Man of Steel: A Symbol of Hope

A solid example of little things making the difference. This isn't a radical reshaping of MoS. This is high quality, unobtrusive work which keeps the spirit of the movie, but takes away some of the baggage. My favourite part of this edit was actually the new titles. It's one of those things that adds life to a movie. I never liked having the prologue smash straight into present day. It has its own self contained 3 act short film, then the whole movie slows down and resets without ever stopping to seperate the 2 parts. it is also a nice reminder of the original movies' opening credits.
-The regrade gives the movie a consistently more inviting look, never apperaing oversaturated or ugly.
-I like hearing the Zimmer superman theme. It never feels out of place wherever it is used.
-All the little nips and tucks are welcomed, always pushing the film in a more heroic, or at least less aggresive direection.

A streamlined presentation, things that got in the way of people really getting behind a decent reinterpretation of the Superman legend. This is also, pleasantly, more of a sanitized edit too, with much of the foul language cut back so you can enjoy this edition with your kids. Present in many forms is the "hero" theme which is used in key sequences from the film, serving as a bridge between the father and the son, and allowing us to follow the generational journey. The film is no longer on a "mission to explain" either, the audience is allowed to think for themselves and follow the story on their terms. The final fight is also scaled back a bit.

This edit is made of steel and then some. A spirited glimpse into what can be gleamed from Cavile's potential as the last son of Krypton.

Now this was an edit I truly enjoyed. Some of the minor changes really help improve the narrative, even if relatively minor. These include Clark smashing the truck and satellite - both behaviors that really should be out of character for Superman lore and just diminish his character. The trimming of various fight scenes also helped smooth out some of the pacing issues this movie had because they would get needleslly dragged out.

I really enjoyed the additional soundtrack inserted throughout the movie to give certain critical moments extra emotional impact. This was a nice touch by the editor. The color correction also helped make things pop out in a more positive manner. You would also be hard-pressed to notice any of the cuts made. All new audio inserted was smooth and seamless.

Some of the minor narrative differences I had were the removal of Jonathan indicating to Clark he should not be saved and the removal of his scream after killing Zod. I felt those few seconds were critical into allowing the audience to understand Clark's raw emotions.

I want to thank the editor for sharing this nicely done edit with me. This will be the version that I intend to rewatch in the future.

First of all, I'm a huge Man of Steel and Zack Snyder fan in general. I follow the director since his first film and I have watched everything he's ever done ever since and most of those projects multiple times. They are not flawless by any means and certainly not all equal, but I love his style and his vision. Man of Steel is my favorite Superman movie. Henry is awesome, the direction the same, the story is pretty great and the music and new superman theme was simply phenomenal. Be that as it may, the action on the third act was a bit too much, there are a couple of scenes that don't make sense, like Lois asking Clark to tell her the truth while he had revealed himself in the kryptonian ship like a moment ago, and the use of the excellent new theme was very very scarce.

TM2YC addressed the excessive action and the music part, while also making a few more changes, like the way Superman's father dies or cutting out the entire sequence of the nuclear attack on both Superman and Zod.

I watched the first version of the fanedit, which uses the theme in more scenes and I've got to say, with the exception of a couple, I really loved this! This should have been done from the beginning! The only two scenes that I found it was unnecessary was when they were talking about the world engine and the second is when Zod deletes the Jor El AI. Other than that, excellent use of the theme!!

When it comes to the trimming down action stuff, I think that I did not like most of the changes. The part with the nuclear attack, it shows to the audience that even from what seems certain death, because Superman is like a floating mummy in space, he can come back, something that makes more believable and digestible the fact that he returns from "actual" death in Justice League. From my point of view, it was a built up to that, to show people what he can do.

From the very first moment, I loved the whole action sequence in Smallville, so trimming down even a second of that is a minus for me. I understand the reasoning behind that, the fact that most people take issue with the level of destruction that happens during this movie, but for me, it is justified under the "reasoning umbrella" that Superman is still young and founding out what he can and can't do, and while he was doing that, he had to fight three "Supermen" that threatened earth. So, I think we can cut him a little slack. Plus, this was addressed in BvS, with a very angry Batman that wanted to kill him because of that, among other reasons.

Another thing I did not understand why it was cut out, was Superman screaming in pain and sorrow after killing Zod. I mean, Superman does not kill. Snyder wanted to make that abundantly clear, that Superman was 100% forced to do that and then, after the fact, show how much it affected him. This whole sequence was very very carefully planed and executed. So, Superman screaming, along with everything else in this scene, from my point of view at least, is a must include.

Finally, the change with the death of Jonathan Kent. Unfortunately, even though it was done really well, it did not work for me. It makes far more sense for his father to stop him and also, having Jonathan die in that blunt, abrupt way with the car, is not a fitting end.

Other than these issues, the edit was excellent, all the cuts were seamless and if someone hadn't watch this before, he would not know if anything was missing or that something feels off.

If you don't mind the specific missing action stuff and the way Jonathan now dies, and also you wanted more of this awesome new Supe's theme, then this edit is for you and will replace the original, I guarantee you that! For me though, I haven't decided yet, probably I will stick with the original but I'm not sure, I want to let this edit sink in a little more.

Thank you TM2YC for all your hard work and thanks to anyone who read my review!

The audio and video edits are seamless and very well-done. It removes the bad parts, like Clark's dad saying "maybe" he should have let the kids die, and the truck being destroyed. It's overall an almost perfect edit for me. I just wish the fight scenes weren't cut, especially the part where Faora-Ul quickly takes out a handful of soldiers with quick dashes. It was one of my favorite parts of the movie.

I think I am in the minority when it comes to Man of Steel in this aspect, though, because I don't have a problem with the destruction or fight scenes at all. It's actually my favorite part about the movie.

The regrading of the movie was great and the colors look a lot better than the official release. The scene in Krypton where General Zod and others are launched in the phallic shaped pods has a light flare overlay, and I didn't like the way that looked.

I would highly recommend this fan-edit to anyone who already enjoys Man of Steel, but might have a few gripes with it. This edit handles most of those.