Superman Part 1: The Superman

Updated
Superman Part 1: The Superman
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie Title:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1978
Original Running Time:
143 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
154 minutes
Time Cut:
32 minutes
Time Added:
43 minutes
Available in HD?
Brief Synopsis:
This is a modern edit on a classic tale that will appeal to today's audiences who expect a quicker pace and more action. The story has been streamlined which permitted to add some story elements from Superman II. The end result is more action in a similar running time.
Intention:
This is Part 1 of a new Trilogy that uses footage from Superman I, II, III, IV and Superman Returns.
Other Sources:
Superman IV
Superman Returns
Release Information:
Digital
Special Features
720p 5.1 AC3 Dolby Surround Sound
If you are using a PC to watch this fanedit then please ensure you have an AC3 filter/driver installed. Modern televisions and Media Centres should be fine.
Editing Details:
Almost every scene has been trimmed for quicker flows in conversations. Most of the silly humor has been removed, in particular Otis and Miss Tessmacher. Lex Luthor is more menacing, and Clark Kent is less clumsy. Director Richard Donner's original vision has been followed with some scenes from Superman II added, but not all.
Cuts and Additions:
Too many to list, but some obvious changes are as follows:
1. New opening title moved later into the film
2. Krypton shots used from Superman Returns
3. New edit of earthquake and scene turning back time
4. Re-work battle scene between Superman and Kryptonian villains (no stopping for a chat)
5. New closing credits

User reviews

7 reviews
 
86%
 
14%
5-7 stars
 
0%
3-5 stars
 
0%
1-3 stars
 
0%
Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.6(7)
Audio Editing
 
9.7(7)
Visual Editing
 
9.6(7)
Narrative
 
8.9(7)
Enjoyment
 
9.0(7)
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Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
I have not watched the original Superman movies in their entirety since I was a kid. The story was too slow and the movies was just too dated. You did an amazing job in taking all the best parts of the first two films and creating a solid piece of work here. Thank you for all your hard work and I look forward to checking out your other FE's.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
AVCHD
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(Updated: November 04, 2014)
Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
This is actually the first fanedit I have ever watched. I recently started getting interested in the idea of fanedits, and after reading through the summaries of all of numerous Superman fanedits, I decided that yours sounded the most intriguing to me due to the creation of a trilogy. I must say, the first installment did not disappoint. I really enjoyed it. I love Superman (thanks to Smallville, my whole allegiance flipped from Marvel to DC), but I always found the old Superman movies to be pretty boring. This edit brought out an exciting story from the first two Superman movies that really can appeal to a modern audience, just as Avid 4D intended. I will say, the movies are still definitely dated, and the story can still be pretty slow at times, but I felt Avid 4D did a really good job of cutting out unnecessary content that bogged the story down and keeping enough material in to still develop the story properly. As other reviews have said, the transition between the two films was a little strange, but overall, I think it was handled really well. And I loved what having Zod on the planet did for the time travel portion. The way Zod's speech was blended with scenes of Clark's anguish over Lois' death was a bold edit, and it worked really well. I didn't appreciate the time travel in the original movie, but I'd have to say, it was really exciting here. All in all, this was a really well done fanedit, and I'm really excited to see the rest of the trilogy. Thanks so much for creating this, Avid 4D!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
S
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Having recently finished Smallville I decided I wanted to watch the original Superman movies. I found Smallville very frustrating at times as there was not a lot of action and the moral choices Clark was presented with were re-examined over and over again. This made me initially wary to watch the original Superman movies because I had heard that they were also filled with much angst and indecision as well. Stumbling upon Avid4D's first Superman film edit where the intent of this particular edit was to highlight the action and speed up the pacing, I was happy to give the original movies a shot. I was extremely pleased with the results and found that this made the original movies watchable for a modern audience. I felt like there was a few scenes that probably could have been cut, but overall I found the experience to be very enjoyable. The cuts were basically not noticeable, and having not seen the original first and second Superman movies I thought the conglomerate that our faneditor produced was extremely satisfactory and probably would have made Richard Donner proud.

In general I found this edit to be better than the Superman of Krypton, Avid 4D's sequel, though the sequel was definitely better than having to sit through Superman III and IV by themselves.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
AVCHD
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Possible Spoilers

I have watched Son of Jor el and thought that that movie was the best edit of 2 Superman movies in one that exists, it was true until this edit appeared.

I was very curious on how this edit mashed up the two. I always hated the time traveling part of it. I found it ridiculous, sure it might exist is the comics but it doesn't really work in a movie, it causes errors. But the way that it was done in this edit is brilliant, it got me very excited as it was happening. The way that the villains arrived thanks to Lex and Superman was amazingly done. The issue though is the Jimmy olson continuation error. He randomly appears with Lois the second time. His appearance should have been cut . It bothers me.

