[Vince]

This is not the theatrical release of Superman II. This is a wildly better movie.

I have always had a place in my heart for Superman II, but a lot of the plot points didn't make much sense and I never knew why. Now I do. I bought this on DVD this week after reading a few reviews of it online.

If I have the story correct, the movie was originally written by Mario Puzo (The Godfather) & directed by Richard Donner. When they were completing the editing of the film, Warner Bros. decided to re-shoot some of the movie with a new director. WB thought the Puzo/Donner version was too dark & serious and they wanted to make the movie more campy & appeal to a wider audience.

That's why during the major fight scene in the theatrical release, you see someone get ice cream on their face, or see a guy in a phone booth fall down still talking on the phone & laughing his ass off, or Mt. Rushmore being resculpted in seconds. None of that appears in the Richard Donner version of the film. No stupid Eiffel Tower scene either.

In this new version, General Zod is much more evil. Destroying cars with his eyes, firing a machine gun on troops in the white house, etc. The revelation of Superman's identity to Lois Lane doesn't happen because Clark Kent trips on a pink bearskin rug, but in a far more clever, compelling, & well-acted scene. The NY fight scene is expanded greatly & the final fight scene in the Fortress of Solitude is not present at all (it was never needed in the first place). The entire ending of the movie is completely different & makes a lot more sense.

Most importantly, the role of Marlon Brando as Jor-El is greatly expanded. Brando has a lot of scenes in this movie now, including one very special & touching scene, where he gives his son his spirit & soul so that he may become Superman again & defeat General Zod. "The son becomes the father, & the father becomes the son."

Seriously, if you're any bit into super hero movies, and especially if you're a Superman fan, you owe it to yourself to pick up this version of the film. It puts the theatrical release to shame!

[Rev2010]

Dude, thanks for turning me on to this I bought the theatrical version on DVD a few months back but had no idea there was a different version of the film. Gonna pick it up immediately.



Rev.

[Dive-Baum]

I had no idea about any of that. I am all over this. I actually dug the original but there were some pretty lame moments. Looking forward to watching.