Video Shows What Man of Steel Would Look Like in Vibrant Color

[flying_whimsy]

You know, I look at all the live action DC offerings out there. We have Batman, Batman with a cape, Batman with a bow, The Flash... wait a minute, how did that last one sneak by?!

That got a proper laugh out of me. I think it's just because he's so fast: you can't have the motion blur be black when everything else is already dark.

OT: That was one of my biggest gripes with the film, and has been one of my biggest criticisms for every bit of promo art and trailer they've put out of the batman vs superman movie: why is it in black and white? We've spent nearly a hundred years with color in our films only for them to take it out.

I remember doing the same color restoration to the promo photo of supergirl to prove a point to a friend: she looked a thousand times better in color and her costume didn't look super boring.

 

[circularlogic88]

How am I supposed to believe Superman is in the real world if he's not in a washed out color pallet?

It's not like the real world or a movie about a man representing the embodiment of hope should have vibrant colors.

 

[ckam]

Even though I prefer the colorful version, the movie will still be awful.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

The restored version actually looks watchable. Any chance they would do they entire movie and put it up on YouTube or something?

 

[mrverbal]

My gods, that character almost looks like superman. I am so confused.

I mean, the film would still be god-awful, but at least it wouldn't be crazy depressing as well.

 

[Pandarancher]

While I agree with the concept that the Man of Steel movie was far to bland in terms of it's color scheme, or lack thereof, it's worth noting that the authors responsible for the video seem to have intentionally made the "original" clips more bleak to support their argument, according to this website's article anyway.

http://furiousfanboys.com/2015/04/viral-video-lies-about-how-man-of-steel-really-looks/

I haven't really looked into it myself, but food for thought.

 

[OverEZ]

But with color, how would he brood?

 

[Tsun Tzu]

I too believe that Zod's neck snapping would look much more cheery with more color.

 

[Captain Marvelous_v1legacy]

I didn't like Man of Steel. It just wasn't the Superman I was used to and I wasn't a fan. The tone of the movie was way too dark for the symbol of hope I loved so much. The brighter colors were definitely an improvement, but they don't mesh with everything else. Superman is far too Batmanish and at the end of the film Superman snaps the guys neck. Because these particular people needed to be saved as opposed to the thousands that died during the fight.

Anyway, yeah, the color is nice, but it wouldn't fit Zack's vision. I believe the movie would actually be worse like this. Somehow.

 

[IOwnTheSpire]

I didn't like Man of Steel. It just wasn't the Superman I was used to and I wasn't a fan. The tone of the movie was way too dark for the symbol of hope I loved so much. The brighter colors were definitely an improvement, but they don't mesh with everything else. Superman is far too Batmanish and at the end of the film Superman snaps the guys neck. Because these particular people needed to be saved as opposed to the thousands that died during the fight.

Anyway, yeah, the color is nice, but it wouldn't fit Zack's vision. I believe the movie would actually be worse like this. Somehow.

I think that comic misses the point entirely. Superman's scream sums up how he felt.

Why is it whenever a superhero besides Batman so much as frowns, the film-makers are accused of trying to make them like Batman? Is an alien who has no idea where he comes from or what he should do with his life supposed to be all bubbly and positive, especially living in a world that might not accept him? (And as the BvS trailer shows, those worries are proven true.)

I get people want to see Superman as a symbol of hope, but you don't become that overnight, especially in a world that (realistically) would fear him and be skeptical of him; even though he says he's here to help, he has to demonstrate it through action. I hope by the time we reach Justice League, he'll have done enough to earn people's trust (except Batman, because, you know, Batman).

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

I would 1000 times out of 1000 choose the one with color. I would also prefer natural color in EVERY HORROR FILM as opposed to heavy filters. Seriously why should I have to look at 90 shades of one color for an entire movie, some of them are literally that bad with the blue filter, sometimes its yellow or another color though.

Say what you will about Sin City, but it the entire film was only greyscale with zero color, then it would be lacking a certain emphasis. It would still work as a noir obviously, but the same cannot be said of most other films, regardless of genre that seem to see color as undesirable.

One of the only commercials I actually like airing these days is for Target, it is a house party scene for some designer's new line of wares I think but the COLORS are spectacular. Primarily pink and green and blue, and very vibrant.

Our eyes are designed to see in color, and colors carry a certain psychological gravitas that is simply THROWN OUT in post.

 

[Captain Marvelous_v1legacy]

Snip!

I think that comic misses the point entirely. Superman's scream sums up how he felt.

Why is it whenever a superhero besides Batman so much as frowns, the film-makers are accused of trying to make them like Batman? Is an alien who has no idea where he comes from or what he should do with his life supposed to be all bubbly and positive, especially living in a world that might not accept him? (And as the BvS trailer shows, those worries are proven true.)

I get people want to see Superman as a symbol of hope, but you don't become that overnight, especially in a world that (realistically) would fear him and be skeptical of him; even though he says he's here to help, he has to demonstrate it through action. I hope by the time we reach Justice League, he'll have done enough to earn people's trust (except Batman, because, you know, Batman).

See, I definitely wouldn't mind as much if Zack showed signs that Superman would become the symbol he's meant to be, but that isn't the case. Maybe, just maybe, if at the end of the film they had Superman help rebuild the city or save some of the many victims definitely pinned under debris. Maybe that was part of the reason why the film had Christ imagery. Jesus is a symbol of hope and all, but that didn't do it for me. Actions speak louder than metaphors.

And, like I said earlier, the film's tone is a little dark for Superman, or at least the one I'm fond of. I personally don't want a Superman that's all Rainbows and Sunshine, but "Dark" and "Gritty" aren't words I'd ever use to describe him. Ever. It's not as though I expected him to suddenly transform into a boy scout when he put on the cape and S. I expected him to be raised that way by Ma and Pa Kent. Well, I assume the DC films will continue to have this depressingly grey filter, which is going to suck when The Flash film comes around. That is going to disappoint me more than any gritty Superman can.

