Not sure if I'd be interested. Grew up with the Chris Reeve Superman movie; watched it countless times (Once when it came out in theaters, numerous times on TV and on video). I also sprang - sprung? - for the Donner Cut of Superman 2... and have only watched it once. There's so much more out there to watch; do I really need a longer cut of something I've seen so much?
I'd rather see them cut some of the scenes out (like when the one guy is following Otis for 5 minutes) to improve some of the pacing, and I say that as someone who absolutely loves this movie. I'd also like to see them edit Superman 1 and 2 together as one movie like how Richard Donner wanted it to be basically
I'm very interested in this extended cut of the first movie, although I have a feeling that very much like the Donner Cut of Superman 2, the original theatrical release we already got will end up being the stronger movie overall.
Honestly there are some scenes I'd keep from the Donner cut and some scenes I'd keep from the Lester version. Though the kiss was stupid, I thought it worked better than the Donner Cut's ending, but a lot of the Zod scenes, and how Lois finds out he's superman was much better in the Donner cut. Also glad they got rid of the cleophane superman shield in the Donner cut.
After watching both multiple times, I think I like this better in the Lester cut. I think it flows better as a story. It's so weird, because we heard rumors for DECADES about how the Donner Superman 2 would have been different -- and better -- than what we got after the movie got snatched away from Donner by those idiots the Salkinds. It had to be better. Superman 2 isn't a bad movie by any stretch, but it was an enormous step down from the first movie, and it seemed natural to assume that since Donner was filming both simultaneously, that his version of the second movie would have been far superior to Lester's more wacky movie. And when the DVD of the Donner Cut got announced, no one was more excited than me. Something I had dreamed about for years and years was finally going to come true. But it wasn't better. Never mind that the mishmash of different elements at different levels of completion made it a little awkward. Never mind that it reused the end of the first movie (and I guess we're supposed to imagine some different ending for the first movie now). It just didn't work as well as a movie. I hate to say it, but in some places, the Lester version had more heart. It was great seeing the screen test between Reeve and Kidder -- that is a great scene. But I was hugely surprised to realize that I felt the Lester version worked better within the movie.
Just let what die? The far and away best super-hero movie ever filmed? The original theatrical cut is something like 2 hours 20 minutes. It just seems shorter because it's so great.
3 Hours?! Hey, remember when this movie was exciting and flowed from one scene to the next? Well, screw that. Here's 15 extra minutes of Superman washing his hands and checking the mail!
This might be random and it's been a while since I've seen the original, but did the tv cut have the scene of Clark kicking the football around the world?
This was the first movie I ever went to see in a theater. It left a lasting impression on me. When it was released on TV years later and I was suddenly seeing more than I remembered at the movies, I was ecstatic. As a kid I kept questioning what I remembered from the theater, to that one televised version to the version I eventually watched on VHS. It's going to be nice having my memories finally confirmed.
