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after Supermonth: review: * Norbit (long awaited request) * The Benchwarmers (DO NOT REVIEW ITS SEQUEL) * The Spy Next Door (for Nostalgia-ween) * The New Guy * Without a Paddle (DO NOT REVIEW ITS SEQUEL) * A Night at the Roxbury * Planet 51 * Big Momma’s House trilogy (as a all 3 in 1 full review) * Date Night * Megamind (FIRST MOVIE ONLY DO NOT REVIEW ITS SEQUEL) * Rush Hour trilogy (as a all 3 in 1 full review & the 4th movie is greenlit) * Bad Boys trilogy (as a all 3 in 1 full review & the 4th movie is coming this summer) * Gay Purr-ee * Hey Arnold the movie * The Wild Thornberrys Movie * Looney Tunes Back in Action do Sequel Month 3.0 featuring: * Balto 3: Wings of Change (you reviewed 1 & 2 but not the 3rd one to complete the trilogy) * Rugrats in Paris * Rugrats Go Wild
Doug, it would mean a lot to me if you reviewed these following movies: - Wild Thornberrys Movie (starring Tim Curry and Lacey Chabert) - Blast from the Past (starring Brendan Fraser and Christopher Walken) - Undercover Brother (starring Neil Patrick Harris and Dave Chappelle) - Igor (an animated film starring John Cusack and Steve Buscemi) - Spiderwick Chronicles (starring Freddie Highmore and Seth Rogen) - Penelope (starring Christina Ricci and James McAvoy) - Aliens in the Attic (starring Kevin Nealon and Doris Roberts) - The 10th Kingdom (a miniseries starring John Larroquette and Dianne Wiest) Thank you very much and please accept my requests.
"Kneel before Zod! "Lay down on your backs before Zod!" "Now using your lower abdominals, raise your legs and hold on a five count before Zod!" "One before Zod!" "Two before Zod!" "Three before Zod!"
So, the cat's-paw of the Septims arrives at last. You didn't think you could take me unawares, here of all places? In the Paradise that I created? Look now, upon my Paradise, Gaiar Alata, in the old tongue, a vision of the past... and the future. Behold the Savage Garden, where my disciples are tempered for a higher destiny: to rule over Tamriel Reborn. If you are truly the hero of destiny, as I hope, the garden will not hold you for long. Lift your eyes to Carac Agaialor, my seat at the pinnacle of Paradise. I shall await you there. Well done, champion! Your progress is swift and sure. Perhaps you will reach me after all. You think I mock you? Not at all. In your coming, I hear the footsteps of Fate. You are the last defender of decadent Tamriel. I am the midwife of the Mythic Dawn, Tamriel Reborn. I welcome you, if you truly are the agent of Fate. I tire of the self-styled heroes who set themselves in my path, only to prove unworthy in the event.
Fun Fact: Despite Lex Luthor always being depicted as bald in the comic books, Gene Hackman refused to wear a bald cap for the movies, so it was agreed that he would instead wear a series of ill-fitting wigs that would imply baldness. Hackman relented to wearing the bald cap for the prison scenes, however, as it was unfeasible that Luthor would be allowed to keep his wig collection while locked up.
@@dreamlandnightmare Actually, no. Many actors don't have confidence in the movie's success, so they probably don't shave their head because they think it's not worth it. However, I wouldn't use that as an excuse for Hackman. I'm sure he knew he'd make money from a Superman movie. He probably didn't shave his head because he thought it'd be embarrassing.
@@ninjanibba4259To be fair, actors DO lose out on roles depending on what their physical appearance is (especially back then, it wasn’t only women who were beholden to rigorous beauty standards). And there was no way to know for sure if the first Superman flick would have been a success, so I get what the hesitation was all about. I agree that he shouldn’t have fussed so much about it by the second film, especially when they were offering him to wear a bald cap instead of shaving his hair off, but oh well. Lex Luther being bald isn’t what makes that character so interesting, it’s just a part of the design. People who freak out about little things like that are missing the point, I feel.
Robot Chicken actually did a skit about Superman using the amnesia kiss on his villains. It ends with them showing up at his apartment to go out on a date.
Doug, I’m a new mother with a newborn leaving an abusive relationship, I’ve had an incredible long day of nonstop crying, running around, exhaustion, and ppd. It’s 11pm I finally got her to rest and I get to sit for a moment and turn on a NC video and for 22 minutes everything feels normal. Thank you so much for all of the content over the years 🩷 please know you’re making a huge difference in someone’s life.
Being a parent to newborn baby can be isolating and exhausting at the best of times. Under your circumstances I can barely imagine. I say this with some personal experience (three times). It does get better. The sheer exhaustion of that early phase passes. In the meantime giving yourself small treats and rituals is so important. Love yourself sister, your kid needs you. ❤
I prefer the version in *"SUPERMAN II"* (from Richard Donner's Cut) where Lois Lane shoots Clark with a blank bullet, tricking him to revealing his identity as Superman, rather than Clark clumsily tripping on a bear-rug and getting his hand on the fire without it getting burned. Granted, the scene is obviously a mish-mash of Christopher Reeve & Margot Kidder screen tests (you can tell with Reeve's different hairstyles), but had Donner not been fired, it's possible they would've filmed it for real.
It does rather pre-suppose that Clark can't feel anything, though. If this scene is taken as gospel, Clark can't feel the difference between a .45 bouncing off his sternum and nothing at all touching him.
In this case, I much prefer the Donner cut. The even re-did this scene recently in *"My Adventures with Superman"* , and it was pretty great. Superman fans be eatin gud, "My Adventures with Superman" season 2, "Superman & Lois" season 4 this year (IIRC), and "Superman Legacy" in 2015. And last time I checked, Brandon Routh's return as Superman in the Arrowverse sparked something, so he's supposed to maye get a show by Guggenheim (and hopefully good writers) We have one chance to... oh shite, just googled it to make sure, and that project was killed in the egg. Sucks...
Fun Fact: Gene Hackman did not return to do reshoots for the second film. All of his scenes were originally filmed by Richard Donner. Other scenes shot by the new director that required Hackman used a look-a-like and a voice impersonator to add any lines needed.
Still prefer The Richard Donner Cut, it’s edgier and even more dramatic while still being fun. Hell the scenes where Zod guns down soldiers sadistically, and Clark’s redemption is way more powerful.
It is too much of a chopped up mess. All the scenes Donner still needed to shoot are painfully obvious in many areas.. I also always loved that Superman getting re-powered was more subtle..
"Kneel Before Critic!" 40+ years later, this movie still has the best version of General Zod. Also, the cellophane S is one of the goodies powers I've ever seen, and I can't thank whoever thought of it enough.
Terrance Stamp’s Zod is one of my favorite over the top performances. Even when he’s threatening the world, he doesn’t just stop at “Kneel before Zod!” He then shoves the president to his knees and screams his name at the camera. “ZOD!” The ham is just premium stuff, and he does a good job playing what’s basically this larger than life bully while still being amazingly entertaining
I personally prefer the Richard Donner Cut of Superman II. It uses all the footage filmed by Donner and uses screen tests and pieces from the theatrical cut to fill in the elements he never got a chance to film
And that's why it is NOT a very good movie. Because it's a chopped up mess of footage many of which needed to be re-shot.. And the effects shots added are terrible looking even for 1980 standards. WB spent no money on it..
