S3 : The Supes Vs Supes Fan Edit

[Ollie W]

SUPERMAN III : The Supes Vs Supes Cut

It must be said right from the outset that this cut is heavily inspired by Father Merrins Superman III: the Smallville Cut.

However unlike FM’s release this edit focus only on S3 material (with the exception of the prologue), to present a more tight and less comical picture. I haven’t tried to turn this picture into something that it isn’t, I’ve just tried to highlight the good stuff. Richard Pryor wasn’t the real problem with S3 and it’s not his fault the movie was structured around him. I pin a lot of the blame of the three subordinates Ross, Vera and Lorelei who were poorly written and delivered some fairly uninspired performances. Their scenes have been cut down to a minium thus the dynamics between the characters change a little.

The streets of Metropolis/Main title sequence is included which may bother most people. But whilst I have endeavoured to edit a more serious picture my main goal was to showcase the good parts of Superman III which includes the main titles. Though full of Richard Lester silliness and not really suitable for a Superman film, they’re masterfully directed by Lester and superbly scored by Ken Thorne. It also plays well against the prologue in terms of highlighting where Clark’s come from.

With regards to the name of the edit, please don't read anything into it. The working title for the offical release was Superman Vs Superman hense the name for this fan edit.

Here is the basic outline including changes made;

- Black and Red WB logo (with a nice little music edit)
- (prologue) Clark and Lana (from STM) up until Clark kicks football away then dissolve to Superman III titles (the streets of Metropolis) .
- Daily Planet/ Gus at work/Factory Fire/Smallville Reunion/Gus receives pay check/Clark and Lana tidy up/Bowling with Ricky
- Gus meets Boss but I’ve cut out the revolving bar and trimmed some of Ross’s speech.
- Gus hacks PC (edited FM style); this features no comedy and no Brad. Utilises FM audio track.
- Columbia (edited FM style); Competition winners are gone, Superman saves Columbia without Gus narration. Tightly edited using FM audio track.
- Clark and Lana picnic.
- Ski slope (edited FM style); Very tightly edited cutting straight into Ross plotting Superman’s downfall. Gus is completely absent form the scene. Utilises FM audio track.
- Satellite gets kryptonite
- Clark at the Daily planet but with nothing from the angry holiday winners.
- Gus gets kryptonite
- Superman celebration however Gus’s speech has been cut down
- Gus and Boss on Phone/Lana and Superman/Superman late
- Gus and Boss revel in Superman’s downward spiral but ends with Vera saying “A normal person”.
- Superman at Olympics
- Gus and Boss plan oil scheme though I’ve cut Lorelei and her intellectual reading.

From here onwards it’s the same old Superman 3 other then two minor trims.

- I’ve cut Lorelei making faces at Vera during the balloon ride.
- Cut out Lorelei and Vera bickering about where’s the light switch.

THE END

DVD PAL 100 Min

NTSC VERSION IS NOW AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD;

Huge thank you to AvP (over at fanedit.org) for making this edit available and for doing the NTSC conversion as this edit was made from PAL source material.

If anyone doesn't have the ability to download or would like an original PAL version you need only ask and I'll happily mail you out a copy.

rapidshare.com/files/142003050/SIIISVS.md5
rapidshare.com/files/141447250/SIIISVS.part01.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141456451/SIIISVS.part02.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141465082/SIIISVS.part03.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141473813/SIIISVS.part04.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141484328/SIIISVS.part05.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141496711/SIIISVS.part06.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141510645/SIIISVS.part07.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141524972/SIIISVS.part08.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141541036/SIIISVS.part09.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141762672/SIIISVS.part10.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141813181/SIIISVS.part11.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141830481/SIIISVS.part12.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141847595/SIIISVS.part13.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141865454/SIIISVS.part14.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141889032/SIIISVS.part15.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141914111/SIIISVS.part16.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141935920/SIIISVS.part17.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141956356/SIIISVS.part18.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141964371/SIIISVS.part19.rar
rapidshare.com/files/141972471/SIIISVS.part20.rar

Pass Word:fanedit.org

Here is the artwork created by Father Merrin, for high res files please PM me;

[Jor-L5150]

that sounds just about right -

the only other trim i would make would be the awful gag about superman at the olypmics.

other than that you read my mind

[crazy_asian_man]

Some very cool ideas there- I especially like the idea of starting off with the scenes of Lana and Clark from STM first!

I agree that Pryor didn't ruin Superman III: the screenwriters and director did with their approach. Mankiewicz said it best: The problem with Superman III is that Superman wasn't even the star of his own movie. ((Aside: I'm suprised how much the video interview with Reeve recently on this forum showed how much Reeve openly disliked SIII's end result, given that Reeve had initial script approval.))

Also, it's a pity that they didn't take the material more seriously- Annette O'Toole and Reeve seemed to have great (and interesting) chemistry.... pity the screenwriters wanted to play the relationship for bad sitcom material. bleaugh.

[joey m]

I would love to see somebody make the synthetic Kryptonite red. And for Gus to hand Superman some kind of plaque with the Red K as part of the frame or something. I mean, he just hands him a lump of phony kryptonite, what the heck kind of award is that? That movie reeks of coked up writing.

[crazy_asian_man]

I would love to see somebody make the synthetic Kryptonite red. And for Gus to hand Superman some kind of plaque with the Red K as part of the frame or something. I mean, he just hands him a lump of phony kryptonite, what the heck kind of award is that? That movie reeks of coked up writing.

I think the campiness and lack of real logic in the script was okayed because of:
#1: the campiness that was okayed with Luthor in the first film-
#2: the idea that a superhero film 'for kids' don't need to have a lot of logic to begin with.
#3: camp being Lester's 'comfort zone' so to speak.

Thankfully, over the last several years, filmmakers have finally started to show that the bar CAN be raised for superhero films--- I think the Spiderman film, Xmen films, and most recently Iron Man and Dark Knight show that taking the material seriously can reap not just creative rewards, but financial rewards, if a superhero film is done well.