Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (1980)

Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.

Directors:

Richard Donner, Richard Lester (uncredited)

Writers:

Joe Shuster (characters), Jerry Siegel (characters)

Stars:

Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gene Hackman	...	Lex Luthor (archive footage)
Christopher Reeve	...	Clark Kent / Kal-El / Superman (archive footage)
Marlon Brando	...	Jor-El (archive footage)
Ned Beatty	...	Otis (archive footage)
Jackie Cooper	...	Perry White (archive footage)
Sarah Douglas	...	Ursa (archive footage)
Margot Kidder	...	Lois Lane (archive footage)
Jack O'Halloran	...	Non (archive footage)
Valerie Perrine	...	Eve Teschmacher (archive footage)
Clifton James	...	Sheriff (archive footage)
E.G. Marshall	...	The President (archive footage)
Marc McClure	...	Jimmy Olsen (archive footage)
Terence Stamp	...	General Zod (archive footage)
John Ratzenberger	...	Controller #1 (archive footage)
Shane Rimmer	...	Controller #2 (archive footage)

Storyline

Before Krypton exploded and Jor-El put his baby son, Kal-El, in a rocket ship to Earth, the benevolent ruler was forced to banish three irredeemable criminals to another dimension called The Phantom Zone. The trio's leader, General Zod, vowed revenge. Later, of course, Kal-El grew up to become Superman, Earth's mighty champion. A battle with the criminal mastermind, Lex Luthor, ends with Superman hurling a nuclear warhead into space where it explodes, but not harmlessly. Instead, it frees the Kryptonian threesome from their other-dimensional prison. They soon discover they have almost unlimited power (the same powers, in fact, as Superman), which they use to take over the Earth. Meanwhile, the intrepid reporter, Lois Lane, learns that her bumbling colleague, Clark Kent, is really Superman, a revelation that leads to him bringing her to his frozen Fortress of Solitude and renouncing his powers in order to make love to her. It is only when Superman and Lois return to civilization that ...

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Plot Keywords:

supervillain | supervillainess | extraterrestrial alien | alien supervillainess | extraterrestrial | 

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Taglines:

As Originally Conceived and Intended

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for sequences of action violence, some language and brief mild sensuality

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

28 November 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

Filming Locations:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$54,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The actor playing Clark Kent yelling out to Lois Lane after she jumps out of the Daily Planet, is not Christopher Reeve. An uncredited actor was brought in to film the shot for the DVD release.

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Goofs

Superman turns back time so that General Zod, Ursa and Non never leave the Phantom Zone, but we aren't shown how Superman deals with the missiles launched at the end of the first Superman movie - meaning, after turning back time, they should escape again, if Superman dealt with the nuclear missiles in the same manner. (This is a problem that actually stems from the first movie, where we aren't shown Superman dealing with the crisis in a different fashion after Lois dies - he shows up at Lois' car, and the aftershocks that caused her death just never happen.)

The next scene we see is meant to be the beginning of the movie again, with the Daily Planet - so after the nuclear explosions, and before the arrival of the villains - but Clark goes back to straighten out the trucker who hit him afterwards - though because Superman turned back time, basically, this event never happened - so Clark was hitting an innocent man for no reason. (The diner owner says that he just had the place fixed up - meaning the scuffle did occur, and Clark claims he's been working out, meaning from the last time they saw him, when he was beaten - however, again, this never happened because Superman turned back time again.)

Moreover, towards the end of the film, Superman destroys the Fortress of Solitude with his heat-sight - the Fortress of Solitude should be reconstructed (and with Jor-El available to guide Kal-El again) due to Superman turning back time again. The time travel device, beyond complicating the film's time-line, nullifies Jor-El's sacrifice and Superman's lesson, as after turning back time, things should be "back to normal" again.

Furthermore, if Superman's end-game was to turn back time all along, he didn't have to fight the super-villains in Metropolis or in the Fortress of Solitude at all - he could have turned back time immediately after regaining his powers, or following the Metropolis fight.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jor-El: I ask you now to pronounce judgment on those accused. On this... this mindless aberration, whose only means of expression are wanton violence and destruction; on the woman Ursa, whose perversions and unreasoning hatred of all mankind have threatened even the children of the planet Krypton; finally, General Zod. Chief architect of this intended revolution and author of this insidious plot to establish a new order amongst us... with himself as absolute ruler. You have heard the ...

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Crazy Credits

After the Warner Bros./DC Comics logos, there is an on-screen dedication "in loving memory" of Christopher Reeve, "Without whom we would have never believed a man could fly".

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Connections

Version of Super Girl (2011)

User Reviews

Filmed together with Superman 1 is the ticket!

Superman 1 and 2 were intended by the director to be a unit, and were filmed concurrently, as Jackson's Lord of the Rings films were. This approach works. Originally, after most of Sup 2 was in the can, the producers got rid of Donner and the Brando footage to save money and broke up the thematic flow of the two films. They made Sup 2 into a cheap money-maker follow-on to 1 and ruined it in the process.

What the studio has done here is, nothing short of grand. They've essentially remade this film as it was intended to be. It flows seamlessly from Superman The Movie now. Richard Donner's great pride in his work is evident from his enthusiastic intro on the DVD.

The storyline is cohesive, the emotionally soaring (!) tone of the first film is maintained and heightened. Scenes that reflect the fabulous chemistry between Reeve and Kidder have been restored.

The extensive Marlin Brando footage, shot and intended for the Fortress of Solitude scenes, has been restored.

This film is well worth a watch, particular in conjunction with a re-look at Superman I first. Hats off to Warner Brothers for bringing Richard Donner's vision for it back to life!