YOU WILL KNEEL BEFORE ME!
So, I saw the Richard Donner cut of Superman II yesterday.
(for those who don't know....the original Superman was directed by a dude named Richard Donner. He shot Superman I and II at the exact same time and they were planned to be released within six months of each other. There were problems during the shoot, however, and only 70% or so was finished of Superman II. Problems with the producer led to Richard Donner being fired. when they went back to finish Superman II they brought director Richard Lester to do it. Lester got rid of most of the Donner footage (though some remains, Gene Hackman refused to work with the new director because of his loyalty to Donner. So any scene involving Lex Luthor in the original Superman II is a Donner scene) and rewrote and reshot most of the movie. Also, important scenes involving Jor-El were discarded as the producers didn't want to pay Marlon Brando again. Thus, the theatrical version of Superman II was released.....a good movie but extremely flawed due to this cut and paste process. Also, Lester didn't get Superman the way Donner did and this led to some incredibly lame scenes such as the amnesia kiss and the cellophane plastic S he throws off his chest. Anyways......this fall the original Richard Donner cut of Superman II (well, what could be pieced together of it) was released after years of fan petitions).
It was awesome. Blew away the original cut. The new scenes with Brando may be some of the greatest scenes ever in a Superman movie. The new stuff with Lois and Clark is great, especially the new way that Lois discovers that Clark is Superman. Zod is alot more threatening and they took out most of the really bad campy humor. I was very happy with it.
There were a few problems....namely the ending and some continuity issues, but these things were basically unfixable as they had to piece everything together from what they had. Donner was never allowed to finish his film, which is really a terrible thing. He understood Superman and if he was allowed to fully finish his Superman II it would've been even more brilliant.
But I really dug it....it goes alot better with the original Superman and is, for me anyways, the definitive version of Superman II.
rock.
(for those who don't know....the original Superman was directed by a dude named Richard Donner. He shot Superman I and II at the exact same time and they were planned to be released within six months of each other. There were problems during the shoot, however, and only 70% or so was finished of Superman II. Problems with the producer led to Richard Donner being fired. when they went back to finish Superman II they brought director Richard Lester to do it. Lester got rid of most of the Donner footage (though some remains, Gene Hackman refused to work with the new director because of his loyalty to Donner. So any scene involving Lex Luthor in the original Superman II is a Donner scene) and rewrote and reshot most of the movie. Also, important scenes involving Jor-El were discarded as the producers didn't want to pay Marlon Brando again. Thus, the theatrical version of Superman II was released.....a good movie but extremely flawed due to this cut and paste process. Also, Lester didn't get Superman the way Donner did and this led to some incredibly lame scenes such as the amnesia kiss and the cellophane plastic S he throws off his chest. Anyways......this fall the original Richard Donner cut of Superman II (well, what could be pieced together of it) was released after years of fan petitions).
It was awesome. Blew away the original cut. The new scenes with Brando may be some of the greatest scenes ever in a Superman movie. The new stuff with Lois and Clark is great, especially the new way that Lois discovers that Clark is Superman. Zod is alot more threatening and they took out most of the really bad campy humor. I was very happy with it.
There were a few problems....namely the ending and some continuity issues, but these things were basically unfixable as they had to piece everything together from what they had. Donner was never allowed to finish his film, which is really a terrible thing. He understood Superman and if he was allowed to fully finish his Superman II it would've been even more brilliant.
But I really dug it....it goes alot better with the original Superman and is, for me anyways, the definitive version of Superman II.
rock.