Synopsis:

When you watch this I want you to feel like WBD released a brand new 4 hour Blu ray of Superman without any new fancy VFX or anything. It is just a straight up re-edit utilizing all HD footage possible to drastically improve the movie. NO major changes, I don't want you to notice that I edited anything. I'm just trying to make the best film possible using all the available high quality footage. I almost want to call it THE SIMPLE MAN'S CUT.

Intentions:

When the Donner cut of Superman II came out back in 2006 they made a big mistake because they tried to deliver a Superman II with as much Donner footage as possible rather than utilizing ALL THE FOOTAGE THEY HAD to give us the best Superman II possible. That being said, the Donner cut showed that Superman II is not supposed to be a sequel really but rather a 2 hour conclusion to Superman The Movie. That was a game changer for me and how I saw this entire production. As much as I love all the fan edits of Superman II, I honestly think the viewer REALLY misses out when they chose to watch these as two separate films because it's not two separate films, it's one film cut in half. Now I just put it back together and I made the necessary changes they should have made back when they released the Donner cut of Superman II. it's supposed to be one giant epic story. That's what they filmed, that's how it should be enjoyed.

Change List:

Richard Donner's directors cuts of S1 & S2 are the base films. This brings consistency to both the cinematography and the John Williams Score. Superman The Movie is a hybrid of the Theatrical, directors cut and extended cut. Only about 5 minutes added to Superman 78 from the 3 hour extended cut. 99% of it is before we hit Metropolis. ZERO DELETED scenes from either version of Superman II (again for visual consistency). Obviously scenes from Richard Lester's Superman II are included where appropriate. "General would you care to step outside" is restored Superman reverses the earth ONE TIME not twice. Ursa's iconic arm wrestling scene is restored The overall tone is a continuation of the changes made in the Donner cut of SII. I tried to keep everything more serious where possible. More Lois Lane More Superman More Ursa More Jor El 100% of the footage is from an officially released versions of Superman The Movie or Superman II. NOTHING from Superman III, IV or Returns No intermission, I see no need. We all have a pause button. 90% of the film is Richard Donner footage. 10% is Richard Lester footage.

Additional Notes:

I'm hopeful any viewer would barely notice anything I did. This is not an extended cut. A lot of thought was put into pacing and keeping the story moving while still respecting the general overall vision and style of Richard Donner. I'm not looking to reinvent the film or anything. My target audience is the people that DO NOT like too many changes in their fan edits. This SUPERMAN EPIC is not so much MY TAKE ON SUPERMAN as it is my take on the best way to COMPLETE this (Donner/Reeve) INTERPRETATION OF SUPERMAN with the footage available. I'm trying to make it the best it can be without forcing on my preferences of this or that.

Special Thanks:

I want to thank my wife first and foremost for dealing with 729 billion questions about this scene or that scene over the last couple years. THANK YOU. I want to thank every single editor of this franchise as they've all inspired me one way or another with their various takes on the movies. Thanks to all the guys here on the site for keeping things running. Thanks to Wraith for always being happy to talk about any and all things SUPERMAN. Additional editing by Booshman and Malachi Parker (Flag Ending from Boosh and the Lois Lane/fire scene by Malachi). Special thanks to those guys for their blessing.