Superman II (2006)

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

4 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

Did You Know?

Trivia

One major sequence that had to be omitted from the film was the "villains conquer the world" sequence, which depicted Zod, Ursa, and Non destroying national monuments and landmarks across the globe. As the original sequence was never shot, Michael Thau had considered using computer effects to augment existing footage to simulate the scenes, until Richard Donner vetoed the idea, not wanting the new computer effects to clash with those of the original film.

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Goofs

After escaping the Phantom Zone, Zod screams and it echoes. However, as space is a vacuum, the scream not only wouldn't have echoed, but wouldn't have made noise at all.

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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

Featured in The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened? (2015)

User Reviews

Superior to the Theatrical version

So here we have at least a glimpse of what is clearly a better vision and superior film to Fleischers. It's a pity that the Salkinds, who deserved to go bankrupt, couldn't have left Donner alone. Instead years later we get this, a taste of a clearly better movie.

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:

2.39 : 1