Which Superman II is Best?

[Fudgie]

Kryptonians can talk in space though can't they?

[Immortalfire]

The Donner cut is an interesting idea when it came along, but theatrical is the one I've known for the greater part of my life. So I usually tend to think of it as the "real" Superman II, despite the controversy that occurred in making it.

I've never been able to figure out what the originally planned ending was for the first Superman. I can only assume it was to be something other than the time-reverse, because having it in both movies would be just too far.

[mikey1974]

Originally Posted by Immortalfire

The Donner cut is an interesting idea when it came along, but theatrical is the one I've known for the greater part of my life. So I usually tend to think of it as the "real" Superman II, despite the controversy that occurred in making it.

I've never been able to figure out what the originally planned ending was for the first Superman. I can only assume it was to be something other than the time-reverse, because having it in both movies would be just too far.

i actually asked that question myself a couple months ago...i was told that originally,Lois didn't die....Supes got there just in time to save her, then the rest progressed with him taking Luthor and Otis to jail, then it ended on a cliffhanger with that first missile exploding in space and releasing Zod and Co. , with basically a "To Be Continued" tag....

[Immortalfire]

Ah. Thanks.

[AndrewGilkison]

The Donner Cut.

Lois figures out for herself that Superman and Clark are the same guy and she uses her smarts to trick him into revealing himself. Execution wise, it's not perfect (they never shot the scene so they had to use screen test footage), but it sure as hell beats her accidentally finding out the secret because Superman tripped on a rug. That was idiotic.

Brando's Jor-El giving what remaining life force he has left to give Superman back his powers is so much better than replacing him with Laura just because the producers didn't want to pay Brando. It has mythic weight and power, and is better for the story.

Much of the goofy slapstick nonsense (like most of those scenes with the Phantom Zone villains in that small town) was removed as much as possible.

I still don't like that time traveling/world spinning nonsense, but Donner never got to come back to the film to come up with a new ending, so they pretty much worked with what they had. It's still better than Lester's cut. I can't see why anyone would prefer that cut other than that is the version of the movie they grew up with, but to each his own I guess. Story wise, Donner's cut works so much better, warts and all.

[Iron_Burger]

I finally saw the Donner cut and it was truly stupendous! Darker villians, intense new fight footage, and stronger character interactions. Donner's vision of Superman 2 is superior even in this rough form.

And despite all the whining over the years about spinning the earth again, it has a strong Silver Age charm that Supes can go fast enough to time travel when he needs to for Lois. It works for me since it's an extension of super speed and Supes had this power established in the classic part 1.

The quirky Silver Age ending beats amnesia kisses and mind wiping by a long shot, powers which Superman should never, ever have. A lot of magic powers were removed from the Donner Cut actually, save for one shot left of Zod using telekinesis. It's forgivable since Zod is so awesome.

[GeekSummit]

While I was excited about the Donner Cut coming out it was a bit choppy, flip floppy, and in the end... Special effects over here, screen tests over there... Meh... not better than the Theatrical Cut for sure. BUT I'm glad to finally get to see the fabled Donner Vision come to light.

Hey has anybody seen these yet?

[Dark Raven]

Who is that supposed to be? That doesn't look like Christopher Reeve, and his head is a different colour to the rest of his skin. Is it just a custom? It looks like one.

[Lead Cenobite]

I believe it is.

[Szetsilya]

I'm not completely sure I buy the excuse be would have xray'd the gun. First even if he did what was he going to do? Tell her the bullets are blanks. Also what if Lois had lead in the gun remembering Superman can't see through lead. Either way i still say it is better than tripping over a pink bear rug.

[charl_huntress]

Originally Posted by Godman

donner's was good, but the spinning the world again is horrible business.

That sums up why I like the theatrical one.

[MOS2013]

Really tough question.

i voted for Lester's version, but thats mainly because the Donner cut is unfinished and sloppily edited together.

Had Donner been allowed to finish SII there's not a doubt in my mind it would have been superior to Lester's version.

[Mace Dolex]

Originally Posted by Szetsilya

I'm not completely sure I buy the excuse be would have xray'd the gun. First even if he did what was he going to do? Tell her the bullets are blanks. Also what if Lois had lead in the gun remembering Superman can't see through lead. Either way i still say it is better than tripping over a pink bear rug.

I was trying to figure this scene out would've wanted for it to play better if Clark just played along and fell down but getting up with a confused look forcing Lois to say the bullets were blank that way Clark's identity would still be safe.

[Zatanna]

Donner cut. IMO anyway.

[Lead Cenobite]

I know what the intentions of the cut were, to be as close to what was originally planned with the Lester stuff filling in the gaps, but for a truly complete movie (as complete as possible anyway), I would have only reinstated the Jor-El scenes and also left the score as is (though the Jor-El scenes would probably require more reuse of the Williams score). Including the Daily Planet window jump means having to include the blank bullets scene later on, since the pink bear scene references the river jump (which can't be included since it treats the river jump as Lois's first attempt to force Clark to reveal himself and even has a similar exchange of dialogue to the window jump).

[AnneFan]

Originally Posted by Immortalfire

The Donner cut is an interesting idea when it came along, but theatrical is the one I've known for the greater part of my life. So I usually tend to think of it as the "real" Superman II, despite the controversy that occurred in making it.

Same here.

"Good afternoon Mr. President. Sorry I've been away so long. I won't let you down again." I love that line.

[gkokujin]

Originally Posted by GeekSummit

While I was excited about the Donner Cut coming out it was a bit choppy, flip floppy, and in the end... Special effects over here, screen tests over there... Meh... not better than the Theatrical Cut for sure. BUT I'm glad to finally get to see the fabled Donner Vision come to light.

Hey has anybody seen these yet?

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

sweet!

Michael Jackson as superman!

[jjgravitas]

Donner cut, hands down. A lot of the stupid annoying stuff that was in the theatrical cut is not in the Donner cut. the Donner cut includes a lot of story elements that help make sense to the story. The father-son relationship btw Kal and Jor-El is a major feature of the Donner Cut (not in the theatrical).