Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

[timdalton007]

Here's a couple of intresting articles on Superman Cinema about this:

http://www.supermancinema.co.uk/dail...ec/default.asp

http://www.supermancinema.co.uk/dail...nerdvd2006.asp

timdalton007

[Admiral Mappalazarou]

Superman II is great.

[timdalton007]

Somebody on the Superman baord I'm a meber of posted soem clips from this new cut.

Depowering:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/rxcbqq

Repowering:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/vod3yc

Fortress Confrontation Part One:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/dcpxm8

Fortress Confrontation Part Two:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/k21cc0

Blank Bullets (screen test):
http://www.sendspace.com/file/9lxlq4

Donner's directing credit:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/w2ltmc

Jor-El talks about the villains
http://www.sendspace.com/file/q076qa

East Houston
http://www.sendspace.com/file/1hcc4o

STM Trial recap\Phantom Zone in space
(features many new\alternate shots):
http://www.sendspace.com/file/wduobr

Super Blow (without Lester humor):
http://www.sendspace.com/file/hsxx64

Daily Planet - post battle
http://www.sendspace.com/file/0fd39v

The Brando stuff is just amazing!

timdalton007

[timdalton007]

The DVD is now out in the U.S.!! Has anybody seen this yet?

timdalton007

[timdalton007]

Nearly three decades after its original release, here is a radically new version of the near classic sequel Superman II. This version, headed up by its original director Richard Donner, presents the film the way it was originally intended. The question is does this version live up to both fans expectations and to the version originally released in 1980 by director Richard Lester?

The answer is a definite yes.

The biggest change in this so version is the addition of 15 minutes of new footage featuring Marlon Brando as Superman’s father Jor-El. Originally deleted and replaced with similar scenes with Susannah York as Superman’s mother, these new scenes are radically different in tone. This is mostly due to the Deepings of the relationship between father and son that was seen in the Superman The Movie. The scene were Clark loses his powers is a great example of this. There is genuine tension in the scene between the two characters as the son rebels against the father.

But it is the other Brando scene that serves as the best example of this: the much awaited “re-powering” scene. Here the love of the father for his son is in seen in a way that is both dazzling and touching. It may also be the single best scene of the Superman franchise. The acting by both Reeve and Brando is amazing and it is a shame that the footage appears now after the death of both actors.

But this is just the icing on the cake. Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut is full of alternate/expanded scenes. Among these is the escape of the three Krypton villains (that is a vast improvement over the Lester version despite some bad CGI), Lois jumping out of a window at the Daily Planet after figuring out Clark is Superman, a humorous expansion of Luthor’s prison escape, the scene where Lois forces Clark to reveal he’s Superman (that is also an improvement over the Lester scene despite being a screen-test). Also here are improvements to the final third of the film: a much more serious battle over Metropolis, a dramatic and action-less confrontation at the Fortress of Solitude, the destruction of the Fortress at the hands of Superman and an alternate ending. Surprisingly I found this alternate ending, which was originally written for this film and used in the first instead, works surprisingly well here and is another improvement over the Lester version.

It is worth noting that there is a significant amount of Lester footage in this version (due to the fact Donner never had the chance to finish filming the entire movie). But even this footage, re-edited here, seems to also have been improved. Without a lot of the Lester campy humor the footage does not seem out of place.

But this film is not perfect of course. The films biggest flaws are in its new CGI effects, its sound, and its music. The new CGI shot don’t really ever match the original footage and at times it is way too obvious (the scene where Non goes flying after Superman punches him during the Metropolis battle is a perfect example of this). It is surprising that the original effects out shine those of the original effects of nearly three decades ago.

The sound and music is also another issue. The voices don’t always match due probably to the age of the recordings. The voices are sometimes different in scenes were dubbing never happened and it is at times obvious. The music, reused almost entirely from John Williams score to Superman The Movie, works very well. But there are times when it doesn’t work and seems out of place. It’s a shame that he wasn’t brought back to rescore the film. But these problems are not enough to bring down the entire film.

Overall, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut is the definitive Superman film. When compared to Richard Lester’s original version this film outshines and surpasses it. This film was meant to be, as it now is, the true successor to the classic Superman the Movie and it even surpasses it in terms of sheer quality. This is THE Superman film to see.

9/10

timdalton007

[zombie8]

I'm looking forward to seeing it.