Review Detail

6.5 2 10
FanFix August 14, 2012 2052
(Updated: September 11, 2012)
Overall rating
 
7.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
6.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
Review by molasar — March 23, 2010 @ 11:59 am

FanEdit Review by Molasar

Title/FanEditor: Superman III: The Supes V Supes Cut by WearneO

Prologue: Superman III is not a good movie. It’s a cartoon. But, it does feature the great junkyard battle between Evil Superman and Clark Kent and the gorgeous Annette O’Toole as Lana Lang. Pamela Stephenson’s portrayal of Lorelei Ambrosia is at once both sexy and nauseating. (She looks incredible but every time she speaks, I want to choke myself into unconsciousness. But that’s neither here not there.) This is a film ripe for fanediting. There’s a great story in there but it’s hamstringed by woefully underwritten villains and an unfunny lead performance from Richard Pryor. He looks lost. Anyway, WearneO has attempted to make something watchable (read: tighter, more focus, less humor) from this mess.

The Edit: Based heavily on Father Merrin’s Smallville Cut fanedit, WearneO has focused the story on Clark and Lana. The opening credit sequence is left intact but, personally, I like the titles. It’s the slapstick I can do without. WearneO has edited out much of the villains inane banter and that’s a good thing. There’s less Brad, too. Again, thanks WearneO. The cuts are seamless. I neither saw nor heard any jumps, no missed music cues, dialog, or sound effects. WearneO wanted a tighter, less humorous edit and he has achieved this. That’s not to say there’s no humor at all. Gus still has some goofy scenery to chew and the Leaning Tower of Pisa shop keeper still does his thing. Unfortunately, the villains are reduced to caricatures and their motivations are as deep as a Frisbee — but they weren’t that well-written in the first place. Richard Pryor’s dialog looks mostly improvisational and his character benefits most from this edit. He is important to the plot but he doesn’t have to be in every scene. My point: the shortcomings of the script are not WearneO’s fault. Top-notch editing (despite Father Merrin’s inspiration.) *****/*****

Image Quality: This film looks better than WearneO’s Superman II fanedit. It has better colors and clarity. On the downside, it exhibits jittery playback, especially in panning scenes. (This could be attributed to the PAL to NTSC conversion.) Overall, one gets used to it during the runtime. ***/*****

Audio Quality: Another 2.0 stereo mix. It won’t blow your skirt up but it’s fine. ***/*****

The DVD: Static menu divided into 18 animated chapters.

Overall Rating: ****/***** (not an average)

Epilogue: Some hot girls, a more serious tone and good editing make for a valiant attempt at salvaging a sinking ship. WearneO has made lemonade from lemons. Fans of Christopher Reeve’s Superman should definitely check it out.

Molasar has spoken.

Reviewed using Sony 51″ 16×9 RPTV with Oppo DVD player upconverting to 1080i via DVI and Onkyo 650 Watt 5.1 surround sound.
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