Sunday, November 18, 2007

DVD Review: Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut


Superman II - The Richard Donner Cut
DVD ~ Christopher Reeve
Price: $19.99
Availability: In Stock

78 used & new from $10.25

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars "If you've only seen the first part, you haven't seen the best part!!!", December 19, 2006
That was the tagline for "Superman II" When it premiered in 1980 overseas, then 1981 when it premiered in America. The Richard Lester cut of this film was the one seen in theaters at the time, and was a great movie for its time, but it was not the true vision Director Richard Donner had brought to the screen. Donner was fired off production of this movie after a disagreement with the producers. He had already shot 80% of this movie during the same time the original "Superman" was being shot, so his vision went unseen for years. Marlon Brando had also shot some unused footage for this film, but was not featured in the Lester cut because of budget constraints. Now, more than 25 years later, Donner's cut has arrived, and it is spectacular, and not jokey and gag-filled like the original cut is. It is crisp, clean and wonderfully restored to DVD. The movie itself is quite entertaining, and having both cuts of this helps me to study better the true differences between the two. I will not give away too many details of the differences (those can be seen elsewhere in other reviews and also all over the 'Net), but I did enjoy this much better than the original cut. As far as I'm concerned, the only "Superman" movies you need in your collection are "Superman: The Movie," "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut" and "Superman Returns." Thank you, Warner Brothers, for allowing this film to see the light of day.

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