The Superman: Avid Trilogy is a three part movie series that uses footage from:
Superman The Movie
Superman II (Richard Donner Cut)
Superman II (Richard Lester Cut)
Superman II
Superman IV
Superman Returns
These five movies each have their own positives and negatives, and the goal of The Superman: Avid Trilogy is to present a modern edit taking the best elements from each film that will appeal to today's audiences who expect a quicker pace and more action.
Contact us to watch one or all three movies.
PART 1: THE SUPERMAN
The original film has been streamlined and tightened which permitted adding some additional story elements from Superman II. The end result is more action in a similar running time of 154 mins.
Almost every scene has been trimmed for quicker flows in conversations. Most of the silly humor has been removed, in particular Otis and Miss Tessmacher. Lex Luthor is more menacing, and Clark Kent is less clumsy. Director Richard Donner's original vision has been followed with some scenes from Superman II added, but not all.
Too many changes have been made to list them all here, but some obvious edits and alterations are as follows:
New opening title moved later into the film
Krypton shots used from Superman Returns
New edit of earthquake and scene turning back time adding more action
Re-sequence battle scene between Superman and Kryptonian villains
New closing credits
PART 2: THE SUPERMAN OF KRYPTON
Part 2 in The Superman: Avid Trilogy takes the man of steel to unexpected places - he falls in love - world peace is threatened - and he is poisoned by the creation of his
nemesis. The Superman of Krypton wraps up the best that Superman III & IV had to offer, with scenes featuring the late Marlon Brando from the Donner Cut of Superman II. Krypton is referenced several times, which leads in to Superman questioning his origins for Part 3 of the Trilogy. Also Lois Lane has a tough time in this version, which ultimately results in her disappointment of who she once thought was the man of her dreams.
Most conversations have been edited to streamline dialogue or remove redundant topics and silly humor. Some subtle special effects have been added in a few scenes, and a custom television news report overdubbed in another scene. The original idea of Superman playing a part in nuclear disarmament was lame, so in The Superman Of Krypton more urgency has been added around nuclear weapons, and in particular nuclear terrorism. Quite a bit of news footage has been used to achieve this.
The villains are Ross Webster, driven by greed, and Lex Luthor, who is determined to engineer the perfect Kyptonian weapon to destroy Superman. The fate of the villains differs from the Theatrical Releases however, as is necessary to setup for and lead into Part 3.
PART 3: THE SUPERMAN RETURNS
Superman Returns always needed some serious edits to make it feel like it belongs in the Richard Donner and Christopher Reeve universe, and The Superman Returns goes to great lengths to achieve the excitement we expect from a man of steel movie.
The primary goal of this edit was to remove the depressing elements in the theatrical release, and also the kid. The Superman Returns aims to build tension throughout the movie, and does so in the shortest run-time of the trilogy at a brisk 90 mins. Part of the reason for the shorter run-time is the fact that this cast only appeared in one movie of the five original films.
Every scene with the kid has been removed or edited so he does not appear at all. And no fly-by stalking! These cuts impacted the story flow so several scenes were rearranged to make a new linear story that differs quite significantly from the theatrical release. There is always something happening in this version, unlike the original, and tension builds in a more linear fashion. The most noticeable addition is the Return To Krypton deleted scene, with a new transition to finish it and bring us back to Earth. It was astonishing that this scene was removed from the original release, so it is back in this version where it can be enjoyed as part of The Superman: Avid Trilogy series.