Superman Redeemed

Excelent Edition, Very Creative, I just did not like it a bit were the opening credits.
Congratulations.

You will believe a sequel can not suck! (plot spoilers ahead)

The original Superman III was a SERIOUS misfire, and Superman IV was execrable. Now can you fix them?

By removing the lame subplots and sticking with the comic-book action! On its own merits, this movie would be rated a 6-7, but compared to the originals this is an amazing accomplishment! Starting with the S3 Smallville plot, we have an amazing restored scene of Otis & Ms. Tessmacher springing Luthor from prison. His S4 plot for creating Nuclear Man unfolds slowly, and is very well paced. Adigitalman pulls off an audacious coup when he includes the Paris H-bomb scene (removed from his excellent S2 edit) as the trigger for Superman's "Quest for Peace".

But ADM's eye for story connections hits its zenith when he makes Nuclear Man's poison wound (S4) the cause of Superman's heel turn (S3). This is inspired storytelling, and it makes these two movies a single story that serves as the fitting finale that Christopher Reeve deserved.

ADigitalMan's Superman edits! I love them! All of them! I have been watching and rewatching them since their original release back in 2007. More polished, ambitious and complex fan edits of the Superman films have come since then, but these ADM edits still remain my personal favorites.

For me, his greatest achievement was SUPERMAN REDEEMED. Taking the best elements from Superman III and IV, and crafting a fully new narrative that actually works very well. Is it perfect? Not at all, it suffers in some areas, requiring the audience to takes some leaps in faith and logic, but any weakness are overshadowed by it's originality and cleverness.

Back in 2010, I posted a review for REDEEMED in the Forum Thread, but I realized I have never posted an official review on the IFDB. Here is what I said back in November 2010:

I was jonesing for some fun Superman Fan Edit action!
So last night I threw in my old copy of ADM's SUPERMAN REDEEMED
and was once again thoroughly entertained.

Many fan edits come and go;
you download them, watch them once
and then they sit on a shelf or in a box somewhere
never to be looked at again.

But ADMs edits I often find myself rewatching.
They are for the most part, simple straight forward cuts
(though there is some clever digital removal work done in REDEEMED)
or extentions, that focus on narrative continuity and entertainment value.
They are all very entertaining.

And in rewatching SUPERMAN REDEEMED, I could not help but once again reflect
what a clever idea this edit was....
taking the best parts of Superman III and IV, and crafting a fully new storyline.
And the very fact, it works so well!

This is not perfect edit but it is a highly enjoyable one.
One can not allow themselves to be distracted
by minor things like changing hair styles or slight weight changes,
but just let the new narrative to flow.

The merging of the Paris hydrogen terrorist bomb threat
with the nuclear disarmament storyline works exceptionally well.
The creation of the Bizzaro Superman subplot was very clever.

All in all, as I said, a fun Superman romp.

REDEEMED, along with SUPERMAN EXTENDED, SUPERMAN II HYBRID CUT and
SUPERMAN RETURNS, ADM has created a tight shared universe continituity.
You can now easily watch all four movies back to back
and believe they are true sequels to each other!

So if you are a SUPERMAN FAN
and have never seen the ADM Edits,
I highly recommend them!!!

THUMBS WAY UP!!!

ADM has saved these two movies. Masterful editing fuses a great Smallville plot with a pretty interesting nuclear arms story. Having the separation caused by the bad guy was brilliant. I love how we see so clearly that Lois loves Superman but Lana loves Clark Kent. The ending with the implication that Clark and Lana are engaged is great and made me very happy. The best possible Superman trilogy is the original theatrical, ADM's edit of 2, and this movie. When I feel the urge to watch Superman, ADM is who I go to.

Review by Batman Beyond — August 3, 2012 @ 1:26 am

*This rating was given before reviews were required*