Faneditor Name: Wakeupkeo
Original Movie Title:
Man of Steel
Original Release Date: 2013
Original Running Time: 143
Fanedit Release Date: December 2020
Fanedit Running Time: 115
Subtitles Available?: Yes
Reviews are not required but they are really and truly appreciated.
This Man of Steel edit tries to keep the spirit of the original movie, but also find the classic hero inside - to make Clark more like “the noble Superman I grew up with” (yes I am aware how extremely subjective that is). He is confident in his actions but remains hidden from the world due to his personal choice. With the arrival of Zod, Clark Kent must finally reveal himself. This is not an origin story, although his origin is retold. This is about the confident kryptonian boy scout we all recognize, and we watch as Zod forces Clark beyond his limits to save his adopted world.
When MoS came out, I was absolutely heartbroken - this didn't feel like the Superman I remember. When BvS was announced, I got on board with this Superman to see the movie of my dreams, or so I thought. Then I saw Batman killing people like I'd never seen before. Needless to say, I wasn't on board with "what they did to my boys."
And so my fanediting journey began. I was sure there were great movies buried in these blasphemous turds. I did a ton of work at the beginning, learning as I went. My skills were terrible, but I could not stop trying for some reason. After the first year, I was happy with the result, taking out all the parts of the movies I didn't feel matched the characters I wanted. I showed my better half, and her response was that all the characters felt flat, lacked depth. At the time, I thought there was no solution for this due to the source materials. By this time I had also seen TM2YC's amazing MoS edit and Mr. Blue's equally amazing BvS edit. I recognized that I was beating a dead horse, and retired the effort. Their edits are the gold standard, and every faneditor worth a lick already has their own edit of these movies, so I decided to put my edits on a shelf.
Or so I told myself over and over again. I would constantly revisit my edits however, watching them at least once a month and making at least 5 new revisions each and every time, always with an intent to bring more character development and depth to my heroes. OCD if there ever was one. But it was also the greatest hobby for me. I design for a living, working within deadlines and creating the visions of others. Fanediting has allowed me to pursue my own artistic vision, on my own timeline and to the exacting vision I that have, not the client's. I do think the broader audience opinion matters, but its much like my personal art in other mediums I have done in the past.
When Zack Snyder announced his Justice League were on their way, I was once again excited, knowing I may yet again be disappointed. But my little pet MoS and BvS projects had given me new appreciation for the movies, as I now know pretty much every frame WAY too well.
My better half asked what the ZSJL hubbub was all about, and when I mentioned her reaction to my edits a couple years ago, she gave me a completely blank look, not remembering already watching them. So I showed her the edits as they existed at that point. And... she loved them! I brought up the character development issues from the past, but she said she didn't notice them now. Validation. These new edits were not the same as my first attempts.
Next up was to make my friends watch. Most of them liked the movies much better than the original, but one friend had this to say: "If the Martha Name Trivia scene is still in the BvS movie, there is no saving this franchise." And he still wouldn't watch. I told him it was hopeless, and that I think he'll like everything else about the movies. Still a hard "NO" from him, who is even a comic book collector.
I took to Reddit next, sharing my edits there as I was still not an approved editor on this site. Lovely complements, and lots of fans and followers, but not the real constructive criticism I was looking for.
And so, my OCD kicked in again. Over the years and especially since the pandemic, these movies have been polished and honed repeatedly. They have been compared with the original films again as well as the TM2YC, and Mr. Blue edits as well, for any remaining opportunities. Over the past three years and countless viewings, every viewing revealing more opportunities for making the edit just a little better, I now have two edits I can watch completely though without feeling the need to adjust anything.
Removed Clark’s birth and Jor-El’s meeting with the counsel
Removed Jor-El retrieving codex
Krypton scenes begin at the launch of Kal-El. Scene dialogue adjusted to emphasize Laura’s worry more and accentuate the likelihood of Kal not being accepted by humans.
Trimmed Zod’s sentencing to remove phantom zone exposition.
