Superman: The Wraith Cut

For anyone loving Sup - this is a treat.
For me, not that much - but thats ok and has nothing to do with the work.

Its just, that i realize that i always (and dont kill me for writing this) found Superman beeing a kind of To Good Person.
No edges, no rough corners, the man is good all the time. He is blend.
So why watching this film than? Because i love the work of Wraith, and some of his Cuts are brilliant.

This cut combines Superman I and II in a very good flow, the pacing is top.
My wife watched it with me (her first ever Reeves Superman watch) and she did not know that this is a fan cut.
We enjoyed it together, with me explaing some stuff and her asking why the lead charakter is so clumpsy all the time :)

I did like the Reeves Superman Movies back than when i was far younger, but for me Time has not been very good to them.
The jokes are bad, the clumpsy version of Kent is simply off putting, the way that Sup is obbsessed with Louis from second one after meeting her is just creepy now.

BUT, it was a trip to my past with my love beeing with me and we had a fun watch.
For this probably beeing the last watch, i am gald it was this cut.

I watched both of Wraith's combined extended edits of Superman. Both of them really resonated with me and really impressed me. This cut is a faster more evenly paced version of the combined films that still gets the point and emotion across that I feel that Mario Puzo put on paper and Donner was trying to present on screen. Seeing Chris as Superman and knowing how his life would change and how he would pass really brought a tear to my eye. I am in a wheel chair and always looked up to Chris Reeve on and off screen, he did a ton for the disabled community that I am eternally grateful.

This cut was super enjoyable and really well done and did what he set out to do.

Loved the edit. Through inspired sound edits, a judicious selection of scenes, some reworking of the narrative, and restoration of much of Donner's vision, Wraith has built the best possible version -- in my humble opinion -- of the first 2 Superman films.

Confession: I am not really a fan of the Christopher Reeves' Superman movies, for a range of reasons. These include the portrayal of the Clark Kent persona as a bumbling nitwit, the humour including Otis, Gene Hackman's Luthor's thing for real estate, new Superman powers (changing time, magic kisses) and the loss-of-powers scenario in S2.

That said, there are some wonderful scenes and moments --Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, the Phantom Zone criminals and scenes, wonderful camerawork, effects and design -- and this edit gives you what is probably the most coherent, powerful and Donner-faithful version you are likely to see.

I enjoyed every minute!

KNEEL BEFORE ZOD! I have a soft spot in my heart for the old Superman films, well at least the first two. This is a good fusion of Superman 1 and 2. It does a great job at combining them seamlessly into one film. Recommended for really die hard fans of 80's Superman who want the Lester comedy kept at a minimum. Now let me explain my sub-rankings:

Audio/Video Quality: 6 Stars. There were times where the video artifacts became rather large and blocky. This could have been due to limitations with the tv broadcast source(s).
Visual Editing: 9 Stars. No major issues here. Because I'm weird, I was not a fan of the informational text showing up in the bottom right corner, but it wasn't too distracting after the first few minutes. In one scene Lex teleports across the room to play the piano.
Audio Editing: 7 Stars. The music additions were integrated very nicely. The main audio issue begins within the fist few minutes-- there were many pops and crackles that seemed to happen mostly during transitions. I detail them somewhat more below. Also there was a scene where Supe's voice was very high pitched, like he was part of the lollipop guild.
Narrative: 6 Stars. My rating of the narrative is more a reflection of the shooting script rather than Wraith's choices. Wraith did a good job achieving the narrative he was looking for; really excellent job, in fact, making the shooting script a reality.

SPOILER ALERT....


I just felt that having Superman turn back time so Lois didn't have to be sad sucked all the drama out of the ending. The moment from the original (pt 1) when Superman finds Lois dead and screams was a much better reason for turning back time. Now when he meets her at her car after the earthquake, he's all teary eyed for no apparent reason. And turning back time at the end now seems highly unwarranted.
Enjoyment: 8 Stars. This edit gave me a good excuse to go back and watch these movies. Thanks Wraith for making this labor of love.

A few notes:
00:01:46 audible pop
00:01:52-56 series of audible pops
00:02:26-30 loud pops, cracks At this point I stopped logging the pops, but they continued. I had a similar problem with mac software adding pops everywhere. Not sure what is causing it here but it seems to be mostly at transitions, but not always.
00.23.48 Lex walks and suddenly appears on the other side of the room to play piano
00:24:17 loud pssst sound at transition
02:48:48 Supe sounds like a munchkin when he says, "I'm not a coward, Zod."

A beautiful edit.
I loved the vision and the added materials (video and music). As I mentioned in the Forum discussion, I had an issue with the original ending (the second diner scene), but I was apparently able to convince Wraith and they changed it. I love this community!
There were a few narrative issues that still bother me, such as changing the direction of the rotation of the Earth (I can suspend a lot of things, but not that), or the order of the scenes on Krypton (why send Zod and co to the Phantom Zone if the entire planet is going to explode?).
The additional materials are integrated wonderfully, and sometimes I realized that some editing took place only because of the little indicator at the bottom right corner. So again - well done!