Superman II The Official Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut Discussion/News Thread!!!!

[FreeRadical]

Bought the Donner cut yesterday (was included with Lester's version here in the UK as a 3 disc set). It was great, but a weird experience.

The relationships between Lois and Supes, and Supes and Jor-el are more intense (LOL at Jor-el looking at Lois when Supes is in the chamber to remove his powers). The most significant is when Supes is rebelling against his father, giving up protecting the world just for his love to Lois, and his father giving his his powers back.

Even though the film is plothole city (what happened to Lex at the end of the film?) it works.

The extra SFX were okay, kind of cheap looking (the world reversing) since Micheal Thau in the 'making of' documentary said, while showing clips to Donner, that they had a scrict budget.

I can't believe the Salkinds didn't use Brando's footage, just because they didn't want to pay him more. The box-office of the original Superman II release could have had a minor increase because of him.

The commentary was good as well, especically Donner mentioning that Warner Bros. asked him and Tom, after the third film, if they wanted to do more Superman films

The other discs (Lester's version) had the animated 40's shows, all cleaned up (Bruce Timm & Dini are in the documentary) and a cheesy 50th birthday special with the one out of Wayne's World with glasses, and Fred Willard as the Mayor of Metropolis . The Making of SII from the 80's put me in a coma. It was so dull with no mention of Donner which isn'st surprising.

 

[3 Dev Adam]

I can't believe the Salkinds didn't use Brando's footage, just because they didn't want to pay him more.

And yet, that was exactly what they did.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

The other discs (Lester's version) had the animated 40's shows, all cleaned up (Bruce Timm & Dini are in the documentary) and a cheesy 50th birthday special with the one out of Wayne's World with glasses, and Fred Willard as the Mayor of Metropolis .

Yeah, the 50th aniversary doc is just pointless. For those who haven't seen it, Dana Carvey (Garth) visits 'Metropolis' and speaks to residents about Superman as if he were real. Apart from Carvey, who is amusing, it just lands with a dull thud. It's terrible.

 

[BatFitz]

Aw man, I remember watching that on TV...I thought it was entertaining.......

 

[captain_jimbo]

Aw man, I remember watching that on TV...I thought it was entertaining.......

Nah, unfortunately that's a bit s**t, but apart from that I loved the other extras.

 

[Spoarz™]

^ The vintage making of documentaries are particularly great.

 

[CGHulk]

Richard Donner didn't get paid for doing his cut of Superman II!!!

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/homeentertainment/la-ca-donner26nov26,0,3165624.story

What's truly historic here is that Donner was given Warner Bros. resources and the blessing of his old foe, Ilya Salkind, to recut and reimagine a movie that was once a poisoned memory. Warner Bros. has even bundled it with the Reeve movies in a giant boxed set of "Superman" DVDs, giving Donner's revisionism more credibility. One thing they didn't give him was a paycheck.
"I didn't negotiate it at the beginning of the talks to do all this, so they said it was too late once we were underway," said Donner, whose next project is slated to be "Sam & George," starring Mel Gibson. "In the old days, when there was honor, they would have taken care of me. It's ridiculous and shows a lack of class."
Warner Bros. execs say they are laying out big money for the re-edit, advertising, marketing, etc. But really, the most compelling subplot in all this is that Salkind will make more money off "The Donner Cut" than the man whose name is in the title.

 

[MST3KPIMP]

A cool thing in the Donner cut is at the end when Supes lifts up Zod after crushing his hand. In Lester's cut it's a close shot and you can see sweat stains under Supes arm which is really distracting. In the new cut they pull back which basically hides it.

 

[BatFitz]

That's cool. How does that final scene play out in the Donner cut anyhow?

 

[3 Dev Adam]

How does that final scene play out in the Donner cut anyhow?

Oh, It plays on any good DVD player. Snicker.

 

[captain_jimbo]

That's cool. How does that final scene play out in the Donner cut anyhow?

Well, without wanting to give too much away...

Spoiler

The scene plays out quite similarly to Lester's, but with quite a few small changes, and different versions of the same lines. Also Zod plays the scene much more cold and callous.

 

[Eros]

captain jimbo please tell me they left out that god awful world reversing nonsense donner wanted for the ending of superman 2.

 

[captain_jimbo]

captain jimbo please tell me they left out that god awful world reversing nonsense donner wanted for the ending of superman 2.

Spoiler

I'm afraid to tell you that they've kept it in. But don't worry I really enjoyed it.

 

[Road Warrior]

Is Target selling this movie? I was searching through their website and saw nothing. And, I was searching through Target's website because that's the place with the best special for Superman Returns. So, I was thinking of buying both movies there.

 

[AssMan]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Superman-2-...ref=pd_ka_9/203-5278873-0592746?ie=UTF8&s=dvd

 

[ReeveFan1978]

Our Sunday Target paper advertised it at $69.99. Thats where Im going to get it. The store paper . Dont know about the website.

Ellen

Is Target selling this movie? I was searching through their website and saw nothing. And, I was searching through Target's website because that's the place with the best special for Superman Returns. So, I was thinking of buying both movies there.

 

[Movies205]

Richard Donner didn't get paid for doing his cut of Superman II!!!

