• Fanedit Title: Superman the Movie Baliscon Cut

• Original Movie Title: Superman the Movie

• Original Release Date: December 15, 1978

• Original Runtime: 2 hours and 8 minutes

• Fanedit Release Date: February 17, 2026

• Fanedit Runtime: 2 hours, and 38 minutes

• Time Cut: 0

• Time Added: 30 Minutes

• Synopsis: An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.

• Intentions: In the wake of the modern superhero film boom, it's easy to forget how iconic and direct this film is.  The first act of the film is like taking in one painting after another - both Kyrpton and Kansas are beautiful and each setpiece perfectly sets up Superman's character, background, and motivations.  It's not surprising how difficult it's been to replicate this formula in other Superman movies because the original accomplished so much almost fifty years ago. 

That said, tone becomes less consistent when the story moves to Metropolis, namely with the scenes featuring Lex Luthor and his henchman Otis.  Gene Hackman's portrayal of Luthor isn't the worst or best rendition of the character, but the comedic approach makes it all the more difficult to take him and his plot seriously.  I cut much of the boobery from his part of the story, along with both scenes showcasing Luthor stealing nuclear weapons.  His plan is convoluted as it is and somehow seeing it in action makes it even more difficult to understand.  

Ultimately, I hope that this edit helps to hone the story more on Superman while celebrating the moments that made the film a classic. . 

Change List:

• Removed the Zod trial to save it for Superman II

• Trimmed some of the dialogue about the trial before the council hounds Jor-El

• Cut the Kryptonian guard teleporting away once the council threatens Jor EL

• Removed multiple shots of what appears to be Kryptonian soldiers rushing towards the camera when the planet's dying

• Cut the shot of the Phantom Zone while Kal El flies by

• Shortened the Smallville joy ride

• Shortened Clark's journey north

• Shortened the first Daily planet scene once Kent has his desk established

• Shortened Otis's intro

• Cut the second officer searching down the subway tunnel, only to find his partner's hat

• Cut Lex's first scene once he asks Otis to "feed the babies"

• Trimmed down the helicopter sequence

• Removed some banter from the pilots in the plane rescue sequence

• Cut Superman reaching out to Jor El once his hologram disappears

• Cut Otis asking Lex what a myth is and taking a picture of an uninterested Ms. Teschmacher

• Removed Lois reciting a poem/song lyrics when Superman takes her flying, replacing the sound with the original score

• Cut Ms. Teschmacher saying she knows she'll get rapped in the mouth for not knowing the significance of a meteorite in Addis Ababa

• Cut the last few beats from the scene where Lex starts plotting to use kryptonite against Superman

• Cut both sequences of Lex and his gang trying to steal nuclear weapons

• Increased the contrast when Superman's trying to locate Luthor's signal to help match the rest of the film

• Cut mission control calling the golfing president after discovering that the missiles are off course

• Cut the comedic beat between Lex and Otis while watching the missiles inbound

• Cut the army generals joking about what there is to bomb in Jersey

• Cut the bumpkins staining a fence while the missile flies overhead

• Shortened some of the sequence with the dam workers scrambling during the earthquake

• Condensed Jimmy's struggle at the dam

• Shortened Superman stopping the flood after the dam fails

• Cut the poorly dubbed line of the Native American man saying "Water!"

• Cut Lex singing before having Otis feed Ms. Teschmacher to his lions