

Oh, and I left you a review @"Mr. Blue"

 

[DigModiFicaTion]

This is now on ifdb. Cherry Jolly Ranchers for everybody!

Take note everyone, the true identity of TM2YC has been revealed.

 

[kato786]

thank you for this faneditis, is this available to d/l?

 

[The Scribbling Man]

I have no idea what that is, but where do I pick mine up?

 

[ThrowgnCpr]

hey @"kato786", please read our FAQ and Rules pages. They have some useful information that will get us all off on the right foot. More details on our policies, especially our Own the Source rule are available here. If you do not understand any of these rules send a private message to one of our staff for further details.

 

[Cisco Andrade]

this looks like an awesome fanedit, can't wait to see it!

 

[Blipps]

Mr. Blue are you thinking of changing your edit in anyway after zbmp's review of your edit making very good points against your edit (in my opinion) and yes I know that you can only do so much with the source that you are given but surely most of these points can be fixed to a certain extent. But other than that truely amazing work on your end

 

[DigModiFicaTion]

Mr. Blue are you thinking of changing your edit in anyway after zbmp's review of your edit making very good points against your edit...

I'm feeling lazy, and maybe others are too, can you include the points you are referencing?

 

[Blipps]

-A few audio/visual problems in scene transitions (there's an audio glitch in the transition between the two mountain scenes)
-Dream sequence was really short and interrupted an integral scene - kind of jarring
-For the dream sequence, I wish there was more of a direct comparison between Superman and the monster (maybe instead it would include Superman and his Batman's parents’ killer) 
-With scenes about the Capitol Building and Wallace Keefe being cut, I thought Batman fighting Superman would not be a part of Luthor’s plan. Because of this, adding the Martha and Lois Lane kidnapping stuff made no sense to me. Plus, the plot (and his scheme) became way more convoluted.
-Lois’ “don’t I know you” makes no sense without the Africa subplot
-Lois and Lex have no relationship with each other, so the tension for the scene on top of Lex's building comes out of nowhere
-Don’t love the vocal delay/background voices when Superman gets hit with Kryptonite gas
-How does Superman know Lex is in the scout ship?
-Wish you kept “she with you” banter - establishes that these three have no former connections
-Without some form of Lois' plot, Lex wouldn’t be going to jail
-Not sure if Batman and Superman's motivations are completely justified without the exposition that was cut
-During the fight scene, there needs to be more of a reason for Superman to suddenly want to fight Batman rather than negotiate

 

[Mr. Blue]

I am very well aware of the criticisms against my edit. I have no desire to show any disrespect to zbmp, but there is no respectful way to tell someone that you do not lend any credence to the bulk of their criticisms, and so I chose not to respond. Unfortunately, it seems that my response has now been called for. The following is the bulk of the message that I sent Hardbackyoyo on the subject.

-A few audio/visual problems in scene transitions (there's an audio glitch in the transition between the two mountain scenes)

I'm not sure what other issues they're talking about, but I know all about that mountain transition. Still though, I could have sworn I fixed that with the latest update. Plus TM2YC never said anything about it. Anyway, if that's still there, then that's a valid complaint and I will cop to that one.
[EDIT: It is still there, and that makes me want to rip my hair out. This is something I've been struggling with since the earliest drafts of this edit. This glitch has no apparent source and does not appear in the previews.]

-Dream sequence was really short and interrupted an integral scene - kind of jarring

The dream sequence was my opportunity to remind audiences of Batman's motivation by intercutting footage of the Metropolis attack as well as reinforcing the whole Martha thing to at least cushion some of the blow when that comes along. Plus the bat monster helped to show that Bruce was not in his right mind anymore, which was echoed in his argument with Alfred in the next scene of my edit. Besides, it's a damn sight less jarring than the Mad Max dream he had in the original version.

-For the dream sequence, I wish there was more of a direct comparison between Superman and the monster (maybe instead it would include Superman and his Batman's parents’ killer) 

But Superman isn't the monster. Nor is Bruce conflating Superman with his parents killer. This is just a misunderstanding of the text at play here.

