Superman Returned - A Tomahawk Re-Edit

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I decided to watch this after finishing Tomahawk's Incredible Hulk edit which I absolutely LOVED.

I have nothing to say technically- everything seemed to work very well.

Reinserting the deleted scenes made a lot of elements from the original make more sense- ie, where has Superman been, why does he greet his mother so creepily in the field, etc.

Like Billy, I am a fan of the original movie. The bold colors have always been one of the main things that I think gives the film the kind of unrealistically polished and ideal look that I think fits well with the Superman franchise. In this edited version, the colors have been greatly muted, due in part, I think, to make them fit with the Superman The Movie scenes that were added to the film. Though I understand why the change was made, ultimately I don't think it was the right choice.

The new opening fits way better. Removing as much unnecessary Lex scenes as possible is a huge plus, in my opinion. Little clippings here and there to extra characters were equally welcome.

Also like Billy, I think the cut to the rooftop scene was also a mistake. This was one of the best character moments in the entire film, and anytime we get to see Superman showing his true character (not just heroics), I can't help but feel we should see as much as possible. On that note, I also disagree with the removal of the ER scene. I think it was a pretty emotional scene because it lets the viewer see just what Superman *means* to humanity and how hard they want to save him. Also, I genuinely think it was a pretty- emotionally and otherwise- scene.

Again, I agree with Billy that cutting Superman taking Parker Posey to the hospital was also unnecessary. I understand that Tomahawk was probably trying to make the movie shorter, but cutting any Superman scenes just doesn't seem like the place to do that.

Overall, I can't recommend this edit to anyone who enjoyed the original Superman Returns. I actually am really sorry to say that because I can see how incredibly hard this was worked on, but I think the cuts to some of the emotional scenes take too much away and that the muted colors upset some of the magic that I felt from this film.

I didn't care much for Superman Returns when I saw it in the theaters. Man of Steel was considerably worse, as the batmanization of supes seemed both unnecessary and tonally wrong.

The latter film was so disappointing that it revised my opinion of Superman Returns. Underneath the crappy crap, Returns has strengths—some channeling of Christopher Reeve's charm, set design with an art deco flavor, a sense of awe here and there.

Tomahawk flushed away some of the crap, thereby creating a very watchable version. The first half of the fanedit was masterful in pulling me into an alternate-reality version of Superman '78. I fucking felt the magic. I wish the second half could have been like that, but it felt too similar to the theatrical product, could have used some streamlining. (Digression/for example—never did like the scene of Lois pulling supes out of the depths, since the guy weighs a ton or so.)

Still, I like this fanedit, as it gives me a really nice way to enjoy the C. Reeve + J. Williams vibe outside of actually watching a C. Reeve film. And now that we know it's possible to suck all charm out of a supes blockbuster, I appreciate even more the work Tomahawk put into recovering what turns out to be a much better film than the studio put out.

Enjoyjoy: 8+ pelvic aerothrusts

I'll say it; Superman Returns is my favourite Superhero film ever made. Yes, its slow and much more cerebral than the norm would be for superhero fare but theres something about it that I'm just drawn to. That being said, I know it's not perfect, and no amount of editing is going to fix all the problems that are in the script itself.

That being said...

This edit is a fantastic alternative take on Returns. You've made a lot of wise choices; here's some notes I jotted down when I was watching, good and bad.

I found the flurry of newspapers retelling Supermans disappearance a little strange. Aside from being visually out of tone, it's a little jarring since we go from Krypton, to a fast zoom into Earth seeing news headlines and nothing else, just to return to a now destroyed Krypton. And considering you've added the scene of Clark finding the newspapers in the barn later, it feels a little strange why you'd add it at all.

The sound editing you did in the Krypton sequence was fantastic. I loved it, though the heartbeat I found was a little overdone and audibly too loud. But I really liked how you returned to the heartbeat once again as Superman lifts New Krypton into space. Nice touch.

Removing Clark from the window was surprisingly harmless. I know alot of people hate that scene and found it stalker-ish, but I thought it really played to the Gatsby nature of Superman in this film. But you've removed him from the scene and thought it played rather nicely. And because of this, you're not scratching your head when Superman decides to fly Lois right by Richards house as they're holding hands since its never revealed he knows thats where they live in the first place.

Removing Lex's swindling the old woman out of her money was an obvious "Thank GOD!" kind of cut. In fact, most of your editing around Lex has improved his menacing nature yet while at the same time keeping him more in tone with his Donner counterpart. His "reveal" shot in the mirror even serves as a better reveal than coming out of an dead woman's room and taking off his wig. Imagine that.

