Feb 15, 2008 02:17 PM
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(Updated Feb 15, 2008 03:12 PM)
It is rare in film history that a director gets a chance at completing a project he left halfway. And, It is nothing short of a minor miracle when that chance arrives nearly a quarter of a century later. Well, with the direct to DVD release of Superman 2- The Richard Donner Cut, director Richard Donner just become a part of film history. After languishing in cinema oblivion for almost 25 years the never before seen version of Superman 2, the sequel to the 1978 Hollywood blockbuster Superman, is finally released on DVD, and as fans would conform , this is how Superman 2 was originally intended to be. Released by Warner Bros.
the film includes several minutes of never before seen footage shot by director'Dick' Donner, who was to originally direct the film before souring relationships with the producers saw him unceremoniously dumped midway into the filming. Donner was replaced by Richard Lester who then re-wrote and re-shot large parts of the film to earn a credit as Director. According to sources, Donner had shot nearly 70% of the film before he left, but majority of that footage remained unused in the final theatrical release which came out in 1981.
25 years later, with assistance from Editor Michael Thau, the lost footage has been restored to create a new Superman 2 as it was originally intended to be. Gone are parts shot by director Richard Lester and replacing them is nearly 30 minutes of never before seen footage. Moreover, few scenes had to be shot afresh to fill in the gaps using body doubles. The fans of the series would be delighted to see brand new scenes involving Marlon Brando as Jor-el and ofcourse Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel Superman. The highlight of this version will probably be the emotional dialogue between Superman and Jor-El where Superman pleades to his father his reasons for forgoing his powers to be a mortal being.
Also, in this version are additional scenes from the final battle in Metropolis with Superman fighting the villians like never before. Overall, the Richard Donner Cut has a more serious tone to it than the original theatrical release. The campy elements have been done away with and what you have is an intense, emotional film that could have been a worthy sequel to its predecessor but sadly falls short.
So, While the Richard Donner cut is a welcome addition to your Superman collection, it is not without it flaws. For starters one must concede that due to limitations of footage and reluctance to use parts from the original cut, the film has a disjointed, unstructured feel to it. In fact, there are a couple of scenes which had to be taken from the screen-test footage of the actors that clearly seem out of place because of their inferior filming quality. A few scenes also had to be re-shot due to unavailability of previous footage, particularly the F/X scenes, they too look extremely amateur.
This could have been due to the budget constraints but that doesn't help the final product in any way. So, having laid down the best and the worst from Superman 2- The Richard Donner Cut, I will conclude by saying that this alternate version is purely for the fans of the Superman series. It has plenty of new, unseen material to keep you interested in the first viewing but the lack of cohesion in story and screenplay make this historical re-creation an average film.
Watch it still for the magic of Donner's vision and the performances by the cast most notably Christopher Reeve who sadly is no more to admire one of his better works.