No kidding I had these two movies merge together in a memory having the Brando parts and with the less dumb ending of the amnesia kiss. Watched the original again and was reminded of the stupid green crystal. I honestly thought it was kryptonite. LOL Haha just thinking about that mind wipe kiss and when Batman finds out who Superman is. xD::::
Both versions of the film are flawed. I personally prefer a fan edit that mixes the two. My personal is an old one by Adigitalman. He also made a cut called “Supermen Redeemed” that takes scenes from 2 , 3, and 4 and tries to make a good movie out of them. Certainly a noble attempt.
@@gregorybaker5558 A good movie out of 4??? "A kid writes to Superman asking him to get rid of nuclear weapons, Superman gives a speech and tries. Yadda-yadda-yadda. Superman gives a second speech explaining why he can't. Run time: 11 minutes, 37 seconds."
@@dupersuper1938I said he TRIES to make a good movie. What he does is use the Nuclear Man story as the primary threat (as awful as that is) and uses the Smallville stuff with Lana as the b plot. The Lois in Paris scene from 2 becomes the inciting incident for the nuclear arms crisis . Excised are anything involving Gus Gorman, Ross Webster, the Warfield takeover of the Daily Planet and the love triangle with Clark, Lois, and Lacy. When Nuclear Man scratches Superman, it does not poison him but turns him evil. Again not good per se, but interesting.
Here is a fun fact about the disguise in terms of the official explanation, it's not just the glasses it's the way he carries himself as Superman and Clark respectively. to the point some villains have figured it out only to be met by the other hand full of villains who figured it out to have a meeting with them, The conversation goes to the effect of "All you'll accomplish is pissing off superman, just take advantage of the little time we have he's not Superman."
It's actually quite amazing how little details can make a big difference. Years ago I lost a little weight and grew a beard and people that had known me for years didn't recognise me.
hell, to add onto this, henry cavill while advertising one of the superman movies (I forgot if it was BvS or Man of Steel) walked around in time square with glasses on, while that ad was showing as a 'test' to see if anyone would recognize him, they didn't. People really need to remember that as an audience its so obvious, but to them, superman is never gonna just be 'some guy', it makes no sense when he tells hes from krypton in most versions to the public, how he tells them hes Kal'El, how hes public about what he does, how he has all this power and he... is a news reporter?
Exactly, the reason why Clark let someone pull a gun on Lois in the first movie is because at that point he was playing Clark Kent. In Superman II, Lois already knew who he was, and Clark Kent was gone. Superman is who he really was, so when he has nothing to hide and he’s just Superman in Clark Kent’s body…. Yeah, no shit, he’s going to stick up for her, and he’s going to get his ass kicked.
The reason the "turn back time" ending was in the Donner cut was because that WAS the ending for Superman 2. Superman 1 was just supposed to end with him catching both rockets (which is what releases Zod, Ursa, and Non). It's less that they repeat the ending than they restore the intended ending for both.
One more thing about the Donner cut though, it's way more satisfying to see how Loise figured out that he was superman, I always thought it was stupid that just... a lack of a burn after putting his hand in a flame for one second was what made the difference in PROVING he was superman. Even with the gun thing, it wasn't actually the gun that proved anything, it was Clark admitting that he was in fact superman that did the thing, the gun was just Lois' ploy to make him say it. That feels WAY smarter and WAY more Lois.
I agree all the way with you because graphic novel Lois Lane is very intelligent. That is why I love how in The Adventures Of Superman she thought her way out of being a hostage every now and then. Plus she deduced Clark Kent being Superman in nearly every episode.
There are so many bloopers in this movie. 1) In the first movie Superman flies around the Earth dozens of times in a few seconds, but in this movie he flies from America to France in what feels like 10 minutes. "Lois is in danger, so I guess I'll fly close to the ground as slow as possible? 2) The three criminals are released in space but don't quite have their powers yet. How did they survive? We clearly see them slowly developing powers on Earth, after the moon bit. 3) How is an astronaut in an air tight suit, in a vacuum, hearing Ursa ask him a question? How can he speak back to her? 4) Why do these Kryptonian criminals fresh out of the Phantom Zone speak perfect English anyway? 5) How are they talking to each other in the vacuum of space? 6) Why does Ursa say "Ow" and drop the snake when it bites her? Isn't she Invulnerable? She surely was on the moon. 7) Why does General Zod touch water and say "What a strange surface." You've never seen water before? For all intents and purposes, you have a humanoid body. On Krypton you pretty much lead a human-like existence, AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT WATER IS! 8) On the moon Ursa says "I tore those metal fibers like paper..." You know what paper is but not water? 9) On the moon Zod says "The closer we come to an atmosphere with only ONE sun, a yellow sun, the more our molecular density gives us unlimited powers." The way he says it makes it sound like Krypton had two or more suns. For the record, it didn't. 10) Where did all the funky new powers come from? Superman never had those in the comics. 11) A world wide global disaster has three aliens taking over the Earth and people in Metropolis are just gonna go to work, go on dates, go to KFC, go roller blading...like nothing's wrong? 12) When Superman and Zod and company start disappearing and reappearing and Superman says to Lois "I used to play this game in school, I never was very good at it." What is he talking about? He went to Earth school, so he was disappearing in Earth school? 13) Superman whispers to Luthor about the molecule chamber knowing Luthor will betray him. But Zod couldn't hear them whispering with his SUPER-HEARING?!
@@dupersuper1938 Plot holes? Mistakes? Inconsistencies, inaccuracies? I used the term bloopers just to simplify things. And while I understand that it has been used to describe mistakes actors make with their lines, one actual dictionary definition simply says: "An embarrassing mistake." So, writers can't make bloopers?
Re. The Eiffel Tower scene - "the minute the story broke I bundled her on the first Concorde out of here." Getting to the airport, checking in a few hours before the flight leaves, around 4-5 hours flight time, getting through security, and getting to Paris, by that time snipers would have taken out the terrorists. Not to mention all flights to Paris would be suspended anyway! Also one of them heard a noise, the other said it's your nerves, yet none of them thought that soldiers would try make their way up? Finally all the people congregating round the Tower - just about all of the population of Paris would have left by then.
@@starbrand3726 Ninety-nine point nine-with-a-line-over-it percent of humanity uses the word bloopers to describe a short clip from a film or video production, an alternate take or a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. But you know that already, the thing is, that zero point infinite-zeroes then one percent that uses it to just mean "mistake" is the _exception,_ the outlier, the one using the antiquated definition of the word. When a writer fucks up, just call it a plot hole, like every one else in the world. Mistakes, inconsistencies, inaccuracies, goofs, or errors, would also have worked, you somehow seemed to have randomly picked the only word that doesn't work in this instance.
I’m glad you mentioned the Donner cut, as I felt there were moments in it that were better than in the Lester version. Not just the Brando scenes, which I felt were the best part of the film, but also using the missile Superman sends into space to free the villains. This makes more sense to me than using an elevator with a bomb, and I think would have been a better tie in to the first film. Also the scene where Lois tricks Clark into revealing himself by shooting him. Clark points out that if she was wrong Clark would have died and she asks “With a blank?” Showing she’s clever. The Donner cut made use of what Richard Donner had at the time. It would have been cool if he was allowed to finish his original version.
