Spider-Man: The Unaired Pilot

Updated
spidermanpilot
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie Title:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2002
Original Running Time:
121
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
41
Time Cut:
80
Time Added:
1
Brief Synopsis:
In early 2000, Sam Raimi was approached by Columbia Pictures to direct and produce a TV Pilot for a new series based on the popular Marvel comic book character Spider-Man. After a series of script drafts, the pilot was cast with a few big names and filmed in late 2001. Ultimately, the pilot was passed on and locked away in Columbia's vaults, and was not released in any form officially, but a VHS tape was passed around after the production was complete, in the form of low-generation bootleg VHS tapes.

Presented here for the first time as a high quality VHS copy, it's the unaired pilot of Spider-Man: The Series!
Intention:
I wanted to take the opening act of the first Raimi Spidey film and present it as a standalone early 2000s TV Pilot that was never picked up. A few of the cheesier moments are gone, along with all of Norman Osborne and the Green Goblin, to keep the focus on a teenager and the changes his body goes through as the becomes the hero we all know and love.

Just to clarify, this isn't a real lost pilot, but a fun mix of the 2002 film to be presented as a lost pilot.
Additional Notes:
Both the DVD and VHS copies are avalible, although my preferred version is the VHS personally.
Other Sources:
Spider-Man (2002) Full Screen DVD - I chose the 4:3 DVD over the 1.85:1 Blu-Ray as I felt the DVD has more of a TV feel reminiscent of the era.
Release Information:
Digital
Editing Details:
I edited the pilot together normally through the DVD, cutting things here and there until I ended up at a TV Episode length I was happy with. After that was over, I added the details, like a warning screen, title cards, credits over the first scene, and a new end credits sequence. I rendered a copy and had run it through my VCR, putting the edit onto a physical tape to give it that bootleg feeling, and then captured the tape again, doing some minor tweaks to alter the extreme colouring the tape ended up with.
Cuts and Additions:
- New studio logos (Screener warning, Columbia TV and Marvel)
- Opening credits are now over the bus scene instead of the web sequence
- Cut Harry and Norman's intro outside the science excursion
- Cut "Or his father will fire your father"
- Cut Peter moaning like a sex pest while taking MJ's photo
- Cut scene of Norman at Oscorp with the General telling him he has a deadline
- Cut scene of Norman giving himself the Goblin serum
- Cut Pete following MJ and talking to himself
- Cut scene of Norman waking up and discovering the scientist was killed
- Cut Pete's backflip during the Flash fight
- Cut MJ's "Help him Harry?"
- Cut Flash's croney's "He's all yours"
- Cut a shot of Pete jumping over an alleyway as the shot is repeated twice
- Cut scene of Norman looking at the Daily Bugle
- Cut the graduation scene
- Cut the talking heads in the Spider-Man montage
- Some new score in the montage
- Added "Spider-Man" title to the end of the pilot
- Custom credit sequence
Opening 2 Minutes

User reviews

3 reviews
Overall rating
 
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.7(3)
Audio Editing
 
8.3(3)
Visual Editing
 
9.0(3)
Narrative
 
10.0(3)
Enjoyment
 
10.0(3)
Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
6.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Aside from creating a ton of excellent fan-edits, one of Bobson's great accomplishments might be getting me to actually like the Sam Raimi Spider-movies. I had grudging respect for aspects of the Michael Chabon-penned "2" but I'd written off "1" and "3" as both being corny, over-stuffed messes.

And while time and critical opinion and memes have been very kind to that trilogy (and if anybody hasn't watched BD's "2.2" and "3: Enemy Within", they kick ass), 1 *does* still feel like a bit of a self-parody of a superhero movie and a relic of a bygone age before the lesson was learned that you don't necessarily have to do the hero's origin AND the biggest villain in the same movie. As such, this edit is less "The Unaired Pilot" and more "Spider-Man: The Amazing Fantasy 15 Cut." Spidey's origin is a big enough story, inarguably the best superhero origin and doesn't need to be muddled up with Norman Osborn's cookie-cutter "mad scientist experimenting on himself" plot that Willem Dafoe managed to elevate to Power Ranger kabuki theatre, bless his creepy heart.

This story doesn't need a villain -- Spider-Man's first and most powerful nemesis is himself, and this edit proves it. The fact that it comes wrapped up in retro-faux-lost-media charm only adds to its greatness.

My only qualm (and I've been in contact with Bobson about this) is that there is a drop in audio for a few minutes in the middle. As I understand a revised version of this edit is in the offing, I look forward to updating this review to give it a full 10/10. Truly unmissable.
R
Top 10 Reviewer 156 reviews
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
The lost pilot. I too was "tricked" by the title. When I saw it I racked my memory to think if I had ever watched it. All I could remember was the 1977 (I think) and the toon from the 60s (loved it). For me this is very entertaining with both the look and the feel of an actual TV pilot. The introduction of characters and such. A great setup for a series. I keep checking the TV listings for a second episode. Will it air??? As with my other reviews I look to fan edits for pure entertainment. I am a fan not an editor. There are enough here who can give reviews on the nuance of the films and editing process. I look forward to watching other edits from Bobson

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 1
Overall rating
 
8.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
7.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
7.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
(This review will focus on the VHS version)

When Bobson first announced this project...I admit, I bought into it, I thought he'd discovered something lurking on the 'lost media' wing of the internet and wanted to edit it, but no, turns out this miraculous little thing was of his own design, and boy did he commit to it.

This project shows a considerable range of Bobson's talents and deep love of retro medium. Here he puts together an edit with all the trademark tropes of the VHS tape...bad tracking, jumpy screens, hazy quality, see what happens when you don't take care of your tapes folks? What would have really made my day is that at some point, you find some bum has taped over whole sections of the movie with an episode of a regular tv show, but maybe that would have taken someone out of the immersion.

The attention to detail on how pilot tapes are constructed is also pulled off superbly. If you scour the internet you can find plenty of legitimate pilots that have the same kind of detail before and after the presentation that Bobson obviously took influence from, it is not only entertaining, but informal if you've never seen how one of these things go.

The edit moves at a brisk pace and ends at the right moment, you could technically make a whole mini-series out of this film in the same format and I'd keep coming back for more.

If you're requesting this edit from him, please ask for this version if you can, it's a great insight into the kind of world fans of a previous generation enjoyed their movies, as well as a great insight into a side of television presentation that only bootlegs and leaks over the years have provided for us,

Keep swinging.
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