MEDIA REVIEWS

What does one say when you've waited a good portion of your life to see a legendary unreleased film -- only to be disappointed with the result?
A few years ago Universal rectified one of their studio’s wrongs by restoring director Ridley Scott’s original version of his 1985 fantasy “Legend.” While the “new” film was still far from perfect, most viewers agreed that Scott’s movie functioned far more effectively in its intended form, with Jerry Goldsmith’s glorious music complimenting the spectacular visual trappings of the film better than the U.S.-edited version with Tangerine Dream’s new age rock soundtrack.
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When it came time to create this new "original" cut of the film, Warner's DVD team and reconstruction producer Michael Thau struggled to find all of the footage that Donner had originally shot. Much of it was found in various places in Europe - six TONS in all. Thankfully, most of it had survived destruction and age-related deterioration. With this footage and the original script in hand, Thau began piecing together a new cut of the film that was as close as possible to the version Donner originally intended. As you can imagine, there were significant problems. First, many of the special effects were unfinished. Second, there was the problem of the fact that Donner hadn't shot his big "revelation" scene with Lois and Clark. And there was no original ending. Thankfully, Donner himself was gradually drawn into the process to give his blessing, and he eventually became actively involved, making notes, suggestions and decisions... and having final approval.
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That said -- and I promise I will not give a single spoiler in this review -- I am disappointed to report that 'Superman II' is not the lost masterpiece I and many others were hoping for. Definitely, Donner's footage is superior to Lester's -- I've always far preferred Donner's humorous but still respectful treatment of the Superman mythology, whereas Lester's take just seems cheesy and condescending. However, neither director was able to erase what I found to be a flawed, core conception of the material.
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Indeed, Superman II as directed by Donner, is a funnier, scarier, and more compelling picture. Much of Marlon Brando's scenes were jettisoned when A Hard Day's Night filmmaker Richard Lester took over, and here they are gloriously restored: after Jor-El sentences General Zod (Terence Stamp) and his minions to an eternity in the Phantom Zone, they are released when they accidentally collide with a rocket Superman sends into space while saving the world from Lex Luthor's latest evil scheme. Back on Earth, meanwhile, Lois makes a curious discovery when she doodles a pair of glasses and a fedora over a picture of Superman, and proceeds to accuse co-worker Clark of being the big blue boy scout.
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The single most-important bonus on the disc is an audio commentary with director Richard Donner and creative consultant Tom Mankiewiez. Both men still seem sore that the studio didn't allow Donner to finish the movie back in 1980, even though the studio gave them the unprecedented opportunity to restore much of it the way Donner wanted it. The thing is, though, that whenever Donner sees something that Richard Lester directed, he pans it, sometimes subtly, sometimes directly, explaining how he would have done a scene. At one point he goes so far as to say that the studio and Lester "destroyed" the theatrical version, especially in their decision not to include Brando, as the Director's Cut does. Frankly, after listening to a good portion of the commentary, I came away feeling sorry for Lester. I would liked to have heard a rebuttal.
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It's a tough call whether the Donner cut will supplant the Lester version in pop culture history or supplement it. "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut" is a decidedly darker version of "Superman II" and much more adult in tone. Even with some of the campier aspects of "Superman II" out - no pink bear-skin rug for instance - Donner's version includes more Otis and more Miss Teschmacher, arguably two of the sillier inclusions in the first "Superman" and still silly here. Some may find the Jor-El scenes a tad over-dramatic and actually like the idea from the theatrical release that Superman's Mom would talk to him about love. Ultimately it doesn't matter which version is better - to this fan, it's the concurrent existence of both versions that makes the Lester version and the Donner cut both more important than either film would be if it existed without the other.
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Is the Donner Cut a great film? Alas, no. It’s a reasonably good film, one that easily bests the third and fourth films in the series (I know, faint praise). It certainly belongs in the pantheon of Superman films. It remains an important object lesson for Kal-El: accept your fate as the protector of your adopted planet; sacrifice your happiness for the better good; keep your distance from personal relationships or risk their lives as evildoers use them to gain control over you. I had hoped for more and I was disappointed by the climax, but the film is better conceived than the theatrical release.
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Superman was originally to have ended on a cliff hanger, showing the accidental release of the Kryptonian villains when Superman hurls one of Luthor's nuclear missiles into space. Ultimately, this scene did not appear in Superman—but Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut is based on the premise that it did (thus enabling the removal of Lester's Paris scenes). Also important, there was originally to be no "turning back the world" sequence to reverse time in Superman. More on this later. The scenes are both interesting and awkward. Of note is that many alternate camera angles are used, rather than sticking with the familiar angles from the 1978 movie. This helps to make these classic scenes appear fresh.
However, the opening has a disjointed feel that creates a very uneven beginning for the Richard Donner Cut. The various clips are simply not spliced together very well. Fortunately, everything begins to calm down once the opening credits roll and Superman II proper begins. I actually prefer the review method used in Lester’s Superman II, where the events of the first Superman are reviewed during the opening credits. This is one of the cleanest "Previously on…" segments I’ve seen in a movie. The Richard Donner Cut would have benefited from a similar treatment.
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Over time and research through many articles, interviews, and commentaries, the seams began to show on Lester's film. I could now spot the wigs on the actors, the awful body doubling and dubbing of Gene Hackman, and I wondered why the hell Superman's mommy (Susannah York) was in this thing, when obviously Marlon Brando was the franchise's emotional beacon. Suddenly the film that my childhood eyes could eat up to a point of dizziness had become this almost unbearable patchwork quilt of a film; a trainwreck that failed to further the original's feeling of wonderment.