Incidentally the Donner cut has a cheap gag that I always laugh at. Miss Teschmacher wanders off to look for a bathroom in the Fortress of Solitude and succeeds as we hear a toilet flush. I'm sure we all wondered if the Fortress had a bathroom....
Another Fun Fact: Anti-smoking campaigners opposed the film, as the largest sponsor was the cigarette brand Marlboro, who paid $43,000 (approximately £20,000), for the brand to be shown twenty-two times in the film. Lois Lane was shown as a chain smoker in the film, although she never smoked in the comic book version. A prop included a truck sign written with the Marlboro logo, although actual vehicles for tobacco distribution are unmarked, for security reasons. This led to a congressional investigation.
Brands don't just pay to be in the movie, the money they pay is used towards the films budget to have their product in the movie... People that constantly cry about how expensive some movie budgets are never take into account that its literally not the real number after product placements, tax credits etc. The "budget amount" is never the real cost after everything is said and done
Another Fun Fact: The 1984, ABC Television broadcast of the film used over 30 minutes of footage deleted from the theatrical release, almost all directed by Richard Donner. The ABC scenes include: Superman flying past the Concorde (intended for the first film), extra dialogue between Luthor and Otis in jail, extra dialogue between Luthor and Eve flying to and within the Fortress of Solitude, the death of the young boy trying to escape East Houston, Idaho, the soufflé, and scenes between Superman and Lois. Nearly 15 minutes of extra footage with Gene Hackman included a pivotal scene in the Fortress, where Luthor begs forgiveness from Superman. While these scenes were included in the Australian theatrical release, subsequent television screenings there had them deleted.
Oh man! I remember those scenes! I thought them killing the kid on horseback with a police signal light and Ursa saying “…and he will never be a man!” was so cold! 😊
I still have my recorded vhs with this version - it’s what I grew up on - for me the only version (though yes the cut Brando storyline would have been fantastic (my favorite part of the Donner cut))
To all the complainers hating on Lois in My Adventures with Superman because she jumped off a building, she has been doing this shit for years! Especially in the beginning
Comics Lois used so many schemes to expose Clark (jumping off buildings (plural), giving Clark a kryptonite etc). She was a bigger foil to Supe than Lex Luthor ever was
The problem a lot of people have with her and others is because they figure out the person they got to know was a superhero. Then instead of understanding why they hid this, they get pissed at them and berate them from not revealing their secret, even though it wasn’t necessary.
I didn’t know the cast was so randomly stacked with names I know. Terrence Stamp, Ned Beatty, John Ratzenberger, Clifton James, Shame Rimmer, Richard Griffiths!? What a lineup.
my favorite perry deciding on wich story is surperman returns, where after sueperman falls from the kryptonite, and it says, "Superman dead" and then you see, "Superman lives." as he has both papers ready.
Reeve was such a perfect Superman/Clark that in the scene in the hotel where he burns his hand, dressed as frumpy Clark, when he confesses, he resumes the Superman, straight back posture and somehow makes a dowdy, oversized cardigan look buff, all just in how he holds himself. Incredible acting!
Man. I can't wait until NC covers Superman III. That's the movie where Richard Pryor is the goofball computer genius guy. He even wears a pair of skis down a skyscraper. That movie is wild.
Looking back on Superman 3, I feel like there’s a good plot in it. There’s just too much suckatude and is honestly kind of unfocused. I think the scene I laughed at the most is when Ross says, “He didn’t die. I asked you to kill Superman and you’re telling me you couldn’t do that one simple thing.” and then he just drops the phone. Can’t lie, I kind of got a chuckle. Maybe also that Olympics scene where bad Superman comes in and just blows out the torch.
@@liamtheman2099half of the movie is fun, everything with Richard Prior is pretty bad. The Clark and Lana stuff is really wholesome, and it might be the only time in all of Chris’s movies where he plays the real Clark. Plus the action scenes are pretty on point. It’s just let down by such a by the numbers plot and excessive comedy.
13:27 Damn, you are the ONLY person Doug that agrees with me on this! There are certain bits that are better in the Donner Cut, such as Brando appearing and restoring Clark to Superman-ness, but overall, despite the annoying, childish humour and the sloppier shots, I prefer the theatrical release. And that's despite me being TOTALLY on Dick Donner's side against the Salkinds.
Raimi's Spiderman trilogy took a lot inspiration from the Reeve's Superman trilogy. Superman 1/Spiderman 1: Hero's origin story Superman 2/Spiderman 2: Hero loosing power and get it back again! also being the best entrance of the trilogy Superman 3/Spiderman 3: Hero become evil and accidentally become hero we know again!
I'm surprised Doug didn't make a Superman Nicolas Cage joke with the clip he used from Con Air. I know he already mentioned it in The Flash review, but still it wouldn't hurt to have more Nic Cage.
For years I was frustrated by both cuts of the film as I preferred some scenes over others , disliked a lot of the comedy and slapstick of Lester's cut and disliked a lot of the changes of Donners. Having editing experience I finally decided to recut the entire film myself using the scenes I preferred from both cuts and make tweaks to make the tone more in line with the first film, Took me months to get it as seamless as I could but ended up with a Superman II I was finally completely satisfied with.
I think the NC should review the Donner cut somewhere down the line just because it shows another amazing way to view this movie and is a pretty good addition to the Superman movie lore
Superman & Superman II remind me of what happened with Batman & Batman Returns. Both had positive critical reception, the second film had creative liberties, and both received 2 sequels that destroyed the franchise (Superman III, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin).
Batman Forever didn't do NEARLY as much damage to the franchise as Batman & Robin. At least Clooney and Schwarzenegger could joke about it now. Did you see him and de Vito at the Oscars point out Keaton in the audience?
The alternate cut where Zod catches the boy escaping on horseback and ordeing Non to throw the police light at him and explode off screen was darker that anything in Man of Steel or BvS.
So regarding the Donner cut; I would say there are two other scenes that are much better in it than in the Original. Even though it looks a bit odd because it was much older footage, I feel like the scene where Lois confirms Clark is superman by shooting him with a blank puts Lois in a much more intelligent light than Clark...tripping over a fire? The first one has Lois putting Clark in a position where he thinks he can't fake it, while the other just makes Clark look more clumsy and doesn't add anything to Lois's character. The second for me is the first scene in the fortress between Clark and Jor El, where Clark is a lot angrier about why he should be denied his happiness for the sake of his duty. It is a lot more heartfelt and understandable than what makes it in the theatrical cut where he talks with his mom. She does a fine job but it is so much less impactful and dramatic. Aside from that, yeah, the pacing and the ending was terrible. But Those two scenese should NEVER have been cut.
I agree/disagree. I agree that Brando scene should not have been cut and really gives all more meaning to “the father becomes the son” but I am glad that Lois shooting Clark was cut. To me, it just seems way too out of character for Lois.
