Justice League Zack Snyder Directing Justice League (The Snyder Cut Edition) - Part 2

[Dr.]

...watch JL:TC and ZSJL just to do a fun comparison...

My story: Since I quite liked BvS, I was looking forward to Justice League. I was still keen even upon Snyder’s departure. I.e., I accepted the studio’s PR narrative that Whedon was stepping in for a bereaved director, helping to “complete his vision.” But that soon proved not to be the case. At which point, for me, the theatrical cut was of little interest. I figured I’d see it… eventually. Yet, when it showed up on the movie channel or (later) on commercial TV, I continued to abstain. And abstinence morphed into a kind of personal boycott. At that time, of course, I had no rational basis for expecting a Snyder cut. But I kept telling myself that I’d finally watch the TC only after I had seen the restored original.

Well, I’ve now seen ZSJL a few times. And I’m not the least bit curious about the TC.

 

[kguillou]

Lol WB unlisted the release trailer for the blu ray. They went thru all the trouble to cut a trailer together only to hide it so no one sees it. Because why would they wanna make $$ right? Businesses are not supposed to make $$.

I tell you, i dont understand why STILL theres so much shade towards this project from the top.

 

[DlAMONDZ]

Maybe Emmerich is proud of the turd he helped put out in 2017

 

[GothamCity]

This version was cool, but 4hours is a little too long.
Leto's joker is still a disaster and doesnt at Anything to this film.

 

[herolee10]

This version was cool, but 4hours is a little too long.
Leto's joker is still a disaster and doesnt at Anything to this film.

I feel like Snyder could have delivered a better cut if he had done the following.

• Trim the movie just by a little bit.

• Brighten up some of the colors.

• Remove the Knightmare sequence completely.

• Allowed to use John Stewart instead of Martian Manhunter and have it placed as one of two post credit scenes.

• Remove the MM reveal since it completely undermines the emotions shared between "Martha" and Lois.

• Naturally, keep the traditional colors for Superman's costume.

• Re-shoot some of his shots so that he wouldn't have to reuse stock footage for certain scenes.

• Make Superman's shirt rip the closing shot of the film before the credits roll. You could have Lex's meeting with Slade as a mid credits scene.

 

[chintai80]

I feel like Snyder could have delivered a better cut if he had done the following.

• Trim the movie just by a little bit.

• Brighten up some of the colors.

• Remove the Knightmare sequence completely.

• Allowed to use John Stewart instead if Martian Manhunter and have it placed as one of two post credit scenes.

• Remove the MM reveal since it completely undermines the emotions shared between "Martha" and Lois.

• Naturally, keep the traditional colors for Superman's costume.

• Re-shoot some of his shots so that he wouldn't have to reuse stock footage for certain scenes.

• Make Superman's shirt rip as the closing shot for the film before the credits roll. You could have Lex's meeting with Slade as a mid credits scene.

agreed with all this.
especially about removing the mm reveal from the martha and lois scene.
and having the ending being superman shirt rip.

 

[Slick]

Pretty great unbiased comparison video.

 

[Dr.]

This is a few months old, probably been posted before. But I just discovered it. Dude argues that ZSJL is now canon. I’m not sure the convoluted thesis quite hangs together. A for effort, though.

 

[Calvin Ellis]

This is a few months old, probably been posted before. But I just discovered it. Dude argues that ZSJL is now canon. I’m not sure the convoluted thesis quite hangs together. A for effort, though.

You can sure make the argument that it's now canon since the Flash script was changed a bit after the director saw ZSJL.

 

[chintai80]

You can sure make the argument that it's now canon since the Flash script was changed a bit after the director saw ZSJL.

didn't know this. did the director say this recently in an interview?

 

[Calvin Ellis]

didn't know this. did the director say this recently in an interview?

I read about this in the Flash boards about a month or two ago.

 

[herolee10]

 

[Batmannerism]

Grandiose, Gritty, Gloomy Bloated and at times absolutely Glorious , that's how I'd sum it up. A solid 7/10, and much better than any MCU film or show since Endgame.

First, I take back everything I said in the lead up, that more Snyder would make it even worse than the Theatrical JL film. I am happy to eat my words on this one.

Second, there is no denying that is a far more coherent and complete story with consistent tone.
In fact Snyder goes to great lengths to fill in the gaps, on a number of issues (e.g little details like Cyborg making Bruce's plane work) . The tone is really intense, so much so that it's oppressive at times - but at least it's not ridiculous self parody like Whedon's JL.

The action scenes have some real weight , although it's still so heavy on cgi that it still feels cartoonish. I mean, any film with Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flash in it is going to rely on cgi, but sometimes cgi can be so overpowering that it destroys any suspension of disbelief.

It's length and sheer self indulgence would have made it tough to sit through as a cinematic film, but through home media it works - I think of it as a tV miniseries, and it works better that way for me.

It's also definitely the second best Wonder Woman movie.

In that sense alone it is a much better film than the Theatrical version.

It also handles Superman's return to life much, much better, both in his fight with the JL, and his reconnecting with Lois and Martha - and even better revisiting the Flight scene and Zimmer's Superman theme. It kind of feels like a bookend to Man of Steel and I was a big fan of that film.

 

[kguillou]

Great review @Batmannerism! Glad you liked it. Especially since it sounds like you werent really too keen of Snyder’s stuff beforehand.

 

[Micromind]

 

[Batmannerism]

Great review @Batmannerism! Glad you liked it. Especially since it sounds like you werent really too keen of Snyder’s stuff beforehand.

Thanks man, with Snyder I have a mixed view.