As for Superman's scream... I didn't care. Superman didn't have to kill Zod. The family that Zod's laser vision was inching toward could have moved out of the fucking way!. But hey, they were paralyzed with fear. How could they possibly, right? Well, Superman could have simply inched Zod's head in the opposite direction, or was Zod's neck muscles too strong for him? Or, hey, Superman could have just flown! He killed Zod for a good reason, but I don't feel as though his hand was forced. I totally approve the killing of Zod, though. I could have done without the scream.

I should also clarify, I said I don't like Man of Steel. That isn't true. I did sort of like it, I just didn't like Superman.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

I wasn't expecting it, but holy shit those opening seconds looked incredible! Somebody get the execs at WB on the horn and get a special Blu-Ray release with all that colour. It looked absolutely glorious, and I can't even imagine how amazing the action scenes might have been.

Yeah, I liked Man of Steel, sue me.

 

[Evonisia]

Obligatory "Why Not Both?" gif.

Some of it looks nicer in colour, but honestly I think the brighter red cape looks off with his suit, and I prefer the darker saturation for all the devastation scenes (and even the cornfield one). But I liked both Man of Steel and Man of Steel's aesthetic so I'm up for castration.

 

[AwesomeDave]

The movie being shit just tied into superman even more, because he is, in fact, the shit pile of the superhero world. "Look, I only have one weakness, and every villain somehow manages to find some, even though it's a shard of my blown up home planet from the other side of the universe and should be rarer then a non-virgin on the Escapist." Fuckin lame.

 

[Gorrath]

Having a muted color palette is a perfectly valid artistic choice, to say that certain characters are supposed to be depicted a certain way seems like the kind of puritanism that chokes creativity.

I'm not saying Man of Steel didn't have flaws, just that the tone and choice of direction shouldn't be criticized outside of one's own preferences.

Oh I disagree, it's far more than mere preferences that the tone can be criticized on. I liked Man of Steel a lot but it's biggest issue by far was how the tonality of the film was schizophrenic. It's not that Supes can't have the same range of creative expression that other characters have but when you have alien dad banging on about what a symbol of hope he'll be for mankind and then have Supes all washed out and broody, it's jarring as hell. Personally, I LIKE the fact that Supes was portrayed as something other than the big blue boyscout, but the film is showing you broody Supes in a washed out color palette while the gorgeous musical score and important character dialogue suggests the exact opposite. My two cents anyhow!

 

[Olas]

Having a muted color palette is a perfectly valid artistic choice, to say that certain characters are supposed to be depicted a certain way seems like the kind of puritanism that chokes creativity.

I'm not saying Man of Steel didn't have flaws, just that the tone and choice of direction shouldn't be criticized outside of one's own preferences.

Oh I disagree, it's far more than mere preferences that the tone can be criticized on. I liked Man of Steel a lot but it's biggest issue by far was how the tonality of the film was schizophrenic. It's not that Supes can't have the same range of creative expression that other characters have but when you have alien dad banging on about what a symbol of hope he'll be for mankind and then have Supes all washed out and broody, it's jarring as hell. Personally, I LIKE the fact that Supes was portrayed as something other than the big blue boyscout, but the film is showing you broody Supes in a washed out color palette while the gorgeous musical score and important character dialogue suggests the exact opposite. My two cents anyhow!

Meh, you can have separate tones in a movie for separate occasions. I'll admit Man of Steel didn't deliver on the promise of an inspiring hero towards the end, but it's not like you couldn't have made it work, you just need to have good reasons for the broody tones in the script, which the movie fell flat on.

 

[Gorrath]

Having a muted color palette is a perfectly valid artistic choice, to say that certain characters are supposed to be depicted a certain way seems like the kind of puritanism that chokes creativity.

I'm not saying Man of Steel didn't have flaws, just that the tone and choice of direction shouldn't be criticized outside of one's own preferences.

Oh I disagree, it's far more than mere preferences that the tone can be criticized on. I liked Man of Steel a lot but it's biggest issue by far was how the tonality of the film was schizophrenic. It's not that Supes can't have the same range of creative expression that other characters have but when you have alien dad banging on about what a symbol of hope he'll be for mankind and then have Supes all washed out and broody, it's jarring as hell. Personally, I LIKE the fact that Supes was portrayed as something other than the big blue boyscout, but the film is showing you broody Supes in a washed out color palette while the gorgeous musical score and important character dialogue suggests the exact opposite. My two cents anyhow!

Meh, you can have separate tones in a movie for separate occasions. I'll admit Man of Steel didn't deliver on the promise of an inspiring hero towards the end, but it's not like you couldn't have made it work, you just need to have good reasons for the broody tones in the script, which the movie fell flat on.

I agree that it could have worked, it just didn't really. The problem isn't so much that you can't have tone shift in a film, that's fine and often even expected but shifts in tonality need to support what you're going for. Even jarring shifts in tone can be okay if it serves the narrative, and that's the problem here. It's not that the tone shifted, it's that different aspects of the tone didn't work together. We still have the dull colors even in scenes where we're supposed to feel the world has brightened. We still have stilted, broody dialogue even as Supes himself talks about hope in a dull monotone. We still have a rousing, triumphant score even as everyone's dying. It's not so much a shift in tone as it is a movie that isn't sure what it wants its tone to be and when.

I think there were good reasons for a broody Supes, especially given how they ahd him torn between two fathers with very different ideas about how he should live his life but as you say, the movie wants to give us a hero but fails to deliver that hero. I still think there is no issue with the film that can't be fixed in sequels though and over all, I still very much enjoyed it.