Superman II - The Richard Donner Cut [HD DVD] | ![Superman II - The Richard Donner Cut [HD DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Xj2lMe7FL._SL500_.jpg)
| Directors: Richard Donner, Richard Lester
Actors: Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $28.99
Buy New: $11.99
You Save: $17.00 (59%)
New (7) Used (15) from $8.00
Rating:  230 reviews
Sales Rank: 50063
Format: Ac-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: HD DVD
Region: 0
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 116 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 81012
UPC: 012569810129
EAN: 0012569810129
ASIN: B000I2JKE2
Theatrical Release Date: November 28, 2006
Release Date: November 28, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Warner Brothers Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut - HD-DVD
The Version You Have Never Seen!
Unwittingly released from "Phantom Zone" imprisonment, three super-powered Planet Krypton criminals (Terence Stamp, Sarah Douglas and Jack O'Halloran) plan to enslave Earth - just when "Superman" (Christopher Reeve) decides to show a more romantic side to Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). Gene Hackman (as Lex Luthor) also returns from the first film and with a top supporting cast, witty Richard Lester direction and visuals that astound and delight. "Superman II" saves the day any day you watch it.
Amazon.com essential video
The Richard Donner cut of Superman II is an infamous legend come to life. Director Donner shot most of the sequel at the same time as his first blockbuster film, but somewhere along the line, the producers and studio lost confidence and brought in Richard Lester (The Three Musketeers) to rework the film, and receive sole credit. For years fans speculated on how different the final film was from Donner's original until an underground copy appeared showing a fully formed feature. In an unprecedented move, Warner Brothers officially embraces this alternate version. For those who have not been part of the rumor mill, know that Donner shot all the footage with Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman). You can find blow-by-blow descriptions of what is new/changed elsewhere, but most of the changes deal with Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder as the comic-book couple. Donner's cut provides alternate scenes for how Lois tests her hunch that Clark is Superman, the moment he reveals his identity, and how Lois unlearns that truth. Thing is, Lester's reshots are stronger, adding weight to the romance between the two, lifting the picture's stature. Lester also added the dandy Eiffel Tower opening. Donner's chief additions are in the Fortress of Solitude, where Marlon Brando returns to teach (Susannah York, as Superman's mom, appears in the Lester cut). The producers cut Brando's footage so they wouldn't have to pay him millions. The Brando/Reeve scenes continue the father/son dynamic of the first film. There is a great lesson in editing--Lester's less is better than Donner's more--when you compare how Kent turns back into Superman after losing his powers. The Donner cut is completely formed but does use some rehearsal footage, new effects, and some pieces shot by Lester. The history of cinema has many of these stories of movies reshot, hijacked, and changed from the original version, but here the underdog wins and Donner gets his chance to change history, even adding a note in the end credits about the use of fur and smoking as regrettable choices of the time. Director Donner and creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz have a jolly good time revisiting their past on the commentary track. You get a clearer picture of who shot what, but the two have nothing good to say about Lester's edition. Donner doesn't go much into why he was dropped, just a difference of opinion and the need not to pay Brando. He also explains why the deja vu ending of this edition was used in the first movie and a new ending would have been thought up for part 2. A quick featurette looks at how Michael Thau and a small crew reconstructed the film and compares several scenes from both versions. Also added are additional scenes shot by Donner but not used, most with Hackman. --Doug Thomas
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| Customer Reviews: Read 225 more reviews...
 Lester version better June 11, 2009
Blueman (Bethesda, MD)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
It was interesting to see the Richard Donner version of Superman 2, but in my opinion, the Lester version is better in almost every respect: plot, acting, dialogue, special effects, and soundtrack. It's true that the Lester version had some flaws, but the "Richard Donner" version is full of them. Many people have pointed these out, and it is quite clear that had Donner been able to finish the film as planned, it would have been better. I'm not sure I'm adding thing new that 230 other reviewers haven't already said, but these are my two cents.
You might like this, but I didn't... May 7, 2009
Sam
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
You might like this version of the classic Superman film, but I didn't. I liked the original. I can't explain why, really, other than to say that certain scenes did not appear dramatic at all even though you knew they should be. Since Superman is such a favorite of mine from many years ago, I got so used to the way I first saw it. This jarred me a bit.
