Superman: Son of Jor-El

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(Updated: September 12, 2012)
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Review by bionicbob — January 1, 2011 @ 11:33 pm

The following review is based upon my viewing of the Single Layer dvd release,
and be warned, if you have not seen the edit yet,
there will be SPOILERS in the review.

“Rocketed to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton, the baby Kal-el was found and raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent in Smallville, Kanas. Now an adult, Clark Kent fights for Truth, Justice and the American Way as SUPERMAN!!!”

We all know the legend.
But never before has a Fan Edit so perfectly captured and retold the core Superman story of his Kryptonian origins!

L8wrtr and Jelio have created a wonderfully entertaining tale in their merging of Superman One and Two.
I found the entire viewing experience to be highly enjoyable and engaging.

The newly created Opening Credits are fantastically done.
Kudos for putting Chris Reeve’s name up first, it is well deserved!

The transition from the Fortress of Solitude to the Metropolis cab ride (Otis who?) is perfect.

The making of the Missile Toss as just another part of Superman’s first day on the job is brilliant.
Having Superman fly into the Metropolis sunrise towards the daylight missile crisis is very clever.
Though one will have to assume Metropolis is somewhere on the West Coast since it is only dawn there
and clearly full morning at the missile launch. Which is no big deal since on the tv series Smallville,
Clark’s home town is clearly stated to be in Kanas, and Metropolis is only around an hour commute away,
and yet Metropolis is clearly built along an ocean coast line!
…. hhmmmm…. geography in the DC Universe is very different than that of our world!

The swapping out of the Daily Planet Newspaper headline of Superman defeating Luthor
with the “I Spent A Night With Superman” was a very smart edit.

The infamous Niagra Falls hotel scene….. I have gone on the record before that this scene bugs me.
It bugged me in the official Donner Cut and it bugged me in the Booshman edit.
I fully acknowledge the scene is better written and acted than the Lester version,
but continual switching of Clark’s hair, glasses and overall physique I find very distracting and
breaks the “reality” the scene for me.
That said, I will admit, of all the versions I have seen (both official and editted),
this the strongest and most effective use of the Donner Hotel scene.
And that is entirely because of how cleverly L8 and Jelio have reconstructed the narrative–
well done guys!

Regarding the Moon and First Date timeline, I can see why some viewers have brought up the issue.
It might have been nice if the Moon sequence had resumed after the date ended and before the Newspaper
headline scene, but I think the timeline works either way. Zod and his co-horts are so Evil, I can easily see them up there on the Moon teasing and torturing the poor astronauts for hours and days on end until they got bored.
It is a creative choice and as a viewer I had no real issue with it.

As to the whole Lex Luthor controversy.
I think both L8wrtr and Jelio have clearly stated their reasoning
for their creative choice in this matter, and I see no reason to debate it.
It is their edit and I respect choice.

The 28 Hours scene is a FANTASTIC and a BRILLIANT choice.
This scene alone truly clarifies and deepens Kal-el’s relationship with Jor-el
and makes Jor-el’s final embrace/sacrifice all that more powerful.
BRAVO!!!

In regards to the ending, I think (like Booshman) it was a smart move having Lois retain knowledge
of Kal-el’s duel identities, it adds both a sad and hopeful lyrical quality to the story. Nice music replacement during the Kiss too!!!

All in all, an excellent edit.
Technically, I did not notice any significant issues, though I did only watch it on my computer screen and not on a fullscreen tv with stereo sound.

I think the new narrative in regards to Kal-el’s relationships with both Lois and Jor-el is poignant
and by far the best rendition of it I have come across thus far.

If you are Superman Fan,
a definite must see.
Thumbs Up!

I would give it a final score of 8.5 out of 10!
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(Updated: September 12, 2012)
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Review by TMBTM — December 29, 2010 @ 5:56 pm

Okay, I’ve seen Son of Jor El.
I must say that this edit is very good, the pace is wonderful,
the connection between the two movies is very smart and well done.
The opening credits are great, the editing work during all the movie was good,
minus a little sound problem (or at least it felt like this to me) when Jor El begins to tell the story of Krypton.
The “back the moon” scene worked well for me. Sure the passing of time is a bit odd, but it flows well in the movie.
The story between Lois and Clark worked wonderfuly to me also.

