Man Of Steel: Recut

I have to be honest with you, when I first saw Man of Steel on bluRay it took me two sittings. Not that the movie was bad but I guess my expectations were very high. After watching it a few times I finally enjoyed it.
Coming into this edit I was intrigued by the fact the movie would go in more of a chronological order. I finally watched this edit and it BLEW MY MIND! Unbelievable editing from beginning to end. I watched this all the way through and kept my interest throughout. I like the fact the Krypton scenes were flashbacks in telling the story to Clark. Which was brilliant. This is topnotch stuff here. This will replace my other Man of Steel as my go to copy.
Video Quality was excellent, Audio was great, all the editing was brilliant. Narrative and Enjoyment exceeded my expectations. Great work Avid 4D, I'll definitely need to take pointers from you in fan editing. Provo!

PS: The opening credits were outstanding and didn't bother me or felt awkward to me.

Splicing the studio credits with glimpses of Lara giving birth felt awkward. I would rather it be kept like the theatrical cut except with a gradual fade-out as Jor-El looks down on the baby. There's a few odd frames that's all black with lens glare before we see Clark in the classroom. The transitions could be smoother in the early half of the movie.

Story-wise, the linear editing to the narrative made it easier to connect with Clark and the Kents. It also made the Kryptonians mysterious and intriguing when their past is explained. Placing the Krypton scenes within Jor-El's exposition to Clark was a good decision because it was repetitive in the theatrical cut, however I would rather the transition be subtle rather than an artistic effect. The edits in the latter half of the movie were very well-done. They felt natural and kept the scenes focused. Cutting down awkward dialogue made the script much better.

Overall, this edit made me like the movie more than before. It cleaned up rough edges while keeping the story and the majority of the movie intact. Sometimes simpler is better. Since the story itself isn't very complex, the linear narrative improved the viewing experience.

An excellent fanedit, that really improves upon the original. The decisions were sensible and enhanced the story; there was nothing that felt glaringly out of place.

The only small critiques I can offer is that the flashback sequence of Krypton takes too long; it's about 15 minutes long and could perhaps be cut out by removing that "genetic codex in Clark's DNA" subplot (since that doesn't get elaborated on and it's never suggested that Clark is going to renew the race somehow). Shaving just 3-5 minutes off that sequence would be very welcome.

Otherwise the edit is an excellent one, and easily replaces the incredibly dull original. Visually it could do with a colour regrade, like that achieved by Agent 9. If there is a Version 3 of this edit on the horizon, that would be a welcome change.

Otherwise a great work.

You can like it if you want, but that doesn't change the fact that the original Man of Steel is a terrible film. It's poorly edited, poorly blocked, poorly directed, and, in some scenes, very poorly acted (by otherwise talented people). And the story is threadbare. While many complained, I never minded the "Superman kills" aspect of the film -- I think the screenwriters show very clearly that this Superman is one lacking a moral compass. I felt, technically, it was a bad movie, and the writing incredibly juvenile.

This edit rectifies much of that. However, in doing so, it highlights several problems with the film one just cannot escape.

In telling the story of Clark more linearly, more classically, the early scenes of his life just become tedious. This isn't the fault of the editor (and, apparently, I've viewed a version where these scenes were cut down some). However, at least now they make sense -- in the original, these flashbacks were plopped in pretty randomly, with nary a connection to anything happening "now." So this edit alleviates that.

But there are still things which simply make no sense -- for instance, Clark's father going into a tornado to save a dog that Clark could've saved before anyone noticed. It didn't make sense in the original, and there's no way for it to make sense here. Is there a way around this nonsense in editing? I don't know. But it's a shame that it had to be included.

I had also forgotten how much of a retread the scene with Clark meeting his Kryptonian father was. In cutting the laughable scenes on Krypton at the start of the original movie, and inserting some of them as flashbacks in the "son meets father" scene here, it made Krypton more easy to digest. Sadly, things like the Codex, the flying dragons, and Jor-El inexplicably being an action hero were NOT dropped from this edit, and, as such, you're reminded of just how lacking in concept and direction the filmmakers were when it comes to Krypton, which is more than a little reminiscent of scenery from a 1970s issue of Heavy Metal.

After that, I admittedly lost interest and began skipping around. The story still holds together as well as it could. The death of Zod is in tact and, while it never bothered me that Superman killed Zod, the scene, like so many others in the film, just doesn't make sense (Superman had several options -- like flying upwards with him tow, covering his eyes, or perhaps the screenwriters could have had him discover his super-breath here). But the very last moments of the movie seemed more satisfying here, but that could be b/c I had zero recollection of them even happening in the original.

Narrative is a real problem spot for most fan edits in my opinion, and the fact that the narrative is still in tact, and even improved, says a lot about both the original film and the work of this Fan Editor.

Overall, if you're a fan of the original, but didn't like the willy-nilly storytelling, this edit'll work for you. Technically, it was VERY strong. IMO, it's far too much like the original. Hence a lower score on "enjoyment." Good work overall however.

As can always be expected from Avid4D, this was a really well-done edit. It made for a fresh experience with this film. Unlike many here, I did not have an issue with the flashbacks used in the original film, so I would not necessarily say that this version improved on the original, but it certainly didn't detract from it, and it made for an excellent way to revisit the film. That being said, I still have many issues with this film due to the complete disregard for Superman lore, but the point of this edit was to reorder the narrative, not repair the canonicity. And Avid4D most certainly succeeds with what he set out to do, as he always does. Thanks very much for this film. Oh, and one other reviewer said that he felt that the beat-up at the garage scene was unnecessary. I completely disagree. That scene was important as it featured Jonathan teaching Clark a valuable life lesson, and asking him what kind of man he wanted to grow up to be (a shining moment for Man of Steel's depiction of Jonathan Kent, who also thinks that Clark should let kids die, but I'll refrain from further ranting about that here). Anyway, well done film. Though I'd have to say, I'm a bigger fan of your The Superman trilogy. Anyone looking for more excellently done Superman edits, check out Avid4D's The Superman trilogy. The Superman of Krypton is a little slow, but the trilogy as a whole is superb and is definitely worth watching.