Superman II (1980 vs 2006) | Donner v Lester: Conflicting Visions of Superman

Introduction

Superman II is one of the most notorious film production disasters of all time. Covering about 4 different full script rewrites, 2 different directors with conflicting visions, and a gigantic budget, it was almost destined for failure. But against all odds Superman II ended up being a commercial hit in 1980, though not to the degree of the first movie. Still, seeds of disappointment were planted at the time in regards to the conflicting visions, seeds that grew as extended TV cuts and bootlegs made their way into existence featuring deleted scenes. In 2001, after a rerelease of Superman 1, fan demand for Donner's version of Superman II sprang up on the internet. Editor Michael Thau was given charge of the new restoration, with both Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz advising in order to make the film as close to Donner's original vision as possible. The result was 2006's Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, a completely different experience meant more than anything to be the part 2 to Superman: The Movie's Part 1. But the question remained, which is the true Superman II?

Post-Superman: The Movie Production

So nothing really changed in the context of comics and the production as a whole until 1977. The Salkinds, dissatisfied with the budget, told Donner to focus on finishing Superman I and halt Superman II (Which was 75% filmed). After the first film released and was a huge hit, Donner was considered to be brought back. But due to Pierre Spengler and Donner's feud, neither was willing to work with the other again. As well, due to Brando's demands for more money, the Salkinds made the decision to cut him out of the second film entirely, which pissed off Donner even more. In early 1979 the Salkinds officially replaced Donner with Richard Lester (Who had acted as an intermediary in Superman I's production).

The result was several creative fallouts. Tom Mankiewicz refused to do a new script rewrite out of loyalty to Donner, Stuart Baird also refused to edit the film. Gene Hackman refused to film under Lester and so stand-ins and voice doubles had to be used in reshoots. Lester also took a different creative direction, replacing Donner's grandiose style with a more quirky comics style. Where Donner's work evoked the epic scope of the WW2 era Golden Age comics, Lester instead relied more on the garish colors and comedy of the late Silver Age. The Newmans were brought back to rewrite the script, thus bringing back a lot of the campy comedy that Mankiewicz had excised from the Donner-era scripts. Over half of the movie was reshot, and what was left was stripped of a lot of it's original value.

Despite Donner footage remaining in the movie, Donner refused co-director credit with Lester, leading to Lester being the sole recipient of credit. As for how the film fared in the end, let's find out.

The Lester Cut Review:

We open up before the credits even begin... on Krypton? Again? Okay, so I guess we're gonna get some more insight into the Kryptonian society? Oh wait, we just get the criminals doing some "comedically" bad things for a minute before the ring comes down on them. And we get basically the original prisoner scene, but without Jor-El. So less good. Already a scene that clearly could've been skipped. They get trapped in the Phantom Zone, and the credits begin playing over clips from Superman 1. Okay I guess, though I question the need for it. It also makes the opening credits last UNBEARABLY LONG. Superman 1 was already stretching it with 4-5 minutes of them, boy Superman II makes me wish they were that short. They're also a little cheaper I feel. That said, the Thorne rendition of the Superman Theme is quite nice. A faster-paced, more energetic rendition. It fits this movie.

When we finally get passed the opening credits, we get our thrilling intro into the story. Clark arrives at the Daily Planet and... hits on a few women? Okay, I didn't realize Clark was on the prowl. He learns that terrorists have captured the Eiffel Tower and are threatening the city with a hydrogen bomb. And Lois is of course there (She gets around the Earth as fast as Superman in these movies!). We do get some funny lines from Perry White though, so a little credit. Clark immediately leaps into action, again with the Thorne score. Now one thing to note about these Lester scenes, they feel very different from the Donner ones. With Donner there were a lot of long, flowing shots. They had a grand scale. Lester's scenes are more like a sit-com, more cramped and small. A good comparison would be to compare the filmmaking styles of James Gunn and Peyton Reed in the MCU. Gunn is epic, grand, and bold. Reed is more intimate and slapstick. The only difference is that Reed is funny and most of Lester is... we'll get to that.

