Superman Resurrection

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Faneditor Name:
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Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1980 / 1983 / 1987 / 2006
Original Running Time:
503
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
118
Subtitles Available?
Available in HD?
Brief Synopsis:
Clark Kent must reconnect with his past in order to defeat the corruption of his own vanity as the Man of Steel. He must also stop the potentially world ending plot of Lex Luthor who hopes to rule mankind through manipulating the nuclear arms market and making an evil clone of Superman. Will Clark force the world into peace and become the very despot his father imprisoned on Krypton, or will he achieve victory though the humble small-town morals of truth, justice, and the American way?
Intention:
Two of my favorite movies as a 10 year old boy were Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. As I have matured, I have come to lament these two films. There are such beautiful gems in both films that are completely buried in a sea of boring, silly, and pointless things. For 15 years+ now, I have had the desire to try and salvage something good out of Superman III, as the corruption and subsequent redemption of Superman (crystalized in the junkyard battle) is still one of my favorite Superman moments across all media.

About 6 months ago I was introduced to Adigitalman's Superman Redeemed fan edit which is archived on this very site. I was blown away at the stroke of genius of marrying the plots and good moments from 3 and 4. Surprisingly, the two films fit together so well that they created NEW themes, seemingly from nowhere, that elevated both films past their original presentations. However, I was a little disappointed in the brevity and lack of character and story development that led to the great payoff moments. Therefore, I wanted to build upon what Adigitalman had already accomplished. This cut gives us a moment to breathe and contemplate Superman's turn to vanity and apathy which is catalyzed by the scratch from Nuclear Man in Superman 4.

So, with all that being said, I have edited together Superman 3 and 4 (with excerpts from Superman 2 and a few shots from Superman Returns) to create a pleasing and thematically rich film that actually focuses on the character of Superman/Clark Kent… unlike the failures of 3 and 4 which really seem to focus on plot points/messages/and extraneous characters slathered over by some very poor effects in the case of 4. To be 100% clear… I give full credit for the conception of this work to Adigitalman and his fan edit “Superman Redeemed.” The goal here is to more flesh out and fully realize his idea into a seamless film. Also, I have improved the visual and sound quality by sourcing the footage from a Superman 3 blu ray and Booshman’s color corrected Superman 4.

The ultimate hope is to restore a good final taste in the mouths of us Chris Reeve Superman fans when watching anything after the first two films. Also, I really wanted to give some closure to the Lois Lane and Superman/Clark Kent romance which was left hanging forever, sadly.
Other Sources:
I used several pieces of music from John Williams, John Ottman, Alexander Courage, and Ken Thorn from their respective Superman films. I would like to give a shout out to Gilles Nuytens on YouTube who makes fantastic extended versions of each film's main suite/theme.
Special Thanks:
To Artisdead and Inightmares for mentoring me through this whole project. If it were not for them, the edit would be quite inferior and it would exist only in my private collection. Thank you, gents! To Wraith for his inspiring Epic Cut and his great insight and work on my opening credit sequence.
Release Information:
Digital
Editing Details:
-Elimination of all subplots not directly related to Superman/Clark Kent in both films (Superman 3 & 4). This leaves two main plots that tie together pretty well with some help from the Paris H-bomb incident in the Theatrical Cut of Superman 2.

-Removed Characters that distract from the new plot such as: Ross Webster, Guss Gorman, Mr. Warfield, etc...

-Removed as many cringey components of the films as possible (Lacey in outer space, looney toons style elements of Lex's prison break from Superman 4, Nuclear man's levitation, reverse time, and bazooka melting powers).

-Borrowed Booshman’s color corrected edit of Superman 4 to try and improve the look of the footage.

-There are an almost uncountable number frame trims and cuts... as well as audio blends and L cuts to smooth over the transitions from one film to the next.

-I replaced several pieces of music throughout both the Superman 3 and 4 excerpts to help highlight some of the plot and theme differences in my cut.