Tightened overall speed of Zod’s ship entering phantom zone
Added Laura’s Theme to Ship journey to Kansas
New Credit sequence used from the great MoS fan edit “Symbol of Hope” from TM2YC
Removed first face shot of Clark on fishing boat
Removed shot of Clark on fire
Removed bad CGI shot of Clark jumping to position to hold up tower.
Pa Kent’s reveal of Ship to Clark moved to after Grade School Flashback and trimmed to remove religious symbolism
Rescored Clark leaving ocean
Removed bar asshole pushing Clark In the bar
Removed truck demolition
Trimmed shots of Clark helping Lois out of helicopter
Removed Lois discussion of Afghanistan work
Trimmed Lois introduction to Military in Arctic slightly.
Trimmed Clark entering the command key and fighting with sentry robot.
Removed Lois bragging about being a “Pulitzer prize winner”, she is just a good reporter.
Trimmed Clark intro with Jor-El on ship cut after answer of why they didn’t come with Kal.
Removed original suit reveal and first flight (Clark already knows how to fly if he wants. When is doesn’t, its because he chooses to be around others, assholes and good people alike. He loves humans.)
Removed Lois repeating that she is from the Daily Planet to Martha
School Bus flashback substituted for tornado flashback. Clark saving the kids is removed though, and only implied. When Pa Kent talks to Clark, Clark doesn’t ask “what was I supposed to do, let them die?” so Pa doesn’t have to say “maybe.” And the scene ends with “people are afraid of what they don’t understand” and cuts back to Lois and Clark, implying that the probable reaction by the public is a good enough reason to stop writing the story for Lois. This idea is then repeated in the following scene by Perry, and then by Martha.
Replaced the bully flashback with the tornado scene before the priest discussion, and made to look more like an accident than a sacrifice
After the priest discussion, we see Clark for the first time in the Scout ship looking at suits (pulled from JL) with voiceover of Jor-El discussing Hope from original suit reveal, then Clark's first flight.
Removed mention of Clark being 33 years old (in regards to pathogens), now he’s simply “been here for years”
Adjusted Zod’s mention of searching “for 33 years” to simply “for years”
Removed Jor-El’s mention that he designed Zod’s ship
Removed Clarks discussion with Jor-El on Zod’s ship, along with the religious symbolism.
Trimmed Zod’s search for the Codex at Martha’s house
Removed Clark carrying Zod through the grain silos (to remove implication of innocent bystanders getting hurt)
Removed Clark fighting in the Denny’s and Bank (to remove implication of innocent bystanders getting hurt)
Removed General’s mention of a “black Hole”. (Seems a bit overboard if I were General – isn’t a black hole worse if it doesn’t stop?)
Removed Clark telling Lois to stand back when he takes off.
Joined scenes of Zod arriving at Scout ship and full discussion with Jor-El.
Removed shots of Clark being rejuvenated by the sun (better use of the idea in BvS)
Tightened Zod firing on plane with Scout Ship
Added Shot of Scout ship crashing used from BvS
Reduced Lois screaming
Removed shots of Clark seeing Lois falling and screaming, he just appears and catches her
Removed Lois and Clark kiss
Removed Jenny says “he saved us”
Removed many shots of Clark administering hits to Zod that would result in bystander deaths where possible. Zod hopefully seems like he is doing all the damage.
Removed shots of public reacting removed
Shortened time the gas truck sliding to Superman
Removed shots of Zod and Superman fighting where cars fall on them
Removed shot of debris falling
Removed shot of Superman dragging Zods head along building side
Added shots of satellite falling from BvS
Added exterior shot of destruction of city from “San Andreas” movie during Clark scream after killing Zod.
Trimmed to Lois shows up to where Clark is after he killed Zod and screams. (Gives her time to get there)
Added Laura Theme after Zod’s death
Added Clark traveling to mountains and sees dad, reflecting on the collateral damage of the fight with Zod instead of the Capital bombing
Removed drone scene
Removed Clark and Martha at cemetery
Removed voiceover of Clark’s plans
Removed shot of Clark putting on glasses (he would have them on already)
Tightened Clark introduction at Daily planet (the tickets part removed – he tried to save your life, Jenny! You should be nicer!)
During the scrolling credits, we see the flashbacks of the bus rescue and bully flashback.
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