Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

Title: Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
Director: Richard Donner
Cast: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman
Year: 2006
MPAA: Rated PG for violence
Date of Review: November 28, 2006

First of all let me point out that, after watching the special features on this disc, it is quite evident that Richard Donner still has a lot of very bad feelings about his experience with Superman II - and rightfully so. This was a very personal and important project to him, and it was yanked out from under him.

The first two films in the series were actually shot simultaneously - not back-to-back as some have thought - and so this was a pretty shitty deal to say the least. Richard Lester was brought in, and he drastically changed many parts of the script - including both the beginning and the ending - and made the movie into what people know and remember it as today...which is actually a pretty awesome movie in my opinion.

Now Richard Donner and a team at WB have sorted through more than 6 tonnes of raw film and put together the closest we will ever come to seeing his original version of the film.

It's very rough around the edges...I'll just get that out of the way right away. A few of the scenes he hadn't gotten to shoot yet, so they actually just cleaned up screen test footage between Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder and made it look as if it fit into the film.

Because there are switches back and forth between Donner's and Lester's footage, the editing comes across as quite sloppy. Well...not so much sloppy, as abrupt. There aren't any of the transitional scenes that you would normally see in a feature length film, so there are parts where we jump between totally different conversations without any real reason. Donner also admits that he tried to use as little of Lester's footage as possible, saying that he quite literally found it "painful" to watch. At one point he even references it as "the footage shot by that other director...I've forgotten his name on purpose."

I imagine that MANY people are going to be very, very angry with the ending. Why? Well, if you don't want it spoiler, don't read any further...

...basically, when the films were originally being shot simultaneously, at the end of the first Superman, Superman actually did manage to throw the missiles into space and save Lois. The travelling back in time scene was actually meant for Superman II, and it was how Superman made Lois forget that he and Clark Kent are the same person. They have restored it into this version. As a poster on IMDb said, it kind of gives off a "this is how hesolves everything" vibe.

Faults aside, there is some gold in this. As in, on par with the magic that is found in the original film and that was missing from Lester's, making it simply a great action film rather than giving it the timeless feel of the first. One of these scenes includes a redoing of Lois' "test" on Clark when they're in Niagra Falls. This is the aforementioned scene which is put together with a couple of different screen tests between Reeve and Kidder. Regardless of the changing hairdos, it's a wonderfully acted scene.

Another fantastic scene is a kiss had between Superman and Lois near the end of the film, just outside of the Fortress of Solitude. There's something about the way it is shot that is truly romantic, and probably one of the best on-screen kisses I have ever seen.

Other things that are restored include Marlon Brando's presence, which is added back in and gfreatly changes the plot, as well as explaining some things in Lester's cut that don't make any sense at all. As well, there is a chronology problem that is fixed, and lets the revelation in Superman Returns make a bit more sense.

When all is said and done, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut is a very flawed film, but it is not without its magic. I personally loved it, and to be entirely honest I prefer it to the Lester cut when looking at it in terms of "concept over execution". The story, character development and overall feel of the movie is much better.

If WB had allowed Richard Donner to complete this back in 1978 when he was filming this and the original together, I think it could have been a 2-part film that truly did stand the test of time. Instead, we now have a timeless first film, as well as a fairly good glimpse of what could have been.

8 / 10