Product Description
-------------------
Superman II: Richard Donner Cut, The (DVD)
It's the version you've never seen. Finally released as visionary
director Richard Donner originally conceived and intended,
Superman II: The Richard Donner Director's Cut is a reedited
rendering of the legendary superhero film that closely follows
the original script and restores the lost footage originally
by Donner in 1977 before he was taken off the project. Among the
fascinating new elements in the director's cut are the original
opening and ending, alternate takes and camera angles and deleted
scenes featuring Marlon Brando. In the blockbuster sequel,
Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, and Margot Kidder return as
Superman confronts three supercriminals with abilities equal to
his. The Kryptonian threesome arrives just as Superman is
preparing to exchange his powers for a romantic relationship with
Lois Lane.
]]>
.com
----
The Richard Donner cut of Superman II is an infamous legend come
to life. Director Donner most of the sequel at the same time
as his first blockbuster film, but somewhere along the line, the
producers and studio lost confidence and brought in Richard
Lester (The Three Musketeers) to rework the film, and receive
sole credit. For years fans speculated on how different the final
film was from Donner's original until an underground copy
appeared showing a fully formed feature. In an unprecedented
move, Warner Brothers officially embraces this alternate version.
For those who have not been part of the rumor mill, know that
Donner all the footage with Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman). You
can find blow-by-blow descriptions of what is new/changed
elsewhere, but most of the changes deal with Christopher Reeve
and Margot Kidder as the comic-book couple. Donner's cut provides
alternate scenes for how Lois tests her hunch that Clark is
Superman, the moment he reveals his identity, and how Lois
unlearns that truth. Thing is, Lester's res are stronger,
adding weight to the romance between the two, lifting the
picture's stature. Lester also added the dandy Eiffel Tower
opening. Donner's chief additions are in the Fortress of
Solitude, where Marlon Brando returns to teach (Susannah York, as
Superman's mom, appears in the Lester cut). The producers cut
Brando's footage so they wouldn't have to pay him millions. The
Brando/Reeve scenes continue the her/son dynamic of the first
film. There is a great lesson in editing--Lester's less is better
than Donner's more--when you compare how Kent turns back into
Superman after losing his powers. The Donner cut is completely
formed but does use some rehearsal footage, new effects, and some
pieces by Lester. The history of cinema has many of these
stories of movies re, hijacked, and changed from the original
version, but here the underdog wins and Donner gets his chance to
change history, even adding a note in the end credits about the
use of fur and smoking as regrettable choices of the time.
Director Donner and creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz have a
jolly good time revisiting their past on the commentary track.
You get a clearer picture of who what, but the two have
nothing good to say about Lester's edition. Donner doesn't go
much into why he was dropped, just a difference of opinion and
the need not to pay Brando. He also explains why the déjà vu
ending of this edition was used in the first movie and a new
ending would have been thought up for part 2. A quick featurette
looks at how Michael Thau and a small crew reconstructed the film
and compares several scenes from both versions. Also added are
additional scenes by Donner but not used, most with Hackman.
--Doug Thomas