View Single Post
Old December 26th, 2006, 08:12 AM   #17
martok2112
Colonial Story Teller
 
martok2112's Avatar
 
FORUM STAFFFleet Moderator
Colonial Fleets

Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: New Orleans (Metairie), LA
Posts: 4,785


Default

I bought both this and Superman Returns the day they came out on DVD.

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the Donner version. I enjoy both versions of Superman II to be sure. They both have servicable elements that, if done properly, could make an ULTIMATE SII cut.

I really would only be interested in getting the boxed set of the Superman films if SIII and SIV had the extended footage restored into those films...but as it stands right now, I have the only three Superman films that (IMVHO) really matter: Superman, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, and Superman Returns.

I like how they redid the opening credits, and it sounds like they used the arrangement from Superman Returns to fit the credits. (You can tell it's a new edit for the opening titles because they added Michael Thau's name to Stuart Baird's as editors for the film.)

I didn't have a problem at all with the quickened retelling of the Criminals Three's origins....and I really liked how they tied in the climax of Superman as the means to their release from the Phantom Zone. If that was indeed the originally shot sequence, then it was 100 times more impressive than the version shot for the Lester film.....otherwise I am inclined to think that it was a new CGI shot version for this Donner Cut.

Even the screen test footage was not enough to detract from my enjoyment of this film.

The only thing that makes this film run counter to what we see in Superman Returns (as a direct sequel to Superman II) is the destruction of the Fortress of Solitude.

Oh, and BTW, I don't know if that was Margot Kidder in the "renouncement of power" scene at the Fortress (because we never saw any close ups) but whomever that was, she had some nice legs....and her wearing a Superman T-shirt was a nice touch.

And if you watch the end credits all the way through, you'll see a "politically correct" addendum to the credits at the end, by Richard Donner.

Overall, a fun, if slightly flawed cut of a fun, if slightly flawed film.

Respectfully,
Martok2112
__________________
Don't be a fan. Don't be a victim!-Martok2112
martok2112 is offline   Reply With Quote