Lois (Who looks freaking anorexic in the Lester scenes) seems to just find out about it from the police (So is this before Perry and Clark's conversation?). She runs up through the Eiffel Tower and of course ends up in peril. Not because of the terrorists, but because of her own idiocy. Yeah one thing to note is that Lester's script really... really doesn't like Margot Kidder. She's treated like an object, something for Superman to want and never get. Superman takes FOREVER to get there (Isn't he fast enough to turn back time?) and of course he saves her. He also throws the hydrogen bomb into space where it releases the Phantom Zone prisoners. Wait, huh? Really, the Phantom Zone is weak enough for a hydrogen bomb to break it? A nuke I can get, but really a hydrogen bomb? Whatever. Once again I have to critique the Lester scenes. They're cheap. Like you can tell his budget was slashed compared to Donner's. The animation when the Phantom Zone is destroyed in particular is incredibly silly. Though the Donner version is also... we'll get to that.

We cut back to Metropolis and a car crashes into Clark and caves in on itself. And nobody raises an eyebrow? We get some banter about... fruit? And a weird romcom-ish moment. Again, in a more intimate Superhero movie, this would be fine. But this is Superman. We don't want romcom chemistry, we want real human emotion. We then see Hackman. To Lester's credit, he cuts a lot of the Lex stuff (Mainly because Hackman refused to come back). As someone who can't stand Hackman and Beatty and whatnot, this works for me. But he does still take up some time. I almost wish he was left out of this movie entirely, it'd give Zod more room to shine.

Speaking of which we get to see NASA communicating with a moon team. The Kryptonian criminals arrive. And immediately credit to Donner (Who shot most of this material), they are FAR more menacing than Superman 1's villains. My only critique is they're speaking in space. You know, the VACUUM of space. But it's still good menacing action. And Terrence Stamp immediately commands a presence. The NASA guys have a weird conversation about curls. Zod deduces the effect of the Yellow Sun on them. Also Lex and Otis escape with the help of Eve (Who wasn't arrested? The hell happened to her after Superman 1. And why is she still working for the guy who almost killed her mother? And why is he still accepting her help after she freed Superman?). And they leave Otis behind (WOOOOO! YEAH BAYBEE!).

Clark and Lois arrive in Niagara Falls and engage in some more goofy antics. This is one of the parts of the movie expanded on by Lester. It's not really all that funny, but it does have some of Mankiewicz' snappy writing still embedded despite the Newman/Benton rewrites in it. We see really poorly edited and ADR'd footage with Lex and Eve that's repurposed from Donner scenes too. Back in Niagara Falls a kid with an absolutely TERRIBLE mother falls. Clark of course leaps into action. Credit to the Lester Cut here, Thorne's rendition does fit really well. Superman leaves the kid. Lois tries to call after him. Lois then talks out loud in some of the worst exposition ever delivered. Mainly because it's delivered to nobody, she's talking to nobody. In fact the whole scene is soured by Lester's feel. This is the Niagara goddamn Falls, this should feel massive like the dam in Superman 1. Instead it feels, again, romcom-ish.

Lois questions Clark being Superman for a few seconds. Then we cut to horrible ADR as Lex and Eve head north to the Fortress of Solitude. This is one of the few Lex scenes that shouldn't have been so cut. The Eve jokes in the original scene are bad, but Lex does deliver some good lines. Lex talks with... Lara? Yeah, Brando refused to come back in Superman II, so they edited Lara into the scenes instead. She really can't match up to Brando, I'm sorry. She just can't. Lex learns of the existence of three more Kryptonians and just like comic Lex he's outraged at the alien inva- or he's excited and wants to team up with them. By god Hackman's Lex irks me.

More dumb ADR exposition comes from Lex due to reshoots. Meanwhile Lois questions Clark's identity to him. And she decides just then to throw herself into the falls, betting her life on his identity. Some credit here, they do cleverly get Clark to save her without going Superman. I also love Reeve's genuine terror here. And yeah that is one thing I'll say. Even in the worst parts of this movie, Reeve still manages to be compelling. He's not overly developed in this movie (He's more simplistic and one-note here than in the first movie). Sadly Kidder really doesn't give the same passion in the Lester scenes. She comes across weak and stilted.