-Thanks to the help and expertise of INIGHTMARES there is a beautiful upscale to the footage which heightens the visual fidelity... and also helps to soften the aging of some of the actors, as we are cutting to different films made over the course of basically a decade.
Cuts and Additions:
-Added new Opening Credit sequence which recaps the events of the first two films (a harmonized version of Superman The Movie and Superman 2 The Richard Donner Cut).

-Added title card that states the thematic thrust of the film regarding Superman's arc.

-Truncated Daily Planet scene to cut out any talk of Ross Webster and co. in III.

-Cut the details of Jimmy Olsen's fall/injury in the chemical plant fire (in III) so there is no mention of a broken leg, thus allowing him to appear walking later in the edit.

-Truncated Lex Luthor's prison break from IV to eliminate the whacky looney toons quality of it.

-Cut the dramatic first reveal of Superman from Superman II when Clark flies off to Paris. Since we have already been reintroduced to the man of steel in my edit, this feels redundant, and I've never been a fan of the transformation effect in said scene.

-Excised clips of Superman flying to save Lois in Paris from the Eiffel Tower to increase tension and remove some dated looking shots that I'm not a big fan of.

-Mashed together a bunch of broadcasts of world leaders/pundits talking about the increasing nuclear arms race from Superman IV cut to Superman flying through canyons (in III) as a transition to the school room scene with Jeremy in his class discussing the crisis.

-Cut out Nuclear Man goofily spinning Lenny around in Lex's Penthouse to reduce cringe levels.

-Essentially borrowed an exact replicated scene from Superman Redeemed (fanedit) where Clark is reading and contemplating Jeremy's letter to Superman and hearing the voice of Jor El adding some wisdom bombs.

-Recut and reordered audio of Jimmy Olsen talking to Jeremy outside the UN building to avoid any mention of "Mr. Warfield" in IV.

-Truncated the scene of Lana rebuffing Brad on the phone. I like the idea of wondering what her solution is until the reveal that she's Perry's new secretary.

-Eliminated the worst effect in Superman 4 (when Supes and Nukes first fight and fall off the building Lex is in). Instead of following their fight down the length of the building (in terrible green screen) and then watching a tiny Superman slide diagonally across the screen for no apparent reason, we hold on the broken railing for an extra second or two and then cut to Superman chasing Nuclear Man.

-Cut the Great Wall of China sequence short to completely remove the magical Superman fixit eye beams.

-Used pieces of a scene in IV where Lois lambasts the Warfields in the Daily planet and takes Superman's cape. This is now a quick exchange between Lois and Lacey transitioning us to Clark sick in his apartment since Lacey is wondering where he is, and Lois does not know. Lois is visibly upset, telegraphing that everyone knows that Superman was defeated.

-Since, in this cut, Superman is first made very sick by the Nuclear Man scratch, is saved by the influx of energy from the crystal power module given to him by his mother in his infant ship, I inserted an altered image of a Daily Planet newspaper showing that the world knows that Superman is in fact alive. This then cuts to his survival being celebrated by the town of Smallville at little Ricky's birthday he promised to attend earlier in the film.

-Truncated Luthor's hostile takeover of his crime syndicate for pacing and palatability.

-After Superman makes use of the energy module to survive the radiation poisoning scratch, I inserted a few altered shots of Superman Returns when Superman flies up to the sun in order to regain his energy. I used a portion of the evil Superman theme to accompany the imagery, broadcasting to the audience that this might not be an entirely good thing (since the sudden influx of crazy amounts of energy combined with this radical radiation poisoning corrupts his behavior and judgment). His sickness, while no longer fatal, has now become a corrupting agent within him. This is depicted in the subsequent evil Superman scenes from Superman 3.

-trimmed the ends of both times we see Superman acting upon (messing up and fixing) the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The full reactions of the Italian merchant are just too goofy.

-Added a fabricated 80's news broadcast playing from an off-screen TV over the scene of Nuclear Man waking up to the sunshine in Luthor's penthouse. I used real 80's news snippets found on YouTube and then sandwiched Vera's audio (Superman censured by the UN) from Superman III as the actual news story.

-Added poignant voiceovers to evil Superman's flight to the junkyard battle. Also added the eerie evil Superman theme to the background as well.

