Twenty five years after theatrical version of
Superman II was released, Richard Donner, the film’s original director who shot
70 percent of the footage, finally has a version of the film he can be proud of.
Using lost footage that had been meticulously tracked down, the re-created
Superman II is a far better and more satisfying viewing experience than the
original film that had been released. The re-edited version finally
restores Marlon Brando to the film, with not only a replay of the Phantom Zone
banishment scene of General Zod, Ursa, and Non, but with scenes of Jor-El giving
advice and information in the Fortress Of Solitude.
The re-edited version also restores the original idea of having one of the rouge
rockets from the end of the first Superman film fly off into space and exploding,
which winds up freeing the Kyptonian criminals from their imprisonment. The
entire Paris rescue at the Eiffel Tower, which was added by Richard Lester, is
gone…and good riddance. In it’s place is the original scene where Lois suspects
that Clark is Superman and tries to prove it by jumping out the window of the
Daily Planet offices right in front of him. Clark and Lois go on their undercover
honeymoon to Niagara Falls, where Lois now discovers he’s Superman in a
completely novel way: she shoots him with a gun.
This scene was never filmed; footage from Reeve and Kidder’s original screen
tests were cut together to recreate it, and while it looks very staged (when
Lois asks Clark to look into the mirror, they simply stare straight at the
camera), it’s still very effective. What’s sadly ironic is how the screen test
footage is more enjoyable to watch than the majority of Lester’s stuff. Donner
says in the commentary that they tried to remove as much of Lester’s footage as
possible--yet much of it had to remain, because there was nothing to put in its
place. Still, the laser beams shooting out of the fingers are gone, as is the
bitchy super villain groupie who annoys Lois during the big battle; the
cellophane S-symbol that Superman throws at Non, and the ridiculous "super kiss".
They're all gone, and the movie is much better for it.
And,
with all due respect to Susanna York, who I think is a fine actress, having
Brando’s Jor-El try to dissuade Kal-El from giving up his powers gives the scene
far more dramatic weight than it originally had (plus, Margo Kidder looks pretty
fetching standing there in the newly added scene wearing just an over-sized
blue shirt with the super-S logo on it). But while this new version of the
film feels tighter, and moves faster and more smoothly, it's not without its own
problems: such as the fact that Superman now makes love to Lois before deciding to
renounce his powers--which brings up the question: why should he renounce his
powers at all? In the Lester version, Superman couldn't even touch Lois until after he rids
himself of his powers, which made more sense.
And speaking of the audio commentary, you owe it to yourself to listen to this,
because it’s simply great. Donner and Tom Mankiewicz pull no punches about how
they feel about the Lester version of Superman II, and Donner in particular
is delightfully blunt regarding his treatment by the producers of the Superman
saga. Surprisingly, Donner and Mankiewicz proudly take credit for one of the most
cringe-worthy scenes in the film: the lame diner confrontation between Clark
Kent and a big bully trucker. Apparently, you can't blame Richard Lester for all
that is wrong with Superman II. The DVD comes with a 13 minute documentary that looks at the efforts of
Michael Thau and his crew to restore this film under Donner’s supervision. There
are also deleted scenes, and an introduction by Donner, as well as the marvelous
commentary. Finally, Superman fans can enjoy the true sequel to the classic 1978
Superman movie. If only somebody could somehow improve the terrible Superman III.
--SF
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