Synopsis:

This film would have played a lot better had the tempo of the film not been an homage to the pacing of Donner’s original. With 24 minutes of un-needed lengths removed, this is a much faster paced version of SUPERMAN RETURNS.

Intentions:

Bryan Singer and his people did an amazing job bringing Superman back to the silver screen. Was it what everyone hoped for? No, certainly not, but I left the theater and subsequent viewings feeling satisfied—with one major complaint: 2.5 hours with the story they were trying to tell? I couldn’t see a reason for a runtime that high with the plotting of the film, so I set out to trim the sucker down as much as possible. Unfortunately, the DVD surround audio track contains a center channel that is anything BUT clean, so a comprehensive re-edit was impossible, but I feel I’ve done quality work given what I had to work with for raw audio materials. IMHO, this film would have played a lot better had the tempo of the film not been an homage to the pacing of Donner’s original. As wonderful as many believe it to be, boy is Donner’s film plodding along at a lethargic pace. As this FanEdit suggests, the same story could have been told at least 24 minutes faster without a comprehensive re-edit of the film. With a comprehensive re-cutting? Who knows! Is this FanEdit BETTER than the original film? I haven’t a clue, reallyâ€? but at least it’s FASTER.

Change List:

*Opening credits untouched *Lex/Wealthy Old Lady scene condensed. Speech cut down. *Restored deleted pan down. Martha washing dishes and exploring crashed meteor condensed. *Lex/Kitty on the boat scene condensed. Prometheus speech REMAINS. *Lex inside Fortress drastically re-cut. Some of the most involved re-cutting, some that I’m the least happy with, but ultimately I decided the cuts were worth the gaffs. *Flashback SWAPPED with the Burying Ship/Reading the Newspapers. Newspaper scene has been further condensed. (Personal Note: I couldn’t believe it when I saw this scene had been deleted.) *Clark’s return to metropolis condensed *Clark at Daily Planet/Lois on Plane is now more heavily intercut. Intercutting allowed for some removal of extraneous elements and to streamline the narrative. Not totally happy with this, but I tried it four different ways before settling. *Lex entering mansion and approaching trainset/Lois on Plane/Clark at the Bar have all been drastically condensed. Build-up to EMP is now MUCH faster and coincides more with what is seen later in the film. *Plane Crash untouched. Wanted desperately to cut Lois’s aerobatics but due to the sound mix on the original DVD I was unable to do so. *Superman’s Return on the JumboTron condensed. Don’t worry, I love the score, too, so I did my best not to offend anyone with the cutting. *Clark’s conversation with Lois/Meeting Jason & White condensed. Clark now never mentions the Pulitzer to Lois at any point, though Lois and Perry still speak of it. *Clark and Lois conversation by taxi stand condensed *Infamous “Stalkerman” scene remains, but very condensed. Less unnecessary flying. I have to disagree with those that have cut this. The people he cares about are Superman’s true weakness. If he wasn’t Superman maybe I’d call him a stalker, but c’monâ€? he’s SUPERMAN. We also get narrative information about the potential fatherhood of Jason, so I was bound by my thesis to leave it in. *Superman in space/Bank robbery sequence drastically condensed. *Superman shot in the eye condensed *Lex at the museum/Kitty in out of control car drastically condensed *Lois/Jimmy/Clark in Perry’s office condensed slightly *Cutting the Kryptonite condensed *Lois’s departure for a cigarette condensed *Superman/Lois flying scene condensed. I love the score, too, so I tried to be very conscious of making cuts in this sequence. *Lois back at the Planet condensed. The scene no longer contains Richard’s “Tell the truth nowâ€?.” *Superman discovering missing crystals condensed *Lois discovering epicenter of blackout drastically condensed *Loading the crystal missile/hacking Lois’s computer condensed *Jason/Thug at piano condensed *Jimmy’s spotting the sheet of paper and whining about his camera are now gone. He enters the scene with “Hey guys, this just came in through the faxâ€?” *Superman’s dilemma between rescuing Lois and saving Metropolis condensed *Metropolis Mayhem drastically condensed *Lex’s landing on New Krypton drastically condensed *Boat flooding/breaking in half drastically condensed *Superman’s entrance onto New Krypton condensed *Lois waking up on plane condensed *Superman’s drowning/rescue drastically condensed *Lifting of New Krypton drastically condensed *Trimmed shot of obviously CG Superman falling from sky *Superman’s ER trip condensed *Lois visiting Superman drastically condensed *Lex/Kitty on Island drastically condensed. Lex no longer says anything. Hated to cut it, but it was an obvious “It COULD go without removing any plot, so it has to go,” moment. *Lois at Computer condensed *Superman’s final Metropolis flyover cut. After his conversation with Lois, we cut back to Superman up in the clouds.

Additional Notes:

*Removal/trimming of excessively long, indulgent, and/or repetitive shots *Overall increase in the film’s pace wherever possible.

Special Thanks: