Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (spoilers)

Brikar · 11-28-2006, 07:22 PM

SUPERMAN II: THE RICHARD DONNER CUT
STARRING: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, Terence Stamp
DIRECTED BY: Richard Donner

My, my, my. This is what we've been missing all these years... DAMN YOU, RICHARD LESTER.

The Richard Donner cut of "Superman II" kicks the theatrical version in the balls. It continues on from the first part, and offers up a more serious, more intense adventure for Superman and Lois Lane. Gone are the slapstick comedy bits that made us groan and wonder who the hell made this ridiculously uneven film.

Marlon Brando returns as Jor-El, and his scenes with Christopher Reeve are downright fantastic. There's real, intense emotion here that was missing from the theatrical version as Jor-El begs his son not to give up his powers for selfish goals.

The big Metropolis action sequence has been reworked, again featuring much less ridiculous comedic moments. Instead, it's a harsher fight. Without those stupid jokes, the whole thing feels much more epic, and the damage to Metropolis more serious.

All this is not to say that this new cut is not without problems. Spoilers for the end follow, so if you don't want to know... watch out.

The end of the movie reuses the idea of Superman reversing time to undo the damage done to the world. This is done because it was to be the original ending of the movie; using it in "Superman: The Movie" was a quick decision made at the time as the release date was fast approaching and photography had yet to be completed. "Superman II", already mostly shot, was put on the back burner. Donner reveals in the special features that they intended to simply make up a new ending for II after they were finished. Unfortunately, this never happened. Flash forward to now, and Donner doesn't have the ability to go back and reshoot some new ending. So instead, he decided to truly give us his original vision.

That leads to problems, then... Watching this new cut means you have to kind of ignore the ending of "Superman" and pretend like this adventure is part of the same story (which was the original idea, anyway). Beyond that, using this time reversal has one of the film's final scenes seeming very, very out of place. No one remembers Zod or what happened, and yet when Clark returns to the diner to beat up the trucker, the patrons seem to recall everything.

We do get, however, a fantastic little scene of Perry White smoking a cigar while brushing his teeth. A better comedic moment than any of the ludicrous crap that Richard Lester shoved into the picture.

END OF SPOILERS

The other problems with the movie are purely logistical. Some of the editing is understandably rough. One important scene is made up of shots from Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder's screentests, and doesn't quite match visually with the rest of the film. Zod's voice changes towards the end of the film. The same few John Williams music cues are used over and over again throughout the entire film.

But on the whole, this new cut of "Superman II" is really quite entertaining. It really opens your eyes to what "Superman III" and "Superman IV" could have been if Donner hadn't been shoved aside so rudely, and the saga of Superman was allowed to continue as it should have been. The final scenes between Superman and Lois, and then Clark and Lois back at the Daily Planet, are great. Zod and his minions are darker, and more evil.

VIDEO
The video quality of the DVD varies. A lot of the footage was culled from a couple different sources, including screentests. Some shots look great, others are filled with grain. On the whole, it's not an unpleasing picture to look at, especially considering the history of the picture we're talking about.

AUDIO
The DVD's 5.1 Surround mix is pretty great. Bass has lots of good fidelity, and there's plenty of action in the rear speakers. The issues I have with the audio likely stem from the editing, rather than the quality of the DVD. Rough reuse and re-editing of musical cues not meant for the scenes they're in are kind of jarring in places, but the sound itself is of pretty high quality.

SPECIAL FEATURES
The DVD includes an introduction from Richard Donner, who briefly gives us the history of the project and why this new cut is so important to him, and he thanks the fans and the internet movements. Very nice.

The deleted scenes are somewhat amusing - more bickering between Lex Luthor and Ms Tessmacher that's always pretty funny, though useless to the plot. In fact, most of these scenes are good, but really shouldn't be in the film anyway.

The main feature is a featurette about restoring the film, which includes interviews with Donner, his editor, Michael Thau, and several other people who worked on the project, including compositors and sound editors. They're all very enthusiastic about the project, and the featurette is brief, but informative.

OVERALL
It's hard not to recommend this DVD. The film is great, even with some issues, and the features are brief but interesting.