The Kryptonians finally arrive on Earth. And I immediately have to make a criticism. This took too damn long!. We're 50 minutes in and only now is our main villain arriving on Earth. And look, it worked in Superman 1 because the film had three distinct sections, each with a flowing act structure. Superman II is analogous to ONE of those sections. None of which take nearly as long to get going. In Man of Steel which you can consider as having two sections (Krypton and Earth), the villain arrives not too terribly long into Clark's portion of the movie. As a result, Superman II feels slower and yet faster than the first movie in all the wrong ways.

Anyways, the Kryptonians discover their powers including heat vision. Some "comedy" with Non ensues. We cut away to Clark and Lois. She thinks she's an idiot (Which in this movie, she kind of is). And Clark... trips into the fire. I truly despise this scene. And before you say "But they say Clark wanted to-" that's what's told but not what's shown. What's shown is Clark clumsily slipping into the fire. And on that note, couldn't he have just played it off like a freak miracle. I've had mishaps where it seems I'd get similarly hurt yet somehow come out alright (Though twice as many where I get pummeled from something pathetic). It also plays things way too simple. Lois just says she loves him, and I really can't stress this enough, no she doesn't. You can't love someone if you don't know them, and Lois doesn't truly know Clark. His flaws, his strengths, his dimensions. All she knows is her simple view of him. It doesn't help that Clark himself is played as one-note in this scene. His actual flaws and desires aren't shown. In the original script it's LOIS who proves he is Superman, and at that point he has to go along with it. Here he gives up too easily. It's all played basically 100% for comedy. These aren't characters, they're objects for Lester to make kids giggle with. And that's the difference from the first movie.

We cut back to Houston and see some quirky rangers (Because god forbid any person in this movie NOT be quirky) have completely unfunny dialogue. They run into the Kryptonians who are the only people able to actually get some laughs out. One of the rangers pulls a gun and Zod... telekinetically pulls it towards him. What? Since when do Kryptonians have freaking telekinesis. It seems like that would've been useful in Superman 1. Or is it only something Zod can do? Whatever.

Back to Superman and Lois we get some rather cheap shots of them flying (Superman 1's flying looked a lot better). They go to the Fortress where Lois is... not cold at all somehow. Lex needed a parka but Lois is fine in normal clothes? We then cut back to the Kryptonians (The movie suddenly decides to be fast-paced). And we get one of the only 2 cool parts of the movie that came from Lester. The Houston Battle. We get some actually decent slapstick with them terrorizing the town. They still use out-of-nowhere powers, but hell it's like the first actual action scene in a Superman movie. And Superman isn't even there!

But before we can start to enjoy it, back to Superman and Lois. Bla bla crystals, bla bla Krypton, bla bla exposition of stuff we already know. Superman also goes to pick some flowers for Lois. Luckily we quickly return to Houston as Zod is revealed via television. The battle actually picks up now and we get some more cool destruction. It's not half-bad slapstick. But rewatching it now, I realize it's also not particularly great. Good slapstick needs changing tempos and momentum. Everything here is at the same pace and feels a little slow, the result of 80s budget combined with their methods of destruction. Had they been destroying things through more physical means with a martial arts mindset it would've been more dynamic. Compare the slapstick here to the slapstick in Ant-Man And The Wasp for example. In that movie there's a constant momentum and varied style. The comedic lines are also bolstered by the quirky charm of the characters. In this movie, everyone besides Luthor (Who has never been particularly funny) feels like they want to be more dramatic and are forced to be comedic at gunpoint. It doesn't work, this movie's humor just doesn't work. And that's the biggest problem with the movie. It wants to be a comedy when nobody was really signed on for that.

More destruction happens and Houston is left in ruins. Back at the Fortress, Lois and Clark enjoy a fine dinner with some wine. Clark confesses his love to Lois. Back in Houston Zod threatens the world and claims the Earth as tribute. Back in the Fortress Clark gives up his powers for Lois. Okay, so I like this idea. It would show a depth and weakness to Clark. His hubris as well as his desire to be human and truly live in peace with Lois would make a cost to the world. But that's not how the movie plays it. Instead it plays it more as Clark doing it so that he can sleep with her and like it's entirely selfless and for her. It doesn't show deep-seated hubris and doubt, it shows it like this is the right thing to do for love. It shouldn't be done for Lois, it should be done for Clark to truly let himself be happy with Lois. Only for the punchline to be that he can't be happy letting the world suffer. Also Lara isn't as cool as Brando. Finally a lot of the effect is lost since the scenes of Zod and the Kryptonians destroying tons of parts of the world were never filmed by either director, as these scenes would be intercut with this scene.

