Superman II The Richard Donner Cut DVD

Hello
I am new to the forum and wanted to ask if any of the many talented editors on the forum have any thoughts concerning the Superman II Richard Donner Cut DVD. I was a little disapointed with it but glad to finally see the Brando footage. Not to give any spoilers but I did miss some Lester shot secenes as well as his ending. I sincerely hope to see a fanedit of Superman II in the future utilizing the newly available Donner footage.
Thank You
Wellesfan

Welcome to FE

I do belive someone was planning one, but you're definately not the only one who wants an edit of this...I hear-tell it's not that good...

yes, ADM was planning on it and someone else too, but I don't remember right now.
Welcome to FE.com, Wellesfan.

I have just created a froum for fanedit ideas (in the fanedits category).
You migth wnat to post your idea there.

Thanks boon23, I will post it in the fanedit ideas also. I would love to see what ADM (as well as others) could do with all the available footage.

I picked this up the other day as I had been waiting for it for years. Even with the flaws I liked it a whole lot, and I think that if Donner was REALLY able to shoot the movie he intended way back when, it would be FAR superior to the theatrical cut. That's just my opinion, but I thought Clark Kent was a much stronger character in Donner's cut, and the cheese factor (all those zany characters lossing their hair and ice-cream during the Zod/Superman street fight) was grately reduced in Donner's cut as well. Also, the scene where Zod decides to try out a machine gun just for fun in the Whitehouse was great. I'm sure a stronger movie can be made by the right editor using all the newly available footage. I can't wait.

Well I watched the Donner cut last night and although I thought it was ok, it just seemed to be lacking in something. Not sure what it was, but it just seemed to miss the umph of the original (Superman 1 that is).

I did prefer the ending in the fortress... I mean anythings better than the 'now you see him now you don't shit' but the turning back time just didn't make sense. That just means that 2 never happened..and if so the SR doesn't make sense either - Lois being pregnant an' all that.

I dunno...It's not as good as I hoped it would be.


I agree..a clever edit of both the Superman 2 films would make this the perfect edition!

HotRod said:

That just means that 2 never happened..and if so the SR doesn't make sense either - Lois being pregnant an' all that.

Click to expand...

That's not toothpaste Perry's squeezing. No, The Unrated Director's Cut would have shown a reverse shot where splooge shoots out of Lois' SuperTrap. The MPAA had to avert their eyes and called for a re-cut, else give it a NC-17 rating.

Now it's more open-ended letting the user come to their own conclusions. :?

The turning back time was originally supposed to happen in Superman II. The original ending for Superman The Movie was a cliff hanger or the idea was to have a different ending to the movie than the turning back in time. That was going to happen in Superman II as I have said. He was supposed originally turn back to when the earthquake was going on. That was the original end for Superman II. Instead, they put the turning back in time as the end of Superman The Movie and a new ending was being planned for Superman II but that never happen. Donner was fired and Lester was hired and the rest is history. So when the Richard Donner Cut was in the beginning stages right where he left off in 1978 he decided to put back in the Turning Back in Time scene. So in other words the events never happen.

I was disappointed by the movie. I know they didn't have enough footage to make a smooth edit but even taking that into account I had trouble with it.

The "Giving up his powers" & "Turning back time" scenes are obvious issues but I also felt the other scenes were weaker. Like the opening scene where Lois suspects Clark by looking at a newspaper. I thought the waterfall scene in Lester's was better because it didn't make Lois look dim.

I know people don't like Lester's cause of the slapstick but Donner's jokes where Luther says another prisoner wets his pants & flushing the toilet at Superman's home were just as bad.

But I did love the Marlon Brando stuff. Seeing him give up his life so Clark can be Superman again is much better than seeing the green crystal on the floor.

Yeah, I was kind of disappointed, too. Depending on compression needed, I might make my own composite edit. But you should look into ADM's version and see if it's up your alley. I just would go another way with some of the edits myself, but that's just my opinion. Your's might be in sync with him.

ADM's was cool, but if I remember rightly his edit was based heavily on the Donners cut. Which is cool & it was an improvement on the films but I just warm to Lester's version.

I think it's because I was obsessed with the Superman films as a kid & I watched them endlessly. So the Lester's version is always gonna have that special place in my heart where the Donner Cut won't.

I was thinking of doing an Edit of the film based on Lesters with the marlon brando stuff put in, but then I cooled on the idea. As I might edit Superman I & II together with the 2nd film being based on Lesters version.