MOVIE: A-
VIDEO: B
AUDIO: A-
FEATURES: B
OVERALL: B+

Stag · 12-02-2006, 02:56 AM

Brikar, damn you, you beat me to it. Although like always you hit the nail on the head.

All I can say is this ... what a difference a director makes. Holy shit, it was a completely different and far superior movie. The Supes and Brando scenes were awesome, the scene between Lois and Clark when she confirms he is Superman, to see Clark take off his glasses and reveal his identity was an unbelievable moment. To quote Donner from the commentary, it was a transformation. Unbelievable.

I have always hated the Superman sequels as being lame, Superman II especially since I expected better after having seen Superman the Movie.

My question is this...what happened that Lester was brought in and Donner was out? Anyone know? It must have been bad because Donner is obviously still pissed about it.

Brikar · 12-02-2006, 03:10 AM

The Salkinds wanted the movie to be all cheesy and slapstick, but Donner wanted to play it more serious. They were apparently arguing every day until Donner banned them from the set. The Salkinds hired Lester (who had directed a "Three Musketeers" movie for them previously) as a go-between for them. When "Superman: The Movie" was finished, and everyone was preparing to go back to the set for "Superman II", the Salkind's had someone call Donner on the phone and tell him that his services were no longer needed. Lester took over the picture, and Donner was left feeling terribly betrayed after making this massive hit for the Salkinds (and apparently had forged a friendly relationship with Lester).

Closet Racist · 12-02-2006, 09:03 AM

Does Zod waste that kid in this version?

Brikar · 12-03-2006, 02:00 AM

Alas, no. In fact, much of the "hick town" battle has been excised, save for the confrontation between Zod and the US Army.

Closet Racist · 12-03-2006, 06:53 PM

I finally, FINALLY found a copy...I have to say, except for the "reboot" at the end, it was far superior to the original.

I was a little unhappy with what appeared to be digital effects inserted on 1970's footage, as with the "reboot" and the destruction of the Phantom Zone. At least the FZ cracking didn't look like cheap, second-rate animation this time.

Notice how Kent's hair changed from greasy Shemp hair to 70's puffy hair back to Shemp hair during the honeymoon suite scene? I think Lois' jewelry changed a bit, too. All explained in the "extras".

As for Kent going back to the diner and kicking the guys' ass after the reboot, I think it's safe to assume they didn't remember Kent coming in the first time. Looks like the bully comes in and tears the place up quite frequently.

Better cinematography, better pacing and editing, 75% less slapstick shit, although I would have prefered the alternate "Luthor escapes from jail" to the "Ms.Tesmacher shows up in an impossibly tiny baloon" one.

Brikar · 12-04-2006, 02:13 AM

Well, the turning back time gag was originally going to be used only at the end of the second one, and the first was going to end on a cliffhanger. The Superman II we're seeing here reflects that original vision, as if the first one had ended on a cliffhanger like Donner had intended.

Bean · 12-04-2006, 11:47 AM

Well I just finished downloading my copy

Brikar · 12-04-2006, 08:17 PM

I splurged on the 14-disc Ultimate Collector's Edition. It's awesome.

NX-47 · 12-04-2006, 08:18 PM

You don't have kids, do you? Either that, or you make shitloads of moolah. ;-)