While Clark bangs Lois, the Kryptonians go on the move heading for Washington DC. They arrive and we get to see... Donner Footage! YEAH! And like most of the Donner footage in the movie, it's pretty awesome as we see the Kryptonians just rip their way through the White House. Sadly it doesn't go long enough in this cut. The President chooses to kneel before Zod to save lives (Because like most movie presidents, he's way more selfless than any real politician). Clark and Lois drive (Wait, they had a car in the Arctic?) up to a diner (It's hitting me now that Lester really had a thing for food in this movie). A jerk trucker beats up Clark and he of course acts completely pathetic. Because you know, the weight of MOVING EARTH'S ROTATION AGAINST GRAVITY was less painful? Superman still feels pain, he just gets over it easier. Clark vindictively tries to go beat up the guy. And yeah, this is a Donner scene. I don't like it. Make that a first.

Via convenient television exposition, Clark learns of General Zod. Also, somehow the President gets EVERY WORLD LEADER ON HIS SIDE. Oh the 80s, when the president was treated like king of the world in all entertainment. Good times. Anyways, he reveals the existence of Superman to Zod. Once more, excellent acting from Stamp. And again, to criticize the earlier scene of Clark getting his powers back, this should be the blow to him for his selfishness. But in this version, it doesn't come across selfish enough. Anywho, Clark tries to head back to the Fortress, again WALKING THROUGH THE ARCTIC IN BARELY ANYTHING. We actually get some really good acting from Reeve when he gets back as he calls out for Jor-El (Who isn't in this movie... fail) to help. A deus ex machina- I mean super well-integrated green crystal plot device that goes unexplained, shows up and Clark picks it up.

Meanwhile, Lex visits the Kryptonians in the White House (More Donner Footage). And some credit to Hackman, he actually does manage to be funny when working off of the Kryptonians. He alerts Zod to Kal-El being Superman. Lex only wants Australia in return for helping them (Call it Stockholm, but I actually did laugh at Lex's beachfront property obsession here). We then cut to the Daily Planet where the Kryptonians attack looking for Superman. This entire scene is awkward as hell because half of it is Donner and half of it is Lester. Physique and hair styles noticeable change shot-to-shot. Lex walks in and again, I swear he suddenly got funnier in the second half of this movie. We get some unnecessary shots of Superman flying there (Ruining what should be a badass entrance). And then we get a badass line from Superman and we go outside to easily the best part of the movie filmed by Lester. The Metropolis Battle. Mainly because a lot of it sticks true to the Mankiewicz script. There is some product placement and dumb slapstick thrown in here and there but it's mostly solid. At least this movie has an action climax instead of just Superman lifting things. It's also a Superman battle at night, and it looks gorgeous.

There's also another example of terrible parenting as a woman just almost lets herself and her baby be crushed before Superman saves them. Superman restrains Non. Zod, seeing how Superman cares for the people, terrorizes the city and the citizens. Superman of course manages to save the people (Since Zod isn't actively fighting him, unlike MoS where Zod is kicking Superman's ass). A budget off-screen fight with Non happens underground causing more destruction. Zod and Ursa throw a bus full of people at Superman and it... knocks him unconscious? Again, HE WAS STRONGER THAN GRAVITY! Of course, all the people survive aside from Superman. The scene decides to go slapstick as the people all are like "Let's get them!". Which I'll admit, I do like how pathetically they are defeated by Zod, though I don't like the dumb comedy when they blow people across the streets. Superman of course gets up, seeing the destruction around him and... he leaves. Now I know why he does it. Since this version of Zod is tyrannical he will go after Superman to eliminate any challenge. But how does Superman know he isn't genocidal (Like in Man of Steel)? If he were (Like in Man of Steel), flying away would just let Zod stick around and murder thousands of people. It's just strange IMO.

