Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

[huedell]

Superman located the Fortress in a place only he could access thru flight, That's why Lex needed the Phantom Zone guys to get there. Unless Lex is more of an idiot than he thinks, he could have rented a Yugo to get there in Donner's world.

A Yugo with some baaaad snow tires!

[thunderbolt]

^^^ He has Super Breath, would be just as effective as the big S. With that gimmck he's one step away from having an Adam West style utility belt that contains whatever he needs to get out of a particular jam. And yeah there are elements of S2 that are a only a step or two away of the camp of S3, not a good thing.

[huedell]

^^^ He has Super Breath, would be just as effective as the big S. With that gimmck he's one step away from having an Adam West style utility belt that contains whatever he needs to get out of a particular jam....

I could point out that they were at Superman's hangout and maybe he has
more stuff to draw from there than usual, but your point is well-taken.

[Earth 2 Chris]

The scene of the police taking Lex (and presumably the now-powerless Phantom Zoners) was shown on ABC when the movie first came to TV. I believe it had the scene of Supes blowing up the Fortress too.

Overall, I like the Donner version better. The tone is more serious, he excised Lester's inexplicable campy scenes from Zod and co. destroying Metropolis, and in other places. The opening scene in the Planet makes it better, IMHO. I do miss the "General..." line too though.

The bully scene doesn't make any sense since he undid the events of the past few days. They should have left it out, but I guess they needed a nice cap ending.

Chris

[Brue]

Both the released version and the donner cut have serious flaws but they were pure superhero fun at it's finest. the released version is a finished piece of work. it has much of donner in it (the best that donner had to affer for the film) the stuff that hit the cutting room floor for donner were meant to be on the floor - sure it could have been re edited by a dozen different people a dozen different ways - each person feels certain elements a re good and other don't fit.

the value of the donner film is not to see what his finished product would have looked like. it is essentially a HUGE deleted scenes montage. it is a great peice of history to have and an interesting view of the story but should not - cannot - be viewed as a completed movie nor should it be compared apples to apples to the released version.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Most of what is seen in the Donner cut WAS intended to be his Superman II. When it was decided to concentrate on Superman: The Movie and stop working on any parts of II, Donner and Mankenwicz decided to use the proposed ending of II to wrap up one. But other than that, most of the scenes Donner filmed were intended for II. When Donner was fired, and the Salkinds turned to Lester, they needed a new way to get the Phantom Zoners out of their prison, so they came up with the Eiffel Tower bomb, etc.

As someone said earlier, they had Lester reshoot some of the same scenes so they could say he was the director, despite the fact that there is a ton of Donner footage in the released movie.

So, I wouldn't really say any of the Donner cut was "cutting room floor" material. It was just replaced. I will agree it's hard to consider the Donner cut as complete film, due to the use of the screen test, the reuse of the ending of the first movie etc. But the tone overall still works better.

Chris

[The Toyroom]

Sooo.....I thought that Ursa chick was pretty hot...just putting it out there....

[phil]

Thanks to everyone for their comments. I have never been much of a fan of any of the Reeve films even though I have seen them all. I have been curious about the Donner cut though. After reading everything here I think I'll have to give it a look someday.

[Mikey]

I'm not sure if this was mentioned but taking out the Super-Kiss and adding in the time spinning world would make Superman Returns non canon ... Because Lois would have never got pregnant.

[The Toyroom]

I'm not sure if this was mentioned but taking out the Super-Kiss and adding in the time spinning world would make Superman Returns non canon ... Because Lois would have never got pregnant.

Superman Returns sucked anyway so I don't think we have to worry 'bout that any longer

[HardyGirl]

I'm not sure if this was mentioned but taking out the Super-Kiss and adding in the time spinning world would make Superman Returns non canon ... Because Lois would have never got pregnant.

Very true.

And I wouldn't say Superman Returns sucked, but it just didn't do Christohper Reeve justice.

[The Toyroom]

And I wouldn't say Superman Returns sucked,

I would

[huedell]

Very true.

And I wouldn't say Superman Returns sucked, but it just didn't do Christohper Reeve justice.

It didn't do Reeves justice? My curiosity is itching...how so?
Is it because Routh did TOO close of a job channeling him?

I think SUPERMAN RETURNS is the best SUPERMAN movie myself.
Other than the fact that there is the paradox I've felt including the superkid.
Great idea (the kid)....but impossible for the franchise to be saddled with
for future movies.

[kingdom warrior]

I think SUPERMAN RETURNS is the best SUPERMAN movie myself.

Wow really? Superman returns had fail all over it.....as it was a clone of the Donner/ Lester movies....once you got past the Superman hype the movie was dull

The original was the best and still has a charm to it, while returns I find hard to watch....the only scene that holds weight is the shuttle scene and that's still a knockoff and a update of the helicopter scene in the original......

[The Toyroom]

The original was the best and still has a charm to it

I agree 100%...Still stands up for me to this day