11-28-2006, 07:22 PM	#1 (permalink)
Brikar The Dude Join Date: Dec 1969 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 3,606	Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (spoilers) SUPERMAN II: THE RICHARD DONNER CUT STARRING: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, Terence Stamp DIRECTED BY: Richard Donner My, my, my. This is what we've been missing all these years... DAMN YOU, RICHARD LESTER. The Richard Donner cut of "Superman II" kicks the theatrical version in the balls. It continues on from the first part, and offers up a more serious, more intense adventure for Superman and Lois Lane. Gone are the slapstick comedy bits that made us groan and wonder who the hell made this ridiculously uneven film. Marlon Brando returns as Jor-El, and his scenes with Christopher Reeve are downright fantastic. There's real, intense emotion here that was missing from the theatrical version as Jor-El begs his son not to give up his powers for selfish goals. The big Metropolis action sequence has been reworked, again featuring much less ridiculous comedic moments. Instead, it's a harsher fight. Without those stupid jokes, the whole thing feels much more epic, and the damage to Metropolis more serious. All this is not to say that this new cut is not without problems. Spoilers for the end follow, so if you don't want to know... watch out. The end of the movie reuses the idea of Superman reversing time to undo the damage done to the world. This is done because it was to be the original ending of the movie; using it in "Superman: The Movie" was a quick decision made at the time as the release date was fast approaching and photography had yet to be completed. "Superman II", already mostly shot, was put on the back burner. Donner reveals in the special features that they intended to simply make up a new ending for II after they were finished. Unfortunately, this never happened. Flash forward to now, and Donner doesn't have the ability to go back and reshoot some new ending. So instead, he decided to truly give us his original vision. That leads to problems, then... Watching this new cut means you have to kind of ignore the ending of "Superman" and pretend like this adventure is part of the same story (which was the original idea, anyway). Beyond that, using this time reversal has one of the film's final scenes seeming very, very out of place. No one remembers Zod or what happened, and yet when Clark returns to the diner to beat up the trucker, the patrons seem to recall everything. We do get, however, a fantastic little scene of Perry White smoking a cigar while brushing his teeth. A better comedic moment than any of the ludicrous crap that Richard Lester shoved into the picture. END OF SPOILERS The other problems with the movie are purely logistical. Some of the editing is understandably rough. One important scene is made up of shots from Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder's screentests, and doesn't quite match visually with the rest of the film. Zod's voice changes towards the end of the film. The same few John Williams music cues are used over and over again throughout the entire film. But on the whole, this new cut of "Superman II" is really quite entertaining. It really opens your eyes to what "Superman III" and "Superman IV" could have been if Donner hadn't been shoved aside so rudely, and the saga of Superman was allowed to continue as it should have been. The final scenes between Superman and Lois, and then Clark and Lois back at the Daily Planet, are great. Zod and his minions are darker, and more evil. VIDEO The video quality of the DVD varies. A lot of the footage was culled from a couple different sources, including screentests. Some shots look great, others are filled with grain. On the whole, it's not an unpleasing picture to look at, especially considering the history of the picture we're talking about. AUDIO The DVD's 5.1 Surround mix is pretty great. Bass has lots of good fidelity, and there's plenty of action in the rear speakers. The issues I have with the audio likely stem from the editing, rather than the quality of the DVD. Rough reuse and re-editing of musical cues not meant for the scenes they're in are kind of jarring in places, but the sound itself is of pretty high quality. SPECIAL FEATURES The DVD includes an introduction from Richard Donner, who briefly gives us the history of the project and why this new cut is so important to him, and he thanks the fans and the internet movements. Very nice. The deleted scenes are somewhat amusing - more bickering between Lex Luthor and Ms Tessmacher that's always pretty funny, though useless to the plot. In fact, most of these scenes are good, but really shouldn't be in the film anyway. The main feature is a featurette about restoring the film, which includes interviews with Donner, his editor, Michael Thau, and several other people who worked on the project, including compositors and sound editors. They're all very enthusiastic about the project, and the featurette is brief, but informative. OVERALL It's hard not to recommend this DVD. The film is great, even with some issues, and the features are brief but interesting. MOVIE: A- VIDEO: B AUDIO: A- FEATURES: B OVERALL: B+ __________________ "A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown." http://olympusmans.blogspot.com http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

12-02-2006, 02:56 AM	#2 (permalink)
Stag It's me again Join Date: Jan 1970 Location: Florida Posts: 3,286 View Edit History:	Re: Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (spoilers) Brikar, damn you, you beat me to it. Although like always you hit the nail on the head. All I can say is this ... what a difference a director makes. Holy shit, it was a completely different and far superior movie. The Supes and Brando scenes were awesome, the scene between Lois and Clark when she confirms he is Superman, to see Clark take off his glasses and reveal his identity was an unbelievable moment. To quote Donner from the commentary, it was a transformation. Unbelievable. I have always hated the Superman sequels as being lame, Superman II especially since I expected better after having seen Superman the Movie. My question is this...what happened that Lester was brought in and Donner was out? Anyone know? It must have been bad because Donner is obviously still pissed about it.