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/homeentertainment/la-ca-donner26nov26,0,3165624.story

What's truly historic here is that Donner was given Warner Bros. resources and the blessing of his old foe, Ilya Salkind, to recut and reimagine a movie that was once a poisoned memory. Warner Bros. has even bundled it with the Reeve movies in a giant boxed set of "Superman" DVDs, giving Donner's revisionism more credibility. One thing they didn't give him was a paycheck.
"I didn't negotiate it at the beginning of the talks to do all this, so they said it was too late once we were underway," said Donner, whose next project is slated to be "Sam & George," starring Mel Gibson. "In the old days, when there was honor, they would have taken care of me. It's ridiculous and shows a lack of class."
Warner Bros. execs say they are laying out big money for the re-edit, advertising, marketing, etc. But really, the most compelling subplot in all this is that Salkind will make more money off "The Donner Cut" than the man whose name is in the title.

I like how it doesn't mention that he had little to do with the new cut and it was mostly the work of Micheal Thau, Donner said he was too old and has changed as a director to go back and try to make it hte way he originally wanted it so Thau made it according to his notes.

 

[buggs0268]

Slasher Fogelstein's A Bed Wetter! Pass It!

No Jord-Ele. The baseball player.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Has anyone been able to pick out the Chris Reeve double in some shots?

-as Lois has fallen onto the fruit stand and looks up it's not Reeve or his voice
-when beaten Clark goes to the FOS and sees Jor-El crystal-like face from the back it's not Reeve
-the close up of Clark's hands picking up the green crystal look smaller than Reeve's big hands
-Clark's voice is dubbed at the diner when he's beaten
-Superman standing on the flag pole at the DP from the back is not him
-when Jor-El puts his hands on Clark's shoulder don't look like Brando's hands

 

[buggs0268]

This is so much better. The extended scenes with Lex and Otis. The extended stuf with Mrs Teschmacher is better. The toilet scene is great. The scene where he goes against his fathers will, and his defiance stance against his father and pointing at him. So much fricken better. Salkinds you suck! Donner/Mankelweitcz you rule! And when Supes goes after Lex is great. I love th fact that he actually has no qualms about killing Lex or not saving him. Also, the whol final at the Fortress is great and the crystal chanber is so much better.

 

[Moviefan2k4]

I liked Donner's cut, but the editing was so choppy and the lines were dubbed by higher-pitched voices, too. Here's my list of quirks.

1) The oprning titles were barely readable before the zooming effects took over, plus the whole thing looked way too saturated.

2) The revealing scene in the hotel room was way too...corny. I like the concept, but Chris' struggle to keep from smiling was all too obvious. Plus, I just couldn't get over the weight shifts.

3) Jor-El's scenes I just don't get. One moment he's full color, the next he's blue or gray (same thing as the original film's 2001 release).

4) Quite a few scenes were way too campy, almost as if the actors were thinking as they shot the picture, "This is so lame". Most of them are far out of character, and it borders on annoying. Plus, both Reeve's and Stamp's voices crack and squeak like crazy. One minute, it's all classic, with deep tones; the next, Chris Reeve sounds like a 12-year old: "Aye'm not a cauwird, Zawd." The studio either fumbled up the audio, or someone was very deaf when they reconstructed it.

5) One last thing is the very quick cuts between the Lester and Donner footage; it's so abrupt it interrupts the flow of the film.

I did like some of the line changes, though, like when Ursa says about Lex: "Let me kill him."

 

[buggs0268]

4) Quite a few scenes were way too campy, almost as if the actors were thinking as they shot the picture, "This is so lame". Most of them are far out of character, and it borders on annoying. Plus, both Reeve's and Stamp's voices crack and squeak like crazy. One minute, it's all classic, with deep tones; the next, Chris Reeve sounds like a 12-year old: "Aye'm not a cauwird, Zawd." The studio either fumbled up the audio, or someone was very deaf when they reconstructed it.

This was a Lester shot scene that it looks like they could not find the ADR that Chris recorded when he did it. It was a Zoptic shot, and so the projector was making noise, and therefor the ADR. Because it has Williams music in that scene, they could not fade out the Thorne music to use Chris' ADR, so they used someone else to re-record it. I was suprised there wasn't more new ADR. This is a 30+year old shot film.

The titles, I don't know why the didnt use the same company that did the titles for SR. The one thing that really jumped out at me was the Margot Kidder double that didnt look like her at her typewriter at the end during the time turnback.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

Has anyone been able to pick out the Chris Reeve double in some shots?

-as Lois has fallen onto the fruit stand and looks up it's not Reeve or his voice
-when beaten Clark goes to the FOS and sees Jor-El crystal-like face from the back it's not Reeve
-the close up of Clark's hands picking up the green crystal look smaller than Reeve's big hands
-Clark's voice is dubbed at the diner when he's beaten
-Superman standing on the flag pole at the DP from the back is not him
-when Jor-El puts his hands on Clark's shoulder don't look like Brando's hands

The most obvious is the close up of Superman's chest whilst he moves some scrap metal off himself after being hit by the bus. The S shield is red and gold in that shot, for a start.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

2) The revealing scene in the hotel room was way too...corny. I like the concept, but Chris' struggle to keep from smiling was all too obvious. Plus, I just couldn't get over the weight shifts.

Yeah, agreed.

The problem is, the screen tests were shot before the actors had decided how t play the characters in the movie. Margot Kidder is playing a completely different version of Lois in her screen test. A sassy, sarcastic, quick-witted Lois, a throwback to the 1940's style.

Clark and Lois' relationship is also different; she constantly mocks him he he tries to stand up for himself. In the actual movies, she is a lot nicer to Clark but is constantly thinking about Superman.

 

[The Caped Knight]

I love the Donner cut 100 + over superman II version .