Superman Redeemed

This was one of the first, maybe the first fan edit I ever watched. Editing two movies together is not easy, but this is one of the best examples of doing it successfully. I remember reading that the editor painted out Richard Pryor from at least one shot, so this went above and beyond. I don't want to lower the rating just because this is a DVD-only release. That was the popular format at the time. I don't think I noticed any egregious sound or visual problems. Narratively it does not fully work as characters disappear and come back with too much time in between. The story doesn't have a full arc as a normal script would have. It does feel a bit like a mash-up, but that is to be expected. For what it is, this is a pleasant way to watch Superman 3 and 4 without the cheese. It's a classic fan edit.

A tremendous bit of alchemy, this is exactly what fan-editing is all about. Somehow smashing together the best parts of the worst Reeve Superman movies has yielded this excellent new climax to the series (get outta here, Superman Returns!). Others have covered the seamless melding of the Nuclear Man plot with the hallucinatory meltdown of Clark/Superman in the junkyard, but needless to say, it enhances everything all around, and provides a welcome insight into the character through pure action -- which should be the goal of every superhero movie!

And, blasphemous as it may sound, I've always been a Clark/Lana guy, so to have Clark end up with his childhood sweetheart (played to perfection by Annette O'Toole) at the close of this series (after his disastrous brief relationship with Lois in the second film) feels organic, earned, touching and like a full circle to this entire franchise. And the arc that Superman goes through in this movie, both in his personal and global struggles, feels completely fitting and like he has acheived the wisdom that his hologram father unsuccessfully tried to impart in the first iflm.

As an edit that's nearly a decade and a half old, there are some technical glitches to be sure: scene transitions flicker and glitch a bit, there's inconsistency between the quality of scenes from time to time, and the battle on the moon still looks painfully fake, all of which seem like problems that could be alleviated by a fresh pass by ADM or another gifted editor. But regardless of technical quibbles, "Redeemed" now has a permanent place in my collection behind Superman The Movie "Up, Up and Away Edition" and Superman II "The Expanded Richard Donner Cut" as the tight, consistent trilogy that Christopher Reeve's flawless Superman portrayal undoubtedly deserves.

As someone who hasn't watched 3 or 4, I came in with no bias.
I thought that the fact ADigitalMan edited 2 movies together it would be noticeable. It was actually the opposite. The 2 movies worked together seamlessly. I had to search up what parts he took from both movies to understand what he edited. Overall, pretty good edit. I recommend it to anyone who wants to rewatch the Christopher Reeve movies.

I got this edit awhile back to watch after Son of Jor-El. I figured cutting the 4 films into 2 might be a good 1-2 punch of nostalgia. Unfortunately, my nostalgia was the strongest element of these films.

Look, Christopher Reeve was phenomenal. Donner had a good take on Superman as well. With movie sensibilities evolving since the 80s, and with the MCU having developed especially, these old superhero films just don't hold up well. The writing, the plot, the tone, a lot of the music cues, the performances... there are so many elements that go into the cheesy, overly-performative style of an 80s goofy-yet-lovable screwball adventure. I remember it really working for the time, especially in the first film, but it just seems ridiculous now.

This is no fault of the fan-edit. The video looks about as good as most from the 80s, and the audio is pretty good for the most part, with edits mostly smooth. In terms of the footage that was selected for this film, it's probably most of the best parts of the two movies. I actually did really miss some elements of Superman III, (I LOVE Robert Vaughn in anything) like the mechanized deathtraps and a few Pryor bits. But the bits that were selected make a story that's better than either the theatrical version of Superman III or IV. That said, "you can't polish a turd"... it's just still so terribly problematic. Changing the orbit of the moon? Governments willingly shooting all their missiles into space? C'mon. Also, the narrative bits just don't really have time to breath, so time compression and pacing of subplots stick out as issues. The action bits between are fun, but those 80s effects are just horrible now. They don't age endearingly like old Harryhausen stop-motion.

All in all, if you're a huge old Superman fan, maybe this will give you your fix. Or if you want to show a Superman film to your kid, this might work. But it doesn't really hold up next to MCU films, and no faneditor can fix that. Admirable effort by ADigitalMan, however! He did as good a job as possible.

I thought this edit was alright, but I just couldn't get into the edit. I swear the aspect ratio changed a few times and other minor annoyances kind of ruined the edit for me.