Rated PG (Sequences of Action Violence, Some Language
and Brief Mild Sensuality)
Running Time: 2 Hours & 7 Minutes (original), 1
Hour & 56 Minutes (Richard Donner Cut)
Cast:
Christopher
Reeve-Clark Kent/Superman
Margot
Kidder-Lois Lane
Gene
Hackman-Lex Luthor
Terence
Stamp-General Zod
Sarah
Douglas-Ursa
Jack
O'Halloran-Non
Marc
McClure-Jimmy Olsen
Jackie
Cooper-Perry White
Valerie
Perrine-Eve Teschmacher
Ned
Beatty-Otis
Marlon
Brando-Jor-El (Richard Donner Cut only)
Susannah
York-Lara Lor-Van (original only)
E.G.
Marshall-President of the United States
Directed by Richard Lester (original), Richard Donner
(Richard Donner Cut)
 |
| Kneel before Zod! |
Note: Part of the "Superman Motion Picture Anthology" Blu-Ray set.
As John Williams’ iconic score played in the
background, the end credits of “Superman” promised that its sequel would arrive
in theaters a mere six months later in summer 1979. Unfortunately, trouble
behind-the-scenes plagued the production of “Superman II,” delaying the release
of the film until 1981. From the beginning, both films were always envisioned
to tell one cohesive story and were shot back-to-back by director Richard Donner.
Roughly three-quarters of “Superman II” was completed before it was postponed
so that Donner could wrap up the original “Superman” as it missed its original
1978 summer release. To meet its December, 1978 release, the climax for the
sequel, which had Superman turning back time by flying around the Earth in a
reverse orbit, was instead used for the first film. In fact, post-production
was so rushed that it had no official premiere. However, tensions arose between
Donner and the producers, Alexander and his son, Ilya Salkind, and Pierre
Spengler as filming for the original “Superman” progressed. The Salkinds became
increasingly concerned with the escalating budget and the protracted shooting
schedule, although Donner remarks that he was never actually given either one.
In the race to finish the original film, Warner Brothers ended up getting more
involved in the production, forcing the Salkinds to concede more and more of
the box office profits to the studio than originally agreed. Creative
differences also arose as the producers wanted the films to be campier in tone.
It got to the point that Richard Lester was brought onboard as a temporary
associate producer to sooth tensions between Donner and the Salkinds. However,
when the producers announced that Marlon Brando’s completed scenes for the
sequel would be excised to avoid paying the actor the 11.75% fee from the total
box office earnings, Donner was furious and reiterated that if they wanted him
to return, he had to have total control. The situation came to a head on March
15, 1979 when Donner received a telegram, ‘Your services are no longer needed.’
Richard Lester replaced Donner and in order to receive credit, 51% of the
footage of “Superman II” had to be shot by him. Complicating the situation was
the deaths of cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth and production designer John
Barry. Creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz and editor Stuart Baird refused to
return without Donner and composer John Williams moved on to other projects.
Release of the sequel was further delayed to replace the vacated roles. Despite
all these issues, the end result of “Superman II” remained relatively
unscathed. This is a darker, more mature, action-packed film and while it does
not exceed the original, it is one of those rare sequels to match it in
quality.
“Superman II” opens with a brief recap of the events from the previous
film. Prior to the destruction of the planet Krypton due to their red sun going
supernova, the traitorous criminals General Zod (Terence Stamp), Ursa (Sarah Douglas),
and Non (Jack O'Halloran) are sentenced to a lifetime of imprisonment in the
Phantom Zone. After stopping Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) from destroying
California with a nuclear warhead, mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent
(Christopher Reeve) arrives one morning to The
Daily Planet and learns from editor-in-chief Perry White (Jackie Cooper)
that terrorists have taken over the Eiffel Tower and are threatening to
detonate a hydrogen bomb, with Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) already on the scene.
Clark rushes to change into Superman and flies to Paris. He manages to toss the
hydrogen bomb to space where it detonates harmlessly but the resulting shockwave
frees the three criminals trapped in the Phantom Zone. Discovering that they
now have powers, General Zod and his accomplices make their way toward Earth,
intent on conquering it. Meanwhile, Clark and Lois are sent to Niagara Falls
for a piece of investigative journalism. When Lois realizes that Clark is never
around when Superman appears, she correctly deduces that they are both one and
the same. With his secret out in the open, the two profess their love for each
other. Flying to the Fortress of Solitude, Superman decides to strip himself of
his powers through a supposedly irreversible process to spend his life with
Lois. Elsewhere, General Zod, Ursa, and Non easily defeat the full might of the
United States military and battle their way to the White House. To save the
lives of his countrymen and the world, the President (E. G. Marshall)
reluctantly submits before Zod. When Lois and Clark return to civilization,
they discover what has happened and Clark realizes too late that he made a
mistake. He returns to the Fortress of Solitude to try to find some way to
regain his powers and liberate the world from the iron grip of General Zod.