-Heavily cut down the Superman vs Nuclear man confrontation outside of Lex's Penthouse in the streets. Really detest a lot of the silly powers they gave to Nuclear man. I made it destructive and utilitarian to heighten the seriousness. I also had to remove any mention of "the woman" aka Lacey as she does not exist as that same major character in my edit. She simply functions as minor character and friend to Lois Lane (Co-worker at the Daily Planet).

-Completely recut the eclipse sequence after the moon battle to eliminate ALL of Lacey in space. I also used a different and far more epic piece of music from Courage's end title music (IV) since this is the climactic moment of the film. I also added a shot from earlier in IV of Nuclear man flying in space and added a matte to remove Superman's hands clutching at his boots. This fades out to give the impression of darkness overcoming Nuclear Man as Superman blocks the sun with the moon. Added a few appropriate sound effects as Nuclear Man loses power.

-Totally removed the diamond ring scene with Brad, Lana, Clark, and Ricky at the Metropolis Hotel, as it seems to imply a serious romance between Clark and Lana. In my cut I wanted that relationship to be a reminiscence of what could have been. In my edit, Lois is the main love interest.

-Truncated the final Daily Planet scene where Lois is introduced to Lana (Perry's new secretary). I removed "three week" from Perry's first line talking about Lois' vacation from the beginning of the movie (III) to keep the timeline ambiguous. The scene cuts away after Lana compliments Lois's writing. This is to avoid the whole gigantic diamond ring plot point. It also adds a "uh oh... is Clark going to end up with Lana?" question for the audience... only to be resolved in the post credit sequence.

-Added a new mid credit ("end credit") sequence at the end of the film that finally gives the Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder romance a satisfying conclusion. I used this as an opportunity for additional thanks/credits/acknowledgements. The flying sequence is also re-colored into a vintage sepia tone to punch up nostalgia and palatability. I made these additions for two reasons: there's simply no avoiding the fact that this sequence is just visually terrible. Specifically, the green/blue screening is horrendously done. By crushing all color into the tans, browns, and blacks at least the color loss in the characters isn't so off putting. And secondly, by adding some more credits for the eye to engage with, you don't ONLY focus on the bad effects. Hopefully, this sands off the rough edges a bit.
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Overall rating
 
9.2
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9.6(11)
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9.6(11)
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9.6(11)
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8.7(11)
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8.8(11)
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7.0
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7.0
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7.0
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7.0
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7.0
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7.0
Finally got around to watching this. So this is basically a remake of ADigitalMan’s classic Superman Redeemed fanedit with some great creative ideas.

First, the opening credits of the edit (which are overly long but seems to use the theme from Superman II I want to say, and maybe that was also just as long?) establishes itself clearly as a direct sequel to Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, complete with the “blank bullets” test-shoot scene, the “freedom of the press” line reading (no vocal in the credits of course), and turning back time. Would personally have preferred it if all of it were out and the recap was as general as it could be to allow for anyone to headcanon a different set of fanedits for SI and II, but ultimately it’s the editor’s choice to make this a straightforward sequel to an official release. No biggie.

Also, while the edits were mostly good, there were a couple of moments in the film where I thought the edit was abrupt, but nothing that took me completely out of the movie. Most of these won’t bother anyone; especially someone who isn’t looking for them.

The rest of my thoughts on the edit is that the execution is almost there, but something is missing. As others have stated it still feels like a Frankenstein’s monster of a movie (lol), but that’s no fault of the editor. And I think it’s definitely an improvement over ADM’s story—not that it was bad, but it only went insofar as being a fun Superman adventure. This edit allows for some more introspection. With the limited footage available it’s extremely hard to form a story with it—the Lana Lang stuff especially feels out of place this time. But with scenes like Lois visiting a sick Clark and emphasizing his feeling lost, and with more connective tissue with the plotlines, I feel like we’re super close to cracking this! The fight with Superman and Clark in the junkyard, unlike in the original film and Redeemed, is SCREAMING to say something thematic, but we’re not there yet it seems. But this got close, and that deserves commendation for such a hard task of making this kind of edit!

