Techtite's DVD Reviews!

"Intriguing due to being one big deleted scene, though sorry Donner; Lester's version was much more fun."

--from the review

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The whiners about that cellophane "S" scene. Nitpickers, buckle in, because I'm about to shoot your Superman 2 whines down big time. First things first: Lester's (the theatrical) Superman 2 had this cool final battle. That is to say; unlike Richard Donner's cut, there ACTUALLY WAS A FINAL BATTLE. Unfortunately for some, that battle included Superman acting like his "S" chest logo could be thrown at an enemy like a cellophane wrapper, which trapped Non, yet not really, because it suddenly disappeared. Some kiddies were slightly confused. We're here to help.

The important thing to remember is: the final battle was in the Fortress of Solitude. You know how Superman could talk to a big giant head shaped like his dad? You know how even in the Richard Donner cut, there were images floating in space all around to tell a story? Well that's because of a little thing called holograms, or optical illusions. You say "Yeah I know all about that stupid," and you see; if you complain about the "cellophane S" scene, I don't think you do. Not if you've been whining about that scene for nearly 30 years. Sorry.

The point is: the fortress of solitude was one big hologram chamber. Superman rigged the fortress so it could make him do all this cool stuff. For one he could zip away like a speeding bullet and suddenly appear to be in six places at once. Yet the other Super-"men" could not be touched. Holograms! See? So what do you think that optical illusion was that made it look like Superman could shoot his "S" at Non? Could it be? YES! Another hologram! Get it now? Heck; even NON gets it by now.

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Superman 2: 

The Richard Donner Cut

Click picture to order this DVD (Widescreen)

Also available in HD-DVD! Click HERE.

A Review by Techtite

As always, a review of The Film and the DVD extras.

The Film: Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut is a video paradox. I'm glad to have bought it, though just barely. It's a pleasure to finally see Donner's cut after all these years, though just barely. Perhaps high expectations are the problem. After almost three decades of Richard Donner insisting "I made a better Superman 2 I made a better Superman 2 I made a better Superman 2," one would presume that Donner made a "better" Superman 2. Well, It's a "super" film...though just barely.

For those unfamiliar with comic-film fan lore, here's the tale behind this "cut." Richard Donner was fired as director of Superman 2, long after he'd already filmed a large majority of it. Ask not why he was fired, because everyone has a different version of the story, and in this case, the "real" story is immaterial. All you need to know is that Donner had already filmed a surprising majority of the movie. So much was done, in fact, that clever editing of his test footage (including a clever addition of Margot Kidder's original screen test) makes for a surprisingly coherent director's cut. In a nutshell, that is what this DVD is: a whole movie of deleted scenes. That alone is totally cool.

Yet how good is it...really? This requires spoilers, though only for the village idiot. If you never saw Superman 2, only to rent The Richard Donner Cut and insist, "nobody spoil it for me," come on now. That's like renting Romeo & Juliet and insisting nobody spoil the ending. Superman 2 may not be Shakespearean, though it is a classic. You know the story already; what's important is how that story is delivered, or more to the point, directed. Comic fans are unconcerned with spoilers, to this extent. What they wish to know is if this version of the movie is better than the original. This requires spoilers, so consider this your final ---albeit very unnecessary--- spoiler warning. That said, let's get started...

Arguably, the most important moment of the story is how Lois discovers Superman's secret identity. In the theatrical cut, she reveals this with fortitude and panache. Sure she jumps on purpose into a river, though had she been wrong, she would've had a far better chance at surviving than, say, jumping out a skyscraper window, which is what she does here. I admit, with all honesty, that this is one of the most amusing "cuts" in The Richard Donner Cut, if just because of the spectacle of it all. Lois actually tries to "prove" Clark is Superman by jumping out a window. What if she was wrong? Good grief, Lois. You are so dumb in Richard Donner's version of the movie!

That is the enjoyable paradox of The Richard Donner Cut. As a film it is totally ludicrous. Yet it is so entertaining, it doesn't matter. It's one big, director's cut spectacle. Consider how Lois gets Clark to confess he is Superman. She shoots him with blanks. Superman then reveals the truth, wondering what Lois would have done had she killed Clark Kent. Lois then tells Superman, ha ha, the gun was filled with blanks. Psych! Yet if this little trick was to work, Superman would have to be unable to tell the difference between being hit with a real bullet, and being hit with nothing at all. That's silly. How could Superman taste, smell, or for that matter, hear, if he was that insensitive? This may be reading too much into this, though let's put it this way: in The Richard Donner Cut, Superman sleeps with Lois, before he loses his powers. If he can't even feel a bullet shot to the chest, why even bother? Think about it.