They chase after Superman to the Fortress of Solitude. They engage in some really dumb slapstick, including Superman pulling random powers out his ass. Eventually that ends and we go to some Donner footage. Superman, being the trusting dork he is, allows Lex to trick him. But he pulls a trick on them. Using the machine that took away his powers, he takes away theirs. He crushes Zod's hand, and tosses him into the pits. Lois punches Ursa into it as well and Non... falls. Wouldn't it have been cooler if Lex did it as a sort of power move? Now, there's debate over if this kills them. There is a deleted scene wherein they're apprehended by the Arctic Police. But that's a deleted scene, neither director included it in their cut. For years, everyone just assumed they were dead. Meaning Superman killed a powerless Zod and nobody complained. Meanwhile Superman kills an all-powerful and genocidal AND suicidal Zod in Man of Steel and everyone loses their minds. Double standards thy name is the Superman fanbase!

Anyways, Clark uses another random power of memory kissing to take away Lois' memory of him being Superman. This is dumb, but honestly so was the rest of the movie. He flies into the sun smiling at the camera and that's Superman II.

So I know I've been pretty negative towards this movie, but I do want to lay it out there that I don't hate the movie. It's still Reeve and Kidder after all, it's pretty hard to mess these two up. There's a good story behind the movie, the effects while cheaper in some cases are still against good scenery, and there are occasional laughs. My problem with Superman II is just that it's so disjointed in tone. The Donner scenes minus Hackman are all trying to do what Superman 1 did, present a dignified and sincere take on the character. In some ways the original Mankiewicz/Donner script for this movie would've been shocking and even dark for the time. Meanwhile Lester, by his own admission, went more silly. The problem is, Superman II isn't ridiculous enough to support the silliness. Superman IV and Batman and Robin go all in with Silver Age silliness. They're campy and totally over-the-top. Superman II by nature is a more intimate story. And Lester's brand of comedy is less over-the-top camp and more sit-com/rom-com stuff mixed with slapstick. Which really didn't fit this intimate and emotional story, ESPECIALLY given the effects never allowing the slapstick to really succeed. Again, Peyton Reed's Ant-Man is allowed to be fully funny. Or to keep in the realm of DC, Shazam! and Birds of Prey both have a lot of cartoonish slapstick. It works because both the effects and choreography fully support it. Lester here was clearly rushed in many ways. With more time he may have been able to give a more enjoyable slapstick ride. Hell, I almost wish Superman III had more of this type of humor fully realized as opposed to just putting a gun to Richard Pryor's head and making him do tired stand-up routines.

With that said, I understand why this is a lot of people's favorite. Before Man of Steel it was the only Superman movie that had real action, real developments with Clark and Lois, a sense of energy lacking in the other films. I just think it's done better in Man of Steel and the Donner Cut of this movie. I had the luxury of growing up with Superman 1 for so long before I saw this movie that I had fully allowed the actual sincerity of Superman 1 to set in, and not just the colorful fun. Hence when I saw this movie, and it was all colorful fun and almost no sincerity, I felt a little betrayed. I held a grudge against this movie for a long time. But I've made my peace with it. It is still a fine enough movie, it's not Superman III bad or anything. Just okay in my opinion.

I'll say a 7/10 for this one. Fine. But of course, the story doesn't end there.

2001: A Superman Restoration Odyssey

Our story picks back up in the year 2001. They're preparing to do a DVD release of the original Superman. And for that, they decided to do a brand new transfer. So tons of film was shipped to restoration editor Michael Thau. Donner helped supervise the restoration of Superman 1, resulting in 2001's Special Edition. Which for the record includes a lot of really good scenes. I might eventually do a bonus post of all the cuts I don't talk about in the main reviews. Anyways, it sparked renewed interest in Donner's original version of Superman II. People will usually then skip in the story to WB approaching Thau and Donner. But that ignores the most important part of this story. The fans. Contrary to what some people like to say nowadays, the Donner Cut did not happen "just because Superman Returns was coming out". No, it happened because the fans campaigned for it. I was there, it was huge. Massive letter campaigns, petitions, endless blog posts. People like to blot that all out (Usually in a thinly-veiled attempt to portray a certain other fan director cut campaign as "toxic" and their methods as "harassment"), but it really was a force on par with that certain other movement. Just not as visible due to the lack of social media.

