World Donner Cut = Rubbish. Discuss.

[Kevin Roegele]

Well I just f**king loved the Donner cut, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, I just wish everyone could have enjoyed it as much as I did.

It's just too fast. That's my problem. The Lester version feels like you've watched an epic. The Donner version just zooms past.

 

[webs]

Curiosity made me buy the Donner cut.. and without not making a direct comparison to the Lester cut I was suprised at how much I enjoyed it..

 

[BH/HHH]

I have only 2 complaints:

I too missed the line "General, would you care to step outside" and a Lex Luthor line "you think they'd know how to use a door knob"

but I loved this movie.

 

[CGHulk]

The things I'd like to change in the Donner Cut are, add in the scene where Lex is arrested by mounties at the end of the film. Remove the scene at the end where a stand in that's supposed to be Margot at the type writer isn't isn't Margot. When Lois notices Clark looks like Superman at the Niagara Falls location shoot, she just shrugs it off, take out that little bit in the scene so it will make more sense, put in rest of the scene up to where it ends where Lois realizes that when Clark isn't around Superman is. If you make these few adjustments the Donner Cut will work perfectly!

 

[GreenKToo]

I prefer the donner cut.The only scene I miss from lester's is the "general, care to step outside'' scene...

 

[Eros]

remove the time reversing scene, becasue thats always gonna be stupid donner.

 

[Bester]

One thing I don't understand is Superman's motivation for turning back time in the second movie.

In the first movie he was driven by his emotions to save the woman he loves. This lead him to turn against his teachings ("You must not interfere with human history").

In the second movie it is driven by *logic* in order to do.....what exactly? Repair damage to a few buildings? Erase Lois's memory, even though he told her that he trusts her to keep his secret?

It makes no sense

 

[Bester]

Come to think of it, turning back time the way he did actually *creates* the problem of bringing the 3 evil Krypotians back to life (thereby resurrecting a potential threat that had already been disposed of). They escaped the PZ once, it could happen again...

 

[KrypJonian]

Donner's Cut was interesting,

I think that's all it was supposed to be

 

[bunk]

My brother brought it to watch yesterday, nothing better than Superman on Christmas! It was pretty good, I think I like it better than the original. It was weird hearing the same lines, but spoken differently. Like in Lester's: Towards the end Luthor is trying to pretend he helped, and Supes is like "Too late!" all pissed. Donner picked the version where Supes is chuckling about it. Stuff like that. I like how the silly bits where cut out, though it made for a darker movie overall. People complain about SR, but I found Donner's S2 to be much more depressing. The added scenes between Supes and Jor-el were excellent though.

 

[Lightning54SC]

ok if you guys what they way it should have been done send me both lesters and donners versions all peace it together in profection

 

[samsnee]

From the very first page...

3a & b. Donner wanted to cut all the slapstick comedy.

Just my opinion of course, but the toilet joke when Lex is in the FoS is more lame and groan inducing than anything in Lester's cut.

As for the "Rock was a bully" discussion, try imagine seeing the scene where Clark beats him up WITHOUT having scene the scene where he, sans powers, gets beat up. Yes, one can infer Rocky is kind of a d*ck, but without that earlier scene, it plays like "Why is Superman beating up on some random dude in a bar? Yeah, that dude seems like a d*ck and prob deserves it, but there are a lot d*cks in this world that I don't see Superman randomly beating the crap out of." The second scene doesn't work without the first, and I think it's difficult for any viewer not to associate payback as part of Superman's motives for going back. It's not just b/c "The guy's a d*ck and needs to be a taught a lesson." So Donner should have just cut that second scene, but I think he left it in because it does give the audience some more humor.

Anyway, I agree with the earlier post that said neither Lester or Donner's cuts are masterpieces. There are good and poor, illogical scenes in both.

 

[Furious Styles]

I'd rather not debate the finer points of Richard Donner's Superman II, I'm just glad to have had the opportunity to see his vision on screen, than to never have seen it at all.

 

[SFII]

i too actually liked the Lester version a bit better. but seeing the unseen footage from the Donner cut was quite a treat. i just wish he would've kept a little bit more of the Lester cut in the film.
and the ending when he spins the world backwards again was disappointing. and it doesn't make good sense.

