By Steve Younis
I watched the theatrical cut of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” at the New York premiere back on March 20… and didn’t get the opportunity to watch it again… until now.
What follows is simply my review of the Ultimate Edition of the film, not a review of the Bonus Material included on the Blu-ray/DVD release.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the movie when I first saw it in the theater, the Ultimate Edition of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” is definitely a more rounded film… and feels more like a Superman movie than the theatrical version did.
Much has been made of the extra 30 minutes included into the Ultimate Edition of the film… and from a Superman fan’s perspective, the majority of this extra footage seems to center around Clark Kent and Lois Lane.
We see more of Clark Kent and Lois Lane being investigative reporters. We learn more about the stories they’re chasing, and we are given a clearer explanation behind many of the pivotal points of the story.
For example, more examination is given to the world’s views on Superman, the skewed perspective the media is being fed about Superman’s involvement in the deaths in the African warlord’s compound. That whole sequence now makes so much more sense in the Ultimate Edition.
Superman’s involvement and arrival isn’t just because Lois was under threat from those on the ground. We now see that there was a bigger threat and involvement from the American military. The background story of the African “witness” Kahina Ziri is explored further, and goes a long way to clearing up this whole aspect of the film in its expanded version.
Lex Luthor really is the mastermind behind every negative thing happening to Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman in this movie. He manipulates so many people. He manipulates the media, politicians, international relations, and various individuals along the way. His whole plan is to discredit Superman and have the public fear and doubt him. When Superman goes missing (on a soul searching mission), Lex lures him back in an attempt to finish him off once and for all.
The R-rating for the film in U.S. markets is definitely due to the extra violence during the Batman sequences. Batman’s rescue of Martha Kent shows more deaths, broken bones and general maiming of the bad guys… It’s quite violent indeed.
All in all, I don’t think the Ultimate Edition will change anyone’s over all opinion of the film. It won’t win over anybody who disliked the film. It will however help explain many aspects of the story, especially in relation to Superman and the way Lex has manipulated everyone and everything.
While 3 hours is long… and the film feels long… the extra 30 minutes is definitely worth your time if you’re a fan of this movie. It will, in my opinion, increase your enjoyment of the story.
Purchase “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” as a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Ultimate Edition 3D Blu-ray, Ultimate Edition Blu-ray, and on DVD from our Online Store.
Hey Steve,
At least one person did change their mind after seeing the Ultimate Edition – John Schepp.
I think there are two general categories of people who didn’t like the movie – people who didn’t like the overall tone/approach (for one reason or another) and people who couldn’t follow the plot/character motivations.
I think John Schepp fell into the latter category and that for people like him the Ultimate Edition may lead to a reappraisal of their feelings/thoughts about BvS.
For people in the former category you are no doubt correct – they will not change their opinion.
Good but not great for me. I guess the true test is whether I’d purchase on bluray & the answer is NO. However my son will probably purchase & I’ll view but not a repetitive viewing film. The early Reeve Superman films will still after all these yrs access the disc drawer faster than Henry Cavill. Would like to see a Superman tv series with the same treatment as Supergirl has achieved. We’ll have to allow Warners time to exhaust their average Superman / Justice League I guess. Maybe as a non comic reader I should try the comics –… Read more »
Start with Man of Steel, Byrnes era…it’s an amazing comic. Then go from there. Check out this sites archives and you will be good. But I absolutely LOVE Man of Steel. It has informed the character and his interpretations since it debuted. For me there is no other comic that you should start with at this point. I also dug Unchained which was a limited run last year. some of the New 52 stories are decent. But I would not read those right off the bat. Definitely check out All Star Superman as well. Which by the way is a… Read more »
also..join Comixology…best comic book site on the internet and the site that got me back into the comics full time.