But the fans won. Thau began work on it, Donner and Mankiewicz eventually took a larger role in it, and it came out in 2006. Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut. And at the time, it was acclaimed by critics and fans alike. In fact, for years we all seemed to agree it was the better version. But as the 2010s went on, a strange backlash against the Donner Cut arose. People claiming the Donner Cut is "incomplete trash", people claiming that Donner was being "spiteful" in his editing, people claiming that only the Lester Cut is the "true Superman II" and comparing the Donner Cut to the Star Wars Special Editions. Along with complaints that the Donner Cut "takes Superman too seriously". Granted the latter is part of the trend I noted last review of people forgetting that Superman can be a serious epic character and simplifying him down to just "fun". Including certain comic writers who like to whine whenever Superman doesn't have enough humor. It even applied here were some people say Donner "raped the movie" by cutting out Lester's humor. Most of which was panned on release. But hey, people saw it when they were 5 years frickin' old so that must mean it was perfect, right?!

Alright, I know I'm going into this with a bit of an immediate bias. I don't like the Lester Cut, I don't like the obsession with Superman just being "campy fun" (The character in the comics had serious, emotional, and at times somber arcs. But ever try to make a somber MOVIE with Superman and people say you "didn't understand the character". Elitists), and I don't like the nostalgia-blind depiction of Superman II as having always been beloved (It wasn't. There were A LOT of people like me who disagreed with the insincere camp approach). But I will be fair. The Donner Cut isn't perfect, and I will take it upon myself to specifically bring up times when the Lester Cut does something better. This is Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut.

The Donner Cut Review

So we open up with... recaps of Superman 1. Though this time it's exact scenes. But it's also more warranted. As I keep bringing up, Superman 1 had its ending changed heavily. Superman II never had a new Donner ending. So to keep the original ending of II, they need to show that 1 ended differently here. Still... could've cut some of it. And also, the animation of freeing Zod is absolutely abysmal. They CG'd it in editing and it looks like a Tron effect. Then there's the opening credits, thankfully much shorter than either theatrical 1 or 2.

We cut to the Daily Planet where Lois immediately comes to the realization that Clark is Superman. Immediately better. Lois is smarter here. She ends up nearly committing suicide to prove that, but Clark finds a way to save her. A really good scene that's honestly pretty funny. Sadly the use of a stand-in for Clark in the scene is REALLY obvious. He looks and sounds nothing like Christopher Reeve. Couldn't they have just had Brandon Routh stand in front of a green screen for a few minutes? Other than that the scene is shot really well. The cinematography in general is far better, actually matching the first film's epic scope. The score though is a bit rough, as it's just reused score from the first film, rather than a whole new score. Ultimately I think it would've been better to either have a new score or just use the Thorne score.

We then cut to Luthor and Otis in prison. Sadly as much Luthor material as possible is used in this cut, so we unfortunately have to deal with more Hackman and Beatty here. It's the same "plan to track Superman" scene as in the Lester Cut for the most part, just longer. Meh. Then Nasa again. Most of this scene in the Lester Cut was Donner, and it's still a really good scene here. Once again we get a really cool action scene of the villains dominating some astronauts in Space. Granted, more talking in Space (A recurring problem in IV as we'll see later). I will say this is one scene where Williams' score actually does work better. Stamp of course excels once more. We then have the same Lex escape scene but slightly extended. Although here the whole Tessmacher conversation is entirely at night rather than regraded daytime with bad ADR, which is an improvement.

Then we have some of the Niagara Falls sequence. This was shot by Lester, but Thau does a really good job cutting down the excessive camp of this sequence and focusing on the grander scale of the falls. Then back to Lex and Eve in the arctic, this time with actual banter and not ADR exposition. We now get the whole Lex in the Fortress sequence here, earlier. While the toilet flush joke is god awful, we do get some decent lines from Hackman in this version, and seeing Hackman and Brando talk is just really cool. We also get Clark saving the kid with the terrible mother, again a Lester scene, here after that whole sequence. This show segues really well into the villains arriving on Earth. Earlier here, as now it's only 40 minutes in rather than 50. In fact the pacing has just been better overall. Things just flow better with each other here, despite occasionally being pretty choppy. As well, they Thau once again shows his skill at managing to keep the good of the Lester scenes while excising the bad.