In the 25 years since "Superman II" was first released into theaters (to huge box office success), Donner fans have kicked and screamed about the missing footage all the way to the offices of Warner Brothers, and after an exhaustive search for the lost scenes (long believed to have been destroyed), we have the new "Donner Cut" to celebrate. It is a good day to be "Superman" fan.

Right from the start, it must be noted: this is not the "Superman II" that Lester hastily pieced together back in 1980, nor is it Richard Donner's work as he would've crafted it. What we have here with the "Donner Cut" is something bizarre and unfinished that lies in between the two polar opposite directors.
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That new version will be reviewed below but first it’s worth reflecting that, despite all the criticism Lester’s version has increasingly garnered over the years, it is very much a decent film in its own right. Indeed, back when it was first released it received rave reviews, with many people feeling it was just as good as its predecessor. (Some even went further: that bastion of American film criticism Roger Ebert proclaimed it one of the few sequels which surpassed its predecessor). Of course, much of that success was down to the groundwork Donner had already laid with his own ultimately aborted shoot, with the structure of the story already fairly set in stone by the time Lester came on board. The basic plot, in which Superman renounces his powers after falling in love with Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) just as Earth is invaded by three supervillains, is largely untouched. General Zod (Terence Stamp) still leads his fellow Kryptonians in an invasion which, in the absence of a Supes who’s busy playing lovey-dovey in the Fortress of Solitude, goes so smoothly that within a couple of days the President of America (EG Marshall) has kneeled before him, flying the white flag on behalf of the planet. The latter half of the film, in which Superman realises his folly and returns for a showdown with the three baddies in Metropolis, is if not identical then extremely close to what we would have seen had Donner finished the film himself.
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Richard Donner was ready to make the Superman movies into an ongoing franchise but his producers saw things differently. They not only replaced Donner with Richard Lester, they saved money by not using any of Marlon Brando's footage. New scenes featuring Kal-El's mother (Susannah York) were substituted. Lester proceeded, for better or worse, to make Superman II his own by re-shooting most of the dialogue scenes that didn't feature Gene Hackman. Richard Donner's emphasis on sentimentality was minimized. Lester directed the actors at a faster pace, eliminating many comic dialogue lines and adding sight gags of his own devising. His version has a much sharper, cynical tone.
This is not to suggest that Richard Lester was like a new dog spraying his scent over somebody else's work. Many movie directors see their job as imposing their personal taste, and Lester simply had a different attitude toward the material. Therefore the newly reconstructed Richard Donner Cut isn't necessarily better than Richard Lester's original. Actually, it can't be the perfect item we'd like to see, for several reasons.
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