Donner Superman II opinions?

[Deric]

I bought this on impulse since I had only heard about it here. I loved Superman II as a kid so I picked it up on Blu-ray. Some of it I really like especially that it doesn't try to be too tongue and cheek. The rewind bit was a little of a let down the 2nd time around. With this what does the RPF think? Which one is better or what do you prefer over each version?

One thing that bugs the crap out of me in the Donner version is the diner fight. If Supes rewound everything back then Clark would have come across as a Jerk since no one would know why he was picking on the trucker and the original fight would never had happened.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

It's a much darker version. They had to work with what was shot during production... and since the rewind was pulled from 2 and into the first movie... Donner was out of his original ending... and it was a toss up of using an ending he thought was stupid and using one that was cool, but already seen... well... the answer is in the movie.

I like it and for what it could have been, but I also like the original version I saw when I was a kid... cheese and all. In both versions... the retaliation against the trucker always seemed a bit out of place, but worked best in the Lester version. The trucker was an *******. They all knew he was. Sure, he hadn't picked a fight with Clark in the rewound reality, so the work-out line really doesn't fit anymore. The scene has an emotional satisfaction to the viewer, but in-movie, it doesn't really make sense in the Donner cut.

 

[micdavis]

It's better, but still mostly lame.

Only one great Superman movie, so far.

 

[dualedge]

It's better, but still mostly lame.

Only one great Superman movie, so far.

I'm agreeing with you a lot today it seems, Mic! :lol

Superman 2 is "okay" for me but mostly I don't think highly of it. And I don't say any of this lightly. I've been a BIG fan of Supes for many, many years. The first film is in my bluray collection which I'm mostly limiting to my absolute top favorites (like the Matrix but not the sequels, etc.)

Part of the problem with the Donner cut for me personally is just that it gives me a taste of what it should or could have been but wasn't. The director's cut just comes across as unfinished so in one respect I like it but yet since it does seem so unfinished to me, I can't really regard it the same as a finished film. I don't know if that makes much of any sense to anybody but myself...

I did appreciate seeing it though. Maybe if Christopher Reeve hadn't been injured and could have reshot some scenes to properly finish the movie it could have totally changed my opinion regarding the Donner cut version. Better than Supes 3 or 4 mind you but still not great.

 

[nickytea]

The Brando scenes make me cry. No lie. That good.

It's incredibly sad to think of how awesome the Donner/Mank two-movie arc could have been. This is as close as we'll ever get.

 

[micdavis]

Worse part is, it's not like the Salkinds or even Richard Lester can't make a good epic movie. The Three and Four Muskateers are both terrific. Those were the first movies they pulled the making two movies bit and got away with it.

 

[The Wolf]

The diner scene is a point well made.
I had heard about Donner's version of Superman 2 for years and it was actually a let down. Having the ending be the same as the first movie really bugged me. If Superman isn't able to take care of evrything he just spins the Earth to make time go backwards and gets what he missed the first time.:wackoThey could just do that for every movie and comic book. Who needs other superheroes?

However, I did like Lois looking at Clark and drawing the glasses and suit on a photo of Supes in the newspaper.

Wolf

 

[nickytea]

The diner scene is a point well made.
I had heard about Donner's version of Superman 2 for years and it was actually a let down. Having the ending be the same as the first movie really bugged me.

Well, it was supposed to be just the ending of the second movie, but it was bumped forward to the first. You've got to imagine a different first film when you watch the Donner cut of II.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Yeah, the original ending of 1 was supposed to be the nuke flying into space and unleashing the villains.

 

[MattMunson]

Jeez guys, did any of you even watch the special features?

Re the ending of the donner cut of superman II, here is the scoop.

Originally, when donner laid out his vision for superman I and II, he had the second one ending with the rewind thing. Part I ended totally differently. However, when it came time to roll out superman I, with all the crap that was going on behind the scenes, he made the choice to just throw what was the ending for superman II onto superman I, figuring he could re-craft a new ending to superman II when he got there.

Of course, the salkind politics screwed all that up, and the cut went to lester.

So "The Donner Cut" of the movie is what he originally envisioned for superman II.

The point was NOT to use the same plot device twice. that was not the plan.

Did you guys even watch the special features?? where he explains all this himself?? :lol

 

[MattMunson]

Well, it was supposed to be just the ending of the second movie, but it was bumped forward to the first. You've got to imagine a different first film when you watch the Donner cut of II.

:thumbsup Exactly.

 

[The Wolf]

I guess I need to watch the special features.

Wolf

 

[Galactifan]

I liked the Donner version but prefer the original theatrical release.

 

[oujala]

Superman II has always been my favorite movie, and The Donner Cut trumped it. So now I guess my top ten would start out with Superman II at the 1 and 2 positions, ha ha.

The movie feels totally different, and I agree with Nickytea about it being a tearjerker. A much more powerful version, regardless of the level of completion.

There have been THREE good superman films so far if you score Superman II twice:lol (four if you count Superman/Doomsday, which I felt was better than Returns).

 

[steveo]

I used to love II a lot when I first saw it, but later on I realized how cheesy and goofy it was, but still better than III, IV or returns. I do prefer the Donner cut because it was more serious and fit better with I. A lot of the terrible acting in the Lester cut was toned down.

 

[Runner]

The Brando scenes make me cry. No lie. That good.

It's incredibly sad to think of how awesome the Donner/Mank two-movie arc could have been. This is as close as we'll ever get.

I prefer the Donner cut in general but I actually like the scenes with his mother (opposed to Brando) better. Being a mama's boy maybe thats the reason!

So glad the cheesy parts are gone though. Totally ruined S2 for me originally.

 

[Westies14]

Trying to hug his dad's giant ghost head was sort of ridiculous, but the Brando scenes certainly work better than they did in Returns (or than the corporeal mom scenes in the Lester SMII, in my opinion). It's a shame they couldn't have executed these two movies with Donner on board in their entirety... While the Donner cut is very cool to see from a historical perspective, it's not really the film Donner would have made, is it? As pointed out, many aspects don't reconcile well within the film itself or with Superman: the Movie. Screen tests and Lester footage are both used to fill gaps (the gun screen test scene is classic superman, while the burning hand scene was an inexplicably inferior replacement). This version will never feel like an actual movie, sadly.

 

[R.P. McMurphy]

I got to see the Donner cut on AMC last week. I don't have the dvd and therefore don't have access to any special features. I enjoyed seeing this version but had similar misgivings as those stated above.

My question is, does anyone know what the other possible ending for Superman I would have been? If the "turn back time" ending was originally slated for the second movie, then I imagine the whole Lois dying scene could not have been included in the first. Very curious if anyone knows how the first one was going to be wrapped up.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Check post #9

The whole beginning of The Donner cut was the original ending on Supes 1.

 

[R.P. McMurphy]

Thanks. I've read all the posts in both threads before posting here.

Post #9 doesn't address the Lois dying storyline that I'm asking about. The nuke flying into space, as seen in the montage at the start of II doesn't give any insight as to how that could have been resolved. I guess those scenes simply would have been removed? Were those not part of Donner's original vision?