Then there's the reveal scene. Cobbled together from screen-tests of Reeve and Kidder separately, it is rough. But damn, I really do love it. It puts the agency into Lois finding out about Clark rather than purely on Clark "wanting to reveal himself". It also has one of the best "Clark turns into Superman" moments of the film, as he stands straight up after the blank hits and suddenly speaks in that deep voice. I really friggin' miss Christopher Reeve man. The other thing I adore about this scene? Just a few words. "I know you THINK you love him" THERE! That's what I wanted, an acknowledgement that there is a divide between Clark and Lois and that without truly knowing who Clark/Superman is deep down she doesn't really "love" him, she's just infatuated with him, she "thinks she loves" him. Whereas the Lester Cut took for granted that "no, she loves him absolutely". Is the scene rough and even a little corny? Sure, but it has much more thematic weight than Lester's scene ever could. I also adore how Clark breaks character early on in the scene and actually shows some (gasp!) negative emotion. When he feels he's being so shamelessly tossed aside, he gets fed up with it. "I'm a good reporter, no I'm a very good reporter!". It's so prideful I swear a little bit of the George Reeves Golden Age Superman rose up in Reeve for a second. But I absolutely adore this scene. I don't care that it's so rough. Better an unfinished masterwork than a finished mediocrity. The punchline is also legitimately funny. In fact, whereas Superman 1 was I'd say 90% dramatic and only 10% comedic, even Donner's Superman II has more comedy. Not an overbearing amount, but let's say if Superman 1 has a similar amount of humor to Man of Steel (As I established last time both scripts have about equal intentional comedy), this has about as much as Spider-Man 2. It's a funny movie, but the comedy used by Donner and Mankiewicz is in general far more dialogue-focused. Witty retorts and whatnot, rather than goofy things happening for goofy reasons. Less Ant-Man and more Iron Man.

Enough gushing about that one scene. Next we see the Lester scenes of the Kryptonians discovering their powers. And then back to Superman with him and Lois as the Fortress. They also actually address that Lois "should be freezing" but she isn't. That's really cool, it fixes legit issues I had with it. Ironically, this is all Lester footage if I'm not mistaken. It's just edited better here. More Lester footage comes when the Kryptonians meet the rangers. And yeah, they still have unexplained telekinesis. It is at least more cut down here. We also then get the wine dinner with Clark and Lois. That's nice. Then we cut to Houston where the entire sequence is gone. Which, I'm fine with. I liked the scene, but it is definitely more slapstick and would feel jarring in this more serious film. Especially since the best part of it (The Helicopter explosion) is still there.

One of my least favorite changes is then followed by one of my favorite changes. Clark sleeps with Lois BEFORE giving up his powers. Now, it's not so that he can sleep with her. It's so he can be happy with her. It feels both more dignified and more selfish, mostly due to the Brando scene being shot to focus more on the selfishness than the Lara scene was. We're finally back to pure Donner footage here and man does this always just make me wish we had only Donner footage. Because it's glorious. Sadly we still don't have the destruction of world landmarks (They CG'd the Phantom Zone but didn't CG this? C'mon...). We do get Lois in just Superman's shirt though. And yeah, hooooootttttttttttt.

Then we get the White House scene. And just like before, it's fantastic, even better here as we get to see Zod mowing down people with friggin' machine guns and more of that carnage. It's legit probably my favorite scene in the film, and here it's used as a perfect halfway point. In fact that's something I want to touch on, Superman II doesn't have the traditional 3 acts. It really only has two acts. The first half is the "fall", Superman's hubris causing him to give up his power mixed with the villains taking over the world. The second half is "rebirth", the regaining of the power and saving the world from them. Maybe you could organize the whole thing into 3 neat acts, but given how Superman 1 literally has 9 acts and MoS has like 5 or 6 acts and BvS has 5 acts I just like the idea that Superman movies have unconventional act structures. Or better yet, if you look at Superman 1's segments as acts themselves (Making it 3 though not a traditional 3 structure), the films combined have a 5 act structure of: Birth on Krypton - Growth in Smallville - Rise to Prominence in Metropolis - Fall in Niagara (HA) - Rebirth in Metropolis. A full character arc centered around Clark. God I love these films.

