Superman 2: The Richard Donner Cut
© Warner Bros.
Maniac Grade: B
Show Grade: A-
Disc Grade: B+
Reviewed Format: DVD
Rated: PG
Cast: Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Jackie Cooper, Ned Beatty, Valerie Perrine, Marc McClure, Terence Stamp, Susanna York, E.G. Marshall
Writers: Mario Puzo, Tom Mankiewicz, David Newman, Leslie Newman
Director: Richard Donner
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Original Year of Release: 1980
Extras: Widescreen 2.35:1, 16x9 enhanced; English DD 5.1; English, French & Spanish subtitles; audio commentary track; featurette; deleted footage
Suggested Retail: $24.98
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"Superman 2: The Richard Donner Cut"
By: Brian ThomasDate: Friday, December 01, 2006
As shooting on Superman the Movie project dragged on, producers Ilya and Alexander Salkind put more and more pressure on director Richard Donner to speed up production, knowing that they could bring in their old pal Richard Lester, who had directed their Three Musketeers movies, to finish up if Donner quit. However, Donner stuck it out long enough to complete the first film, and a great deal of the sequel, which was shot concurrently. Many believe that if Superman had been a flop, the Salkinds would have forced Donner to complete his contract and finish the sequel. As it was, the first film was a staggering success, and Donner was immediately fired from the project. American Richard Lester, who built a career specializing in British comedies, came on in his place. When Superman 2 was also a hit, Lester was given credit. However, when Superman 3 was released in 1983, the results were so wildly different in tone and spirit that many viewers began to question how much Lester had to do with the first sequel, and how much of it was already finished by Donner. This DVD release answers that question.
The sequel starts by filling in the details of the capture of three traitorous criminals during the final days of the planet Krypton, and sentenced to spend eternity in the limbo-like Phantom Zone. The notable exclusion in the release version is Marlon Brando as Jor-El - the more affordable Susannah York fills in as Lara for the rest of the series. However, the Donner Cut (“DC” from here on) reinstates Brando, which significantly changes the rest of the film and provides closer continuity with the first film. The DC intercuts the prologue footage with shots from the first film, as well as some alternate shots of the same action. While Lester filmed a sequence in which Superman (Christopher Reeve) disposes of a terrorist bomb at the Eiffel Tower, inadvertantly setting the Kryptonian criminals free, DC takes a short cut, making the missile fired by Lex Luthor (Geme Hackman) at the climax of Superman the Movie the means of escape. As Donner points out in the commentrak he shares with writer Tom Mankiewicz, this was originally supposed to end the first film with a cliffhanger. Both versions of the explosion seem like coincidences unless one assumes that the tumbling Phantom Zone seal is somehow following Superman. After all, it’s a big stretch that it arrived in our solar system at all, unless one takes account of some reason.
DC then gives us a forecast of Superman Returns by showing us in greater detail how Luthor escapes from prison and makes his way north to find Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. This not only explains why Luthor is so comfortable in his Kryptonian lore later on, but reinforces DC’s odd scatological vein of humor, as Luthor’s aide Eve Teschmacher (Valerie Perrine) hunts down the Fortress’s bathroom. Other scenes have Luthor accusing another prisoner of being a bed-wetter, Clark excusing himself to use the toilet, etc. One wonders if this is intentional, to contrast the earthiness of mortals with the godly aliens, or if it’s simply a side-effect of the restoration. It also makes one wonder at the forethought put into the Fortress, as it seems to have facilities for mortal guests.
There follows a genuinely chilling sequence in which the trio - General Zod (Terence Stamp), Ursa (Sarah Douglas) and Non (Jack O'Halloran) - now equally as powerful as Superman, kill a team of astronauts on the Moon, in the process learning more about their situation.
Before the Kryptonian villains can reach Earth, DC inserts an expanded sequence in which Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) sees through Clark Kent’s obvious disguise, and tries to prove it by hopping out a window! Clark manages to save her without revealing himself, but suspicion remains in her mind. When the two reporters are sent by their editor Perry White (Jackie Cooper) to do an undercover expose on honeymoon scams at Niagara Falls, Lois’ suspicions deepen to the point that she takes a shot at Clark. Lester has Clark give confess too easily, but DC has Clark genuinely fooled by Lois into giving himself away. You may note that in scenes that take place in the honeymoon hotel room, Clark wears different glasses and both he and Lois sport different hairstyles. This is because these scenes have been inserted using screen test footage, which has been polished up enough that it doesn’t clash with the rest of the picture.
