Synopsis:

Two years ago, in the final battle between Superman and Zod, Metropolis was destroyed. Now the city is slowly rebuilding, but some wounds never truly heal, and a dark vigilante has emerged from the shadows to bring justice to the man responsible. Featuring material from both versions of the film, Mr. Blue presents a faster paced, action packed recut of the most highly anticipated comic book movie of all time

Intentions:

To streamline the film, shaving down the superfluous plotlines and including additional music cues to strengthen certain dramatic scenes and to call back to former iterations of these iconic characters. I wanted to make a less confusing, better paced, and much easier to watch film with at least a little more respect for the character's it portrays, as well as the audience watching it.

Change List:

1. “Gotham City” (Dark Knight Rises) vocal solo portion added to opening when young Bruce wakes up in the old well. 2. Extended Metropolis scene used. 3. Straight from Kryptonite to extended Gotham City Squad Car intro (Featuring the policeman watching Football) 4. Subtle ‘’Logo’’ thumping from Dark Knight Rises soundtrack added when the bats fly out of the chimney. 5. ‘’Logo’’ reinforced at the POW after “It’s still here.” 6. ‘’I am the Batman’’ from The Dark Knight Soundtrack replaces original music as the policeman climbs the stairs, reaching its climax as Batman is revealed. 7. Cut from the Bat Brand to the extended intro to the Mountaintop Scene from after the deleted Capitol Bombing scene. “He’s come here to die.” 8. This intro is blended together with the rest of the Mountaintop scene as it played in the original, Costner and all. 9. At the end of the scene, the music is blended into an extended version of “What Will You Do When You’re Not Saving the World?” from Man of Steel. 10. The previously mentioned track from Man of Steel plays over a silent recut of the extended Lois Lane unpacking sequence (minus the bloody shirt, and bullet journal). The scenes in Africa have been cut, along with Lois’ bullet investigation. 11. The Bathtub scene has been paired down to remove any specific details of the deleted Africa scenes. The scene no longer ends with Clark awkwardly getting in the tub with her, but with a quieter moment as he gives her the single flower with a gentle smile. She smiles back at him and we cut to the next scene using the Ultimate Cut’s audio transition from the Bathtub to the Batcave. 12. At the end of the Batcave scene, we use the theatrical cut’s transition from the Batcave to Clark Kent making eggs and seeing a news broadcast about the Batbrand. 13. After making use of the theatrical cut’s transition from that scene into Lexcorp, we then cut to the extended version of the scene at the next available shot change. This extended version combines Luthor’s intro with the Ship montage. 14. The Ship Montage is cut short just before Lex sticks a jolly rancher in the man’s mouth. 15. We cut from the end of the Ship Montage to Lex at the ship withdrawing Zod’s fingerprints from his case. This was originally in the second half of the film. 16. Cut from Clark on the ferry to the Gotham Police Department from the Ultimate Cut where we meet Santos’ girlfriend. This is taken from a later part of the film. The other extended Gotham scenes have been cut for being too closely connected to the Africa sequence. 17. ‘’You know what stops him? A fist!’’ transitions into Bruce Wayne at the fight club. 18. Clark’s meeting with Perry about Batman has been cut due to being too difficult to comfortably separate it from Lois’ deleted bullet investigation. 19. After Bruce successfully clones the KGBeast’s phone, we transition into the Luthor Manor for a trimmed version of Lex’s meeting with the Senator. 20. The bit about the painting being upside-down has been cut. 21. Bruce’s dream sequence has been moved to a later point in the film. 22. The theatrical version of Bruce getting ready for Luthor’s party is used. 23. Lex’s speech has been smoothed over a little bit. ‘’Books are knowledge, and knowledge is power… and I am- wait, no. What was I saying?’’ and ‘’The bitter-sweet pain among men… is having knowledge with no power, because that is paraDOXACLE, and… thank you for coming.’’ Are both trimmed and combined into ‘’Books are knowledge, and knowledge is power… and the bittersweet pain among men… is having knowledge with no power… Thank you for coming.’’ 24. When Bruce and Clark have their confrontation, the final shots of their exchange, as well as Lex’s entrance, are replaced with the ones from the second trailer. 