BvS The BvS Ultimate Cut Thread - Part 1

[Micromind]

So I just finished the extended cut.

It's much better, yes... but still not great. Sorry, but it does not help the conflict and fight between Batman and Superman at all. That was still... pathetic.

Since this probably contains spoilers, I'll just put it all under the spoiler tag...

Spoiler

They do not show Superman looking for his mom after his confrontation with Lex on the helicopter pad. That really ticked me off, actually, because it again suggests that he didn't even try. He just immediately caved to Lex's demands. If they had included a single shot of Lex watching Superman leave while on the phone with the Russian guy, to make sure he headed in the right direction, then I would have forgiven it. But Lex was already gone. Sorry, but HISHE got that 100% correct, and I've no doubt that Honest Trailers and Everything Wrong With will drag that... rightly.

The Knightmare, while extended, was still superfluous and unneeded. The "and now a message from our sponsor: Justice League!" scene (the one where Diana watches the trailers for Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg) still breaks the flow in a very weird spot. It should have been after the credits, or not shown at all.

The scene with Lex seeing the alien (likely Steppenwolf, I guess) right before he's arrested was also weirdly placed.

Honestly, the only thing really fixed, here, aside from some pacing issues, was the Africa scene near the beginning of the film. That made so much more sense... enough, in fact, the elevate my opinion of the film just a little bit.

The extended cut is absolutely better than the theatrical cut, and yeah, it probably would have done a lot better on Rotten Tomatoes and with audiences in general. But it still would have been critiqued harshly, IMO. The things the added footage fixes were not even close to the only problems I and many others had with it.

I remember reading that if you loved BvS or were "meh" on it, you'd enjoy the extended cut. I agree, and would add that if you did not like BvS, the extended cut will definitely alleviate a few of your problems with it, but not even close to all of them.

Oh... and I think it's safe to say that Clark Kent is gone. It would be very hard, especially with Perry White actually being at his funeral (which was an open casket), for him to just return at the exact same time as Superman without people catching on, unless they want to claim that Perry knew Clark was Superman. I think I'd be okay with that if they showed Clark's obituary saying that he was "missing in action attempting to cover the Doomsday battle with Lois and presumed dead", but they didn't.

Any attempt to bring Clark Kent back in Justice League while maintaining the secret will be stretching the suspension of disbelief well beyond its breaking point.

Unfortunately, I'm still disappointed in BvS, and still angry about it. Also... still not celebrating its failure. This damn movie should not have failed. It should have been a rousing success... it should have been the best comic book movie in a long time. And I realize, for some, that it is.

But it isn't for me. I'm sorry. I just don't like it. And I tried. I honestly did try.

Hmm.. interesting..

I think that Clark Kent will be back, now I'm almost sure about it.


JL movie is going to be big.

 

[matt47]

One thing that truly made the movie better for me was Clark/Superman's funeral. There's a lot more there that hit me.

 

[Longshot777]

You see the shots of Superman colliding with missiles that were sent by the government. The stuff added to Africa is fantastic because you see lex's goons trying to make it look like Superman massacres the town. They hoot up everyone but then they use flame blower to set the bodies on fire, so it looks like Superman did it with his heat vision.

The ending is better because there's just more stuff to chew on. Empty Metropolis businesses and streets cuz they're all at his funeral, Perry and jenny coming to the Kent house for Clark's funeral. Better takes of Lois and Martha grieving together.
Pete getting dialogue.
Lex steffenwolf scene works really well and shows why he's so unhinged at the end. Eisenberg's face dropping when Batman tells him that he's going to Arkham is also great.

Cool thanks.

How bout Batman?? Any new action scenes from him???

I saw in the trailer where he grabbed a criminal seen from a surveillance camera, was there more of that?? Was that him breaking in Luthor's place or was that in Gotham???

 

[TDK010]

That was just part of Bats stealing the kryptonite from Lex. Nothing else to it I'm afraid. There are few little bits and pieces in the saving Martha scene but not much else besides.

The Africa stuff makes a lot more sense. I just don't get how you could leave those bits out of the scene. They're pivotal in understanding what the hell is going on. As is the Jena Malone stuff. We actually find out why Superman didn't/couldn't see the bomb during the trial/hearing scene. For me at least, it improves the way that scene is executed and understood.

