“Thank God for the Internet,” Director Richard Donner says of the grass roots movement that made this film possible.

According to the featurette Superman II: Restoring the Vision, they had to sift through several tons of film that arrived by truck from Warner Brother’s studios. Superman II is almost 30 years old so much of the film suffered moisture damage. The restoration effort involved baking every roll of film to remove moisture and then viewing and cataloguing every scene for continuity. What a project!

Richard Donner has directed many of the films we love - not necessarily great films but films that have a way of getting our affections like the 1976 Omen, Ladyhawke, Lethal Weapon and recently 16 Blocks. It’s a widely held opinion that none of the other Superman films starring Christopher Reeve ever reached the same level of the first. What if Richard Donner had been able to complete Superman II instead of being dumped from the project?  Now restoration is complete and available on HD DVD, and I jumped at the chance to see the movie that Donner would have created. This is no mere ‘Director’s Cut’ of Superman II, this is a completely different movie with only pieces taken from the theatrical release. Many familiar scenes have a slightly different take.

·  Actors: Christopher Reeve, Marlon Bando, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Terrence Stamp

·  Directors: Richard Donner

·  Format: AC-3, Director's Cut, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen

·  Language: English

·  Region: 0

·  Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

·  Rating

·  Studio: Warner Home Video

·  DVD Release Date: November 28, 2006

·  Run Time: 116 minutes

The Movie: No Spoilers

Superman II, like the sequel to any comic book film, is really where the ‘fun’ begins. The back-story is done, we’re familiar with the characters, so Superman II is free to dive right in with familiar faces. The credits are similar to Lester’s Superman II, recapping events in the first film. But the shots are all different - the Donner cut uses different angles but tried to stay true to how Donner envisioned the Shakespearian tone of the Krypton authorities condemning General (Terrence Stamp) Zod and his cohorts to banishment from the doomed planet. The special effects have been touched up, particularly where space is visible, and look great on HD DVD. Although the effects look great for a 30-year-old movie, they remain true to the film’s era. Unlike certain movies by George Lucas, none of the touch ups scream - “21^st Century CGI!”

After recapping the first Superman and witnessing Zod’s escape from the two-dimensional prison, we’re re-introduced to Clark Kent and Lois Lane. The scene takes place inside the offices of the Daily Planet where Lois is catching on that Clark is really Superman. We’re treated to scenes that emphasize banter between Margot Kidder and the late Christopher Reeve, to whom the film is dedicated. It’s a fitting dedication because Donner’s version of the film seems to care more about its characters than Lester’s theatrical release. Gone is Lester’s opening involving a rescue at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Instead we get scenes that explore the relationship between Lois and Clark.

Fruit Cart!

I won’t give away what happens in the opening scenes, but the extent to which Lois is willing to go to prove Clark is Superman is shocking. The contrast between the starting scenes recapping events at Krypton to the big city newspaper with its fast paced quips is a real jolt. Again, the first attempt Lois makes to prove Clark is Superman is downright jarring, and really draws you into the characters. It’s not as grandiose as a harrowing rescue at the Eiffel Tower, but it’s more personal. Donner uses the character interactions to create a more dramatic effect. Lois is of course foiled in proving Clark is Superman at this time, but the scene ends in one of those tried and true comedic clichés in film, the fruit cart.

In keeping with Donner’s more personal vision of the characters there is more - much more - interaction between Margot Kidder and Christopher Reeve. The scene where Lois and Clark are in the hotel room at Niagara Falls is a real treasure. It was taken from a screen test of the two actors performing together for perhaps the very first time, it shows. The scene actually takes on the tone of an improvisational indie film with the actors, Kidder and Reeve, really showing they have chemistry. And let’s face it Kidder was hot back in the day. You get to see a lot more of her too; wearing just a Superman T-Shirt or just a towel, her body is more prevalent in this release than Lester’s.

Film Summary

The movie is a must see for fans of the film or Reeve. It’s definitely a different movie than the one released to theater, and is a very strong piece in every way except one. The ending is terrible. I won’t give it away but it’s one of those cheap endings that removes validity from the film. You just have to block it out and not let it ruin your enjoyment of what’s good about the rest. This wasn’t Donner’s choice for an ending. What we get is something cobbled together from a combination of Superman I footage and Lester’s work.

The video on a 720P HDTV using the HD DVD version of the film was excellent. It should be, from the amount of work they put into the production. As expected though, some scenes looked inconsistent. Some of the video was taken from Lester’s version, some from screen tests; but despite the variable image sources the picture looks pretty good overall. Scenes of the Krypton convicts battling Superman along the night skyline of Metropolis (New York City) are incredible to behold. The HD treatment of the video, in my opinion, exceeds that of the HD DVD version of Superman: The Motion Picture. Never-before-seen scenes like the one pictured below of Superman being thrown into torch of the statue of Liberty, show the clarity of the background is incredible. Take that Lady Liberty!

I found the audio in this film to exceed what I’ve come to expect from 25 plus-year-old films that get the 5.1 treatment. The Dolby Digital soundtrack sounds excellent through most of the movie. There are only a few spots where the sound isn’t crystal clear. The audio received almost as much attention to detail as the video, and it shows. The effects during the battle scenes didn’t fail to give my subwoofer plenty of rumble and the echo-chamber effects were a real standout when in the Fortress of Solitude. The soundtrack is actually better than the 2001 restoration of the original Superman on DVD.

Extras

Superman II: Restoring the Vision: This half hour long featurette is mainly interviews with Donner himself and production staff. It also shows footage of the restoration process. It’s interesting mainly because Donner has a real take no prisoners personality. He spares not for a moment his contempt for the old production from Warner Brothers and their moves that kept him from completing Superman II. In one scene Donner even refuses to utter the name Richard Lester. You can tell he’s a passionate man, at one point he appears truly touched by the outpouring from fans on the Internet to get the Donner cut released.

Introduction By Richard Donner: A few minutes of Donner thanking the fans that made this possible, and letting us know what we’re in for.

Deleted Scenes: I scanned through it, just a few extended scenes they decided not to use and mostly they were probably right not to use them.

None of the special features appear in HD.

Commentary by Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz: Usually audio commentaries are terrible exercises of Hollywood ego-stroking futility. Only rarely, if you get the right personality, are they interesting. Donner is the kind of guy you’d want to watch a movie with to hear his comments. This is a worthwhile commentary to hear, and boy is Donner ever a crotchety old bugger at times. But bravo to him for standing behind who he is and not filling the commentary with a bunch of fluff. He says what he’s thinking and doesn’t care who's listening. I wish there were more like him in Hollywood.