25. Additional music from John Ottman’s Superman Returns score is included over the Ultimate Cut scene of Clark calling his mother, starting with his variation on John Williams’ Smallville theme ‘’Here for a Reason’’ and then Ottman’s more Angelic Superman theme for strings which quietly leads us into the Museum Scene. 26. Lois’ Bullet Investigation, Santos’ murder, and Wally’s new chair have been cut. Clark’s confrontation with Perry is moved to a later point. 27. Jon Stewart’s Cameo has been cut. 28. Bruce’s Mad Max dream, as well as the Flash cameo, have been cut and replaced with the previously cut dream sequence. Brief shots of the battle of Metropolis are intercut. 29. When Bruce is looking over the files on Luthor’s hard drive, the shots of Clark receiving the polaroids in the mail have been cut, and the related sound effects eliminated. 30. Layered over this ambient piece is the opening ‘’The Batcave’’ from Batman Begins. This carries over into the conversation between Bruce and Alfred which starts out playing in the center track to avoid music overlap. The original music slowly returns when Bruce starts talking about the Kryptonite. 31. (Clark’s trip to the Gotham Police Department has been moved to a previous point.) 32. Perry looking for Clark in The Daily Planet has been cut. 33. The second half of ‘’The Batcave’’ from Batman Begins plays over the opening of the White Portuguese scene, which is shortened to fit the pacing of the piece, and ending on a combination of two shots: the one where the camera shifts focus from Batman to the tip of his rifle, and one where we see it fire. The second is color corrected to match the first shot, restoring what was originally one complete shot. 34. Superman’s lines after “Next time they shine your light in the sky, don’t go to it.” (“The Bat is dead. Bury it. Consider this mercy”) have been cut. The last half of Batman’s ‘’Do you bleed?’’ line has been cut (‘’You will!’’) as Superman has already left. (‘’…like a man saying ‘’And another thing…’’ twenty minutes after admitting he’d lost the argument.’’ -Douglas Adams) 35. Lois’ meeting with the General, Wally’s newscast, Superman meeting with Martha, Bruce reacting to the returned checks, the capitol building explosion, Alfred chopping wood etc. have been cut. After Lex inspects his Kryptonite, we cut instead to a previously cut scene in the Daily Planet, where Perry has a bone to pick with Clark Kent about the ‘’Goddamn Gotham Bat-thing!’’ 36. ‘’…I told you not to pursue!’’ is cut for continuity as Clark and Perry’s earlier confrontation has been cut. 37. We transition to Lex in the Kryptonian ship with Zod’s body from later in the film. 38. This cuts to Lex driving up to Lexcorp. The extended version of the scene plays out with the security footage of Batman doing his handiwork. The scene ends not on Lex’s reaction shot, as it did in the original, but on the shot of the batarang in the broken case, leading into Batman’s crossfit routine. 39. Superman’s meeting with Lois in her hotel room is cut. 40. Lex entering the Kryptonian ship has been moved to the first portion of the film. 41. With the creation of doomsday and the mountaintop scene both moved to an earlier point, and with the broadcasts of Superman hatred, and Lois’ visit to Wally’s apartment being cut altogether, the scene where Bruce discovers Wonder Woman’s picture leads directly into Bruce and Alfred’s conversation in the ruined manor. 42. All references to the capitol bombing in the Diner have been cut. 43. After Lex kidnaps Lois, all direct references to the bullet investigation are removed. 44. After Lex pushes Lois off the tower, and Superman comes to her rescue, her line ‘’You came back.’’ Is removed, due to Superman not going anywhere. 45. ‘’I’ll take you in without breaking you, which is more than you deserve!’’ Cut 46. The second half of Lex’s line about God (‘’… and if God is all good, then he cannot be all powerful.’’) was cut to lend more weight to the first half along with the extended pause that follows it. 47. Lex’s rambling about Batman is cut after ‘’Ripe fruit his hate!’’ which goes straight to ‘’And now, you will fly to him…’’ 48. Wonder Woman’s email scene is cut short just after her last reaction shot for her picture, removing all references to the Justice League. This goes straight back to Batman in the rain. 49. ‘’Well, here I am.’’ cut for silliness. 50. ‘’You don’t understand!’’ and ‘’I understand!’’ along with the subsequent shove cut for pettiness. Now Batman’s onslaught is uninterrupted and Superman’s anger feels more warranted. 