Some other notes I had…

A) Why is it 7 years later again?

B) Don’t know why you kept the Kryptonian sage repeatedly saying “betrayed” cornily, after the other gave a sick ass thematic line that almost ties everything together.

C) The early set up Deus Ex Machina of the redundant green crystal from SIV, while it allows for the very nice Smallville scene to play, bothered me for being here in this movie. It retcons the first movie and it’s function is annoying.

D) Connected to that, I don’t think I agree with the new flow of how evil Superman is born. So Superman gets scratched, gets sick, heals himself with the crystal, goes to Ricky’s birthday, but the radiation still has an effect so he turns into a douchebag? I guess it still works but I think it needlessly overcomplicates things, and I personally prefer ADM’s simpler way of Superman being directly affected by the scratch. I feel like my version would still have Lois bring back Superman’s cape as it’s a great, subtle scene, but I’d then transition to Superman starting to turning evil from the radiation. I think the worst this would do is confuse why he was sick before turning evil but it can easily be inferred that it was a rough night slash transformation process.

E) I would personally have made an effort to bring the events of these in line with Returns and (since it referred to events in these movies as well) Crisis (which I think Superman revealing he’s Superman to Lois again here helps with Returns, except for the fact that she forgot again? But that’s a Returns problem in the first place) but that’s totally a me thing that doesn’t matter at all lol.

F) The AI upscaling… I’m not a fan of it in general, as I’m a proponent of genuine grain and detail and its preservation, but I also couldn’t tell exactly where it’s been used (sparingly to fix some stuff vs. Widely) and how much, so I guess it really doesn’t matter since I didn’t notice, lol.

That’s all, great job on this! You got me thinking what I want to do with the 1978-2006 Superman films now! Maybe I’ll have my own take on III + IV at some point.
Owner's reply March 20, 2024

Thanks a lot for the detailed review. This one I found to be particularly helpful. I think there are definite blind spots for me on what works and what does not. In my head it all works pretty well, but as we know, what is received by the audience is very different. I have had a long time away from this edit now, and I do think there are things I would change (some of your suggestions are great), but also things I think we just get hamstrung into trying to cut these two films together. I have a slightly improved version of this edit in my personal collection which fixes some audio issues and injects more of Lex and Nuclear Man into the story so they don't just drop off into oblivion for the evil Superman section. But that being said, I cannot wait to see how the next person tackles this concept. I am super hopeful that, as you stated, someone will finally definitively crack this baby. Thank you very much for your review.

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Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
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9.0
Narrative
 
10.0
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10.0
Adigitalman created a great foundation with his amalgamation of Superman III and IV, but TheSpiedSniper has developed that take into a soulful experience, establishing more resonant characterization for all involved. Clark's journey to Kansas is made all the more personal with the inclusion of the farm scene from Part IV. His interactions with Lana are salvaged and now serve to confirm Clark's devotion to Lois by the end of the film. Lex's nuclear plot serves as a strong enough plot motivation, and TheSniedSniper has retained Adigitalman's brilliant choice to incorporate the Paris sequence from Part II that is otherwise missing from The Donner Cut. To conclude, this edit serves as a stellar follow up to Wraith's EPIC Superman edit and offers a fitting coda for Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent, that's only minorly minorly minorly marred by some cheap effects work from Part IV. Also, this has no bearing on my rating, but it's a shame that there's no way to incorporate the computer/transformation scenes from III without breaking the plot.

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(Updated: January 22, 2023)
Overall rating
 
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
A Digital Man's SUPERMAN REDEEMED is considered a fan edit classic by many. It was one of my first introductions to the concept of fan editing and made me fall in love with creative process.

This is a very nice HD update/expansion of ADM's Superman Redeemed.

While it uses the best elements of Superman III & IV, much like the original fan edit, it can not escape being a Super-Frankenstein narrative and requires a certain amount of goodwill by the viewer. For example, Lois is going to Jamaica for vacation at the beginning at the movie, but is present throughout the entire film but then talks about Jamaica in the closing scene.