I loved Man of Steel and Watchmen but absolutely hated Batman v Superman - because it was such a disappointment. There are good bits to it, but it's drowned out by the ott gloom, Eisenberg's ridiculous version of Luthor and Batman being really dumb and straight up killing people.

By the time Superman died I was relieved rather than heartbroken ( and Superman is my favorite superhero) because it meant the film was nearly over.

There is a bunch of unnecessary stuff in ZSJL, but there's also a ton of stuff added that is completely necessary to round out Cyborg in particular and and Flash ( still think he's miscast).

All in all ZSJL is a more complete story, not a perfect one but one that hangs together much better than JWJL.

Also, bringing back Zimmer's Superman theme was a big bonus for me.

 

[The Lazarus Pit]

How would people feel about something like this:

James Gunn presents:
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL
​

 

[WatchProtect]

ID watch the hell out of it! Cast may be a bit large though even for Gunn

 

[mclay18]

So. I finally watched it.

I liked the extended time given to Cyborg and The Flash, no Cavill CGI lip, black suited Superman FTW, and some of the minor additions (like Marc McClure's full cameo). But it is so messy and the pacing is all over the place -- Watchmen in its theatrical cut moved faster! This thing clearly didn't need to be four hours.

Compared to the Josstice cut that made it to theaters November 2017, it's a tie for me. Whedon's awful behavior during reshoots is inexcusable, but I preferred the pacing of his cut and it was a light breezy affair (even though it's a bad movie). I missed some of Joss' scenes but he missed a good opportunity to use more of Snyder's footage (ie The Flash scenes).

But the Snyder Cut isn't necessarily better, in some ways it's WORSE. The opening 5-6 minute recap of BvS' ending is unintentionally hilarious. Don't get me started on the unnecessary "epilogue" with Letoker. And this is where Snyder and Chris Terrio's failings come by making the script so messy and drawn out -- even though Cyborg, Superman and the Flash benefit from it.

I wish Snyder had done TWO cuts -- his cut that the studio could've released into theaters (ie a 2.5 hour film) plus this 4 hour vanity project. I would've been happy to really dig into the former. Or maybe WB should've hired Whedon to rewrite the script and let Snyder direct that instead of what happened in 2017.

 

[Predator jp]

Snyder had done many cuts ranging from 2.2 hour to 3 hour but WB rejected them all so can't fault Snyder for wanting to put everything into his very last DC film.

 

[Micromind]

So. I finally watched it.

I liked the extended time given to Cyborg and The Flash, no Cavill CGI lip, black suited Superman FTW, and some of the minor additions (like Marc McClure's full cameo). But it is so messy and the pacing is all over the place -- Watchmen in its theatrical cut moved faster! This thing clearly didn't need to be four hours.

Compared to the Josstice cut that made it to theaters November 2017, it's a tie for me. Whedon's awful behavior during reshoots is inexcusable, but I preferred the pacing of his cut and it was a light breezy affair (even though it's a bad movie). I missed some of Joss' scenes but he missed a good opportunity to use more of Snyder's footage (ie The Flash scenes).

But the Snyder Cut isn't necessarily better, in some ways it's WORSE. The opening 5-6 minute recap of BvS' ending is unintentionally hilarious. Don't get me started on the unnecessary "epilogue" with Letoker. And this is where Snyder and Chris Terrio's failings come by making the script so messy and drawn out -- even though Cyborg, Superman and the Flash benefit from it.

I wish Snyder had done TWO cuts -- his cut that the studio could've released into theaters (ie a 2.5 hour film) plus this 4 hour vanity project. I would've been happy to really dig into the former. Or maybe WB should've hired Whedon to rewrite the script and let Snyder direct that instead of what happened in 2017.

Snyder wanted to release his film on HBO Max as a movie (with runtime less than a 4 hours, more around 200 min or 214 min), but WB Execs wanted it to be shown as a series, four episodes each. Snyder then edited it for a series format.

But they changed their mind and asked Snyder to release all of it as as a single movie.

 

[Dr.]

I think ZSJL works fine as a four-hour opus — especially given the streaming venue, which affords user-defined “intermissions.”

Additionally (if you’re feeling charitable ), you can take a metatextual approach and grant the movie consideration as a necessarily flawed restoration. I.e.: in an alternative universe, a JL2 and JL3 would exist and perhaps feature (among other hypotheticals) Green Lantern instead of Martian Manhunter. And under that scenario, there’s no way JL1 would have been released as a four-hour theatrical cut. Likewise, the enigmatic “Knightmare” material would, in the planned sequels, be given proper context, explanation and resolution. But… we don’t live in that universe; JL2 and 3 will never happen. Thus, JL1 — as a stand-alone — represents a weird chimera of sorts: atypically long and yet still incomplete.

 

[The Lazarus Pit]

I really hope we get to see one scene in Flash with the Justice League, consisting of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter

 

[mclay18]

Snyder had done many cuts ranging from 2.2 hour to 3 hour but WB rejected them all so can't fault Snyder for wanting to put everything into his very last DC film.

I wish Snyder realized that the script needed paring down before filming -- as it needed an experienced script doctor. They should've brought in Joss to work with Snyder and figure how to eliminate the filler and make it move quicker.

 

[Erzengel]

As much as I faulted Snyder and WB in the past, I really feel WB gave him an impossible task. Do a JL movie, make it essentially the 4th movie in the series (SS really didn't add too much to JL) and introduce Aquaman, Cyborg, Flash, hint at Darkseid on top of the storylines carrying over from BvS in a 2 - 2 1/2 hour time span.