@@liamtheman2099 Not really. Lois shooting a blank at Clark is absolutely something she'd do (In fact, in Smallville I'm pretty sure she did it there too? Idk).
Superman II featured a new director in Richard Lester after the Salkinds fired Donner; by the time Lester was brought on board, around three-quarters of the second film had been shot concurrently with the first film, but the time and budget overruns led to the Salkinds getting cold feet and shutting down production until they saw the box office returns for the first film. When production started anew, Lester didn't just have to film the remaining scenes, but he also had to re-shoot scenes originally directed by Donner due to Directors Guild of America regulations. Both Brando and Gene Hackman both refused to work with Lester, forcing the producers to cobble together the film using some footage from Donner and some from Lester. Some of the scenes were filmed two years apart from each other, leading characters to look different from scene to scene, have completely different hairstyles, or even different hair color. Brando's scenes were cut out completely so that they wouldn't have to pay him.
Another Fun Fact: Apparently Richard Lester had to (re-)shoot a large volume of the film to gain a sole director credit, rather than just shoot the remainder of the Richard Donner version scenes to "fill in the gaps." This is why there is a portion of duplicate alternate versions of certain sequences, and scenes in one director's version not appearing in the script of the other version, rather than two alternate edits of one combined source of shot material. Hence why the Donner and Lester cuts are radically different, yet confusingly similar.
Was it an ego thing or money thing that Lester went through this trouble to have his name solely appear as director? I'm surprised WB would spend the extra money for unnecessary additional scenes.
@@dreamlandnightmare WB wasn't footing the bill, the Salkinds were. People forget, but WB had no creative control over any of the original four Superman films or Supergirl, they only distributed them. The creative control rested in the Salkinds. In fact, WB actually backed Donner and nearly backed out of distributing SM2 over his firing, but the Salkinds rubbed Lester's successful previous films (The Musketeers ones and Beatles ones) in WB's face until they went "Fine okay". And the Salkinds were absolutely dead set on Donner not getting any credit.
I like how Ursa didn’t actually mean to kill the astronaut by ripping off his badge. As we see later, she just likes collecting little badges and pins like an Applebee’s waitress. Cute little detail. 🥰
Holy Krypton does this mean we're gonna get the return of Doug's version of Zod. We haven't seen him since the Too Boldly Flee special PLEASE CRITIC BRING HIM BACK
One correction is that Superman 1 and 2 weren’t shot back to back but rather simultaneously. This is why the ending of Superman 2 was recycled for Superman 1 (the time travel) because they spent so much money on that effect they really wanted to use it in Superman 1 in case the movie failed and they couldn’t make Superman 2. Much to the dismay of Richard Donner.
I love both versions of the movie. Even though the Donner Cut has a great epic feel, I still have an attachment to the slightly goofier theatrical version. Either way, General Zod, Ursa, and Non were awesome in both edits.
This movie was actually the first superhero movie/CBM I ever watched as a kid back when I was around 7 years old, and though I wouldn't say this movie is better than the first one, I was still immediately hooked on this movie, Superman as a character, but honestly, I think this movie got me into superheroes, comics and pop-culture in general even now in my life as Im 21
The thing with the "old" SUperman movies is: they have more fun moments than bad. As for the more present movies: they are just boring, with interesting ideas, but boring.
I saw his face in this an immediately thought of Sherrif JW. If Zod had landed in the Louisiana bayou, the law enforcement would quickly put a stop to him.
Didn't realize the scene of Zod having a blast blasting away with an AR10 was in the Donner cut. Seeing the clip on RUclips I just assumed I had forgot about it after not having watched Superman 2 in decades.
The two scenes that the Richard Donner cut does much better is the scene where Lois tricks Clark into revealing he's Superman using a gun with blanks in it and the Marlon Brando scene mentioned in this episode. The Lois/gun scene is so clever, I really wish they had done kept that in the script when they reshot with the other director.
I actually think I prefer this to the original. The original is great too, but I felt it was still finding its feet and had quite a few issues in the writing department and I don't think quite got the size and scale that this movie had.
I also think the Donner cut does a better job calling out Superman for giving up his powers to sleep with Lois. They don’t outright say that, but Jor El’s disappointment hits pretty hard. He calls the decision to sacrifice his responsibilities and higher calling for her selfish and begs him to reconsider
Definitely prefer the Donner Cut. Especially since they removed a lot of the over the top corny physical gags Lester polluted the film with. There are really only two negatives. One, they didn't get a chance to refilm the scene where Lois tricks Clark into revealing he's Superman, which I like much better than the ridiculous tripping over the bear rug. It just helps show how clever Lois is. And two, they didn't get a chance to create a new ending. I forgive these flaws, though, as it is still the superior film and it's understandable that there was no way to do those new scenes at the time they re-edited the film.
This is why there needs to be a version that combines the best material from both Richard Donner and Richard Lester. Such as the deleted scene with the arctic police which should’ve been added back in.
CORRECTION: When you compared the Donner and Lester shots in the beginning, all the Donner shots you used were actually shot by Lester, i.e., Clark and Lois walking slowly to bed and Superman walking away from Lois in the Fortress of Solitude.
I think there’s an even better Superman II movie if you re-edited and combined both Donner and Lester’s movies into one two and a half hour movie (Superman II is 2:08:00) so it’s only twenty mins longer. For example the way he gets his powers back in the Donner cut is better than this cut. Because I agree with you the Donner cut isn’t great but parts of it are. Another one is it having Brando and Hackman scenes all added back in.
If you found the "super kiss" to be creepy at the end of this one, you'll find Superman IV's version (where he can apparently restore Lois' memory through life threatening trauma and then take them away again as he wishes) to be down right unsettling.
11:49 That’s actually a scene from the First movie. It was during the scene where Lex Luthor, Otis, and Miss Tessmacher were changing the Army missile coordinates when Luthor Remote Controlled the car and crashed it to Stop the Army mid route. You can tell it because of the background, the car itself, and even the roadsigns and rail guards. I don’t know why they stole that footage from the first anyway.
I honestly like the Donner cut more than the theatrical cut of Superman 2 mainly because of the addition of Marlo Brandon's Jor-El. I still like the theatrical cut Superman 2. Also, in both versions of Superman 2, the depowered kryptonians weren't killed.
Doug, it would mean a lot to me if you reviewed these following movies: - Wild Thornberrys Movie (starring Tim Curry and Lacey Chabert) - Blast from the Past (starring Brendan Fraser and Christopher Walken) - Undercover Brother (starring Neil Patrick Harris and Dave Chappelle) - Igor (an animated film starring John Cusack and Steve Buscemi) - Spiderwick Chronicles (starring Freddie Highmore and Seth Rogen) - Penelope (starring Christina Ricci and James McAvoy) - Aliens in the Attic (starring Kevin Nealon and Doris Roberts) - The 10th Kingdom (a miniseries starring John Larroquette and Dianne Wiest) Thank you very much and please accept my requests.