Even with Richard Lester at the helm, “Superman II” maintains the tone
established in the previous film and is a worthy follow-up that easily matches
the quality of the original, even if it does not exceed it, which is something
that cannot be said for the numerous sequels populating movie theaters today.
All the film’s action takes place in the final half-hour as it spends much of
its running time building upon the relationship between Lois and Clark. Their
playful banter emphasizes the perfect chemistry the two leads have as Lois
humorously tries to get Clark to change into Superman by putting her own life
at risk. When he finally reveals who he really is, Lois gives Clark this look
of awe that always makes me smile because it’s very obvious that she wants to
sleep with him...badly. Of course,
Clark wants to as well and when Lois whispers to him after dinner, ‘Let me change
into something a little more comfortable,’ he gives a warm smile that will melt
any woman and gets this twinkle in his eye. In fact, its quiet moments like
these that make “Superman II” so good because there’s a maturity to how it
depicts the relationship between Lois and Clark. Superman is also at his most
vulnerable in the sequel as he decides to give up his powers for Lois but
learns the hard truth that he wasn’t meant to settle down. He will always be Superman and that means putting his
wants and needs aside for the greater good. It’s one of the classic internal
struggles that superheroes face as they grapple with and try to balance their
responsibilities with what they want. “Spider-Man 2” dealt with similar issues.
While Donner’s “Superman” contained humor, it never ventured into slapstick
territory and this is one of the reasons that keep the sequel from exceeding
the original. During the scene where General Zod uses his super-breath to blow
away the mob attempting to attack him, we are shown a series of comedic gags,
such as ice cream being blown off a cone and hitting someone’s face or a man
blown over in a telephone booth and talking the whole time but it comes off as
out of place given what’s happening. Another is the disturbing trend of giving new
powers to Superman and General Zod. One scene had Zod lifting a man by firing a
telekinetic beam from his finger. Later, he and Superman seemingly possess the
power to teleport or make duplicates of themselves as decoys. Finally, there’s the ‘super-kiss’ that Clark
uses to cause Lois to forget his identity. While this was a real power in the comics, it was rarely used and eventually
removed. Of course, it pales in comparison to the blatant violations that occur
in the fourth installment, 1987’s “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace,” which
proved to be the death knell for the franchise. Despite its primitive special
effects, the final battle between Superman and General Zod remains exciting to
watch. Sure, the wire-work is obvious as they awkwardly fly around but its
slower pace allows us to appreciate the action as a whole. Nowadays, action
scenes are often overly-edited or feature an overabundance of glossy visual
effects. Just because we can use CG
does not mean we should go overboard with it.
One particular plot point that
frustrated fans was how Superman regained his powers. In Lester’s version,
Clark finds the green crystal that Lois absent-mindedly placed aside but with
the console at the Fortress of Solitude destroyed, it’s never made quite clear
the exact process in which he regained his powers. This is a rare issue caused
by the behind-the-scenes trouble of excising Marlon Brando’s completed scenes.
It wasn’t until November, 2006 that we finally saw a close approximation of
Richard Donner’s vision for the sequel had he not been unceremoniously fired by
the Salkinds. Dubbed “Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut,” this re-edit
follows the general plot line of Lester’s version but contains all the footage
he shot, plus an approximate 20% by Lester to maintain story cohesion. Again,
it opens with a brief recap but this time the three criminals are freed from
the Phantom Zone due to the resulting explosion from Lex Luthor’s nuclear
missile from the first film. From then on, the film proceeds much the same way but
with an added emphasis on drama as all of Marlon Brando’s scenes have been
restored. As a result, the scene where Clark converses with the hologram of
Jor-El is much stronger when compared to Lester’s version, which replaced
Jor-El with his mother, Lara Lor-Van. Upon learning that Clark wishes to give
up his powers, Jor-El asks that this is ‘how you repay their gratitude? By
abandoning the weak, the defenseless, the needy...for the sake of your selfish
pursuits?’ He continues by saying that Clark’s happiness comes through ‘the
fulfillment of your mission, an inspiration you must have felt.’ Later, when
Clark tries to find some way to regain his powers, we finally learn how he does
it. He does use the green crystal like in Lester’s version, as he activates the
hologram of Jor-El for one final time, exhausting the last of his energy to
restore his son’s powers. While these scenes are definitely superior to the
ones replaced by Lester, overall “The Richard Donner Cut” suffers from its
patchwork quality. Donner was never given the proper time and opportunity to
polish the film and shoot a proper ending. As a result, this re-edit feels
rough as it utilizes a number of screen-tests, with Reeve drastically slimmed
down. The climax is a repeat of the original as Superman once again turns back
time by flying around the Earth in a reverse orbit. It’s clear that Donner has
more reverence and respect for Superman compared to Lester but this new version
just isn’t the masterpiece that I (and fans) have hoped for. For what it’s
worth, “The Richard Donner Cut” is still very good and is definitely worth a
look for all Superman completists out there.