12-02-2006, 03:10 AM	#3 (permalink)
Brikar The Dude Join Date: Dec 1969 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 3,606	Re: Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (spoilers) The Salkinds wanted the movie to be all cheesy and slapstick, but Donner wanted to play it more serious. They were apparently arguing every day until Donner banned them from the set. The Salkinds hired Lester (who had directed a "Three Musketeers" movie for them previously) as a go-between for them. When "Superman: The Movie" was finished, and everyone was preparing to go back to the set for "Superman II", the Salkind's had someone call Donner on the phone and tell him that his services were no longer needed. Lester took over the picture, and Donner was left feeling terribly betrayed after making this massive hit for the Salkinds (and apparently had forged a friendly relationship with Lester). __________________ "A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown." http://olympusmans.blogspot.com http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

12-02-2006, 09:03 AM	#4 (permalink)
Closet Racist Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: With a side of fava beans and a nice chianti... Posts: 1,203	Re: Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (spoilers) Does Zod waste that kid in this version? __________________

12-03-2006, 02:00 AM	#5 (permalink)
Brikar The Dude Join Date: Dec 1969 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 3,606	Re: Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (spoilers) Alas, no. In fact, much of the "hick town" battle has been excised, save for the confrontation between Zod and the US Army. __________________ "A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown." http://olympusmans.blogspot.com http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

12-03-2006, 06:53 PM	#6 (permalink)
Closet Racist Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: With a side of fava beans and a nice chianti... Posts: 1,203 View Edit History:	Re: Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (spoilers) I finally, FINALLY found a copy...I have to say, except for the "reboot" at the end, it was far superior to the original. I was a little unhappy with what appeared to be digital effects inserted on 1970's footage, as with the "reboot" and the destruction of the Phantom Zone. At least the FZ cracking didn't look like cheap, second-rate animation this time. Notice how Kent's hair changed from greasy Shemp hair to 70's puffy hair back to Shemp hair during the honeymoon suite scene? I think Lois' jewelry changed a bit, too. All explained in the "extras". As for Kent going back to the diner and kicking the guys' ass after the reboot, I think it's safe to assume they didn't remember Kent coming in the first time. Looks like the bully comes in and tears the place up quite frequently. Better cinematography, better pacing and editing, 75% less slapstick shit, although I would have prefered the alternate "Luthor escapes from jail" to the "Ms.Tesmacher shows up in an impossibly tiny baloon" one. __________________ Last edited by Closet Racist; 12-03-2006 at 06:56 PM.

12-04-2006, 02:13 AM	#7 (permalink)
Brikar The Dude Join Date: Dec 1969 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 3,606	Re: Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (spoilers) Well, the turning back time gag was originally going to be used only at the end of the second one, and the first was going to end on a cliffhanger. The Superman II we're seeing here reflects that original vision, as if the first one had ended on a cliffhanger like Donner had intended. __________________ "A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown." http://olympusmans.blogspot.com http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

12-04-2006, 11:47 AM	#8 (permalink)
Bean The Awesome One Join Date: Dec 1969 Location: Canada eh! Posts: 5,055	Re: Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (spoilers) Well I just finished downloading my copy __________________ "I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing." --James T. Kirk

12-04-2006, 08:17 PM	#9 (permalink)
Brikar The Dude Join Date: Dec 1969 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 3,606	Re: Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (spoilers) I splurged on the 14-disc Ultimate Collector's Edition. It's awesome. __________________ "A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown." http://olympusmans.blogspot.com http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

12-04-2006, 08:18 PM	#10 (permalink)
NX-47 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Here, looking at you Posts: 370	Re: Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (spoilers) You don't have kids, do you? Either that, or you make shitloads of moolah. ;-) __________________ Kira: Well, now that you have another pip on your collar, does that mean I can't disagree with you anymore? Sisko: No. It just means I'm never wrong.

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