I really enjoyed this edit. I would have also liked to see the jerk truck driver in this. I always liked Clark standing up to him. I'm waiting for the second edit to finish downloading. Hopefully it will be as entertaining and well edited as this one is. A+, thumbs up. Very good job.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Owner's reply April 30, 2014

Thanks bbib7... good to hear it provided a new look at an old story for you. I know what you mean about the Jimmy scene. I felt I had to keep the scene just for Supe and Lois kissing, because their romance is explored in my next installment (and the truck driver!) So, what I did was remove Jimmy's references to the earthquake as he is running toward them. He now just says "you dropped me in the middle of no where" without saying "during an earthquake." Doesn't solve it completely but at least there was definitely no earthquake the second time around. Thanks heaps for your review though and I'm glad you enjoyed the rest of it.

Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
(Updated: April 28, 2014)
Overall rating
 
8.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
7.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
Warning! There will be spoilers in this review.

Another fan edit merging Superman I and II into a single epic adventure, and I have watched my fair share of them over the years, and I can say this one is pretty entertaining with some fresh ideas.

Technically the edit is very solid. Video quality is excellent. Most of the cuts are well executed, though there were a minor few that felt choppy or stood out from a continuity perspective -- Clark's introduction to the Daily Planet, one moment standing on one side of Perry's office, the next he beside the desk with the soda bottle. Or the detectives pursuing Otis through Grand Central Station and into the tunnels. But flip side, these cuts wonderfully tone down much of the bumbling humor provided by Clark and Otis, which I enjoyed.

Audio work is very solid. No pops or obvious audio cut sounds. But I thought there were instances during the transition of scenes from original material to new material, where the music or audio could have played/blended slightly longer and smoother from one scene into the next.

This fan edit incorporates material from Superman, Superman II, Superman III (clever use of the plant fire scene!!!) and IV, and for the most part the new narrative works well. But in order to get to the main plot faster, some of the editor cuts play a bit awkward. The one that really stood out to me was the cutting from Luthor and Tessmacher (why does the phone ring while in the bathrub) to Perry at the Planet (for a scene that lasts only 10 seconds) and then back to Luthor/Tessmacher and now Otis. Again, I understand why it was done, but it feels very...odd.

The losing of the Niagara Falls subplot and having the Kryptonian Villains arrive during the California earthquake works pretty well. It definitely explains why Superman was not aware of their arrival. Though the transition to Houston felt off, since clearly the aerial shot is of California where Lois has already been established. The cutting back and forth between Lois's death and Zod's speech.... I can not decide if I like it or not...LOL! It is definitely a bold creative decision and I give points for that. I wonder if it would have played more powerful with just straight cuts instead of crossfades?

The second timeline created after Superman spins the world, with the Villains arriving differently was nice. Smart cutting of any close up Cliff Claven at NASA since we already saw him once earlier on. Again, another clever solution of why Superman was not present for their arrival -- he is on a space mission. Good use of the SIV footage. Though you could have also used the news report from Supergirl which states Superman is off planet. The only issue I now have, is how does Superman learn Zod has escaped the Phantom Zone and is in Metropolis? Too bad there was not some way while Superman was on the Moon you could have shown him finding the destroyed Artemis craft....?

The climax comes together very nicely. Though I have an issue with the ending from a continuity stand point... Superman brings Luthor and Otis to prison. One, Luthor is obviously in completely different clothing and hair wig than he was just wearing in the Fortress. And two, why would Otis be there? He was not at the Fortress. Though it is conceivable Supes could have picked Otis up along the way. Once again, I understand the narrative choice and it ties everything up in a nice bow, but it does stand out like sore thumb to me. The original ending with the Polar Police would have worked just as well.... except for maybe the Lois stuff?

All in all, a good edit that moves swiftly with enough new and original narrative changes to hold your attention and keep it feeling somewhat fresh. I was entertained and I look forward to seeing the next installment of Avid's planned trilogy.

Thumbs UP.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Owner's reply April 30, 2014

Thanks BionicBob! Great feedback - perhaps I should get you to preview my edits from now on! I'll add to a couple of your comments. The detectives are no longer following Otis through the tunnels, they're just trying to track Lex's location. I know the Supergirl news report you're talking about, but I don't own a copy of Supergirl so couldn't use it. Agree though it would have been useful. Instead, Supe is on the moon, sees the flag leaning over and straightens it. I admit it's a stretch to link the leaning flag (where there is no wind on the moon) indicates to Supe that something has happened. I would have loved to use a shot of the damaged moon landing site here, but couldn't get a useable clean shot to insert. Finally, I had 2 choices for the ending, Supe bringing Lex to prison or landing on the roof of the white house. The white house would have removed the issues you noticed, but I really wanted the Lex scene because he is in prison in the beginning of The Superman Of Krypton, the next installment in my trilogy. I hope that you still enjoyed it though, and appreciate your review.

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