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

[batfan1028]

http://iesb.net/index.php?option=com_d4j_ezine&task=read&page=1&category=1&article=69&Itemid=28

 

[BatFitz]

when I click on the links on that page....the media player just says ready

 

[boywonder13]

http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?p=3419643
*This isnt my review, i found it.....

I was able to see quite a bit of the Donner cut recently, and was shocked at how different it was. I was expecting a nip/tuck job...some extended footage, some of Lester's crappier scenes trimmed, an extra scene or two...but this was a hell of an overhaul. The parts I saw really did make it feel like a completely different film.

I just skimmed the movie looking for new content, as it wasn't an ideal viewing environment, and I don't want to see it for the first time on a tiny black-and-white computer monitor. But I thought I'd post a few tidbits and first impressions for those who are into that sort of thing. Not a review, just a little stream of consciousness-type outline.


Spoilers: (I mean, they don't re-work the whole plot or anything. But there are new scenes and a new ending)
spoilers:
There's a dedication to Chris Reeve at the beginning. To be expected, but still nice to see.

The opening of the movie (before the credits) is mostly made up of scenes from the first film, but with new shots and dialogue scattered throughout.

The film opens with Zod's trial on Krypton, with nothing changed that I noticed. Not until the Phantom Zone disc appears, where we see some extended and slightly disturbing shots of the criminals' bodies being twisted around and stretched out inside the Zone.

We see baby Kal's trip through space juxtaposed with the P-Zone disc drifting aimlessly. At one point the disc actually seems to split into three, before ultimately merging again into one. There's some new Brando voiceover heard within the ship, specifically mentioning Kal's red, yellow, and blue blankets. We also see the spaceship crash-landing and opening up from a new angle.

Various more scenes from the first movie, ending with Superman catching Lex Luthor's missile and throwing it into space. My guess is that this is the second missile (the one that killed Lois before Superman went back in time), although it looked to me to be the same footage from the first movie of him catching the first missile (whew!). Well, whatever, hopefully it'll make more sense when there's time to sit back and enjoy it. Anyway, it's this missile that collides with the Phantom Zone prison and destroys it. No French terrorist plot here. The criminals are freed and Zod flies toward the camera, bellowing, "FREE!"

Cue the credit sequence, which is entirely redone to looks just like the opening credits of the first film. The genuine Williams score plays over it, not the weird synthesized version of it that was there previously. Brando's name is of course added (with Chris getting top-billing this time), and it ends on Donner's sole director's credit.

Next is the footage that was apparently shown in San Diego, with Perry congratulating Lois for her story on Luthor's imprisonment. Then Clark walks in, lovably bumbling as ever, and it gave me such a thrill to see basically "new" Chris Reeve footage. What follows is a pretty funny scene with Lois, pen in hand, looking back and forth between Clark and the picture of Superman in the paper. Genius reporter Lane draws little glasses on the picture of Superman and, guess what: secret's out. Easy as that.

Perry White sends Lois and Clark on the honeymoon hotel scam story, and all the while Lois teases Clark about the fact that she's figured it out. She's SO sure, she leaps out of Perry's office window. Clark runs down to the street faster than the eye can see, keeps Lois afloat with super-breath, then knocks down a sidewalk cover to bounce her none-too-gently into a fruit stand. Thatll show the *****.

Lois' suspicions are later confirmed when Superman saves the child at Niagra Falls, leading to the scene where she proves Clark is Superman. Anyone who's seen the screen tests on the first Superman DVD will recognize this, and it's a lot funnier and cuter than the "hand in the fire" thing. Unfortunately, they're unable to HIDE the fact that it's screen test footage. It looks like a Clark Kent from five in the past has walked into the room.

I skipped over much of the middle and didn't see anything new until Brando reappears. Basically, holographic Jor-el takes the place of holographic Lara. I did notice that at least some of the "Zod vs. rednecks" scene is there, but hopefully not more than is necessary.

People will likely be glad to hear the "super-kiss" is gone. They'll likely be less glad to hear how Superman makes Lois forget: he flys around the Earth to turn back time. Yeeeeees, again. This actually serves two purposes. Besides making Lois forget, it also deposits the Kryptonians right back in the Phantom Zone. Truth be told, I'd almost prefer the super kiss. The time travel stunt worked for me in the first movie because he was THAT determined to save Lois, and it led to him rejecting Jor-el's teachings for Jonathan's. Here, it just seems like business as usual.

I didn't watch much after that, but there is a final scene in the Daily Planet, different from the goofy orange-juice-squeezing scene.end of spoilers


So, that's that. I was always looking forward to this, but now, I want to see this new cut even moreso. It makes me feel better about having to shell out for a huge boxed set.

SEAN

I found this

 

[captain_jimbo]

i was watching that Look Up in the Sky documentary, and there was a shot of Lois Lane wearing Superman's shirt. i wonder if that's part of the deleted scenes of Superman 2. like after they make love or something.

I've often wondered that, or if it was just Kidder mucking about on set.

 

[BatFitz]

its actually in the orginal SII screenplay...but that image you see...I think that was being used as a makeup test...

 

[Spoarz™]

I've often wondered that, or if it was just Kidder mucking about on set.

That's what I thought.

 

[ReeveFan1978]

I have several magazine layouts with Kidder in a superman sweater. I think it wasnt part of the movie. At least those I have.

EL

(Not linked)

 

[BatFitz]

I can't wait to actually see the Brando scenes(and in color too lol)...but I think it's even more exciting to see more of Chris' Superman/Clark, supposedly there's so much that's added in...