In fact I loved everything in this edit exept one thing, and it is… drum roll…
Lex Luthor, you got it. I’m not very original with this one!
Well, I love Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor, I’m glad he’s in this edit.
But in a great movie you don’t throw a character with such knowledge about the plot that’s going on without some explanations (even the biggest criminal brain in the world! ) specialy if he appears only in the third act of the movie.
but well, if there are no scene to work with to add those explanations, then I guess this edit do the best possible with what’s available.
So this is the only thing that prevent this great edit to be a great movie, to me.

That said it did not prevent me to really enjoyed it and I can easily recommend it to every Superman’s fans.
You will sure be pleased

(side note: cutting the credits to insert the last bar scene, then cut back to the credits did not work very well to me.)
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(Updated: September 12, 2012)
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Review by tylerdurden389 — December 23, 2010 @ 11:32 pm

I’m watching SOJE so that I can give my comments as I watch. I personally prefer silence over the Chris Reeve dedication, like the dedication to Stuart Baird from the first film. I just didn’t like how both The Richard Donner Cut and Returns have the music of the film already playing, when the film hasn’t technically started yet.

Don’t care for the Returns shots of Krypton. The effects are too modern compared to everything else in the film. Again, personal preference. Not much to say about the Krypton scenes. I personally didn’t care for the extended dialogue. If the purpose of this edit was to combine the two films into one by trimming the fat, why put back in what was removed in the first place?

I must say I LOVE these opening credits. However, one little nitpick is, I don’t like how the letters seem to “come over us” before appearing in front. The letters “curve” before they come in. Whereas in S1 it’s like the letters come around the camera from all angles. Other than that, these new opening credits are great. Though on my crappy computer speakers the music wasn’t loud enough. It sounded like the sound effects were louder. I especially loved the ending where you timed the last fanfare with the crash (though the fanfare of the trumpets seemed to be cut short. Small audio cue mishap that only nitpickers like myself notice)

Nothing much to say about Smallville. I like that you took out the little girl being Lois Lane, but growing up on the theatrical version, I don’t feel it’s necessary for this extended scene at all.

Onto Metropolis. I never cared for the extended scene of Clark introducing himself to the worker next to him and Jimmy getting him a towel. That awkward moment of Clark and Lois staring at each other unnerved me. Plus, since the purpose of this edit was to have Lois figure it out much quicker, I think for the purpose of this cut we’re better off NOT seeing Clark introduce himself to other people. Again, nitpicking.

Gotta say, I love the new music cues for Superman launching the rocket into space. Though I do wish you had done something about the missile suddenly spinning out of control. I think it would’ve been so much better if Michael Thau had simply let the missile crash into the Phantom Zone.

Moon scene. I don’t like cutting out Ursa’s lines. I understand there’s no sound in space, but for a movie like this I’m able to suspend disbelief. Also, I would’ve moved this scene for after the interview/flight scene. Maybe do it this way:

- Superman’s first night
- Daily Planet
- Interview
- Missile Launch
- Villains freed
- Then go right to the moon scene.

The abrupt change in tone doesn’t work for me. It’s odd watching Superman talk to Lois when we just saw what happened on the moon. From a story perspective, I think this order works better. Also, instead of doing a fade cut to the next morning I would’ve simply done an establishing shot of Manhattan after Clark shuts the door.

I see I’m not the only one who dislikes Ursa pronouncing it “Hooston”. Blame Lester for that one, as I’m sure he had Sarah re-dub her lines just like Stamp for a more comedic effect (which of course doesn’t work). It’s funny how in the Donner Cut we got to hear some of the actor’s original readings of their lines, yet there’s still a lot of dubbed lines in the DC.

When I got to the screen test I initially thought it was bad to cut out a Superman scene, but of course, cutting out as much Lester scenes as possible helps with the overall tone to the film. Lois’ character is so different in Lester’s 2 scenes that it’s probably better to cut it.

Can’t comment on “skunksweat”, as it’s been beaten to death already.

I hate losing Superman explaining his past to Lois, but again, difference in character.

Nice job losing “The whole planet Hooston?”

I think I’m the only editor on S2 to notice that the Donner Cut version of the helicopter crashing has 3 frames that repeats right before the explosion. Of all the things Michael Thau did wrong editing the DC, that’s the one that bothers me the most. Amateur.

