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Superman Epic

PanteraSteel

PanteraSteel

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Another edit that has been done before but not quite the way I have it. It's Richard Donner's two Superman films combined into one four hour epic. This is NOT an extended cut. I've been sitting on this for at least two years now. All edits have been made to improve the pacing and quality of the film, NOT to make it as long as possible. This is for the Donner fans (Lester fans will get their version. see below). Unfortunately when the Donner cut came out back in 2006 they made a big mistake because the goal was to give us 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. I'm simply trying to fix that. 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 but just a straight simple re-edit utilizing all footage possible to drastically improve the viewing experience. I almost want to call it THE SIMPLE MAN'S CUT.

Base films are:
  1. Superman The Movie 2000 Directors cut
  2. Superman II The Richard Donner cut
Rough change list

  • The Donner directors cuts of both films were used to keep the movie consistent in tone with both the cinematography and John Williams score.
  • Minimal changes have been made to Superman The Movie as it's already a classic and Donner finished it.
  • Superman 78 is a hybrid of the theatrical cut, directors cut and 3 hour cut. 99% of the changes come before we get to Metropolis. Only a few minutes added but I thought they really helped add to the mystery and thriller elements of the film.
  • Zero Donner/Lester Superman II deleted scenes as I wanted to keep the visual quality consistent
  • Obviously scenes from Superman II (1980 Lester) are included where appropriate
  • "General would you care to step outside" is restored
  • Superman reverses the earth in part 1 ONLY
  • Ursa Iconic arm wrestling scene is restored but edited to remove as much silliness as possible.
  • Donner's toilet humor trimmed as much as possible
  • Overall tone of the epic is a continuation of the changes made in the Donner cut of SII. I love S2 DC so I continued with the trimming of silliness and tried to keep everything more serious where possible.
  • Most of the major editing is in the middle of Superman II (small town Houston stuff/depowering etc like most of these edits)
  • a little more Lana Lang
  • More Lois Lane
  • More Christopher Reeve
  • More Marlon Brando
  • More Ursa
  • Less EXTRAS with pointless lines/scenes
  • 100% of the footage is taken from officially released versions of Superman 78 or Superman II. Nothing from Superman III or Superman IV. This is a straight up FANFIX.
  • No intermission, I see no need.
  • 4 hour film on the money. That's just how it worked out. 4 hours 8 minutes with credits.
  • NEW take on the endings to both S78 and SII that I haven't seen anywhere before. Not drastic changes but little tweaks that make all the difference imo.
  • 90% Donner footage. 10% Lester footage.

There will be at BARE MINIMUM three versions of this movie. Here they are:
  1. Superman Epic (listed above. Imagine Donner was never fired and returned to work on Superman II). This is the most entertaining version imo.
  2. Superman Epic as originally intended (This is the version most fans make. Supes reverses the earth at the end of the 4 hours, screen test included etc. This version has the best STORY for obvious reasons)
  3. Superman Epic Alternate cut (This is the Lester version, Paris, Niagra falls jump, hand in fire etc.)

All three versions are valid and necessary in my opinion. All three versions will eventually come with an EXTENDED CUT (making a total of 6 versions) but I'm not too concerned with that right now. No disrespect to any editors, especially my fellow superman brothers but I honestly think fans usually make a mistake with editing these specific Christopher Reeve movies by trying to make a hybrid of everything and I just haven't seen it work to my preferences hence my three versions. I always feel like editors are trying to force a square peg into a round hole so I just embraced each version and let it be what it is. Let the viewer pick what they want to see. The Superman Epic Alternate cut (LESTER, Paris scene etc) is my least favorite but it's still good. Also, since I've been sitting on this for 2 years now I think it's pretty cool that whenever I break out this Superman Epic I have options of which one I'm in the mood for.

Cover Art will be up soon (it has to be approved). I'll be sending out a version to be previewed sometime this month and it'll be released after I get feedback and make any final changes/updates which should be minimal.
 
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Nothing flashy here. I like the simplicity. It's inspired by the more serious cover of the Donner cut but I certainly didn't want to copy that. I like the black background as it represents a more serious tone of the edit. I like the simplicity of having JUST the "S" logo and nothing else. Plus the contrast with the silver/black is cool. The Donner cut of S2 is my favorite film (Kinda...now my edit here is my favorite but you get the point). Back in 2009 when I stumbled across the Donner cut in my local store I was hooked immediately. I loved the the cover and all it represented. The version you've never seen before...I was intrigued. When I went home and watched it I was blown away. It's a pretty straight forward cover but that's why I like it. I may try to tweak it later but again....I'm simple guy and this works for me just fine.

 
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This is the first trailer I ever made. it's simple. I'm gonna have to learn to make kick ass trailers like all you guys make. Don't worry though, the edit is better than the trailer. This is actually a year or two old now I think but it's better than nothing.

vimeo.com

Supes trailer2

trailer
vimeo.com vimeo.com
 
So I've got an idea. Did you guys ever break out one of your blu ray's and watch deleted scenes with commentary by the director where they go over why this scene worked or didn't work or why it was cut etc.? I think that stuff is usually pretty interesting. I've had this SUPERMAN EPIC on my plate for a few years now. I've got a lot of opinions on the proper way this film should be released so I was thinking about making my own mini commentary on select scenes. What do you guys think?? I guess the only downfall would be that I'd be spoiling my own movie or spoiling the tiny things that make this edit unique. Maybe it's silly because, who the heck am I?? On the other hand maybe some other Superman fans would dig it, or at the very least they'd understand where I was coming from and appreciate that i put a lot of thought into what scene should be applied to what version for what reason etc. I'm sure fan editors will tackle these films for years to come so it may be worth documenting. I don't know, just throwing it out there... What do you guys think?
 