Then again, when I saw Amadeus the first time, it was the director's cut with extra scenes. I loved it!! I went out to buy more of Mozart's music right away... yet what would happen if I saw the original version? Would I like that as much as the longer version?
Either way, these are great movies depending on which versions you like best.
And yes, I do recommend Amadeus very highly!!
 25 years later... Superman II: The REAL version! April 1, 2009
Dana Jensen (Everett, WA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Superman II was one of the BIGGEST movies of my youth. The summer of 1981, I stood in a line for it that was blocks long. This was back when everybody was there to see the same movie on a single screen. I also had the soundtrack album (no CD's back in '81!) which was COOL because it featured the Superman logo on the actual vinyl!
I recently discovered the Richard Donner version on you tube and noticed RIGHT AWAY how much BETTER the Donner version was. From the beginning where Donner dedicates the film to the late, great Christopher Reeve (the way it should be) to the opening scene where Lois Lane jumps out the Daily Planet window assured that Superman will rescue her. I defy ANYBODY to tell me this isn't VASTLY SUPERIOR to the theatrical version where she jumps into Niagara Falls!
I noticed when I researched the film on google that all the stars of the film who are still living, prefer this updated version. That says a lot. Some fans have complained about one changed, and one missing scene. One is where Superman says to Zod before their battle "General, would you care to step outside?" has been changed to "Haven't you ever heard of freedom of the press?".
The other is the scene at the end where Superman returns the American flag to the White House is now deleted. This hardly matters. I'm happy to trade this scene for the MUCH BETTER scene where Lois says goodbye to Superman while crying on her balcony. A HUGE improvement in my opinion. The ONLY scene I miss from the other version is where the three villains turn Mount Rushmore into their own likeness.
Richard Donner was right about several things (which can be heard on his audio commentary) first, Lois Lane should never kiss Clark Kent, but Superman. Second, it makes A LOT more sense in the story to have the three Krypton villains released by the explosion of Lex Luthor's bomb rather than the terrorists bomb in the previous version.
Finally, and most important of all, Marlon Brando's scenes as Jor-El have been restored. Donner is 100% correct when he states that it made NO SENSE to have Superman talking with his mother about things in the previous version. Screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz is also correct when he says it was a cardinal sin to remove Brando's scenes just to save money on the production.
So now all the things that were wrong with the theatrical version of Superman II have been FIXED. That is why I refer to this new version as "The Real Version".
It's only common sense that the Richard Donner version would be BETTER because he is a MUCH BETTER director than Richard Lester! Richard Donner has directed more than one CLASSIC. Besides Superman, he directed one of the GREATEST Horror films ever made, "The Omen".
I HIGHLY recommend this SUPERIOR version of Superman II. This is the version that should have been released in the theaters in 1981. Better late than never.
 This version Sucks March 18, 2009
Steve (Bolingbrook, IL United States)
1 out of 6 found this review helpful
I can see why the theatrical version was chosen over this version. Avoid this version at all costs.
HE DESERVED TO BE FIRED February 2, 2009
SAW (Chicago, IL United States)
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
Richard Donner is a good director. He did a fantastic job with the first Superman film. However, what we see here of his work on Superman II, the parts that are not in the version of Superman II that we already know, these scenes aren't just bad. They are TERRIBLE. Some of the scenes are so incredibly bad - Lois' first test of Clark to see if he is Superman - throwing herself off the 56th floor of the Daily Planet? That's ridiculous. At least in the other version, when she throws herself in the river, there is a chance she could swim and safe herself. But she cannot save herself from a fall out of a skyscraper. And the way that she figures it out? With a black marker? That so stupid.
Then, when she finally proves it by calmly shooting the man in the chest with the gun she just so happen to bring with her on this Niagara trip - I just got mad. Why would she, if there was a slight possibility that he might merely be human and she would have killed him... to say that the character of Lois would have risked another person's life just to prove a point makes her unlikeable. They really missed the boat with this.
Richard Lester's version digs into the development of the relationship of Clark and Lois so well. That does not exist in the Richard Donner version. There are so many terrible edits, that the movie seems so very incomplete. The ending itself is perhaps the biggest disappointment of all. Why would he use the EXACT same device used in the first film? Even if it were just for the purpose of having a different ending from the Lester version, it is a tremendous disappointment.
If you love Superman II, skip this version all together. It will only upset you.
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