1. Honestly, if we could have a version of this movie where the only addition is that Marlon Brando scene, this movie would honestly be a much stronger sequel. Mainly because it would have *actual consequences* to him giving up and then taking back his powers like a few days later. Clark losing the only memory of his Kryptonian father forever actually hits really hard considering how much of the last movie was him exploring his alien heritage and balancing it with the life he alredy has on Earth. 2. While this movie is, overall, a bit worse than the original, I do think that the way Superman solves the conflict is more clever and satisfying here. He basically realises that his fight with Zod and his goons would sooner tear the world apart before they could do any serious damage to each other, an unstoppable force meets and immovable object type of scenario, so he tricks them by taking their powers away by simply reversing the machine he used on himself earlier in the movie, while also using Luthor's ego and selfishness against him. PS: Superman turning back time, telelporting while making clones of himself and erasing memories is ,for better and for worse, 100% a product of the time as his powers were still kind of all over the place when this movie was made. With him able to casually pull a new one out of his arse with no consistency whatsoever. But, then again, the 1st movie at least balanced it somewhat well as they heavily imply turning back time was the *peak* of what Clark can do in these movies. So there's really no excuse.
The ending of the Donner cut for supes 2 was the original ending that ended up becoming the ending for Superman 1. They had to stop filming of Supes 2 because of money issues and finish Supes 1, with the plan to return to Supes 2 with a new ending. But as Donner was fired, he never got that chance. So, sadly, the ending used was the turn back time again. So, really, they had no choice but to include it. I think overall the Donner cut would have been better. I think many of the scene that replaced Lester's (exception being the screen test Lois finds out scene) are better. Heck, removing the slap stick was the best thing they did in the Donner cut. And I might add, Zod under Donner feels more menacing.
I agree that Superman 2 would've been even better if they'd kept Donner on, but also agree with Nostalgia Critic that the cobbled together version they made decades later is more interesting artifact than good movie.
@@dupersuper1938 It's a fair point. But I do think it's worth noting that how what we got was, essentially, incomplete. I get the critique "turning the world back again", but I wish he'd have acknowledged WHY that ending was used. They ended up using that ending in 78 and so where planning on shooting a new ending for S2. Sadly, it never happened. I do think the actual Donner footage shot that wasn't used in the original cut does work better, and sadly we'll never get a complete Donner cut as he never got to shoot it all. But I do take the point of it being more an artifact because it had to be cobbled. But I will say, removing the slapstick improved the end fight much more, for me. S2 was my favourite as a kid. But as I got older, I much preferred 78 and I started to find S2 a little dull. And this opinion changed before I knew about the Donner/Salkind/Lester drama. And seeing the Donner footage, especially the Jor-El editions, wow. I remember always wondering why Zod sounded all over the show in the film. Listen to how he sounds in front of Jor-El in 78 and with Lex in the white house, and then how he sounds with the Houston police, with the deeper, more put on voice. He always sounded more menacing in the Jor-El / Lex bits and I always wondered why he sounded different. Or why Lois, in the same scene, looked like she did in 78 and then a bit more gaunt. Fascinating. Sorry for the long reply lol
It’s funny how Diner Guy was perfectly fine picking a fight with Clark. Yes, he didn’t have his Superman powers at the moment, but he was still a towering Greek sculpture of a man with a square jaw and shoulders wider than Dwight Howard. And when you meet someone like that who’s soft spoken and doesn’t really like to fight… you do NOT want the heat with them.
I never minded the phantom prison shard shattering scene. It's explained by Holo Jor-El well enough. They exist in another dimension, nuke explosion open's door for them to escape.
I liked Richard Lester’s version of this. But I wished they kept the scenes from the Donner cut, the Marlon Brando scenes and the scene where Zod fires a gun at The White House because it’s funny. I really kinda didn’t like the Donner cut because of the Spinning back the earth AGAIN, with Zod, Ursa, and Non being sent back in the phantom zone. Superman 1 and 2 are the best films with Christopher Reeve.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 *🦸 Introduction to "Superman II"* - Overview of the origins and production of "Superman II". - Comparison of directorial styles between Richard Donner and Richard Lester. - Initial impressions of the film's quality and its place in superhero movie history. 01:46 *🎬 Recapping the Opening Scenes and Directorial Styles* - Commentary on the recap of the film's opening scenes and the transition between directors. - Notable differences in visual style and pacing between Donner and Lester. - Humorous observations about certain scenes and character interactions. 03:36 *🚀 Superman's Intervention and Lex Luthor's Plot* - Analysis of Superman's intervention in the Eiffel Tower bombing. - Discussion of Lex Luthor's scheme involving Alpha Waves and tracking Superman. - Commentary on the introduction of General Zod and his companions. 05:16 *🌊 Lois Lane's Suspicion and Superman's Revelation* - Lois Lane's suspicions about Clark Kent's dual identity. - Analysis of Superman's decision to reveal his identity to Lois. - Observations on the romantic tension between Superman and Lois Lane. 06:45 *🔍 Lex Luthor's Manipulation and Zod's Ascendancy* - Lex Luthor's manipulation of Zod and his allies for his own gain. - Exploration of Zod's characterization and his aspirations for dominance. - Humorous commentary on the interactions between Earth and Kryptonian characters. 09:38 *💔 Superman's Sacrifice and the Love Story* - Analysis of Superman's decision to give up his powers for love. - Reflections on the implications of Superman's sacrifice for his relationship with Lois. - Commentary on the romantic elements and character dynamics in the film. 14:47 *💥 Action Sequences and Donner's Cut* - Discussion of the action sequences and special effects in the film. - Critique of the Donner cut and comparison with the theatrical version. - Commentary on Marlon Brando's scenes and their impact on the story. 18:23 *🔄 Resolution and Controversial Elements* - Analysis of the resolution involving Superman's memory-altering kiss. - Reflections on the implications of Superman's actions and the film's conclusion. - Commentary on the comedic and romantic elements of the resolution. Made with HARPA AI
I watched the first Superman after watching the review. I loved it, especially the scene with the little girl and her cat 🤣😂 So let's see how the second film goes
Ironically, when Doug showed the shot of Lois and Clark walking to the bed while talking about Donner's scenes, that scene was actually filmed by Lester. Most of the Fortress of Solitude scenes were re-shot by Lester, with a fathful reproduction of the set built at Pinewood Studios. Once they actually show Hackman in the scene, then we are watching scenes by Donner, with the set in Shepperton Studios. Of course, we have the occasional mixed shots, such as when we see Donner's footage at the end of the sequence in the Fortress mixed with the new shot of Kal-El in the molecule chamber protecting him from the red sun's rays (the original molecule chamber in Donner's cut looks better and more polished).
Superman Did Not Spin The Earth The Other Way! Einstein thought, when you travel faster than light time goes the other way, So the earth doesnt change its spin, it simply seems that way as hes flying.