But on the whole, a very entering and impressive watch. I thought the whole transition to Evil Superman was exceptionally well done and much improved over the ADM version. The Superman bathing in the Sun and Superman Lives newspaper headline was very clever.

The ending does feel a bit abrupt/awkward to me. I think I would have kept the Lex and Lenny scene and cut before Lois looks at Lana's ring. Also, I think the final Superman voice over about us all being one world would have played much stronger over the imagery of Kal-el flying above the Earth rather than restoring the Tower of Pisa. But I did greatly appreciated the mid-credit scene and going to black on the kiss.

A good remake of a classic fan edit.

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Overall rating
 
9.2
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10.0
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9.0
I can say for sure that this edit manages to elevate both movies, especially Superman IV, to more than the sum of their parts. I've heard it said that Superman III is a bad idea done well, and Superman IV is a good idea done poorly. Largely following the plot of IV while integrating the good parts from III is what this edit does, and it's a wise approach, I'm a believer, at least, in the concept.

I can't help but think, however, that the execution was a little too clunky and awkward in places. I think lifting the Eiffel Tower scene from Superman II, for example, is a mistake. Reusing the scene ultimately breaks continuity with the the theatrical cut, meaning you are can only watch this with the Donner Cut of II. And while I think cutting back and forth between III and IV works, the scenes from Superman Returns did not integrate well. I also believe the same establishing shot of The Daily Planet was used at least three times, which seemed a little clunky. The Lana Lang/Smallville scenes are nice, but they seem more a diversion than anything that actually contributes to the plot of the movie. I'd like to say they should be integrated better, but I don't exactly know how I'd go about doing it.

More tweaking and perhaps this fun experiment might just work. I love Superman III too much for this to ever replace it, but I can't say I wasn't thoroughly entertained by this edit.

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Owner's reply January 02, 2023

There is some great feedback here. You’ve given me a lot to think about. I will be experimenting for sure. Thanks again.

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Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
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10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
There is some fantastic buildup to the start of the movie with the way the Fanedit opening credit sequences naturally fade in and out followed by the custom opening summary which serves as a great way to bring viewers up to speed on the events of the previous two films without hindering the runtime, adding to this buildup are the custom opening credit calls which provide an insightful lens into the view of the world as if the viewer is seeing said world through the larger than life perspective of the Man Of Steel himself.

The use of J&L cuts effectively help to bypass and remove most of the superfluous subplots and comedic elements and what remains is a far more focused narrative that gives the Man Of Steel a much more defined and compelling story arc and thanks to the use of Topaz AI both films seamlessly join together like a completed puzzle piece and some examples of this perfect cohesion are the news broadcasts utilised during Film 3’s mountain scene that effectively transition to the main crisis issue of Film 4 expressed during the classroom scene.

The second instance would be how you combined the sickness of Nuclear Man with his kryptonite sickness or in the case of your edit the corrupting radiation poisoning ontop of the energy gain from the crystal module and the Nuclear Man scratch with all ultimately tying that organic storytelling thread around protagonist and antagonist making there respective duels a lot more personal and thematic and I include the junkyard battle in this analysis as well and well that battle was already personal it’s newfound connection to the whole Nuclear Man scratch and sun’s energy amplifies the triumphant feeling of that duels conclusion.

The placement of what is now the mid credits scene serves as not only a great conclusion to the Christopher Reeves Superman saga but the key framing and transitioning from colour to sepia and from sepia to colour felt natural and not only provided that meaningful sense of nostalgia but also gave that feeling of a brighter future for both the people of Metropolis and of course Clark & Lois's relationship, though I do have a few nitpicks though there not about how the relationship was handled I think you utilised that aspect and scene really well.

There are two sound issues with the first feeling like the audio jumps a bit around the 1:10:10 to 1:10:11 hour marks and a sharp rise and drop in audio volume from the 1:10:53 to 1:10:56 hour marks, finally during the reunion dance scene there is a crotch gag that is a little on the cringey side but other than those little things I would honestly say that this is a huge improved over the theatrical cuts of these two films.

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