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PanteraSteel said:
So I've got an idea. Did you guys ever break out one of your blu ray's and watch deleted scenes with commentary by the director where they go over why this scene worked or didn't work or why it was cut etc.? I think that stuff is usually pretty interesting. I've had this SUPERMAN EPIC on my plate for a few years now. I've got a lot of opinions on the proper way this film should be released so I was thinking about making my own mini commentary on select scenes. What do you guys think?? I guess the only downfall would be that I'd be spoiling my own movie or spoiling the tiny things that make this edit unique. Maybe it's silly because, who the heck am I?? On the other hand maybe some other Superman fans would dig it, or at the very least they'd understand where I was coming from and appreciate that i put a lot of thought into what scene should be applied to what version for what reason etc. I'm sure fan editors will tackle these films for years to come so it may be worth documenting. I don't know, just throwing it out there... What do you guys think?
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I don't think it'd be spoiling anything if people are watching it after they've seen your edit, but you would risk people skipping your edit and just watching those specific scenes instead.

Either way, I say do what you want and, if people engage with it, great, if they don't, that's fine too. I suspect most fan-editors put all the time and effort into their stuff because they need to do it for themselves, not for anyone else.
 
Bored at 3:00AM said:
I don't think it'd be spoiling anything if people are watching it after they've seen your edit, but you would risk people skipping your edit and just watching those specific scenes instead.

Either way, I say do what you want and, if people engage with it, great, if they don't, that's fine too. I suspect most fan-editors put all the time and effort into their stuff because they need to do it for themselves, not for anyone else.
Click to expand...
thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it.
 
Hey mods, doesn't this thread get moved to another forum after an edit has been submitted?? It doesn't really matter, I'm just curious.


Minor update. The Lana Lang scene has been removed but it may show up again in an alternate version (stay tuned for more versions of this fan edit. see above)

PanteraSteel said:
Rough change list
  • a little more Lana Lang - DELETED
  • More Lois Lane
  • More Christopher Reeve
  • More Marlon Brando
  • More Ursa
Click to expand...
 
SUPERMAN EPIC is available now.

I hope people like it but I'm also realistic about the fact that I made some (or one) editing decisions that I know most Superman fans will dislike but I'm curious if I'll be able to win anyone over.

Superman Epic as Originally Intended is the next fan edit ((check the in the works thread). That'll likely be available in the next 90 days. I just want to wait and see what kind of response I get to this first version. From there I will adjust accordingly.


I welcome any and all feedback. I welcome constructive criticism and brutal honesty. If anyone that got a link finds that they hate this edit or there's technical issues please just tell me. NO HARD FEELINGS. At this point, after close to 3 years, I need another set of eyes to tell me what's good, what isn't good etc.
 
velcro87 said:
Superman Epic as Originally Intended; now that sounds like it'll be worth the wait.
Click to expand...
Superman Epic as originally intended has the best story arc for Kal El. The way the Donner cut of II was put together people didn't really get to fully experience the original story or original reverse the earth ending properly in my view. SUPERMAN EPIC, which is available now, may be the more entertaining film because it has the scream during the emotional moment at the end of Superman The Movie when Lois dies. It's a bummer to take that scene out of the movie but it's necessary if we want to tell the original story properly.

Superman Epic - Slightly more entertaining
Superman Epic as originally intended - Slightly better story.

That's how I see it and honestly when I watch the films, I usually just rotate back and forth. It's nice to have options that are both excellent. I love both versions.
 
Dwc1982 said:
This really looks brilliant and like a fantastic project.
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It was a fun project. There's been dozens of requests already, which is cool....and a little surprising to be honest. I'm hopeful people enjoy it. With a little luck I'll get some feedback and make it even better.

Superman Epic as ORIGINALLY INTENDED will be released next.
 
I watched this. It was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed - I watched the entire thing in one sitting other than a break for food. I have also posted a review where PanteraSteel and others can read my thoughts - I hope my comments on the audio or visual quality don't sound a little harsh. After all it's unfair to compare a 5.5 gb file approx to two films on separate Blu Ray discs. As I say in the review, the average has been brought down a little by the 8/10 score in the audio/visual category, but I make clear that the overall score would be higher for me if it wasn't an average.

Great effort PanteraSteel and I appreciate all that you and other fan editors do.
 
Dwc1982 said:
I watched this. It was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed - I watched the entire thing in one sitting other than a break for food. I have also posted a review where PanteraSteel and others can read my thoughts - I hope my comments on the audio or visual quality don't sound a little harsh. After all it's unfair to compare a 5.5 gb file approx to two films on separate Blu Ray discs. As I say in the review, the average has been brought down a little by the 8/10 score in the audio/visual category, but I make clear that the overall score would be higher for me if it wasn't an average.

Great effort PanteraSteel and I appreciate all that you and other fan editors do.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the kind words. That's fair criticism and I addressed it a little bit in the review page. I appreciate you taking the time to leave a review.
 
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