Superman 2 Lester or Donner cut?

[huedell]

If you really care about SUPERMAN II and don't have one of the better fan
edits then you are really missing out. They are MOSTLY "Donner" with the
good and/or necessary Lester stuff put in where needed.

[Thor]

I prefer the Lester cut. The Donner cut is respectible but the Lester cut is a classic.

[huedell]

I prefer the Lester cut. The Donner cut is respectible but the Lester cut is a classic.

With respect to you and those that love the Lester Superman II
(Heck I like Lester's S2 a lot myself)... in present day, my thoughts are
that we were totally betrayed by the Salkind steered Superman II that was
actually released.... if Donner's vision would've been seen through to the
end, I feel it would've been INFINITELY better no matter WHAT the box
office.

But that didn't happen... so now we're stuck with a hack version of S2...
what could have been a much sharper movie.

We WERE lucky to get the Donner Cut... but NOT for the official Donner Cut
release... ONLY so we could cherry pick the salvageble stuff from Donner's
UNFINISHED movie.

Take THAT cherry-picked Donner stuff and combine it with the stuff
in Lester's cut that makes for a linear narrative to support the
way superior Donner stuff...

...and finally SUPERMAN II earns it's stellar reputation and is a movie much
more worthy of Reeve, and especially STAMP'S performances.

[Mikey]

Like I said before, it was the Lester movie that got us all to love the movie for the last 25 years.

I can't just throw that in the trash and say I love a new edit better.

Nostalgia DEMANDS I like the Lester version better

[Earth 2 Chris]

There's still the ABC TV cuts, and the syndicated cuts.

I'd like to see someone take all of those versions and make the ULTIMATE Superman II. Normally, I wouldn't ever ask for such a thing, but Superman II is a patchwork quilt that somehow WORKS in any version. It shouldn't, but it does. So a few more patches here and there wouldn't bother me.

Chris

[Brazoo]

I like both, but the Donner cut is the way the film SHOULD have been. I miss a few Lester things (the "General, care to step outside line" for one), but Lester's campy tone really undercut the severity of the situation. A little humor here in there is okay, but a lot of the battle in Metropolis is full of just silly sight gags. Only Reeve's sincere performance saves it from being a total farce.

The fact that Reeve and Brando actually share a scene is phenomenal. And that whole bit with Jor-El just makes so much more sense. The opening with Lois trying to prove Clark is Superman works so much better, the blank gun, all of that.

My only gripe is that the "turn back time" ending was still used. I know that was the original ending for 2, but since it was used for 1, I wish they could have come up with something different. I know they really didn't have any kind of budget for such things, but maybe Lester's amensia kiss should have been left in. After all there is still some Lester in the Donner cut.

Chris

I always hated the amnesia kiss. It's a cop out, it has nothing to do with the story and it's a complete Deus ex machina.

The way Donner's 2 cut used the rotating the earth was WAY better then how it was used in part one. It's a shame he wasn't left to create both the way they'd originally intended to me.

I agree 100% about the gags. Donner (and crew) understood that they were walking a fine line with people taking Superman seriously and did A LOT of cool and subtle things so that the film didn't feel like the 70s. Lester tossed all of that out the window. He made it feel campy and goofy and the quality was sub-par (hence things like the goofy Honeymoon Suite scene, that cartoon 70s pimp making fun of Superman's boots, and Superman's sweat stains under his pits near the end.)

I'd argue that the only reason Lester's movie even felt worthy of the first one is because of all the Donner footage he used.

[Brazoo]

Did you guys hear Donner's commentary with the cut? You totally should. It's great commentary and Donner explains a lot about what was to be. Also where the available footage fell short of him being able to create a stand-alone movie. It's worth checking out!

[huedell]

Like I said before, it was the Lester movie that got us all to love the movie for the last 25 years.

I can't just throw that in the trash and say I love a new edit better.

