Review: Superman II -- The Richard Donner Cut DVD

The internet is truly an amazing thing. Without it this DVD would have never seen the light of day -- a true tribute to the steadfast voice of fans. While some reports claim that Margot Kidder said in an interview in 2004 that enough Richard Donner footage existed in a vault somewhere that he could make his own cut of Superman II, others say that rabid fans had asked Warner Bros. for years to release a cut of Superman II that was more faithful to Donner's vision (a fan film version had been circulating online, utilizing footage from the broadcast TV versions of the movie that had footage not in the theatrical release). Whichever version is true, internet fans seized on the concept and began pestering Warners with emails and online petitions, and it finally paid off. Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut was released today on DVD, and is also a part of Warners massive The Ultimate Superman Collection DVD set.

Why all the hubbub over a film that's 28 years old? Well, I'm glad you asked. I'll do my best to give you a capsulized version of the sordid history of Superman II, but for much a much more in-depth explanation of the entire affair, check out the Wikipedia page for the new version of the film. Basically, Richard Donner shot most of the footage for Superman II while filming the original Superman: The Movie because the two films were supposed to be closely related to each other, two halves of one story. This included huge scenes that featured Marlon Brando which were never seen in the released film, all of Gene Hackman and Ned Beatty's scenes, and much more. After going over budget and over schedule on the original Superman film, the Salkinds (the producers on the Superman films) halted production on the sequel so that everyone could focus on completing Superman: the Movie. With me so far? Okay, let's press on ...
While shooting on Superman II was halted (roughly 75% had been filmed up until that point), a series of events led the Salkinds to fire Richard Donner from the project, and bring in director Richard Lester (Help!) to replace him. One of the main things that Donner and the Salkinds butted heads over was the fact that they wanted to cut all of Brando's footage from Superman II so that they wouldn't have to pay him any additional fees. Donner also wanted to bring Gene Hackman back (he had finished all of his work on Superman II by the time production stopped), and the Salkinds didn't want to do that either. Eventually the rift grew so wide between them that they sent Donner a telegram saying "Your services are no longer needed," and Donner was never involved with the film again.

But, the story doesn't stop there. Because of Director's Guild of America rules, in order for someone to receive sole credit as a director on a film, they had to shoot more than 51% of the movie. This resulted in Richard Lester coming onboard and re-filming entire scenes that Donner had already shot. It staggers the mind in many ways, and resulted in a film that was entirely different from what Richard Donner had been shooting -- that's how bad things were between the Salkinds and Donner. Donner also took the hiring of Richard Lester as a blow, since he knew him personally, and the two have never spoken since. The actors also rankled at the hiring of Lester, with Margot Kidder being the most outspoken in her dislike of both Lester and the Salkinds. That resulted in her receiving a total of 12 lines in the terrible Superman III, which Lester also directed.

So, the upshot of all this is that Lester's version of the film was released in 1980, and it contained a lot of camp and scenes that were not faithful to the Superman character and history. Hardcore Superman fans have complained for years about the climactic scene in the Fortress of Solitude between Superman and the three Kryptonian villains (General Zod, Ursa, and Non) where they use powers that Superman never had in the comic books, like teleportation, strange blue rays shooting out of their hands, and Superman's giant peel-off S. It's amazing that they allowed these scenes to be filmed. Lester also included a lot of jokey moments while the three villains rain down destruction upon Metropolis; a man's wig flies off, a phone booth falls over while it's occupant remains on the phone, and a roller skater gets blown backwards through the city streets. It's really terrible stuff. But, for years it's all we had, so we took it. Until now.

There be spoilers ahead ...

So what does this new cut give us? It restores almost all of the footage that Richard Donner originally shot, including more than 15 minutes of Marlon Brando, a new scene revealing how Lois Lane finds out that Clark Kent is Superman, new fight sequences, new Lex Luthor and Otis scenes, and a lot more. It really does feel like an entirely different film at times, and is worth picking up for Superman fans. The restored Brando scenes alone are worth the price of the DVD, and add a whole new weight to the film. Brando's Jor-El tries to convince Kal-El (Clark) not to give up his powers for Lois Lane, but he angrily tells his father that he has given enough to the people, and that he wants something for himself. Jor-El finally gives in, and strips him of his powers and makes him mortal, but not before he shoots a withering glance at Lois, who is watching from the shadows and wearing Superman's blue costume top. It's a fantastic scene that gives tremendous weight to Kal-El's sacrifice, and ultimately to the humility he displays when he comes back to beg for his father's help. This results in a great scene where we actually see Christopher Reeve and Brando on-screen together, and not with Jor-El as the giant holographic head. It's brief, but long overdue.