Like Night and Day. Never overly being a superman fan, I was initially only interested in the Theatrical cuts of Superman 1 & 2. But I suppose curiosity overcame me, as well as that compulsive urge for completion.

I read very little about the Donner cut before watching it (yesterday) - however what I had read were criticisms to the extent that it could have been a good cut, but it's a bad cut because Donner removed as much of Lester's footage as possible, and made the ending the same as Superman 1.

But let me just say I do not feel this way at all. In fact, I didn't miss a single thing from the theatrical cut. True, the ending is the same as Superman 1 - but that's because that is what Donner was shooting, that was the script he was working off. There's no point in saying he should have kept more Lester footage, because while you can certainly make a complete movie - it's not the same movie Donner was shooting, and I think that's the difficulty other critics have had with this movie.

There are only a couple of areas in the movie which are not entirely seamlessly strung together - clearly due to missing scenes, but nevertheless it works as well as it can do. The ending is better then Lester's for a few reasons - firstly (and most importantly) Lester's ending is a continuity error - if as we've seen in Superman 1 he can turn back the world - why wouldn't he do it this time around? And secondly - he recaptures the three and returns them to their eternal prison - unlike Lester's version where he simply kills all three. And thirdly the Lois & Clarke ending is perfect.

I must say that perhaps my favourite scene in the movie was the new way Lois discovered Superman's identity. Even though it's only a screen test, it's such a powerful and well acted scene.

I was very happy to finally see this but also a bit sad too, cause i thought of all the other fans who had waited so long to see this and maybe not survived to see the release. i get very frustrated with studios at times because so much footage is stored in vaults and never sees the light of the day and in many regards it was only cause of the fanfilm with extra footage that was circulating that we got to see the release.

So was the wait worthwhile? for me it was. the superman/lois lane coupling with reeves and kidder (the best we will ever see on film) and the extra material is priceless and very endearing, especially the tender scene after lex is hauled off by the artic ice patrol and they kiss and cuddle "dont forget... that's all. dont ever forget" (it brings a tear to my eye every time i see it) and i love the line kidder says "well there he goes kid. up up and away"

Its magic.

I miss the elevator scene a little but theres so much priceless magic in the extra material it makes up for it. im glad i bought it!

The following is a list of movies and tv shows that I have personally preserved. My collection is bigger but I am not including anything that I didn't personally preserve. I am also leaving out music DVD's that I personally authored or compiled.

Promotional Material Projects

- My City Speaks: Promoting The Spirit
- The Press Is Out There: Promoting The X-Files: I Want To Believe
- The Terminator Salvation Archives
- To Hell And Back: Promoting Hellboy II: The Golden Army
- Welcome Back To Crystal Lake: Promoting The Friday The 13th Remake
- Who Promotes The Watchmen?
- Why So Serious: Promoting The Dark Knight

TV Cuts

- Hellboy
- Night At The Museum
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park

TV Shows

- Carpoolers (Complete Series)
- Late Night With Conan O'Brien (The Last Show 02/20/09)
- Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (The First 39 Shows)
- Murder (Complete Series)
- Sit Down, Shut Up (US)(Complete Series)
- The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien (The First Show 06/01/09)
- The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (The Last Show 05/29/09)
- Unhitched (Complete Series)

Other

- AvP Fox Special
- CBS Fall Preview 2008
- CBS Fall Preview 2009
- FOX Fall Preview 2009
- Lanny And Wayne The Christmas Elves In Prep & Landing
- Leonard Nimoy: Star Trek Memories
- Monsters Vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space
- Scream 2008 Awards
- Scream 2009 Awards
- Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Special
- William Shatner's Star Trek Memories

Added the "CBS Fall Preview 2008" to my list. I completely forgot that I had recorded it.

Added the "CBS Fall Preview 2009" to my list.

I had to remove "Parks & Recreations (Season 1)" from my list since I just found out that it's being released on DVD this Tuesday.

Added the "Fox Fall Preview 2009" to the list. It just aired this afternoon and I recorded it.

Andy Barker P.I. is going to be released by Shout! Factory on November 17th, 2009. And what Sit Down, Shut Up series are you talking about (the Austrailian or the US one)?

Thanks for the heads up on Andy Barker P.I. I had no idea that was being released. I guess either Andy Richter Controls The Universe did well on DVD or it's because he's now back with Conan on The Tonight Show because I can't see why else they'd be releasing it.

As for Sit Down, Shut Up I'm refering to the US one. I had completely forgotten that it was based on an Australian show. And as a side note FOX is airing the remaining episodes Saturday nights at midnight.