Spider-Man: Hero Within

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!

An interesting take on the films, seamlessly blended together. Unfortunately, the whole does not equal the sum of the parts – Hero Within is a weaker film than both 1 and 2 (although better than 3!).

It’s an action heavy film, with some great set pieces. Pacing is generally quite good. Editing is technically very well done, as is the sound. Visually and aurally it was excellent.
The structure of the film, the narrative, was quite clear, but the characters didn’t have room to breathe and grow. It was a bit action-movie-ish where the characters are secondary to the plot/set-pieces.

The ultimate problem is too much being packed into one film. Peter’s emotional journey is up and down and up and down. The love story gets abruptly forgotten along the way, and when we finally see MJ again after about 30minutes (in the café) there’s two seconds of dialogue before the action starts again. The love story ended up, therefore, having very little resonance.
The lack of love story also breaks Peter’s arc by removing the primary motivation for him losing his powers. There was very little time for us to see his pain in being apart from MJ.
Further, by losing the voiceover at the end of 1 we don’t ever really understand why Peter can’t be with MJ, which makes the separation aspect artificial.
There was also none of the pain of “Spiderman as menace” which is an additional motivation – and has a payoff in the train rescue.

Hero Within also lacked humour entirely, which I think was a mistake. It made the film overly serious, which doesn’t really fit the tone of Spidey.

On the whole, this was a nice idea, fairly well executed, but ultimately ended up being a decent film, rather than a great one. Spidey 2 is still the go-to film for Spidey fans, but this one is worth a spin just to see the films from a different angle.

I’ve always liked Sam Raimi’s Spiderman Trilogy. Refreshingly light hearted, well directed and generally very entertaining, they serve as a reminder to film makers making superhero movies today, that not everything needs to be as dark as Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy. Spidey 2 is undoubtedly the most impressive in my eyes, but the other two (yes, even the messy third chapter) have their moments too. So, the idea of an edit combining the beginnings of the Spiderman legend from the first movie, with the excellent Spiderman 2 was an exciting one.

Generally, it’s an edit which works very successfully. It breezes along, never outstaying its welcome and at just over 2 hours is a perfect length for this kind of combo edit. The key here for me is how natural the “hand-over” part of the edit feels; by that I simply mean the section when Spiderman 1 ends and Spiderman 2 takes over. I’m pleased to say, that g1orkatos executes it about as well as one could hope for. By having the Spidey 2 footage start after a montage of Parker using his new-found skills for the first time, it appears natural that some time has passed and that some of the characters look slightly different – it’s particularly noticeable for example that MJ has had a change in shade of red hair colour.

Also, the use of the thrilling crane-disaster scene from Spidey 3 works wonderfully well. It took me a moment to realise it didn’t actually come from Spidey 2, so seamlessly was it included into the edit. Excellent work there. Indeed, from a narrative point of view, Hero Within comes off as a huge success. Particularly impressive is the heartfelt material with Peter’s Uncle Ben, which because of the nature of Doc Octopus being a more intimidating and interesting villain that the Green Goblin, has more impact with acting as inspiration and courage for Peter to continue his plight as the webbed crusader. Okay, the romance between him and MJ still comes off a little too “school playground” for my liking, but overall the choices made in the edit to show the blossoming feelings between the two are nicely judged.

Technically g1orkatos also pulls out all the stops. The dual layered DVD version I saw looked great, with some nice subtle colour correction to match Spiderman 1 with the palette from the second film. However, the small amount of footage from Spiderman 3 did stand out a little bit, but I think that’s more to do with Spidey’s suit seeming a little darker. Nothing too distracting however. Audio too is very solid throughout.

So, a perfect edit then? Well, unfortunately not quite. A couple of audio transitions are not as smooth as they could be, which go hand in hand with some visual crossfades which bring a little bit too much attention to themselves. Of particular note is the abrupt fade/cut just as Peter is discovering his powers for the first time on the rooftop. Also worthy of note, is the final shot which hints at the forthcoming sequel. As others have said, it’s too short a scene to serve as the last shot of the actual movie… it would have worked much better as a “Marvel teaser ” at the end of the credits.

Overall however, this is an excellent edit and in truth is a perfect way to see Spiderman 2 as if it had been the first in the series. Bring on the sequel!

STUFF I LIKED:
- The way the first two movies were spliced together was quite extraordinary; very seamless indeed.
- The romance between Peter and MJ had a lot of focus and it was done very well.
- Pacing was very good; you definitely succeeded with the goal to make a properly structured movie with a normal runtime out of the trilogy.
- I loved that cliffhanger ending with the venom substance!
- Crystal clear video quality.

STUFF I DISLIKED:
- This is just a personal thing, but I do miss the goofiness of the trilogy. The jokey light-hearted tone was, for me, just part of why I like the series so much. Still, I understand removing the jokes for pacing reasons.
- I didn't like the Spider-Man 3 scene with Gwen that was added in. It felt like a weird way to introduce the properly-suited Spider-Man. The edit would have been fine without that scene.
- (Nitpick) Some of the cross-dissolve transitions were a bit distracting and didn't look very cinematic.

OVERALL:
This was a very ambitious edit; despite the fact that I like the series for its goofiness I could at least see what you were trying to do with it, and so for the most part Spider-Man: Hero Within was a very enjoyable watch.