Superman II (The Donner Cut)

[Dick Whitman]

I looked up the original shooting script. Found both the one Donner used, so really the true original. But also Lester's modified version which is very interesting. The confrontation is different than what was rewritten.

The idea was that the Fortress would be like a house of mirrors. That they would all be hiding behind crystals but also all of them using their reflections as a trick to appear other places. What ended up on screen does not really convey that at all. This does explain the original thinking.

I could see why some see Donner's confrontation as anticlimactic. But I think Lester's additions were unnecessary. The Battle in Metropolis is the big show down. Donner's gives Zod the false self confidence that Superman really has resigned himself to defeat. After his leaving Metropolis. When really it was all a setup to depower them.

 

[DarthPipes]

Well the flattened hair and giant glasses helped quite a bit as well.

Yeah, totally true, but there was a little more to it than glasses. His bearing and demeanor changed noticeably. The critics were just saying that Clark didn't seem like a one off after thought of a character with Reeve's portrayal and I agree with them.

Heheh. Exactly. Sure, Reeves looked different as both Clark and Superman. But it's his acting and body language that sells the differences between Clark and Superman more than anything.

"General, would you care to step outside?" is still a thousand times better than the original line.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

"General, would you care to step outside?" is still a thousand times better than the original line.

Yeah. I gotta give that one to Lester. Humor, in moderation, is quite the good thing.

 

[The Old Mixer]

They both tried to be funny with that line...it's just that one of them wasn't funny.

 

[sonak]

They both tried to be funny with that line...it's just that one of them wasn't funny.

"general, would you care to step outside?" wasn't meant to be a comedy line, it was meant to be a badass line, and a signal that Superman was back. It was a call-back to him getting beat up at the diner, and it was meant to show that he had his powers and confidence back.

the "freedom of the press" line is just a weak joke.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I agree that 'Care to step outside?' is the better line (don't know about comedy - it always gives me goosebumps, in a good way) but at the end of the day, what would the point of The Donner Cut be if it was exactly the same as Lester's version?

 

[Christopher]

^Right. Like I've been saying, the point wasn't to make a better film, the point was to approximate what Donner's version of the film would've been.