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Super News for Super Fans Director's cuts are a dime a dozen on DVD these days. Packaging boasts of "five extra minutes" of footage or "uncensored scenes." More often than not, the extra footage inserted into a film is unnecessary. But occasionally there is a DVD with extra footage that stands out as something special, and "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut" fits that description. Over the past century, there have been plenty of films taken away from a director and re-edited by the studio. Sometimes, years after the film's release, a clever editor will get a chance to reconstruct an approximation of the director's original version, with the end result winding up on DVD. Rarely is the original director even alive, much less given the opportunity and financing by the studio to re-construct his film. But almost thirty years ago, a bitter disagreement between director Richard Donner and producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind led to Donner's dismissal from the production of "Superman II." The Salkinds hired Richard Lester ("A Hard Day's Night") to finish the movie, even though Donner had already completed about 75% of the film. Lester re-shot most of Donner's material, and the finished film was about 75% Lester, 25% Donner. Do you follow? Most of Donner's footage has been sitting in a vault, unseen -- now add a baritone voice over -- until now. Fans on the internet clamored for Richard Donner's original vision of "Superman II," and here it is. Both the original release of "Superman II" and this new version follow the same basic plot line. Three super villains introduced in the first film are freed from the Phantom Zone and come down to Earth to wreak havoc. Meanwhile, Superman has fallen in love with Lois Lane, who's also catching on to the fact that Clark Kent looks a lot like the Man of Steel. Unbeknownst to Superman, the villains team up with Lex Luthor to rule the world and our Kryptonian friend briefly gives up his powers to live with Lois Lane as a mortal. Richard Lester brought a lighter, more comedic touch to "Superman II," but I don’t think he completely destroyed the character, as Richard Donner implies on a commentary track that accompanies the DVD of "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut." Donner's version of "Superman II," at least as it is presented on this DVD, is not a better film than Lester's movie, and it incorporates some of Lester's footage (due to the fact that Donner was never given the opportunity to shoot it). It's not any worse than Lester's version, either. It's just different. And for Superman fans and movie buffs, it's fascinating to watch, mentally comparing the two movies. The most noteworthy differences involve a scene where Lois finally discovers Clark Kent's true identity (she tricks him into it, rather than Clark falling into a fire and emerging unscathed), and several scenes with Marlon Brando as Superman's father, Jor-El. Brando's scenes were not included in the original release of "Superman II" since the Salkinds didn't want to pay the Godfather for use of the footage. One of Brando's lines in this new version also dovetails nicely with this year's sequel "Superman Returns." "The son becomes the father," Brando intones as he passes on the Kryptonian torch to his son Kal-El. The movie also ends differently, and for me, it’s not entirely coherent, but I’ll let that pass due to the historic nature of this release. One thing that is unfortunately still included in the film is footage from the big Metropolis fight scene that was shot by Richard Lester in 1980. The scene involves an astonishing amount of product placement, everything from Coca-Cola and Kentucky Fried Chicken to Omni Magazine and Marlboro cigarettes. It’s especially distasteful to see Marlboro so prominently placed in a film many kids were obviously going to see, and I recently found online a document that details Warner’s agreement with Phillip Morris. The document is dated October 1979, therefore proving the scene was shot by Lester, and arranged by Warner Bros. long after Donner was fired from the project. Had Donner been able to complete “Superman II,” one would hope he would not have allowed Warner Bros. to stoop so low. Still, the scene must be included for continuity’s sake, and so there it is. The DVD of "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut" looks and sounds fantastic with its surround sound and sharp picture quality. Obviously, Warner Bros. spent plenty of money on this astonishing restoration of Donner's vision. A few new digital effects are used, but they don't stick out as much as George Lucas' "Star Wars" updates. Donner co-hosts a commentary track on the disc with the film's creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz, and the two don't mince words when recounting their story of being booted from the production in the late '70s. There's a short but interesting featurette on the film's restoration, and a handful of deleted scenes that don't add up to much. But overall, "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut" is a fascinating glimpse into movie history. Man, it’s pretty super. 12/4/06 Watch a clip from the opening scenes of "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut." Here's a link to the original shooting script that was thrown out the door along with Richard Donner when Richard Lester was hired to finish "Superman II." Back to the main Cinema Tuesdays Reviews page More about the Cinema Tuesdays series  |
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