Movie Review - Superman II (The Donner Cut)

The film differs in many ways from the original. I don't think the film was improved by having Brando instead of Suzanna York as the voice of the education crystals. The "Lois jumps out of a window to prove Clark is Superman" scene is as stupid as anything in the original. At least here, its explained (roughly) what Zod, Ursa & Non have done & been tried for. Maths has finally proved Superman COULD NOT have saved the falling boy at Niagra Falls. He falls for 21 seconds (which is impossible, the highest part of Niagra is 170ft high). If he'd fallen on the US side he'd have been dead in just over 2 seconds. If he'd fallen on the Canadian side he'd have died in just over 5 seconds.

Cut from this is where Lois jumped into the water to prove Clark is Superman. There's an added scene of dialogue between Lois & Clark in the hotel room which turns into her shooting Clark to prove he's Superman. (I was annoyed that Superman couldn't tell she'd fired a blank). An extra scene of Superman & Lois having dinner in The Fortress Of Solitude & a scene of them in bed together (Is this where the boy from Superman Returns is supposed to have been born?) & a chat with Brando explaining how the Molecule Chamber works to take Superman's powers.

At least the Molecule Chamber scene makes it look more final that Superman can't regain his powers with the destruction of all the crystals. A longer version of the battle in The White House (where Zod kills some people with a machine gun!) & a longer version of the diner scene. An extended return to The Fortress Of Solitude scene & a better explanation how Superman regains his powers. A longer version of the newsroom scene where Lex points out Lois, only this time he doesn't refer to her as "Superman's girlfriend".

I am annoyed they still used The Statue Of Liberty & The Empire State Building (neither of which are in Metropolis unless they were BOTH moved?) footage, these howlers should really have been corrected. During the Battle of the Krytonians, Superman actually goes as far as freezing the tanker that Zod had set on fire. We still don't see how Non got free. An extended version of the confrontation in The Fortress Of Solitude (where both Lex & Zod are far more threatening & even Superman makes some quite violent statements towards Lex).

Zod names Lex as ruler of Australia (forgetting Lex asked for Cuba too) & in this version its obvious that the Molecule Chamber is white inside & red outside where the 3 other Kryptonians are. A new scene of Superman melting The Fortress Of Solitude (possibly with Lex Luthor inside, perhaps why he didn't appear in Superman 3. Lois actually looked genuinely horrified as he did it!). Another new scene of Superman dropping Lois off at home. A quick shot of Perry in his bathroom then Lois at her typewriter then a bit of a dodgy idea. Re-using the turning back time idea from the original Superman (right back to before the 3 Kryptonians were freed).

Also returning to the diner to fight the trucker. Time had been turned back, that original fight had never happened. So Clark is there for revenge? Revenge isn't a Superman thing! Donners final message about the use of tobacco products & fur usage in the film at the end? Did he not think of digital removal like Spielberg did with the guns in E.T.? Possibly if bits of this & the "original" were cut together (lose the turning back time sequence to make the ending make more sense you could create a definitive cut that would please ALL Superman fans. All in all a decent enough version but some things still need fixing.

Addendum:- It turns out there is even more of this cut as I've seen on TV today, I was spotting extra little bits of scenes & extra dialogue here & there (stuff that was most likely cut for pacing reasons I guess). I'm still annoyed the effect they used on Zod's voice fades in & out, like they can never decide when to use it. They have cut the flying around the Earth sequence (thankfully!). This longer TV version of the Donner cut is better than the original & improves on some of my complaints but certain things DO still need fixing. Lose the British ADR voices in the Metropolis fight & replace the British boys voice in East Houston, remove the diner revenge scene near the end & definitely fix those static fountains on The White House lawn.