Post by hector on Jan 2, 2007 10:44:39 GMT
I was finally able to get my hands on a copy of Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut. It just confirmed that the only way we could see Superman I and II as they were originally concieved and intended is by turning the world back 30 years and giving Donner an unlimited budget and a restraining order against the Salkinds.
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut comes close, as close as it gets, but is less a finished film and more of an excercise in What If Cinema. Is it really better than the Lester cut? Not really. It's just different.
The first and best thing about this, and this alone makes the DVD worthwhile, is the restoration of the Marlon Brando as Jor-El scens. Those are powerful and dramatic scenes, even if they result somewhat unfulfilled by the overall weakness of the script and undermined by the ending. Nonetheless, they are excellent a joy to watch. The scenes serve to give gravitas to Superman's decision to give up his powers for essentially selfish reasons, as well as the sacrifice needed to restore them. They bring depth and resonance to the relationship between Superman and his biological father.
Besides Brando, Donner also restored several scenes with Hackman but by Lester in order to fill his own quota for the director's credit. Hackmas is still a delight in his role as the clever and clownish Lex Luthor, with his delivery as perfect as ever. Also, with the exception of Brando and Hackman (who never worked with Lester) and Chris Reeve who was always great, all the actors seem to give their best performances to Donner, not Lester.
The first half hour of the movie, with the included Daily Planet scene and SI montage is vastly superior to its Lester counterpart. More dramatic or fun as needed. It's also great to have the dumb extra powers removed, as well as the examples of Lester's idiotic humor (though replaced with a couple of instances of Donner's own brand of idiotic humor)
So far, those are elements of a great movie. Too bad they don't fit seamessly between them, or sometimes, fit at all. The seams show in the flow and the storytelling. Even beyond the screen test, the relationship between Clark and Lois is rushed, forced and without any kind of flow. The only reason we bought Superman would give up his powers for her is because of all the baggage we already bring into the picture, not because it was shown to us. In Lester's cut the job was at least passable.
And that's without mentioning just how jarring Chris Reeve and Margot Kidder's physical appearances are. They barely look the same from cut to cut. It's much, much worse than in Superman I.
Obviously, Donner wanted to use as little Lester footage as he could, even when it was better. Superman line "General, would care to step outside?" is vastly superior to "Have you ever heard of freedom of the press?". The former is something Superman would say. The later is what a pseudo bufoon like Spider-Man would say.
But the biggest, most awful thing about the Donner Cut is the terrible ending. It's not that it's repetitive (which it is) nor that it wreaks havoc with the internal logic (which it does, the last scene with Mr. Wonderful now makes no sense) it's that it negates every single thing shown before. Any grown and depth given to Superman is rendered moot. His actions didn't had consecuences. No people killed, no sacrficing Jor-El last gift, nothing. To use a cliché, no responsability is needed with his great power because he can solve everything by flying really, really fast. As corny and nationalistic Lester's scene at the White House was in his cut, it was perfect. Superman promising he would never trade his responsability for selfishness again (even if, well, he does)
It's even worse than the Super-Forget-Kiss. And isn't an easy feat.
If Bryan Singer was iconoclastic enough to give Superman an out of wedlock child, I'd wish Donner would've been just enough to have finished the movie with Lois knowing Superman's ID. That is the only ending that Superman II can have without being a cheap cop out.
The Donner Cut is definitely worth it. But it's a far cry from perfection, just as Lester is. Somewhere, between those two good movies lie a great movie. Maybe someday someone would edit it.
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut comes close, as close as it gets, but is less a finished film and more of an excercise in What If Cinema. Is it really better than the Lester cut? Not really. It's just different.
The first and best thing about this, and this alone makes the DVD worthwhile, is the restoration of the Marlon Brando as Jor-El scens. Those are powerful and dramatic scenes, even if they result somewhat unfulfilled by the overall weakness of the script and undermined by the ending. Nonetheless, they are excellent a joy to watch. The scenes serve to give gravitas to Superman's decision to give up his powers for essentially selfish reasons, as well as the sacrifice needed to restore them. They bring depth and resonance to the relationship between Superman and his biological father.
Besides Brando, Donner also restored several scenes with Hackman but by Lester in order to fill his own quota for the director's credit. Hackmas is still a delight in his role as the clever and clownish Lex Luthor, with his delivery as perfect as ever. Also, with the exception of Brando and Hackman (who never worked with Lester) and Chris Reeve who was always great, all the actors seem to give their best performances to Donner, not Lester.
The first half hour of the movie, with the included Daily Planet scene and SI montage is vastly superior to its Lester counterpart. More dramatic or fun as needed. It's also great to have the dumb extra powers removed, as well as the examples of Lester's idiotic humor (though replaced with a couple of instances of Donner's own brand of idiotic humor)
So far, those are elements of a great movie. Too bad they don't fit seamessly between them, or sometimes, fit at all. The seams show in the flow and the storytelling. Even beyond the screen test, the relationship between Clark and Lois is rushed, forced and without any kind of flow. The only reason we bought Superman would give up his powers for her is because of all the baggage we already bring into the picture, not because it was shown to us. In Lester's cut the job was at least passable.
And that's without mentioning just how jarring Chris Reeve and Margot Kidder's physical appearances are. They barely look the same from cut to cut. It's much, much worse than in Superman I.
Obviously, Donner wanted to use as little Lester footage as he could, even when it was better. Superman line "General, would care to step outside?" is vastly superior to "Have you ever heard of freedom of the press?". The former is something Superman would say. The later is what a pseudo bufoon like Spider-Man would say.
But the biggest, most awful thing about the Donner Cut is the terrible ending. It's not that it's repetitive (which it is) nor that it wreaks havoc with the internal logic (which it does, the last scene with Mr. Wonderful now makes no sense) it's that it negates every single thing shown before. Any grown and depth given to Superman is rendered moot. His actions didn't had consecuences. No people killed, no sacrficing Jor-El last gift, nothing. To use a cliché, no responsability is needed with his great power because he can solve everything by flying really, really fast. As corny and nationalistic Lester's scene at the White House was in his cut, it was perfect. Superman promising he would never trade his responsability for selfishness again (even if, well, he does)
It's even worse than the Super-Forget-Kiss. And isn't an easy feat.
If Bryan Singer was iconoclastic enough to give Superman an out of wedlock child, I'd wish Donner would've been just enough to have finished the movie with Lois knowing Superman's ID. That is the only ending that Superman II can have without being a cheap cop out.
The Donner Cut is definitely worth it. But it's a far cry from perfection, just as Lester is. Somewhere, between those two good movies lie a great movie. Maybe someday someone would edit it.