The acting (in both cuts) is
uniformly strong as Christopher Reeve continues to portray Superman with a
genuine warmth and sincerity. His bumbling, clumsy interpretation of Clark Kent
provides quite a few chuckles as he tries to deflect Lois’ suspicions about his
alter-ego. Reeve and Margot Kidder share such natural chemistry in the way they
interact, something that won’t be replicated until the television series
“Smallville” with Tom Welling and Erica Durance. Most of the Donner footage in
Lester’s version is of Lex Luthor as Gene Hackman refused to come back for
reshoots. A body double and sound-alike was used for certain scenes. Hackman
has quite a few hilarious moments. When he’s at the White House with General
Zod bragging about his brilliant criminal mind, he nonchalantly places his hand
on Ursa’s, who promptly begins crushing it. During Zod’s attack on The Daily Planet, he orders Non to kill
Lex, having served his purpose but Superman arrives in the nick of time to save
the day. Sighing with relief, he says, ‘Oh Superman! Thank God!’ but when Zod
glares at him, Lex quickly yells, ‘I mean, GET HIM!’ This scene always made me
laugh due to the way Hackman delivers his lines. Finally, there’s Terence Stamp
in his most memorable role as General Zod. Ironically, he would eventually
voice Jor-El on “Smallville.” Stamp is over-the-top but he’s such a joy to
watch as he screams, ‘Come to me, son of Jor-El! Kneel before Zod!’ Like Reeve,
Stamp is so closely associated with General Zod that the mere mention of him
prompts memories of his famous ‘Kneel before Zod!’ line.
Both “Superman II” and
“The Richard Donner Cut” arrives as part of the “Superman Motion Picture
Anthology” box set. The picture quality for Lester’s version is quite good with
its bold, colorful palette, invoking a comic book-feel, and strong detail,
although it still suffers from a soft haziness and uneven film grain. “The
Richard Donner Cut” was previously released as a stand-alone Blu-Ray in 2006
but the picture quality is inconsistent due to many scenes being culled from
different sources. While some scenes look great or even better than the theatrical
version, others are often too soft and lack detail. An example is when Lois
shoots Clark using blanks, which is actually a screen-test. Thankfully, the
audio quality for both versions is excellent. While dialogue may occasionally
sound hollow, such occurrences are minor and it remains sharp throughout. Ken
Thorne’s score is suitably epic and the final battle between Superman and Zod
is a dynamic treat as they trade blows with each other. Of course, due to the
age of these films, sound effects are dated and ambiance is limited. There’s
the usual assortment of audio commentaries, making-of featurettes, and deleted
scenes which are too many to list but as with the original “Superman,” there’s
a nice extra where fifteen of Fleischer Studios/Famous Studios’ Superman
cartoons from the early 1940’s are included, in glorious Technicolor! I
actually remember watching these on VHS as a child.
“Superman II” was released
three years after the original on June 19, 1981 to largely positive reviews as
it currently has an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. While critics complained that ‘the
humor occasionally stumbles into slapstick territory, and the special effects
are dated,…[the film] meets, if not exceeds, the standard set by its
predecessor.’ Worldwide box office totals seem to be unavailable but the sequel
earned an impressive (at the time) $108 million domestic and as the end credits
revealed, “Superman III” wasn’t far behind. Both “Superman” and “Superman II”
tell one cohesive story and even after some thirty years after its release,
Warner Brothers has failed to match the grandiose quality of these two films.
2006’s “Superman Returns” came close but unfortunately audience reaction was
lukewarm thanks to the current generation being weaned on glossy action scenes.
“Superman II” is everything a sequel should be; it’s bigger and bolder but
retains the heart of the original and reaffirms why Superman has remained a
permanent fixture as not just an American, but a worldwide, pop culture icon.
Final Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (original), 4 out of 5
(Richard Donner Cut)
“For the first time in my life, everything's clear.”
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