Which version of Superman 2 do you prefer better? I prefer the regular theatrical version. Ill take a mind erase kiss over the reused travel through time thing.
i would love to say richard donner's cut. BUT it was never complete. even the donner version released is a hybrid of the two. someone needs to go back and remake it. maybe animate it. they animate the comics. they can animate the movies too.
The time travel thing being reused was not Donner's fault. Too late, now. The Salkinds, the producers, and Warner Bros are the ones to blame. They wanted a silly spoof that made fun of Superman, while Donner wanted to show it respect and reverence. He had made all of "The Movie" and most of 2 before the Salkinds and WB stepped in and told him to take a hike. Richard Lester was then brought in and they refilmed 2 completely from scratch and that's how Superman 2 was born. Richard Donner's cut of Superman 2 was supposed to end with time travel, it was not supposed to be in Superman The Movie. "The Movie" was supposed to end on a cliffhanger with Supes throwing the nukes into space and blasting open the Phantom Zone by accident and as the credits began rolling, you'd see Zod, Ursa and Non flying toward the screen and then fade to black. 2 was going to open just as the Richard Donner cut does now, and then play out as he had originally intended. They filmed them back to back. Donner did what he could with what he had, and I definitely prefer the Donner cut. In fact, Donner had filmed close to 85% of 2 before he was kicked to the curb. Lester's cut was too silly, too tongue in cheek and ridiculous. That's part of the reason why I like Man Of Steel, so much. Sure, it's dark, but it's supposed to be. His home planet, all of his people, destroyed in the blink of an eye. By the end, he brought hope to our people. The next movie might be a bit lighter, but if it's not, so be it. Superman's burden has never been captured on film quite right until Man Of Steel.
I went with the original because the Donner Cut is awkward at best. Too much of it needs to be reshot and it needs an all new ending, considering the time travel trick was used in the first one.
The Donner Cut is the better of the two, but if he'd kept the kiss at the end it would have worked better. Richard Lester can't be blamed really, the only reason he did it was so The Salkinds would finally pay him for the two 3 Musketeers movies he directed for them. 3 though was his fault. 2's refilmming was so they could take away Donner's director's credit. He'd shot too much of the movie and they had to have new scenes or according to the Director's guild he'd have to get credit. They even threw out the Marlin Brando scenes so they wouldn't have to pay him for 2. The Salkinds were typical Hollywood producer thieves, they were famous for not paying people if they could get away with it. I believe I read on the final movie they produced, they stranded the crew in desert or some similar area and ran off with the money. Hollywood accounting at it's best.
Didn't we just have a thread on this not too recently. Anyway, the theatrical cut simply because the Donner cut is absolute shit to watch as anything other than a novelty.
Even in as terrible a shape as it's in, I have to go with the Donner cut. Mostly due to the restoration of the Brando stuff. I normally don't condone using CGI to "fix" old movies, or using it to resurrect dead actors (especially for shilling purposes: that one chocolate commercial with Fake Audrey Hepburn and Fake Rock Hudson just puts me off), but this may be one case where I would have absolutely no problem whatsoever with using CGI to re-create the hotel room scene.
IIRC, they did shoot a new scene for the Donner cut where Clark(an extra that the camera never focuses on) is looking downwards out of the Daily Planet office window towards Lois who fell out that window in an attempt to prove Clark was Superman. You can kind of see that it doesn't quite fit aesthetically, but it works for me just like the hotel scene does. I really do like the acting in that hotel scene despite the actors and set looking like the audition shot that it is. For me it fits, but the movie overall is really only enjoyable if you understand the Donner film history. *Then* the time travel ending isn't a groaner. Watching Donner talk about the film in the extras on the dvd is informative and entertaining too, btw. But like you said, this cut is superior just for the restoration of the Brando scenes. Those scenes are simply fantastic and really solidly tie this movie back with the first. The scowl Jor-El gives Lois as she watches Superman enter the depowering chamber is an awesome moment, btw.
I like the Donner cut but the newly edited in scenes just doesn't seem to flow well with the other scenes. The new sfx are not that great either. I do like seeing the Brando scenes though.
i won't go into why i do not like the man of dark right now. i've done that enough. but, i do think it is never too late. as long as DC is alive, it is never too late to go back, and make the movie they originally wanted to do. it is also not too late for dc to eventually go back and make an animated movie version of the batman movies that never got made, but had a script. i'd love to see those, too. superman lives, as well.