What at first appears as a prime opportunity for romantic comedy develops into genuine plot and character advancement - Clark may want to share his secret, but he wouldn’t give up unless forced to. This also adds emotional weight later on, as the pair take off to awkwardly explore their relationship in the privacy of Superman's Fortress of Solitude. In the release version, the lonely Kryptonian can only mate with a human after having his super powers removed by a red kryptonite projector. DC makes this decision less foolhardy with a scene in which the holographic artificial essence of Jor-El offers a solution when his son Kal professes a wish to abandon his duties and retire. Both versions are problematic, as DC makes the decision seem unnecessary (Can’t Clark retire without becoming human?), while Lester just makes him look horny. However, at least the editing of DC gets Clark and Lois well out of the way while the villains attack.
Meanwhile, the Phantom Zone villains have invaded Earth and pretty much taken over everything, in action scenes that look like they’re more extensive and thrilling in the DC. The one thing they lack is offered to them by Luthor: revenge on their jailer Jor-El. Everyone is wondering: Where is Superman?
After their brief honeymoon, Clark Kent spends his first non-super day learning what it's really like to be mortal - by getting his ass kicked by a surly truck driver. As if this isn't enough to tell him that he's made a big mistake, a TV news report fills him in on what's been happening. With this he turns tail and heads back to the Fortress to try to get super again. Neither version can tell us where Clark and Lois find the car they drive south to the diner, and why Clark doesn’t drive it back north as far as he can, not to mention why he doesn’t at least borrow a jacket for the chilly trip. Recovering his powers means an offscreen flick of a switch for Lester, while Donner has Jor-El sacrificing himself to return his son to full strength.
Luthor leads Zod and his stooges to the Daily Planet, where they can threaten Superman's friends in person. Superman himself arrives in time to meet the challenge. With the lengthy exposition out of the way, Superman 2 gets down to the real fun: a full scale superpowered slugfest in downtown Metropolis. For many, this sequence makes up for a lot of the picture’s shortcomings in other areas. Much of the midsection of the two films remains the same, with the DC benefiting from some minor editorial tweaking here and there. But another major change comes at the end. Lester used a nice trick to relieve Lois of the heartache of carrying Clark’s secret, removing her memory of it with super-hypnotism via a kiss. Well, the film doesn’t spell it out as such, but it seems to be the logical explanation. The DC errs greatly in reprising the end of the first film to solve Superman’s dilemma, a gimmick that was a bad idea in the first place and indicates that Superman can just erase events that he’s uncomfortable with. It also fails to answer how he deals with the Zod and company. Maybe by tossing that missile in another direction? Donner explains that in fact the situation went the other way around – the producers decided to lift the most spectacular special effect sequence from the end of 2 and put it in the first picture, leaving it up to Lester and company to come up with less spectacular solution that didn’t involve time travel. To make it more satisfying, you’d have to let Donner do a director’s cut of Superman the Movie, too. What’s sure is that, except for the misfired ending, the DC is thematically and dramatically superior to the release version. It has its own awkward patches, but avoids the off-kilter quality that works so much better in Lester’s comedies.
The affable Donner taped an introduction to the film that is hardly necessary for anyone who chooses to listen to his and Mankiewicz’s commentrak. It allows Donner to explain that this DVD – which he credits fans for requesting – is not necessarily the movie he would have delivered in 1979, but is as close an approximation to what was intended as could be assembled from surviving elements. He points out some of the Lester footage that had to be included for continuity purposes, as well as the aforementioned screen tests, but there’s not all that much that’s not Donner’s. There’s a featurette that goes into a bit more detail as to how producer Michael Thau got the project together, and a selection of deleted scenes, some of which maybe should have been included – for example, the one that shows Lex, Zod and company hauled off to prison by Arctic Interpol cops. Both cuts are included in Superman box sets released simultaneously, but there’s likely to be a 2-pack in the future bundling both cuts of Superman 2.
Donner went on to produce and direct a highly successful series of films with star Mel Gibson, direct the underrated Assassins, 16 Blocks and The Goonies, and executive produce X-men, Any Given Sunday, and Tales from the Crypt. Lester would go on to direct the wildly unpopular Superman 3 on his own, and retired after wrapping Return of the Musketeers in 1989.
Copyright © 2006 Brian Thomas, author of the massive book VideoHound's Dragon: Asian Action & Cult Flicks.
