Man Of Steel: Recut

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.

Thank you AViD! :]X

WOW.

When I first saw Man of Steel, I hated it. I've seen it again since, and wasn't as annoyed by it, but I still had issues with the story and Zack Snyder's penchant for blowing up everything he possibly can for the sake of it. I also wasn't confident that simply rearranging the story would do very much, but man am I eating those words now.

I love this edit. Any problems I had with it were problems I already had with the original film, but most of those were fixed for me with this cut. The movie feels very natural now, and a lot more of the beats work for me this time around. Nice work.

Before Man of Steel came out in theatres, I was really hyped up about it. I thought it was going to be an incredible movie. But when I went to see it, I was severely disappointed because it had so much potential, but just fell short because of poor decisions made by the filmmakers. The most significant of those choices, in my opinion, was the sporadic flashback structure they used. The non-linear narrative prevented me from being able to relate to the protagonist because I couldn't get a feel for what it was like for him to grow up with his powers. The non-linear approach also made me think that the studio didn't have faith in young Clark being interesting enough for audiences.

Avid 4D's edit completely fixes this problem (as best as possible, given the source material), giving us a true Superman origin story. The entire first half of the movie played out like a movie about a hesitant/lost boy with extraordinary abilities trying to come to terms with his unique powers that he had from a very young age. I think this is the perfect approach to a Superman origin movie, as it is one of the major aspects of Superman that sets him apart from other superheroes. This linear approach allowed me to empathize with young Clark much more so that when he eventually chose to don the costume and reveal himself to the world, it felt more natural.

I thought it was very bold of Avid 4D to place the Krypton scenes in the middle of the movie when Clark meets the hologram of Jor-El. A bold move that works exceptionally well. I like that we, the audience, meet Jor-El and learn about Krypton for the first time, just as Clark does. This further contributes to allowing us to relate to Clark and feel/know what he's going through. (Also, I thought the quick shots of Kal-El's mother giving birth to him during the opening credits were fantastic)

I also felt that the movie was slightly shorter (in a good way), but I couldn't really tell where things were edited out. I never felt like anything was missing.

Assuming I had the talent that Avid 4D has (which I definitely don't), the only thing I'd try to improve upon is removing a lot more cheesy/cliche things. I would have removed Superman and Lois kissing (to be honest, I'd try to find a way to reduce Lois' screentime in general. She was somehow everywhere!), and I would have removed the small subplot of Jenny getting stuck beneath a bunch of debri. I would have removed the small rivalry between Chris Meloni's character and the badass female Kryptonian (I hated the "A good death is it's own reward" line). I would have tried to make Pa Kent's death scene way less lame. Etc.

Overall though, I think this is a fantastic edit that I now recommend to people to watch instead of the theatrical cut of Man of Steel. Thank you very much Avid 4D.