 

[ReeveFan1978]

Great sysnopsis, Boywonder-- Thanks

I have a photo of Lois' stunt double falling into an awning. From a magazine way back in 1978 and could never figure out where it came from. Now I know.

EL

 

[Kevin Roegele]

Superman II originally had FOUR Kryptonian villains.....I believe Jak-El was the other one.

 

[captain_jimbo]

Yes, you're right, but I think originally all of their names were different.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

"Early drafts of Superman: The Movie and Superman II written by Mario Puzo contain 500-plus pages of script. They apparently had the names of the Phantom Zone villains as Jax-Ur, Kru-El, Faora and Professor Va-Kox from the comics. Later on through several rewrites a fourth villain along with General Zod, Ursa and Non was added. JAK-EL, a psychopathic trickster who played sick practical jokes that were only funny to him, was supposed to be a source of comic relief. The later, final versions of the shooting script dropped him in favor of only three villains."

- Wiki wiki wild wild Wikipedia

I always wondered why he was called Jak-El - surely he would have been related to Kal-El?

 

[BatFitz]

The puzo and newman draft was considered too comical so they brought in mankewiez to rewrite...who tremendously made it better (in my opinion)

 

[captain_jimbo]

The puzo and newman draft was considered too comical so they brought in mankewiez to rewrite...who tremendously made it better (in my opinion)

Exactly, because look at what happened to Superman III without Mankeweiz.

 

[boywonder13]

www.supermancinema.co.uk

check out thelatest updates

- donner cut poster!!!

 

[ReeveFan1978]

Thanks Boywonder!!!

EL

 

[BatFitz]

Cool! Also those other new pics are great!

 

[captain_jimbo]

Thanks boywonder13, that's pretty cool. Although I don't want to read too much of it, because I want to keep most of it a suprise.

 

[boywonder13]

your welcome

 

[boywonder13]

http://www.comics2film.com/FanFrame.php?f_id=21383

a new great article

enjoy!

 

[boywonder13]

http://www.comics2film.com/FanFrame.php?f_id=21383

For many Superman fans, the behind-the-scenes story of Superman II is even more dramatic and memorable than the one that ended up on the screen. Director Richard Donner, whose seminal 1978 screen adaptation starring Christopher Reeve has become a classic of the superhero genre, was originally hired to make two Superman films simultaneously. But due to time and budget constraints, Donner's work on Superman II was halted so he could complete the first film. Later, Richard Lester was hired to reshoot and finish the sequel, which departed from Donner's original version significantly. For years, fans have been petitioning Warner Bros. to release Donner's now legendary original cut, and come November, their wish will be granted.

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, available on Nov. 28, is a painstaking restoration of the director's original vision using archived footage never seen before. Editor Michael Thau, who worked with Donner previously on the 2001 director's cut of the original film, lead the process of tearing the film apart and putting it back together again under the supervision of Donner himself.

"I had to find the shooting script for Superman II, Dick's shooting script," Thau tells Now Playing at last month's Comic-Con: International. "And packed away with all the film were 30 binders with a sheet for each setup that was done, A camera, B camera, so on. ... It was also organized in scene order, all the stuff that Dick had shot. So it was fairly easy to figure out what he had shot and what he hadn't shot. But then the most difficult thing was digging the negative out. The negative was not stored in an organized, orderly way. And it took 12 people just forever to find particular pieces of negative so that my assistant could synch the sound. I would read [writer Tom] Mankiewicz's scene, I would watch all Dick's dailies, just like you'd do with a normal film, cut it together and show it to Dick."

To restore one of the most integral scenes, Thau went back to screen tests that Reeve and co-star Margot Kidder had shot, both separately and together, before beginning work on the first Superman film. The scene takes place in a hotel room at Niagara Falls, where Clark reveals his identity to Lois.

"It was a really nice scene," Thau says. "I'm intercutting between two screen tests that were shot three months apart. And Chris doesn't match, when he walks out of Margot's screen test and into his. But the scene is so good, and it worked pretty well. People have said they don't really notice, it's so good. It's still Chris and it's still Margot, and they're in their outfits."

Among the other additions in the new cut are a different ending and an additional 15 minutes of footage with Marlon Brando, who plays Superman's Kryptonian father, Jor-El. According to Thau, about 50 percent of the film will be brand new to the audience.

"Half of it has never been seen in theaters," he says. "A lot of scenes that had been already cut, that Richard Lester had interwoven new material in — and there was a lot of them — I unwove that material and recut those scenes, basically from scratch a lot of times. I also had to deal with negatives that had already been cut. And when I wanted to recut it, and Lester had already cut it in a different way, I'd have to unwind that. It was a complicated jigsaw puzzle sometimes, to put it back the way I envisioned Dick would want it cut. ... We only used the Lester footage when there was material when they had not been able to shoot, and to keep some continuity to the story."

 

[jrd550]

can't wait for this - I'm more excited to get this than the SR dvd.

 

[captain_jimbo]

Can I just ask, does anyone know if Donner's version will come out on November 28th across the world, or just in America? I only ask because I live in England.

 

[captain_jimbo]

can't wait for this - I'm more excited to get this than the SR dvd.

You and me both pal!

 

[boywonder13]

Can I just ask, does anyone know if Donner's version will come out on November 28th across the world, or just in America? I only ask because I live in England.

I think it will be relased in America first with a Region 1 encoding (only Canada/America)

im not sure when Region 2 (England, Middle East and other parts of the world) will come out...

lukcily i have a international region dvd player...

it will most liekly be released in America/Canada first