That's just perspective. When you travel near the speed of light, time slows down. At the speed of light time stops: meaning light itself wont experience the passage of time, which is an interesting thought. But faster than light If possible, would make your passage of time go in reverse and from your perspective as superman, the earth would appear to slow and stop then go the other way. @@lutherheggs451
One Last Couple of Facts: According to Sarah Douglas, in Japan, her scene of Ursa killing the astronaut by kicking him in his groin was cut, due to their sensitivity of a woman being so dominant, As previously mentioned, Ursa is based on the comic character Faora. They are both man-hating killers with an aptitude for martial arts. Non was an original character created for the movie. Both he and Ursa were introduced into the comic canon by Richard Donner during his run on Action Comics in 2007, Sarah Douglas said she had more fun working with Gene Hackman than any other actor from the first two Superman films, Christopher Reeve's physique changed significantly during production. Some earlier scenes had to be re-shot, John Williams did not return as composer, due to scheduling commitments with Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). However, Williams granted the Salkinds permission to use his original themes, and even recommended composer Ken Thorne, a personal friend of Williams, to compose the film's score, Director Richard Lester was not sympathetic to the epic look that Richard Donner had given to Superman (1978), saying that he didn't want to do "the David Lean thing." Lester decided to scrap most of Oscar-winning cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth's footage, and hired director Michael Winner's cinematographer, Robert Paynter, to create a style that would evoke Superman's roots in comic books. Lester, Paynter, and camera operator Freddie Cooper replaced Unsworth's gliding camera with horizontal panning and static framing to evoke comic books and comic strips, with static frames crammed with people and objects. Similarly, the composition of shots the trio developed for Superman II had objects and people crammed into the frame. To further emphasize comic book composition, the action was photographed from one angle, to give the film a desired flatness. Harkening back to the techniques of the early sound era, Lester's films had always been shot with three cameras filming the action simultaneously; two cameras for close-ups, one for the long shot. Lester's technique added to the friction on the set caused by Donner's firing. Margot Kidder particularly disliked him, Originally, Richard Donner had filmed Superman talking to his father for this movie, but Marlon Brando sued for (and won) a share of the first film's gross. The lawsuit also awarded him a share of this film's gross, even though he doesn't appear in it. Brando's scenes were replaced by scenes with Superman's mother. Brando's scenes appeared in Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (1980), and briefly during a scene in Superman Returns (2006), An early version of the script had four Kryptonian exile villains. Jak-El (a name probably inspired by the German and Danish name "Jakel," the trickster hand-puppet in the Punch and Judy tradition) was supposed to be an evil prankster and source of comic relief. He is described as "a psychopathic jokester, whose pranks and practical jokes are only funny to him when they cause death and suffering to others." The character was never cast, Originally, Richard Donner had filmed Superman talking to his father for this movie, but Marlon Brando sued for (and won) a share of the first film's gross. The lawsuit also awarded him a share of this film's gross, even though he doesn't appear in it. Brando's scenes were replaced by scenes with Superman's mother. Brando's scenes appeared in Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (1980), and briefly during a scene in Superman Returns (2006), Creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz and editor Stuart Baird declined on returning for this movie, in support of Richard Donner. However, Mankiewicz was still credited for it, This was the third most popular movie at the U.S. and Canadian box-offices for 1981, Henry Fonda was the front runner for the major cameo role of the U.S. President. Instead, his 12 Angry Men (1957) co-star, E.G. Marshall got the role, Original director Richard Donner was fired by the producers, According to Sarah Douglas and Jack O'Halloran, they did not get along with Christopher Reeve, Warner Bros. released the film in Europe at the end of 1980, and in the U.S. in the summer of 1981, The scene where General Zod, Ursa, and Non use their super-breath to create a storm in Metropolis was shot over three freezing November nights at Pinewood Studios in England. Richard Lester improvised most of the jokes, When Superman saves the boy at Niagara Falls, a woman in the crowd of onlookers can be heard saying, "What a nice man! COURSE he's Jewish!" Superman's "parents," Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, were the children of Jewish immigrants, and many fans and scholars have long argued that they created the character in 1938 as a Jewish American response to the Nazi idealization of Friedrich Nietzsche's Übermensch (a term that can be translated as "superman"). Superman, like the thousands of Jewish refugees who were fleeing Europe at that time, was an alien from a war-torn place. Also, his origin story bears no small resemblance to that of Moses, and his original name, Kal-El, contains El, the original name of the chief Canaanite/Hebrew deity, Sarah Douglas said she had more fun working with Gene Hackman than any other actor from the first two Superman films, The only one of the first four Superman movies not to have any scenes in Smallville, When the sequel was put on hold, Christopher Reeve had commitments to make Somewhere in Time (1980) which overlapped with the return to making Superman II. He also had reservations about the new script and the way Richard Donner had been treated so he was able to renegotiate his contract at a better rate and with more artistic input,
I've always preferred this movie to the original. Mainly because the villain here is a lot more menacing. I mean, Lex Luthor may be a genious, but he is just a human. When the hero can literally kill the villain with a slap, the situation is not that threatening (even if he uses kryptonite). Also, I like that Superman loses his powers and Jor El (in the Donner cut) must sacrifice himself to give him his powers back.
Thoughts on Superman II?
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After the supermonth, please do the ,,G-force" movie review, because it is day 164!
after Supermonth:
review:
* Norbit (long awaited request)
* The Benchwarmers (DO NOT REVIEW ITS SEQUEL)
* The Spy Next Door (for Nostalgia-ween)
* The New Guy
* Without a Paddle (DO NOT REVIEW ITS SEQUEL)
* A Night at the Roxbury
* Planet 51
* Big Momma’s House trilogy (as a all 3 in 1 full review)
* Date Night
* Megamind (FIRST MOVIE ONLY DO NOT REVIEW ITS SEQUEL)
* Rush Hour trilogy (as a all 3 in 1 full review & the 4th movie is greenlit)
* Bad Boys trilogy (as a all 3 in 1 full review & the 4th movie is coming this summer)
* Gay Purr-ee
* Hey Arnold the movie
* The Wild Thornberrys Movie
* Looney Tunes Back in Action
do Sequel Month 3.0 featuring:
* Balto 3: Wings of Change (you reviewed 1 & 2 but not the 3rd one to complete the trilogy)
* Rugrats in Paris
* Rugrats Go Wild
More from "Super month" is Super-critic still flying out in the sky somewhere ?
Doug, it would mean a lot to me if you reviewed these following movies:
- Wild Thornberrys Movie (starring Tim Curry and Lacey Chabert)
- Blast from the Past (starring Brendan Fraser and Christopher Walken)
- Undercover Brother (starring Neil Patrick Harris and Dave Chappelle)
- Igor (an animated film starring John Cusack and Steve Buscemi)
- Spiderwick Chronicles (starring Freddie Highmore and Seth Rogen)
- Penelope (starring Christina Ricci and James McAvoy)
- Aliens in the Attic (starring Kevin Nealon and Doris Roberts)
- The 10th Kingdom (a miniseries starring John Larroquette and Dianne Wiest)
Thank you very much and please accept my requests.
KNEEL BEFORE DOUG
"Kneel before Zod!
"Lay down on your backs before Zod!"
"Now using your lower abdominals, raise your legs and hold on a five count before Zod!"
"One before Zod!"
"Two before Zod!"
"Three before Zod!"
You will bow down before me! First you, and then one day, your ASS! 😂😂
I understood that reference
You too can have abs like
Terence Stamp in 1980
but you have to work for them.
Now get on with those leg raises.
lmao
So, the cat's-paw of the Septims arrives at last. You didn't think you could take me unawares, here of all places? In the Paradise that I created? Look now, upon my Paradise, Gaiar Alata, in the old tongue, a vision of the past... and the future. Behold the Savage Garden, where my disciples are tempered for a higher destiny: to rule over Tamriel Reborn. If you are truly the hero of destiny, as I hope, the garden will not hold you for long. Lift your eyes to Carac Agaialor, my seat at the pinnacle of Paradise. I shall await you there.
