Spider-Man: Hero Within

This was a pretty good edit. It's not perfect, but it's enjoyable.

Quality - A/V Quality is excellent. 10/10

Visual Editing - There were some awkward edits (a few dissolves that felt out of place and a couple cuts that stood out a little bit), but they weren't "deal breakers" for me. There was some really spectacular things done with the editing as well, such as the footage used from Spider-Man 3 and all the extraneous characters that are cut out perfectly. 7/10

Audio editing - There were 2 transitions that stuck out to me, but it's not like you raped my family or anything. 9/10

Narrative - This is the real interesting part to me here. When I first watched the workprint I was irked by the flow of the story, as we spend so much time setting up Spider-Man's origins without introducing the villain until half way in. But it's kind of how Amazing Spider-Man is structured, in that the villain's story seems like an afterthought. And in a way it's almost like how Batman Begins in structured (spending majority of time on pure origin and then halfway through get to the bad guys). Watching it a second time, this didn't bother me and I was able to get more into the story at hand. 8/10

Enjoyment - I love Spider-Man 1 & 2, so it was easy for me to really enjoy this edit. 9/10

Recommend? If you're a fan of the Spider-Man movies I think you'll like this take on the story. But if you're a stickler for perfection the flaws may stick out more for you.

I had the pleasure of watching Spiderman: Hero Within last night, and although the technical details are just about perfect, the narrative was a slight disappointment, but more on that later.

Audio/Video Quality: Looked spectacular 10/10

Visual Editing: Generally great, but the sudden dissolve about 51 minutes in is too quick and was a momentary distraction. Same goes for a similar transition at the 14 minute mark, when it dissolves from Peter web slinging for the first time to him walking home. Again, it feels fanedited and wasn't convincing. Those were the only problems I saw with the visual editing, the rest was amazing! 9/10

Audio Editing: Just about perfect! 10/10

Narrative: The first half hour was great, with a more focused origin story, but once Spiderman shows up (Excellent use of the crane sequence from Spiderman 3) the plot kinda wanders around for awhile until Doc Ock appears. In fact, after the first half there just wasn't really a consistent pace until the climax. I liked the new ending very much, but there wasn't much closure to the storyline however.

Those gripes aside, I can say that the deletion of the overwhelming cast of useless side characters and subplots made this much more watchable. Nearly all the corny humor has been chopped (With the exception of J.J. Jameson), which makes for a darker and more serious film. Thankfully, the romance has been drastically simplified, which again works stronger than it did in the original. 8/10

Enjoyment: Overall this is a solid and very original Spiderman edit, but the pacing during the second half was rather off-putting. STILL HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! 8/10

Audio/Video Quality: 10/10
Visual Editing: 9/10
Audio Editing: 10/10
Narrative: 8/10
Enjoyment: 8/10

A/V: Mostly no problems here. Spider-Man 1 is cropped so that it matches footage from 2 & 3. There were one or two video fades, and several times where the audio faded out too quickly. Otherwise, most of the cuts were unnoticeable.

Narrative: This is essentially an expansion of Spider-Man 2 which supplements the story with footage from 1 & 3, whilst eliminating the love triangle stuff and Green Goblin. Although I feel even more could have been cut, this edit works quite well as a standalone film, containing Peter Parker's origin and a single main villain. It also fixes the Mary Jane plotline significantly, and even teases Venom at the end. There's also a pretty hilarious extra in the DVD.

I encourage fans of Spider-Man 2 to check this one out.

this edit for me is both rewarding and frustrating, it's a great idea in combing both spider-man films and for the most part is executed really well. the removal of the goblin as the villain is done brilliantly not once does it effect the edit especially when we get to spider-man 2 and harrys vendetta against spider-man.

i liked the way doc ock isn't introduced until an hour into the film, it gives us the chance to focus more on peter parker and his transformation rather than skipping back and forth from hero to villain. the flow between spider-man 1 to 2 is done well it wasn't obvious that one film had finished and another had began.

however they are many problems i had with the edit one being when doc ock returns to the train. when doc ock announces to mary jane that spider-man is dead my first reaction was when did this happen. given the encounters they've had with one another during the film spider-man wouldn't have been killed by doc ock by hitting him on the head. it would have played out better if doc ock just per-summed spider-man had died when he fled from the train as it was about to crash.

it's one of the main problems i had with the edit as i feel a few scenes weren't warranted, at just over 2hours it felt a little leggy at times. as overs have said the relationship between peter and mary just seems a little off and this is one of the important parts of the edit.

peter making-up with aunt may would have been better if moved to the end, i felt not enough time had lapsed from aunt may being heart broken by peters confession. it would have been a nice way of wrapping up the film

as others have said the inclusion of the spider-man 3 clip didn't work, not because it introduces us to gwen stacy but because it wasn't to long ago that peter parker was struggling to control his web slinging but now he's making a big entrance (almost showing off) i feel it would be best showing spider-man taking out street criminals and build-up to a more confident spider-man.

overall i felt that they was too much plot going on what with him becoming spider-man, having to face off against doc ock and being in love with mary jane. it would have been more challenging to remove the story in which peter loses his powers, for me it over complicates the edit. the first 30mins they are a few transitions that didn't work and i really agree that the film needed humor.

this is an entertaining fanedit but for me the negatives out wayed the positives but given the general favourable reviews and it's fanedit of the month status i know i'm in the minority here.

Why did I not watch this one sooner?

G1's Spidey was Spectacularly and Amazingly Entertaining!
I can easily see why this edit won FEOTM. While there are some minor technical things here and there (as other have mentioned in other reviews), I found them easily foregivable as the story moves at such a great pace and is restructured enough that it feels fresh and new.

And I did not realize it until the edit the was over -- NO NORMAN OSBORN!?!?!
It hit me like a ton bricks at the end! I was having such a good time, I did not even realize he had been cut. This is an incredible piece of editing in my opinion since this character haunts and shapes the entire original Spidey trilogy. Great work G1!

If I were to nitpick, I would have liked a better sense of a passage of time. I think a montage or two may have assisted with this, particularly in moving Peter from High School to University to his life in the city. Also, I am not certain Peter losing his powers fit with the over all arc in this version. It felt too soon for that drama, though I would have definitely keep the courtship scenes. And as others have pointed out, I would have to agree the final Venom tease would have worked better as a post credit teaser.

But as I said above, G1 has crafted such a wonderfully fun and engaging story, expertly choosing the best parts from the trilogy, that any shortcomings are, for the most part, very easy to over look.

It is a fun popcorn ride! Thumbs Up!