51. Lines from Man of Steel (“Focus on my voice…” “It’s not from this world, Clark. And neither are you.” “Where did you train? On a FARM!” etc.) are used discreetly during the titular Batman V Superman fight whenever Batman uses kryptonite to emphasize its effect on Superman by providing a subtle psychedelic quality to those portions, as well as provide more buildup to “You’re letting him… kill Martha!” 52. ‘’Whuh? What does that mean?’’ Cut. 53. After Lois comes in and says ‘’It’s his mother’s name.’’ cut to a shot of the gun breaking the string of pearls. 54. Vocal solo from ‘’Gotham City’’ (Dark Knight Rises) starts at the beginning of the shot of Superman on the ground by Lois, when Batman takes his foot off his neck. Ends when Batman throws away the spear. 55. After the KGBeast lights up his Flame Thrower, we cut to Lois carrying the spear away. This scene is intercut with Batman and Superman briefing each other in the other room, with all shots featuring Lois either removed or altered to fit the new continuity. 56. After Batman takes off, we have a brief shot of Lois still inside the building as the Batwing flies off, but before the spear can be seen, we cut away to the Warehouse. 57. Batwing sequence rescored with the final portion of ‘’The Batmobile Chase’’ from Batman Begins. 58. Warehouse fight rescored with an altered version of ‘’The Batmobile Chase’’ and recut to remove most instances of Batman blatantly using firearms and to fit pacing of the new music. 59. ‘’I’m a friend of your son’s.’’ and related lines have been cut. It’s a little early for that. 60. With the scene of Lois disposing of the spear having been relocated, we go straight to Lex’s timer going off. 61. Doomsday powerup, emergence and subsequent fight with Superman rescored with a more exciting track (‘’Boosters Non-Responsive – Rough Flight – Home Run’’) from John Ottman’s Superman Returns score. 62. Anderson Cooper’s line ‘’Thankfully the work week is over…’’ is cut for being downright insulting. 63. When Doomsday lands and begins to grow new spikes and bones and such, a portion of the track ‘’Saving the World’’ plays from Superman Returns. 64. When Batman mentions the spear to Alfred, a portion of ‘’The Batmobile Chase’’ (Batman Begins) plays. 65. Batman explaining his plan to Wonder Woman has been cut. Now we go straight from Lois planning to go get the spear, to Lois going for the spear. 66. ‘’Is she with you?’’ ‘’I thought she was with you.’’ Cut. 67. The Wonder Woman, Superman, Doomsday fight was trimmed a touch to improve pacing. 68. Batman’s portion of the Doomsday fight before the final blow was cut. It only existed for deceptive trailer footage and can be summed up with ‘’Brave Sir Batman ran away! Bravely ran away-away…’’ and so we cut straight from Superman diving in to get the spear to the green glow underwater. 69. Subtle zoom in when Perry opens the newspaper to crop out the reference to the deleted capitol bombing. 70. When Lois opens the package from Clark, a retooled portion of ‘’How Could You Leave Us?’’ from Superman Returns starts playing over a silent recut of the two funerals. Jor El’s full monologue from Man of Steel plays over the top of all this. 71. Go straight from the Superman Monument to Lois by the grave from the ending. It plays as usual until just before the final shot when we return to Bruce and Wonder Woman for the rest of their conversation. 72. The scene with Batman and Lex in prison has been cut. 73. The dirt rising from Superman’s grave is cut. 74. Bruce’s line ‘’Just a feeling.’’ becomes the final shot of the movie. 75. The Fleetwoods’ Mr. Blue layered over the latter half of the credits. 76. A neat little post credits gag has been inserted just for kicks.

Additional Notes:

At first I just took a look at the film, finding what I disliked the most and looking at what other scenes those elements tied into, seeing if I could cut or trim them down, which would be simpler, and which would better service the film. I also looked into reordering certain scenes in an effort to keep the movie moving along at a brisk pace. Finally I decided to get into soundtrack replacement, following the philosophy of a leitmotif to make sure that any recognizable pieces fit with whatever was happening on the screen.

Other Sources:

- Batman Begins OST, The Dark Knight OST & The Dark Knight Rises OST (James Newton Howard & Hans Zimmer) - Man of Steel OST (Hans Zimmer) - Man of Steel (2013) - Superman Returns OST (John Ottman, based on themes by John Williams) - Call Me Mr. Blue (The Fleetwoods) - Ghostbusters (1984)

Special Thanks:

TM2YC, Wakeupkeo, The SpectacularSMan, Zarius, Nic, Zack Snyder (for pouring his heart and soul into the film, deeply flawed as it may have been) and everyone who previewed this edit and helped spread the word.