Well done, champion! Your progress is swift and sure. Perhaps you will reach me after all. You think I mock you? Not at all. In your coming, I hear the footsteps of Fate. You are the last defender of decadent Tamriel. I am the midwife of the Mythic Dawn, Tamriel Reborn. I welcome you, if you truly are the agent of Fate. I tire of the self-styled heroes who set themselves in my path, only to prove unworthy in the event.
Fun Fact: Despite Lex Luthor always being depicted as bald in the comic books, Gene Hackman refused to wear a bald cap for the movies, so it was agreed that he would instead wear a series of ill-fitting wigs that would imply baldness. Hackman relented to wearing the bald cap for the prison scenes, however, as it was unfeasible that Luthor would be allowed to keep his wig collection while locked up.
He also refused to wear a bald cap for the rest of the movie.
(Part 2)
That's why he has hair later on.
I honestly hate when hired actors don’t do something as simple as a head shave for a movie, it’ll grow back…why fuss about it? Either do it or go home
@@ninjanibba4259 Exactly. You're being paid millions. And he looks better bald than he does with the stupid wigs.
@@dreamlandnightmare Actually, no. Many actors don't have confidence in the movie's success, so they probably don't shave their head because they think it's not worth it. However, I wouldn't use that as an excuse for Hackman. I'm sure he knew he'd make money from a Superman movie. He probably didn't shave his head because he thought it'd be embarrassing.
@@ninjanibba4259To be fair, actors DO lose out on roles depending on what their physical appearance is (especially back then, it wasn’t only women who were beholden to rigorous beauty standards). And there was no way to know for sure if the first Superman flick would have been a success, so I get what the hesitation was all about.
I agree that he shouldn’t have fussed so much about it by the second film, especially when they were offering him to wear a bald cap instead of shaving his hair off, but oh well. Lex Luther being bald isn’t what makes that character so interesting, it’s just a part of the design. People who freak out about little things like that are missing the point, I feel.
Favorite moment is when the President kneels and says "Oh, God" and Terrence Stamp corrects him: "Zod."
Robot Chicken actually did a skit about Superman using the amnesia kiss on his villains. It ends with them showing up at his apartment to go out on a date.
Was going to say that myself!
One of the best Robot Chicken sketches. 😂
I saw that skit 😂
What once was a parody could easily become an actual movie/comic/episode these days.
Doug, I’m a new mother with a newborn leaving an abusive relationship, I’ve had an incredible long day of nonstop crying, running around, exhaustion, and ppd. It’s 11pm I finally got her to rest and I get to sit for a moment and turn on a NC video and for 22 minutes everything feels normal. Thank you so much for all of the content over the years 🩷 please know you’re making a huge difference in someone’s life.
Same with me. Well...minus what you have been through but yes I give him credit for adding the humor that he makes. It changed mine as well.
Being a parent to newborn baby can be isolating and exhausting at the best of times. Under your circumstances I can barely imagine.
I say this with some personal experience (three times). It does get better. The sheer exhaustion of that early phase passes. In the meantime giving yourself small treats and rituals is so important.
Love yourself sister, your kid needs you. ❤
I’m so sorry to hear that. How are you doing now?
Kneel Before NostZodgia Critic!
KNEEL!!!
That is hard to say!
Nostalzod
😂😂😂Nice
😂
I prefer the version in *"SUPERMAN II"* (from Richard Donner's Cut)
where Lois Lane shoots Clark with a blank bullet, tricking him to revealing
his identity as Superman, rather than Clark clumsily tripping on a bear-rug and getting his hand on the fire without it getting burned.
Granted, the scene is obviously a mish-mash of Christopher Reeve & Margot Kidder screen tests (you can tell with Reeve's different hairstyles), but had Donner not been fired, it's possible they would've filmed it for real.
It does rather pre-suppose that Clark can't feel anything, though. If this scene is taken as gospel, Clark can't feel the difference between a .45 bouncing off his sternum and nothing at all touching him.
@@theradgegadgie6352 More so, if he wasn't Superman, I imagine Clark would see Lois as a psychopath.
Imagine if she was wrong in the Donner cut 😂😂😂😂
JOSH-lw2jv, the Donner Cut is stupid and makes no sense.
In this case, I much prefer the Donner cut. The even re-did this scene recently in *"My Adventures with Superman"* , and it was pretty great.
Superman fans be eatin gud, "My Adventures with Superman" season 2, "Superman & Lois" season 4 this year (IIRC), and "Superman Legacy" in 2015.
And last time I checked, Brandon Routh's return as Superman in the Arrowverse sparked something, so he's supposed to maye get a show by Guggenheim (and hopefully good writers)
We have one chance to... oh shite, just googled it to make sure, and that project was killed in the egg. Sucks...
Fun Fact: Gene Hackman did not return to do reshoots for the second film. All of his scenes were originally filmed by Richard Donner. Other scenes shot by the new director that required Hackman used a look-a-like and a voice impersonator to add any lines needed.
I did not know that. Interesting.
I heard he had a reputation for being crazy difficult to work with.
I guess it's a good thing the Richard Donner cut worked better.
Explains why Lex disappears for a lot of this film.
Its he refused to come back for reshoots after what they did to Donner. The cast was completely on Donner's side and didn't like how he was fired.
Still prefer The Richard Donner Cut, it’s edgier and even more dramatic while still being fun. Hell the scenes where Zod guns down soldiers sadistically, and Clark’s redemption is way more powerful.
Yeah but was it all the more worth it when all of it would just be erased near the end?
@@keijijohnson9754 Would you rather prefer the amnesia kiss?
It is too much of a chopped up mess. All the scenes Donner still needed to shoot are painfully obvious in many areas.. I also always loved that Superman getting re-powered was more subtle..
"Kneel Before Critic!"
40+ years later, this movie still has the best version of General Zod. Also, the cellophane S is one of the goodies powers I've ever seen, and I can't thank whoever thought of it enough.
KNEEL!!!
I LOLed when Family Guy made fun of that S bit
"That was a minor inconvenience."
@@KingNerdGyeah slowed you down
Young Justice Zod is pretty decent
Terrance Stamp’s Zod is one of my favorite over the top performances. Even when he’s threatening the world, he doesn’t just stop at “Kneel before Zod!” He then shoves the president to his knees and screams his name at the camera. “ZOD!” The ham is just premium stuff, and he does a good job playing what’s basically this larger than life bully while still being amazingly entertaining
I personally prefer the Richard Donner Cut of Superman II. It uses all the footage filmed by Donner and uses screen tests and pieces from the theatrical cut to fill in the elements he never got a chance to film
And that's why it is NOT a very good movie. Because it's a chopped up mess of footage many of which needed to be re-shot.. And the effects shots added are terrible looking even for 1980 standards. WB spent no money on it..