 

[cryptic name]

like many others, the only thing i really preferred about Lester's Superman II was the "General, would you care to step outside?" line.

 

[Spider-Fan]

My brother brought it to watch yesterday, nothing better than Superman on Christmas! It was pretty good, I think I like it better than the original. It was weird hearing the same lines, but spoken differently. Like in Lester's: Towards the end Luthor is trying to pretend he helped, and Supes is like "Too late!" all pissed. Donner picked the version where Supes is chuckling about it. Stuff like that. I like how the silly bits where cut out, though it made for a darker movie overall. People complain about SR, but I found Donner's S2 to be much more depressing. The added scenes between Supes and Jor-el were excellent though.

I feel it was more depressing than SR because I actually cared about the characters. I don't mind Superman being depressing, as long as it is done well. The romance between Lois and Superman is done very well in the Donner Cut. That and the Jor-El scenes made this a great movie. In SR, I just didn't care about Superman and Lois was played by someone wrong for the part.

 

[Visceral]

Lester who?

 

[Frodo]

i too actually liked the Lester version a bit better. but seeing the unseen footage from the Donner cut was quite a treat. i just wish he would've kept a little bit more of the Lester cut in the film.
and the ending when he spins the world backwards again was disappointing. and it doesn't make good sense.

I gotta agree.

 

[captain_jimbo]

It's just too fast. That's my problem. The Lester version feels like you've watched an epic. The Donner version just zooms past.

That's so strange I feel the opposite. I feel like with Donner's I've seen an epic, where as with Lester's version I feel more like it's a slight rip off of Donner's material. Although I do love both versions, I love Donner's cut even more.

 

[captain_jimbo]

i too actually liked the Lester version a bit better. but seeing the unseen footage from the Donner cut was quite a treat. i just wish he would've kept a little bit more of the Lester cut in the film.
and the ending when he spins the world backwards again was disappointing. and it doesn't make good sense.

What everyone has to remember is that the turning back the world wouldn't have been the ending to Superman II, it's only because he either had to use that or the memory kiss in Lester's version, and he wanted to show an alternate version, the great thing about Superman II is that now there are two great versions.

 

[CGHulk]

Put in Lex being arrested at the end of the film back in the Donner Cut, and make Jor-El's footage with Lex to be fuzzy like in Superman the Movie and the end of the Dooner Cut. The rocket in outerspace shots to be done better, to look like the rocket in Superman the Movie, instead of a silver bullet. The scene at Niagara Falls, remove that moment where Lois shruggs off that she noticed Clark looks like Superman, and also at the end of the sequence where she realizes Clark is not around when Superman is, add that part of the scene back in too. Remove Lois at the typewriter at the end, it's not even Margot Kidder in the scene. Hire Terence Stamp to redubb his dialogue in the Oval Office, "The son of Jo-El?" The idea is to polish up the Donner Cut, so it will look great.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

What everyone has to remember is that the turning back the world wouldn't have been the ending to Superman II, it's only because he either had to use that or the memory kiss in Lester's version, and he wanted to show an alternate version, the great thing about Superman II is that now there are two great versions.

No, it would have been the ending to Superman II, that's the point, that's why it was shot. That was the original plan. If it wasn't for the troubles whilst shooting the movies in the first place, production on the sequel wouldn't have stopped and the ending to II would not have been added to the first movie.

 

[dude stannis]

He should've just gone all out and re-edited both films into the two part version he had envisioned.

 

[cryptic name]

No, it would have been the ending to Superman II, that's the point, that's why it was shot. That was the original plan. If it wasn't for the troubles whilst shooting the movies in the first place, production on the sequel wouldn't have stopped and the ending to II would not have been added to the first movie.

yeah, but donner and menk say in the commentary that they were planning on coming up with a new ending for 2 after Superman was released. the spinning the world back works better in the first one, and i'm sure they would have come up with something different and cool for their actual Superman 2.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

yeah, but donner and menk say in the commentary that they were planning on coming up with a new ending for 2 after Superman was released. the spinning the world back works better in the first one, and i'm sure they would have come up with something different and cool for their actual Superman 2.

Sure, but the Donner Cut is Superman II as originally intended. As it should be.