Despite a failure with Sky Cinema showing The Family Stone instead of Zack Snyder’s Justice League at 7 am on the 18th March, I was able to download via On Demand on Sky to check out the film that has had people going through a love/hate relationship with the title.
At 10 am on the 18th I closed the curtains, hooked up my 4K projector to the Skybox and got ready for the four-hour cut of the movie on Sky Cinema. I wondered whether the run time would drag along or if the “Snyder Cut” would be better than the theatrical cut that I saw in the cinema back in 2017.
In Zack Snyder’s Justice League, determined to ensure Superman’s (Henry Cavill) ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) aligns forces with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions. The task proves more difficult than Bruce imagined, as each of the recruits must face the demons of their own pasts to transcend that which has held them back, allowing them to come together, finally forming an unprecedented league of heroes. Now united, Batman (Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) may be too late to save the planet from Steppenwolf, DeSaad and Darkseid and their dreadful intentions.
Right from the start of Justice League, you see the difference not only with the screen ratio as Snyder opted to go with a 4:3 ratio over a 16:9 widescreen one which did take a little getting used to, but the opening credits of the cut also set us up for the film as we are given the last moments of Superman from Batman Vs Superman as he is impaled and screaming, which in turn introduces us to the Mother Boxes.
Having the film running for almost four hours is a momentous task and with such a long running time Zack Snyder’s Justice League flows so much better than the cinematic version, this is a film that builds more on its characters and we get to see more about The Flash with some great back story and finally Cyborg gets the screen time that he should have had in the first place.
There are so many changes to to the film that it’s too much to go into on this review, there are removal of characters and scenes such as the Russian family that really didn’t bring much to the theatrical release, that have been removed from the Snyder Cut and to be honest they weren’t missed.
The look of Steppenwolf in this cut looks so much better and it looks so daunting and overpowering which I expect is what Zack Snyder wanted to go for. Zack Snyder’s Justice League is certainly one of those films that had me gripped from start to finish, you can see the love that Snyder had for this cut of the film that left us feeling that we had missed out on so much when the two-hour theatrical cut was originally released.
This movie has all the trimmings of an epic and that run time certainly has that momentous task to keep the viewer interested in the Justice League and its characters, let’s face it a lot of people lose interest in TV shows that only run for 45 minutes, but the Synder cut is one that builds on characters, brings us some serious ass-kicking action and ramps up the thrills that we missed out on before.
I have to mention the superb soundtrack by Thomas Holkenborg or as most know him, Junkie XL, the new tracks are a great addition to the film and work perfectly for the action, calmer set pieces and bringing emotion to the production, now this is a soundtrack I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League screenplay is by Chris Terrio, a story by Chris Terrio & Zack Snyder and Will Beall, based on characters from DC, Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The film’s producers are Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, with executive producers Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas, Wesley Coller, Jim Rowe, Curtis Kanemoto, Chris Terrio and Ben Affleck.
Snyder’s version of Justice League is one hell of a ride, there is certainly more passion in the cut and those 4 hours just raced by, well worth checking out to see how the film should have been delivered to cinema-goers in the first place. Yes, four hours may seem a lot, but for a generation that will binge-watch a TV show on the likes of Netflix, this should be an easy enough task to get through.
NEWS IN OF ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE ON 4K, BLU-RAY, DVD AND DIGITAL
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced today (16 April 2021) that the Warner Bros. Pictures and DC full-length Max Original feature film “Zack Snyder’s Justice League”, will be available to own on Digital Download from April 19th and on 4K, Blu-Ray, DVD and limited edition steelbook from May 24th. The film is directed by Snyder from a screenplay by Chris Terrio, a story by Chris Terrio & Zack Snyder and Will Beall, based on characters from DC, Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The film stars Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, and Ray Fisher as Cyborg.
- On April 19th, “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” will be available to own in high definition and standard definition from participating digital retailers. “Justice Is Grey” (Feature) will be available to fans in the UK for the first time as additional content available to customers who purchase a digital download of “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” from selected digital retailers only- for years the #Snydercut existed in black and white and shown to a select few but now it is being brought to the fans.
- On May 24th, “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” will be available on 4K, Blu-ray, DVD and limited edition steelbook.
The SnyderCut makes it to the UK shores
Movie title: Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
Movie description: Determined to ensure Superman’s ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne aligns forces with Diana Prince with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions.
Date published: March 18, 2021
Country: UK
Duration: 4h 2min
Director(s): Zack Snyder
Actor(s): Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