 

[Spoonman]

OK, finished the UC now, I really liked it for the reasons I already stated (better flow, added story and character elements, etc); I believe a very good Fan edit could come up with a 2:45 hr version of the movie (Same length as The Dark Knight Rises), maybe by removing the Knightmare scene altogether, some adjustements here and there and I am convinced you have an even better version of the film.

 

[Binker]

OK, finished the UC now, I really liked it for the reasons I already stated (better flow, added story and character elements, etc); I believe a very good Fan edit could come up with a 2:45 hr version of the movie (Same length as The Dark Knight Rises), maybe by removing the Knightmare scene altogether, some adjustements here and there and I am convinced you have an even better version of the film.

Is there just some scenes that doesn't belong in either version? Whats wrong witht eh knightmare sequence?

 

[Knightfall]

After having now just finished the Ultimate cut, yea.. Still doesn't do much for me. It's just a slightly more polished turd, however some of the new footage was cool but it wasn't enough to make a difference.

I think my favorite bit of new footage was maybe 9 seconds long and happens

Spoiler

Right before superman tackles Bruce through that building, he walks over to him, lifts him up and just looks at him before throwing him to his right and then he tackles him through the building.

It wasn't a lot new but the look of terror on Bats face was kind of different and cool.

 

[Spoonman]

Is there just some scenes that doesn't belong in either version? Whats wrong witht eh knightmare sequence?

I never liked the Knightmare scene (or, its inclusion in the movie to be more precise) to beging with, it has little to no relevance to the main plot, I can vividly recall being in the Cinema on the opening night, the feeling in the air of people being weirded out by it; It is visually really cool, mind you, but it looking cool does not justify its inclusion at the expense of storytelling.

 

[Spoonman]

After having now just finished the Ultimate cut, yea.. Still doesn't do much for me. It's just a slightly more polished turd, however some of the new footage was cool but it wasn't enough to make a difference.

I think my favorite bit of new footage was maybe 9 seconds long and happens

Spoiler

Right before superman tackles Bruce through that building, he walks over to him, lifts him up and just looks at him before throwing him to his right and then he tackles him through the building.

It wasn't a lot new but the look of terror on Bats face was kind of different and cool.

I have totally oposing view to this lol (not meant in a bad way, that is how opinions work I know); It does not seem as the same turd to me, even if its not a masterpiece now, I believe the new scenes and the much better editing did great for the movie, I could follow the story better now and got better understanding of some plot points I previously did not as well as some other character aspects; long story short (and this is just me of course), the UC did a MUCH better job at engaging me; I must mention I never really had a problem with the tone of the film btw, so that probably helped with my liking of the UC.

...and, the extra shot you mentioned on the Bats vs Sups fight I did not like, looked kinda akward to me so that one I could live without (that is also why I said my view was totally opposite to your post lol)

 

[Jumpman]

Managed to watch the Ultimate cut today. What a phenomenal, sprawling epic this film is...such a shame that theatrical cut is what most people saw and what most people will ever see.

Now, to be clear I admire and appreciate Snyder's approach with these characters. This "deconstructed view" that places these characters in our problematic, corrupt world and tries to imagine how they would navigate it. How they would be viewed, by a more cynical, modern population. A lot of people don't have patience for this thought experiment. It puts the characters in a tricky position and keeps them from being light, wise-cracking, and chipper. If you can't get past Batman killing or Superman being troubled by what's going on around him, in BvS, this cut is not going to do much for you.

However, if you felt that there were moments in the film that really worked, moments that were puzzling, and that the film felt too choppy editing-wise. You stand the most to gain from this cut. I put myself in this category. This Ultimate Edition was sooo much more cohesive and better-paced. I'll give you an example...the Ultimate Edition introduces us to Gotham and The Batman in far better manner than the theatrical cut, because the scenes have room to breathe. In the theatrical cut we enter the scene with the bats escaping the chimney, which is a ham-fisted way of saying we're about to enter a batman-oriented scene. The ultimate cut shows police-men hanging out before getting called out to a crime scene, and then we see the shot of the bats flapping about. It tells us that the Batman is here, or has been here. It makes for a much more mysterious and cooler introduction to the character and the world. There are so many scenes that have be re-worked and re-postioned like that, throughout the cut, which allows the film to work better, flow better, and flat out make sense.