-With scenes about the Capitol Building and Wallace Keefe being cut, I thought Batman fighting Superman would not be a part of Luthor’s plan. Because of this, adding the Martha and Lois Lane kidnapping stuff made no sense to me. Plus, the plot (and his scheme) became way more convoluted.

I could not disagree more. If anything Luthor's plot becomes more streamlined without all that Washington DC guff thrown in to muddy the waters. As for the titular fight, it's pretty clear that Batman is against Superman, especially when he steals the Kryptonite [which Luthor had intended for use against Superman, a being he could not trust]. So he  forces Superman into a deathmatch. He kidnaps Lois to get Superman's attention, and kidnaps Martha to blackmail him. These are important elements leading up to the fight, especially since (despite my dearest wishes to the contrary) Martha is the whole reason their fight ends.

-Lois’ “don’t I know you” makes no sense without the Africa subplot

I'll cop to this one too. But there was no way I could remove it with the way it was shot. That's what the whole scene of her being kidnapped revolved around and if I cut that scene then she's just on board Luthor's helicopter for no reason. So I had to decide which hurt more: One line that makes no sense, or a massive sequence that sets up a subplot my whole edit was designed around deleting. It's a fair complaint, but I stand by my choice, even if that one scar remains.

-Lois and Lex have no relationship with each other, so the tension for the scene on top of Lex's building comes out of nowhere

It's just Lex rambling as he always does during his buildup to throwing her off the building. Furthermore it's during this ramble that he explains why he kidnapped her. To get Superman to save her so he can talk to him. It's not meant to be a tense scene in my edit, just a purely utilitarian one, and besides that, even in the original film it didn't exactly do very well with tension.

-Don’t love the vocal delay/background voices when Superman gets hit with Kryptonite gas

Well, I do, and I'm the editor. Umm... na na na na na, I suppose. No, but seriously, I felt it gave a more noticeable sense of the effect that Kryptonite had on Superman, making it seem more like Batman was playing dirty and getting the audience to empathize with Superman just a little bit during this sequence.

-How does Superman know Lex is in the scout ship?

Presumably the giant bolts of electricity arcing off of it. Not good enough for you? Well the movie gives no better explanation so I really can't fix that without gathering the crew for reshoots.

-Wish you kept “she with you” banter - establishes that these three have no former connections

I get that some people liked this line, but it was still out of place. Besides, I don't think it's really all that necessary to establish a lack of connection between characters, especially when one has spent the entire movie as a mystery woman that the other is mildly curious about, with the third in the trio having no interactions with her whatsoever up until this point even in his own stand alone movie.

-Without some form of Lois' plot, Lex wouldn’t be going to jail

The big monster that rampaged through the city came from the crashed ship and while a swat team was investigating the thing they just so happened to find Lex Luthor standing in a pool of blood communing with the image a giant alien monster... I think that's grounds for a conviction. I'm sorry, I don't want to be a jerk about this but this is a really dumb complaint.

-Not sure if Batman and Superman's motivations are completely justified without the exposition that was cut

I'm not sure what exposition this guy thinks was cut, but honestly I did the best I could, shifting all of the focus of Clark's scenes over to investigating this insane Bat vigilante who's been terrorizing poorer neighborhoods, and including brief flashbacks to the Metropolis incident during Bruce's dream sequence to reinforce Batman's very clear motivation for not liking Superman. The problem cannot be fully removed, but what I tried to do was make it less noticeable at the very least.

-During the fight scene, there needs to be more of a reason for Superman to suddenly want to fight Batman rather than negotiate

Take that up with Snyder. I did what I could by tightening the scene and making Batman's attacks seem more like an unrelenting onslaught, not giving Superman the chance to speak, thereby making the moment when he loses his patience and starts actually fighting him seem a little more justified. Beyond that, it's a problem my edit shares with both versions of the film, and there is nothing a mere fan editor can do to change that without getting really crazy with effects.

So all in all, while he raised a couple of valid points which I genuinely regret not having addressed earlier, I simply cannot agree with this gentleman's assessment of my edit, and given the nature of his complaints, I don't think he's going to find a lot of fanedits he'll enjoy on this site.