We then get the same diner scene as in the old cut, but this time I think Clark's distress is a bit more genuine. It just feels better y'know? Anywho we then get Lex interacting with the villains, again same as last time I think Hackman suddenly gets funnier when he's with these guys. Then we get one of the best different scenes. Clark reaching out to his father for help. Not only is it shot better than the Lester re-do, but it also just works better as we get to actually see what happens. As well, both Reeve and Brando act perfectly in this scene and pull some genuine emotion. After that we get the villains invading the Planet as before and Superman shows up. Admittedly "Ever hear of Freedom of the Press" is not nearly as cool as "Care to Step Outside General?".

We proceed to the Metropolis fight. Like I've been saying almost this entire review, Thau knows how to cut the Lester scenes down and emphasize the good in them. This battle feels more visceral, more intense here than it did there. No more slapstick, just a genuinely awesome battle between super-powered beings. Including Superman throwing Non through a building (Explain that one Man Of Steel haters!). Eventually of course he leaves and just like before I question how he knew they would follow him. They do of course because Lex. We get the emotional climax (Thankfully without the "comedy"). He still kills Zod with no remorse which still irks me a bit. He still leaves Lois at her apartment. And then we get by far the most controversial change of this cut.

It restores the original time travel ending meant for Superman II. Now let me make one thing clear, I actually think it works better here than in Superman 1. In that film it's to save one person he barely knew. Here, it's to un-do all of the destruction caused by Zod and restore the world. That said, it does feel weird to do this after already doing it in Superman 1, and admittedly I don't like how in both cases it means Superman faces no consequences. I would like to state that I prefer this ending vastly to the memory kiss, I will die on that hill. But really, why have either? Why not end with the tragic image of Superman leaving Lois on that balcony, a poignant touching ending showing consequence? Wouldn't it have made so much more sense from a dramatic standpoint? Hell, it would make Superman III even a little better, as then we would have Lois leaving for vacation as being more of a way to cope with having to see the man she loves every day and yet never be with him. In fact, I'd cut out the entire last 5 minutes of this film. No time travel, no trucker revenge (Because yeah he still gets revenge on the trucker. AFTER HAVING UNDONE EVERYTHING. But you know, that's fine. Destroying a sexual predator's truck in MoS though? That's too far!), not even the smiling at the camera in space. This story feels like it wants to have a nice tragic weight to it. But undoing all consequence, whether with a memory kiss or turning back time, kind of removes that. I'd rather had this movie ended on a grey note, but I feel like it chickens out of that.

Is the Donner Cut a mess? Yeah, hell yeah it is. It's rough, incomplete, and by far a less polished film than the Lester Cut. But I'd rather have 80% of a masterwork than I would 100% of a "hey that was alright" film. I don't care, I think it's better. I think the tone is better, I think the emotional weight is better, I think the cinematography is better, and I just think it's better. To me, while rough, this is my favorite classic Superman movie. It's rough, but it has the highest highs IMO. It's everything I liked from the Lester Cut put into an atmosphere and an environment more like the first film. The best of both worlds if you ask me. I give the Donner Cut a 9/10. Better than Superman 1 because it's more exciting, but still not polished enough to get a 10/10.

Conclusion

I think it's pretty clear at this point that I vastly prefer the Donner Cut. For me it just works better as a film, even as an unfinished one. That said, part of me laments that the best cut doesn't exist. And I don't mean the fan-edits that try to combine the two. Honestly I don't like those as they include way too much Lester footage I don't like and often use the Memory Kiss. What I mean is a cut that streamlines the Donner Cut by making some of the trims to the Lex story that Lester made and just leaves the ending without time travel or a memory kiss. Again, why do we have to go back to the status quo. Not to mention leaving the ending dark like that would make the time travel in Superman 1 so much better in retrospect. My big problem with the time travel in both cases is it lacks consequence. But here, it would have consequence if Superman II would have just ended before either of those sequences. The world is somewhat in shambles, Lois knows Clark's identity, and the Fortress is gone. That would be not only amazing thematically with the first film, but would be a PERFECT starting point for the next film. Oh well I guess. What we have is good enough. I do at least like that we have both versions, and I hope both continue to be preserved for years to come. There's more value to the Lester Cut than I would've ever admitted there was years ago. I just think the Donner Cut ends up being better.

Plus, both are certainly better than... the next one.

Next Week: Richard Pryor III and How To Kill a MockingBird, a Plane, and Superman.