Also, Superman gets his film back, in this cut. We all know Snyder loves Batman, but you really get to see the respect, admiration, and appreciation Snyder continues to have for Clark/Superman, too. Such great Clark/Superman/Smallville/Metropolis stuff here that it gives creedence to rumors that WB execs wanted the film to be more Batman heavy, and probably had some of the great Superman stuff forced out.

I have a lot more to say about this cut, but, overall, I'll just say that this cut serves the ambition of the BvS concept, in a far better way than the theatrical one did. It's so obvious that the theatrical cut was focused on moving from one climactic scene to another to hastily keep audiences attention, but it did so at the risk of chopping up the main narrative and removing the motivations that were pushing most of the characters forward.

My only slight negative that is a holdover from the theatrical is that the apocalypse/Justice League stuff was too "out there" and too much to stuff into this film. They do so some stuff with the audio to make the apocalyspe/flash stuff a bit more digestible, but I don't know...I understand the logic of setting the seeds for Justice League here, but they should made it a post-credits scene or something.

I'm really looking forward to watching this version many more times and also as double-bill with Man of Steel, because this version is a far better companion piece.

Told everyone Snyder knew what he was doing...

I'm going to be very curious the reaction after the fan screenings on Monday night...

 

[DeadStroke]

Told everyone Snyder knew what he was doing...

I'm going to be very curious the reaction after the fan screenings on Monday night...

That will truly define the movie..

 

[Reel-Man]

Looks like they fixed the glitch on Cineplex' site.

 

[Binker]

Where does the Communion scene come in?

 

[marvelrobbins]

having seen the ultimate cut i feel the added scenes help film.but it doesn't erase all the problems especilly luthor but i feel superman fans in particul will like the changes.

 

[Reel-Man]

Is there still a place where we can buy it? Cineplex doesn't work anymore.

 

[matt47]

OK, finished the UC now, I really liked it for the reasons I already stated (better flow, added story and character elements, etc); I believe a very good Fan edit could come up with a 2:45 hr version of the movie (Same length as The Dark Knight Rises), maybe by removing the Knightmare scene altogether, some adjustements here and there and I am convinced you have an even better version of the film.

I've gotten it down to 2 48 with credits. 2 40 without

 

[Clark-Kent]

So far the added scenes don't seem to sway opinion as a whole from those that either didn't like it, or those that love the movie.

 

[Spoonman]

I've gotten it down to 2 48 with credits. 2 40 without

Great job! Could you please comment, at least in general, about what did you remove?

 

[matt47]

Great job! Could you please comment, at least in general, about what did you remove?

I removed :
- Kryptonite introduction
- Lex feeding the senator
- Martha dream
- Knightmare/Flash scene
and little bits and pieces.

 

[Longshot777]

Any interesting about Clark's investigation of The Batman in Gotham??

Was there any cool tidbits what he found out about the Bat??

 

[matt47]

Any interesting about Clark's investigation of The Batman in Gotham??

Was there any cool tidbits what he found out about the Bat??

Not really, just that he's branding and an ass hole

 

[AnneFan]

Any interesting about Clark's investigation of The Batman in Gotham??

Was there any cool tidbits what he found out about the Bat??

Spoiler

We see that Lex has a guy who was branded killed too, getting photos sent to Clark to rile him up.

 

[sf2]

I removed :
- Kryptonite introduction
- Lex feeding the senator
- Martha dream
- Knightmare/Flash scene
and little bits and pieces.

yup the knightmare scene and those cameos should be edited out. those are just pure promotion / advertisement for the next movie.

 

[AnneFan]

Me? I keep everything in.

 

[matt47]

yup the knightmare scene and those cameos should be edited out. those are just pure promotion / advertisement for the next movie.

I've put the cameos scene before the Batman lights the batsignal so there is less time between then and the fight. But it's hard to get rid of it all together because Bruce and Diana talk about it at the end.

Oh and just FYI to everyone. I don't know why people were saying Jenna Malone's character was a part of the Daily Planet. She works in DC.