Ya know it’s funny, I forgot all about Lex until he showed up. Not gonna comment on Lex knowing of Jor-el, the FOS, and so on.

I would’ve cut Lois saying “Lex Luthor”, since they don’t know anything about him in this cut.

Bad audio cut for the reaction shot from Lois and Perry when Supes crashes into the air vent (after Non punches him). Also I never liked the cut of Ursa grabbing Supes by the neck but in the next shot she’s gone. Whether it’s the DC Supes punching Non, or LC of Non grabbing Supes from behind, neither work for me.

THANK YOU for cutting Reeve’s smirk when he says “Don’t do it!! The people!!” Of all the S2 edits here, I think this is now only the 3rd or 4th to do that.

I have no problem with Lois knowing his secret in the end (as my cut does the same), but leaving her in tears and then cutting to the Superman theme just seems morbid to me. Also, why show the beginning of the credits, then show the diner revenge scene? If anything, maybe an after-credits Easter egg would’ve worked.

So there’s my thoughts. Other than the little nitpicks pointed out (as well as my own feelings on DC footage in general), this was a damn fine edit. I gave it a 9 out of 10.
T
Top 500 Reviewer 13 reviews
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(Updated: September 05, 2012)
Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
I loved this edit. There are many hybrid superman 1&2 cuts, but this is the only one that that I feel has been able to combine the narratives in a way that did not feel like two films stuck together, but rather a singular narrative. Son of Jorel is a brilliant superman film, and really trims both lengthy movies down to the core themes and relationships. There is so much to love about this edit, it's hard to know what to mention.

Of special note is the ending. In both Superman 1 and 2, the ending was a letdown. The time travel was certainly dramatic, but was so full of plot holes that it was overall just too problematic. And the superman kiss is, well, silly. The ending of Son of Jorel is really quite something - It's poignant, emotional and powerful. And it ties all the themes together beautifully.

Also of note was the way in which Lois was treated. I loved that by combining the two films, we arrive at that fantastic scene where Lois accuses Clark of being Superman sooner. And from then on, she won't let go. This is much more believable for a character as smart as Lois. It's such a shame that the blank bullet scene was never filmed properly - It's a wonderful moment in the story, and so so much better than the pink bear scene. But of course it will forever be distracting for the poor quality of the scene and clark's changing hair style... Ah well, nothing we can do about that.

I understand L8wrtr may consider an HD upgrade of this wonderful edit in the future. If that is the case, I do have some suggestions. They're not criticisms, so much as personal preferences if this movie is to undergoe minro surgery on its way to HD land.

(Spoilers)
- While I love that you removed 'can you read my mind', I missed Lois falling and Superman catching her again. I always found that moment endearing, showing how caught up in the moment they both are that they forget the logistics of flying... but no big deal
- I would add the "I was thinking we could get a hamburger" line back in. I always find it funny, especially after clark says he wants to show lois the time of her life. It's Clark nice.
- I loved that you deleted most of the dialogue of the 3 villains in space - there's no air up there, so they shouldn't be able to talk! But then, at the very last, you had the scene of them deciding to go to earth, talking merrily on the moon. I really feel you can lose this scene without any problem. If we see them flying towards earth, we'll assume the rest. And then you can preserve the 'no talking in space' illusion. (as opposed to a trick. which is something a whore does for money).
- I felt there was room for some added sound effects to add drama to the 'clark losing his power scene', to add to the tension before the explosions start.
- I had no problem with Luthor arriving late in the piece... it's a shame that he knows where the fortress of solitude is though... I guess we can assume, being the greatest criminal mind in the universe, that he devised a way to figure it out. So at the end of the day, this is no problem.
- The line "Then die as you deserve to" sounds odd without the lines preceding it. It would make more sense to cut the "then", and just have the dialogue be "you are a coward, like your father before you. Die as you deserve to".
- I would cut Non being trapped by the very weak looking spire. There is no way in the world that would trap him.
- Lastly, there is a spelling mistake (The word 'ahead') in the alternative ending special feature, and a 20 second black hole in between the text and the actual footage. btw, I am very glad you chose the ending that you did! It is quite brilliant.

Well done Jelio and L8wrtr, this is really a gift to all of us Superman fans, and finally delivers a worthy combined edit of Superman 1 and 2. 10/10


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Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
*This rating was given before reviews were required*

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