Also brand-new is the entire opening sequence which shows scenes from Superman: The Movie as a sort of "Last time, on Superman ... " recap. Superman heaves one of the nuclear missiles that Lex had manipulated into space, and that is what ultimately breaks open the Phantom Zone (which Donner and Mankiewicz call the "Zone of Silence" throughout the commentary). Excised from this version is Lester's Eiffel Tower plot where Lois tries to get a story about some French terrorists, and is ultimately saved by Superman. All gone. Likewise gone is the Honeymoon suite sequence where Clark retrieves Lois' brush from the fireplace, and she discovers that he wasn't burned, and is in fact Superman. Donner restores a scene here unfortunately using test footage, where Lois shoots Clark in order to expose him as Superman. When Clark breaks character and reveals to Lois his true identity, he says, "You realize of course, if you'd been wrong, Clark Kent would've been killed." Lois counters him nicely, "With a blank? Gotcha." It's a tremendous scene that has me torn. It would have worked really well if Donner had been able to film the scene properly, but he instead has to use the test footage which was actually drawn from Reeve's and Kidder's screen tests. It's great to see, but it really feels like something for the special features, and not a finished scene that should be included in the film. Lester's scene where Clark takes off his glasses and revealed himself to Lois has more humanity and hubris in it, probably the only time where Lester manages to make something work.

The ending is also extremely different than Lester's film, and is also slightly confusing. Donner originally had the Superman II script ending with Superman turning the world backwards and reversing time, so that all of the damage caused by the Kryptonian criminals was erased, Lois didn't know who he actually was, and everything was back to normal. However, during the completion of Superman: The Movie, he decided to use this ending for that film, and decided he would fix Superman II when they went back to it. Since he never got to do that, we'll never know what they would have worked out. Personally, it never worked for me that Superman could turn back time in the movies. Why wouldn't he just do that every time that something went wrong? In this film, wouldn't him going back in time negate him having to sacrifice his power, and ultimately his connection to his father? Time travel always opens several cans of worms, and it's no different in the Superman movies. At the very least, it takes out the "Super Kiss" that erases Lois' memory, thank god.

However, besides the restored Brando footage, the best scene in this new version is near the beginning. Lois is reading her own story in the The Daily Planet about how Superman saved the world (from Superman: the Movie) and she glances over at Clark who is talking to Jimmy Olsen. She suddenly has an epiphany and uses a magic marker to draw a hat, glasses, and a suit on a photo of Superman, and bingo -- she's got it. She confronts Clark with the picture, and then jumps out the window, sure that he will turn into Superman and save her. However, Clark cleverly manages to rescue her without turning into Superman or revealing who he is. It's a great scene that makes you want to stand up and cheer. It also shows why Margot Kidder trumps Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, she just had it. You can watch the entire scene online here.

Let's get technical ...

So how does this version look? Well, it looks as great as can be expected for source material that is more than 25 years old. The footage was recut from the original negative, and it looks good, although grainy at times which is to be expected. There are a few new visual effects scenes, but great care was taken in order to make sure that they blended into the film seamlessly and matched the existing effects. Basically, it looks like a clean version of a 1980 film that has been fairly restored. With most of the budget for this version going into the locating, recutting, and restoration of the more than six tons (!) of Donner footage, what you get is respectable.

How does it sound? It sounds fantastic, seeing as how the film was given a new Dolby Digital 5.1 mix for this re-release. The test footage scenes have a bit of background noise, but otherwise the sound is nicely restored and remixed. John Williams' Superman score only sounded this good in the Special Edition release of Superman: The Movie.

What extras does the disc have? It can be argued that this entire movie is one big special feature. Who would ever imagined that this would come out on DVD? It's the only time in history that a director has been able to return to a film that was already released, and cut his original version after being fired from the film. Pretty impressive. Having said that, the disc contains six deleted scenes (including Miss Teschmacher practically proposing to Lex), a featurette entitled Superman II: Restoring the Vision, a new video introduction by Richard Donner, and commentary from both Donner and screenwriter/consultant Tom Mankiewicz. The featurette covers the restoration and editing process fairly well, and the commentary is really the crown jewel of the extra features. Donner sounds like someone you would want to have a couple of beers with, not some pretentious director pompously talking about the art of framing shots. He's a down-to-earth (how ironic, eh?) guy who honestly loves the film and the work that went into it. He also clearly loves Christopher Reeve, and can't say enough good things about him. The fact that the film is dedicated to him makes this a great tribute to his characterization of Superman.

As Donner says in the commentary, "Without him we never would have believed a man could fly." However, without Richard Donner and the undying loyalty of Superman fans around the world, we never would have seen this version of the movie. Definitely a recommended purchase for Superman fans, and worth a look for those of you who have never seen it.