Then there are the Marlon Brando scenes, re-integrated into the film. The original plan was for Marlon Brando to reprise his role as Superman's father, via hologram messages within Superman's Fortress of Solitude. As deleted scenes starring two late film stars (Reeve and Brando); these moments are wonderful.  The fact Margot Kidder is wearing just a T-shirt in one of these scenes make it even more entertaining. Yeah, I know what you're asking: Lois in only the top half of Superman's costume...? Yeah, see; Lois Lane by this point of the film is parading around her boyfriend's place in his shirt...only her boyfriend's place is the Fortress of Solitude, and her boyfriend is Superman. Not that this is the best part of the scene, though it does show how even the tiniest detail in this scene was pretty cool.

Yet much like every other part of the film, these Brando scenes are fun to watch, yet make little sense in the context of the story. A later scene even tries to explain how Superman gets his powers back. To hear Donner's Cut tell the tale: the last energy of his father is stored inside the crystals. So the good news is that there is some part of his father still alive, but this "soul" of his father must "die," so that Superman can be super again. No matter what your religion may be, this makes no sense. Souls are not a battery that can recharge super heroes. Imagine if the soul of Obi-Wan "died" so that Luke Skywalker could defeat the Emperor. That's just, well...weird. The whole concept makes Superman seem like some sort of soul vampire. In fact, it is actually pretty creepy.

Admittedly, Richard Donner was fired before he could make the "exact" film he intended. So I will refrain from complaining about the idiotic pacing of this "movie," since he was unable to reshoot any scene, nor replace them with a better shot. Yet to be honest, even when Donner had all the footage necessary for a scene in this "cut," he didn't "cut" it very well. Consider how the original idea was to have Superman turn back time at the end of Superman 2, with the end of Superman 1 being an open ending of sorts. That's all well and good, but here's the problem: after turning back time, Superman still goes back to kick the butt of the truck driver who punched his lights out. So essentially Mr. "Truth, Justice, and The American Way" beats up a guy for something that never happened. "Bully;" thy name is now "Superman."

Yet regardless of all the flaws, this DVD is fun to watch, if you just leave your logic at the front door. You won't need intelligence to enjoy the admitted treat this is, to see so much never-before-seen footage from the cutting room floor. It's always intriguing to see a film through another director's eyes. Now we've seen Superman 2 through Richard Donner's eyes...for better, or for worse.

---Techtite

The DVD: It's actually quite interesting how much bonus material this DVD is able to include. This is, after all, a director's cut for a film that was already released long ago, with its own DVD extras. To have been able to include extras on this disc is quite surprising. Of course, the most obvious extra is a featurette where the technical wizards behind this DVD get to brag about how they were able to complete it. Yet there's a surprisingly long list of extras in addition to that feature.

One other self explanatory addition,  which was for all intentions necessary; Richard Donner's own audio commentary. He explains why he did this or that scene differently from the theatrical cut, even if technically it's the "original" way it was intended. The director himself also offers his own video introduction, which is a pretty cool addition.

Believe it or not; there are even...wait for it...deleted scenes! Seriously; there are scenes Donner cut that even he felt had no place in the final cut. You'd probably think these scenes are pretty illogical, though they are pretty amusing to see (much like the whole cut, really). Here is the complete list of deleted scenes that are on the DVD yet not the film:

• Lex and Ms. Teschmacher Head North: In this extended scene of how Lex reached the Fortress of Solitude, Lex is riding a snowmobile with the surprising ability to inflate its skis into a raft so it can skid across the water on its way to the Fortress. The scene is amusing yet way too "James Bond" for Superman 2.

• Lex and Ms. Teschmacher Head South: As Lex leaves the Fortress back to civilization, he uses a little radar doohickey to locate the three villains he heard about in the Fortress recordings.

• The Villains Enter the Fortress: The idea was originally for there to be a sort of force field that kept the villains from entering the fortress, until they combined their strength to break the barrier. Even if they had upped the FX on the final cut of this scene, I can't see how it would've been anything other than a needless scene.

• He's All Yours, Boys: Police apprehend Lex Luthor after The Final Battle. Except they're supposedly near The North Pole, so it makes little sense that there'd be a couple of cops in parkas, ready to arrest Lex Luthor.

• Clark and Jimmy: Out of context this scene seems to be just a short chat between Jimmy and Clark.

• Lex's Getaway: Another version of how Lex escaped the prison.

In conclusion, it's clear that this DVD has its pluses and minuses, though the real treat here is a whole feature film of deleted scenes. Whether those scenes are worth buying or just renting is up to you, though at the bare minimum, they're worth seeing.

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