Superman: Up, Up and Away Edition

I've lost count of how many times I've seen Superman: The Movie. It was an absolute favorite through my childhood, and many more teen and adult viewings followed. As such, I'm somehow sentimentally attached to it, which makes me overlook many of its flaws, I'm so used to them. Even the turn-back-time thing never bothered me as much as it does other people, since for me it was always there and part of the mythos, as I think I watched the movie before I ever read a single Superman comic book.

As such, this very enjoyable edition by MusicEd is more of a mix than a fix for me. Of course I am happy to see some really bad stuff gone (Can You Read My Mind... ugh), but at the same time there are some bits I kinda miss all along. Not that I have much of a problem with that, as almost all of them can be easily considered a matter of personal preference and the movie works just as well without them. One, however, as others have mentioned, creates a bit of a character development hole: the removal of the "swell" scene results in Clark and Lois having just met in the Planet office cutting to them suddenly walking and talking down the street as if they have instantly grown fond of each other's company. The "swell" scene provided the casual encounter factor needed for this to flow naturally (Incidentally, the last workprint of this that I watched did not have the "swell" scene either but I found it less noticeable there because it kept more of the Planet scene, while the released edit cuts it right after "Any more at home like you?/Not really, no" and straight to the street. It doesn't feel like a proper flow. It is, however, the one real problem I have with this cut.

For the rest, it flows really well and has very good pacing. The trial scene removal is a very good choice, as it is of course irrelevant to this movie, and the rest is a combination of cutting good yet unneeded bits, and cutting garbage and mythos-killers. Even the infamous Clark-turning-to-Superman-in-mid-air is gone. As for the end, before watching I was a bit worried that the movie would end up without much of a climax once the turn back time stuff was removed, but to my pleasant surprise it works really well and is still climactic and strong.

Technically it's all very well executed, except for the music fadeout right after the boat robber hits Supes with the crowbar, it feels too fast and a bit edited. Visually there are also one or two hints of tweaked elements in the opening credits (the theatre curtains, and a couple blue blurs from removed names) if you look closely and with the intention of nitpicking. But overall, a solid job.

Video and audio quality on the disc are top-notch. However, the menus still have the same problem "The Moonraker Plot" menus had: they turn to a completely green screen a split second after they start, if viewed on VLC Player on a computer (and I've tried them on several different PCs). It must be a matter of the authoring software.

Ed's "The Moonraker Plot" definitely became a replacement disc for me, turning a really bad movie into an unexpectedly good one. This, however, is more of a companion disc to the theatrical cut to me, for alternate viewing. But, I must say I definitely prefer it to the bloated and draggy extended DVD cut, and would recommend it to any fan of the movie or the character.

I really liked this edit of Superman. I was glad to see someone brave enough to ditch the turning back time scene. I always thought that was a stretch, even for the power of Superman. Similar to "Batman Descent into Mystery" this one simplifies and streamlines the story well. Now its like watching a Superman comic book come to life.

All the video and audio cuts felt seamless. I enjoyed it very much. This is definitely my choice over the original cut.

Warning, this review will contain spoilers.

This was a refreshing Superman fan edit. So many attempt to either combine SI and SII into a single epic or blend the best of the Lester/Donner cuts into a coherent narrative but Ed's edit takes a different track. He keeps the focus on the original masterpiece and cuts it into a more tightly and faster paced adventure.

Gone are the Kryptonian villains and any set-up for a sequel. And this works wonderfully and in my opinion, makes the relationship between Jor-el and his son even more intimate.

The story moves swiftly and the majority of the cuts are perfectly executed. So much so you don't realized many iconic moments are completely gone until their scenes are well past. This is a testament to both Ed's smart storytelling skills and the strength of the original material. I enjoyed many of the little cuts, particularly any scene with Clark transforming into costume, because even as a little kid I could not figure out how Superman did it? He is SUPER not Magic...LOL! One of the biggest cuts is the two missile reprogramming scenes and they are not missed in the slightest. The way Ed has recut it, it is perfectly clear to the audience that Lex is behind the missile malfunctions -- BRAVO on this!

I had only very minor nitpicks..... I thought for pacing reasons there should have been a scene between Clark arriving at the Planet and the mugger's scene. It is still well cut but it felt just a wee bit too soon to me. Also, in this cut there is no Death of Lois, so there is no real payoff to her being in false jeopardy or Superman's clearly relieved express when he finds her..... but this has more to do with the source material than Ed's editing ability. I think he did a fantastic job with the entire sequence and injected some freshness to this well known tale.

A very clean and technically solid edit that kept me entertained. A very nice alternative version which I happily recommend to all Superman fans.

THUMBS UPS!

A very skillfully edited edition of the first outing for the man of steel, and it's astonishing to think with a little more paitence, the Salkinds and Donner could have delivered a movie which felt a lot more focused and more in-keeping with the kind of groundedness Donner was aiming for in these movies. There's more of a reality to this cut, no silly indulgences into silver age comic book tomfoolery, no shock value death, no time twisting, no weird costume change in mid-air, and the best thing was how easy it is to remove the sequel hook of the three Phantom Zone criminals, allowing Jor-El to ease back into his more traditional role as a desperate scientist rather than some cladestine proesecutor. For anyone wanting a nice smooth done-in-one telling of the Superman mythos, this edit is highly recommended. A great yarn.