Nostalgia DEMANDS I like the Lester version better

I'm hit & miss in that mindset for "art from childhood into adulthood".
But I agree there's something there or I wouldn't've liked it originally...
and that's kinda what Chris is saying above. On S2 tho, the editing helps
out my perpspective more notably than other childhood loves gone sour
which are unsalvageable/non-improveable for me.

It may not be for you Mike... but for me it's healthy for me to keep a finger
on that kinda bent... it's the kind of attitude that keeps me from being a
packrat of sorts if ya can see the connection.

[jacoblb]

I love Superman II despite the weird powers Supes gets, I had a hard time accepting the Donner cut because we didn't get a Donner cut of the first Superman. At least CGI the end of Superman so we get the intended ending instead of a re-done second movie with the same ending and supplemental footage. Seemed more of a marketing choice rather than a creative endeavor.

[bleit1701]

I always liked S2 but in viewings over the years it wasn't holding up as well as the first.

Then I saw the Donner cut and realized they gave us a subpar movie the first time around because they wanted to save a buck.

As much as I loved the original as a kid the unfinished/same ending Donner version is better.
The opening at the Daily Planet (not france) has the same feel as the first, the Superman and Lois goodbye at the end is better, Having Jor EL is WAY better, the secret ID reveal is better even using the screen test footage.

[Mikey]

I always liked Superman The Movie better than Superman-2 no matter which version.

The movie was a nice big epic package ... It feels like watching the Ten Commandments

Supes-2 seemed like a half hour TV show that was padded to tedium.

There's plenty of times I tried to watch Supes-2 and turned it off because I got bored.

[kingdom warrior]

I always liked Superman The Movie better than Superman-2 no matter which version.

The movie was a nice big epic package ... It feels like watching the Ten Commandments

Supes-2 seemed like a half hour TV show that was padded to tedium.

There's plenty of times I tried to watch Supes-2 and turned it off because I got bored.

Yeah True, I had a hard time watching Superman 2 before the Donner version came out...thought it was boring...now i can only watch the Donner version because of all the new footage.

Superman the movie still holds a special spot in my heart mostly cause my Mom took my sister and i to see it on New Years eve and I sat there holding my breath and hoping it didn't suck.......and it delivered big time I remember we went to my Uncle's house to celebrate the new year after ward my Mom bought me the soundtrack to the movie.....I was on a cloud the rest of the night..........

[jds1911a1]

I love Superman II despite the weird powers Supes gets, I had a hard time accepting the Donner cut because we didn't get a Donner cut of the first Superman. At least CGI the end of Superman so we get the intended ending instead of a re-done second movie with the same ending and supplemental footage. Seemed more of a marketing choice rather than a creative endeavor.

actually the released version of 1 is basically the original Donner vision exept the actual ending sequence when superman reversed the world he saves the world by sending the missiles to space and that is what frees Zod and CO. The first film was to end with them chanting REVENGE as the fly toward earth..fade to black. a perfect cliffhanger ending. Money was short and the Salkinds had him use the end from 2 to tie up 1 in case it didn't make enought to warrant the planned sequel that was 1/3rd canned already

Donner was fired after the filming was done and I think after the editing for 1 was done

[Mikey]

Superman the movie still holds a special spot in my heart mostly cause my Mom took my sister and i to see it on New Years eve and I sat there holding my breath and hoping it didn't suck.......and it delivered big time I remember we went to my Uncle's house to celebrate the new year after ward my Mom bought me the soundtrack to the movie.....I was on a cloud the rest of the night..........

Cool story,

For me (i've mentioned this before) but the first movie holds a special spot in my heart because my school class trip went to the Daily News building (Planet) 1 week before filming.

It was so cool seeing all the doors say Daily Planet

Our tour guide said they were going to film a Superman movie here next week

[kingdom warrior]

Cool story,

For me (i've mentioned this before) but the first movie holds a special spot in my heart because my school class trip went to the Daily News building (Planet) 1 week before filming.

It was so cool seeing all the doors say Daily Planet

Our tour guide said they were going to film a Superman movie here next week

WOW how cool was that......