If you’re looking for a great comic story, and you Loved the Christopher Reeve Superman, you definitely need to pick up the All-Star Superman graphic novel. I actually hate the DonnerVerse, but will admit that All-Star is a damn good book! The art is bad (and its bad on purpose too, it’s Frank Quietly’s thang for some reason). Just like Steve mentioned, there is an animated adaptation on netflix. It’s enjoyable, but does not do the book justice. You should read the book first 😉
I recommend some Bronze Age stories especially those written by Elliot S! Maggin and includes his 2 Superman novels Last Son of Krypton and Miracle Monday, which you can find online http://theages.superman.nu/Maggin/
When I saw it I said that if your main beef was the plotting and the lack of Superman and the WTF moments with him, especially the House of Representatives scene (seriously..why would you cut out a scene of Superman helping the survivors..EVERYBODY NOTICED THIS LACK OF SUPERMANLY DEED WB’S!!!!) then you could change your mind. But, if you didn’t like the tone of the movie or Lex (although he is helped out as a character and you get what jessie was trying to do more with the character now) or hated MOS and have no intention of every being… Read more »
Will be ordering this version in the next few days. Glad to hear from multiple sources that this is a better, smoother, more coherent version of the movie. I saw the movie ten times in theatres, including opening night. I basically enjoyed the theatrical version, and I had no problem with the tone or characterizations depicted. My favorite “scene,” of course, is the Superman montage. Loved the music for that part and all the heroic deeds Superman performed as well as arguably the most intelligent dialogue in a movie I have ever heard. My problems with the movie revolve around:… Read more »
I liked the extra scene of superman saving people, the extra daily planet stuff and how they cleared up some of the plot confusion. Feels a little too long and several of the additional scenes are very dull
I have to admit that I bit the bullet and bought the digital ultimate cut…. I honestly can’t say I loved it anymore, because I think that this movie is still a masterpiece. I will say that my favourite scene in either version was in the ultimate cut… Superman saving victims after the capital building explosion…such a powerful, beautiful scene. Why was that not in the theatrical cut?!? I also loved every Clark Kent scene… It seemed to support my favourite rendition of Superman in that “Clark is who he is, Superman is what he can do.” He seemed so… Read more »
Hey man, its ok to hit the fast fwd button after you see something 7x or so! LoL. I think Man of SteeL is one of the greatest movies ever made. But I’ve seen it so many times now, I just fast fwd to the fights 😉
Sorry, but I still didn’t like the movie. Saw it with a drinking buddy the other day and , yeah it’s better but it did drags in many parts. I enjoyed the new Superman/ Clacrk scenes though, but some things that happen are just too stupid, like Supes can’t just say ” hey trust fund baby, chill out my moms been kidnapped” and too many things that just felt like commercials for other movies. Loved Man Of Steel but this ones just plain dumb and boring to me. Hopefully I like JL better cuz I am not going to see… Read more »
the actual “fight” really bothered me too… I had the same feelings, about Superman trying harder to talk to him. I’ve reconciled it I my mind that after the first kryptonite shot, Superman realized that he was fighting for his life, and really probably hated Batman anyway, so he gave in to that ‘fight or flight’ instinct and was running purely on adrenaline, and not thinking anymore… As was said many times as criticism of this movie, is that the viewer is left to fill in a lot of his own blanks….which is really a fault in the story telling…… Read more »
Even after the Kryptonite, once it wore off, he could have stopped the fight.It just continued because of the predetermined outcome.
See, I thought that it never fully wore off. He would have a moment where he felt better and then it hit him again. But you’re right that the fight only continued because they needed it to.
I find it ridiculous that the studio decided to leave out A LOT of Superman/Clark Kent from the Theatrical, especially since those additional Supes scenes really make the film so much better! I loved MoS, and I still think it is better than BvS. But the Ultimate Cut narrows the gap significantly 🙂
@rotcev08 – I completely agree with you. The Superman/Clark Kent scenes truly enhanced the film. It’s a shame the studio decided to have many of Superman/Clark Kent scenes cut out of the theatrical release. It really leads me to believe that the studio doesn’t like Superman. They only seem to worship the ground Batman farts on. Also, I feel the same way as you in that I loved Man of Steel and I think it’s a better film than Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. However, the Ultimate Edition has caused me to enjoy the movie a lot more, though,… Read more »
So I bought it yesterday the ultimate edition definitely ties up the story better… I already enjoyed the movie…but I acknowledged that it was a bit of a mess…. Or all over the place.. People like my dad and others I know who saw it were like this movie felt like it had no direction it was just pulling things out of a hat… The investigative reporter scenes with Clark were really well done and you understood why he was going after the bat and not just cause I need to be the only cape in town as it seemed… Read more »
Saw it yesterday. R version is the way to go. Contrary to what has been said about the R version, the only “R” in the movie as far as I’m concerned, is one F bomb. The majority of the extra material was added in the first two thirds. The Doomsday fight was the same. But….the added material was definitely worth the purchase. Still think that BvS was grossly hammered on by people that just didn’t want to spend the time to understand the plot in general. Unlike the tripe from Marvel BvS has a much more realistic feel to it.… Read more »
I hope that the WB doesn’t let R rated Dead Pool influence their decisions regarding future movie content. Dead Pool was a R rated movie because of the three items that make a R rating necessary. In DP’s case the R followed, coarse language, partial nudity and graphic violence. DP has all those. And as far as I’m concerned it was a stupid movie that had nothing but a story revolving around R rated content. I would rather watch The Green Lantern before ever watching Dead Pool again.