Man Of Steel: Recut

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.

Thank you AViD! :]X

I really enjoyed this edit. The narrative makes more sense and we arrive at things as Clark does. The story feels more natural and it really adds some mystery to the film. I do agree that the opening credits were jarring, but nothing that ruins the film by any means. Perhaps if the flashbacks were more in time to the soundtrack beats?? Anyway, the video/audio had no problems that I could notice and it played fine for me. Well done Avid!

This was a good edit. The story flowed better overall. The viewer has an opportunity to connect with main character at the start of the film rather than having to wade through 30 minutes of back story.

The edits where logical except for the birth sequence in the opening credits. Not sure anything could be done about that in the type of edit you where going for.

All in all very enjoyable at least more enjoyable then the Theatrical version.

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.