It's a completely superfluous scene, and I completely understand why you cut it, but I really missed seeing when Superman drops off Katherine at the Hospital. Brandon's performance is at his best there, and gives a little extra depth to Parker Posey's character.

I didn't really like how you trimmed the Lois and Clark rooftop scene. This was the one scene I felt played beautifully and didn't need any cutting. Removing "The world doesn't need a saviour, and neither do I" kind of lessens the impact of when Superman throws the words back in her face a few minutes later. And removing the "So will I see you around?/I'm always around" beat kind of makes Superman look like a bit of a dick. He goes in for a kiss, gets rejected, takes a step back and goes "Goodnight, Lois!" and flies off. When it's Lois giving him the out, as in the original, it shows more care for maintaining their friendship.

I loved how you cut from Lois lighting a cigarette outside to her being wide eyed looking up at Superman; just played a lot better and added a nice surprising beat.

I was actually surprised that you left in the scene of Superman returning to his fortress to find that he's been robbed. That scene, even in the original, felt completely pointless. He looks pissed, flies away, and then...? Nothing. He doesn't go looking for it or anything. Just a little strange. If the scene were placed earlier in the film it might make a bit more sense, as he's trying to reach out to familiar things now that he's back, but when its after he's done so much it just seems strange and unnecessary.

Anyways, overall, this edit was exactly what I was hoping it would be. The longer, almost dialogue-free first 20 minutes gives a lot more weight to Superman's isolation and personal issues about returning. And when Superman arrives at New Krypton at the end of the film, we now have visual connecting tissue from the beginning of the movie. The movie works a lot better this way. Congratulations, sir. You've made my favourite superhero movie even better :)

Simply put - Amazing.
I love how you picked up the scrambled pieces and laid them in a neat order that makes Superman Returns a way better movie than it originally is!
Since the first time I watched Superman Returns, I've always had a warm feeling towards it. It was a movie that was, in my opinion, the best attempt to re-invent, and re-introduce Superman to today's generation with the style of charm and epicness that Richard Donner did with Superman The Movie back in the 70s. Super-hero movies today have quite lost that element of emotion and charm and often turn out to be shallow CGI driven generic action flicks, as we all know from watching Man of Steel.
Although Superman Returns never will reach the plateau set by Superman The Movie, you have brought it so much closer with your fan edit, by focusing on story, emotion, emphasizing on the key points of the film and telling the audience the story from Clark's point of view.


I love the narration and the pacing, how it started slow with Clark coming back to the world that had moved on without him, and him struggling to fit in once again, and how Clark returns to Metropolis and the action starting to build from there on. The climax of the film was a great balance between story and action and I loved every second of it. Nothing felt abrupt or awkwardly placed, everything flowed smoothly and it was done professionally. Flawless, except for one point where it felt a bit rushed when you cut from 'tell me everything' in the Fortress to Lex and his crew walking into the mansion. But that's not your fault of course so that doesn't count.

Your audio and video editing is just perfect. No awkward jumps and cuts, no disruption in audio levels, the whole thing was a seamlessly wonderful viewing experience. I love the changes you made, especially in putting the airplane sequence after we are introduced to Richard and the kid. I dunno what it is, but the whole thing feels way better this way. I think its wonderful how, Lois sees Superman first in the original version, but this cut shows Lois meeting Clark first through the rearranging of the airplane sequence. I love how you got around to doing this, because its so subtle yet it has such a major influence on the story. Its beautiful. Also that eliminates my question of how on earth Lois didnt connect how Clark shows up immediately after Superman returns to saves the plane! :P
The cuts and changes you made doesn't harm the movie at all, in fact now I understand why you referred to some scenes as 'bloated' and I didnt quite get it before I watched your edit, but now i do, and I'm grateful you altered it like it is. To be honest I would have hardly noticed what was gone if I had not referred to your changes list while watching the movie.


I really have nothing to say about your audio editing, as its just impeccable (if you can use that word). Love the altered musical cues, everything was great.


I'm running out of words to explain how brilliant this fan edit is, Tomahawk, really. I normally notice the slightest of errors, but this edit is marvelous. Very well assembled, very professional. After all of this talk, if I dont approve of your edit and recommend it to anyone I am an ass.
Very well done tomahawk, very well done indeed.