No kidding I had these two movies merge together in a memory having the Brando parts and with the less dumb ending of the amnesia kiss. Watched the original again and was reminded of the stupid green crystal. I honestly thought it was kryptonite. LOL Haha just thinking about that mind wipe kiss and when Batman finds out who Superman is. xD::::
Both versions of the film are flawed. I personally prefer a fan edit that mixes the two. My personal is an old one by Adigitalman. He also made a cut called “Supermen Redeemed” that takes scenes from 2 , 3, and 4 and tries to make a good movie out of them. Certainly a noble attempt.
@@gregorybaker5558 A good movie out of 4??? "A kid writes to Superman asking him to get rid of nuclear weapons, Superman gives a speech and tries. Yadda-yadda-yadda. Superman gives a second speech explaining why he can't. Run time: 11 minutes, 37 seconds."
@@dupersuper1938I said he TRIES to make a good movie. What he does is use the Nuclear Man story as the primary threat (as awful as that is) and uses the Smallville stuff with Lana as the b plot. The Lois in Paris scene from 2 becomes the inciting incident for the nuclear arms crisis . Excised are anything involving Gus Gorman, Ross Webster, the Warfield takeover of the Daily Planet and the love triangle with Clark, Lois, and Lacy. When Nuclear Man scratches Superman, it does not poison him but turns him evil. Again not good per se, but interesting.
“Kneel before Doug!”
You can only ask so much from your fans.
I am will not
I thought I forgot what day it was. “Nostalgia Critic posts on Wednesday, I thought it was Monday!”
...to me, it was a Tuesday 😏
Don’t you just hate it when you realize you’re older than you thought you were?
Losing your memory?
You haven't been kissing Kryptonions again, have you?
Here is a fun fact about the disguise in terms of the official explanation, it's not just the glasses it's the way he carries himself as Superman and Clark respectively. to the point some villains have figured it out only to be met by the other hand full of villains who figured it out to have a meeting with them, The conversation goes to the effect of "All you'll accomplish is pissing off superman, just take advantage of the little time we have he's not Superman."
It's actually quite amazing how little details can make a big difference.
Years ago I lost a little weight and grew a beard
and people that had known me for years didn't recognise me.
hell, to add onto this, henry cavill while advertising one of the superman movies (I forgot if it was BvS or Man of Steel) walked around in time square with glasses on, while that ad was showing as a 'test' to see if anyone would recognize him, they didn't.
People really need to remember that as an audience its so obvious, but to them, superman is never gonna just be 'some guy', it makes no sense when he tells hes from krypton in most versions to the public, how he tells them hes Kal'El, how hes public about what he does, how he has all this power and he... is a news reporter?
Exactly, the reason why Clark let someone pull a gun on Lois in the first movie is because at that point he was playing Clark Kent. In Superman II, Lois already knew who he was, and Clark Kent was gone. Superman is who he really was, so when he has nothing to hide and he’s just Superman in Clark Kent’s body…. Yeah, no shit, he’s going to stick up for her, and he’s going to get his ass kicked.
The reason the "turn back time" ending was in the Donner cut was because that WAS the ending for Superman 2. Superman 1 was just supposed to end with him catching both rockets (which is what releases Zod, Ursa, and Non). It's less that they repeat the ending than they restore the intended ending for both.
Zod's Chest Hair Rectangle makes me deeply uncomfortable.
Thick, lushy, dark haired Clark with no chest hair is equally strange to me. Lol
@@sameaston9587 They probably should've switched chest hair!
If he erases memories through a kiss..that off-screen sex scene must have been filled with some confused and terrified moments.
He had lost his powers at that point. Otherwise, yes.
Crazily enough though, in the Donner Cut, that scene happens BEFORE Superman gives up his powers
Robot Chicken did the whole kiss memory wipe and it's fricking hilarious.
And the flying-around-the-Earth-to-time-travel bit.
Why would that be one of your powers?
_mocking tone_ Whywouldthatbeoneofyourpowers?
Family guy also referenced the cellophane S
But then wouldn't Pink kryptonite actually make superman stronger?
Now come on, be fair.
The glasses weren't the
only part of Clark/Cal El's disguise.
He also combed his hair slightly different.
Don't forget the different clothes.
@@masere
Of course.
A shirt and tie can make a big difference to one's appearance.
A Scary Fact: During one take of the shot in which Lois punches Ursa, Margot Kidder accidentally punched Sarah Douglas and knocked her unconscious.
damn
"accidentally"
Damn 😮 Which one though? The one in the Daily Planet office or the one at the Fortress of Solitude?
cocaine is a helluva drug
At least, she’s doing all right.
One more thing about the Donner cut though, it's way more satisfying to see how Loise figured out that he was superman, I always thought it was stupid that just... a lack of a burn after putting his hand in a flame for one second was what made the difference in PROVING he was superman.
Even with the gun thing, it wasn't actually the gun that proved anything, it was Clark admitting that he was in fact superman that did the thing, the gun was just Lois' ploy to make him say it. That feels WAY smarter and WAY more Lois.
I agree all the way with you because graphic novel Lois Lane is very intelligent. That is why I love how in The Adventures Of Superman she thought her way out of being a hostage every now and then. Plus she deduced Clark Kent being Superman in nearly every episode.
I say the same thing
Plastic wrap...Zod's one true weakness!
My favorite part of Zod firing the gun is him laughing as he realizes “No way, this actually hurts you?”
I remember being confused about the TV show having a different guy, and somebody explaining that superman was paralyzed. Broke my little heart.
There are so many bloopers in this movie.
1) In the first movie Superman flies around the Earth dozens of times in a few seconds, but in this movie he flies from America to France in what feels like 10 minutes. "Lois is in danger, so I guess I'll fly close to the ground as slow as possible?
2) The three criminals are released in space but don't quite have their powers yet. How did they survive? We clearly see them slowly developing powers on Earth, after the moon bit.
3) How is an astronaut in an air tight suit, in a vacuum, hearing Ursa ask him a question? How can he speak back to her?
4) Why do these Kryptonian criminals fresh out of the Phantom Zone speak perfect English anyway?
5) How are they talking to each other in the vacuum of space?
6) Why does Ursa say "Ow" and drop the snake when it bites her? Isn't she Invulnerable? She surely was on the moon.
7) Why does General Zod touch water and say "What a strange surface." You've never seen water before? For all intents and purposes, you have a humanoid body. On Krypton you pretty much lead a human-like existence, AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT WATER IS!
8) On the moon Ursa says "I tore those metal fibers like paper..." You know what paper is but not water?
9) On the moon Zod says "The closer we come to an atmosphere with only ONE sun, a yellow sun, the more our molecular density gives us unlimited powers." The way he says it makes it sound like Krypton had two or more suns. For the record, it didn't.
10) Where did all the funky new powers come from? Superman never had those in the comics.
11) A world wide global disaster has three aliens taking over the Earth and people in Metropolis are just gonna go to work, go on dates, go to KFC, go roller blading...like nothing's wrong?
12) When Superman and Zod and company start disappearing and reappearing and Superman says to Lois "I used to play this game in school, I never was very good at it." What is he talking about? He went to Earth school, so he was disappearing in Earth school?
13) Superman whispers to Luthor about the molecule chamber knowing Luthor will betray him. But Zod couldn't hear them whispering with his SUPER-HEARING?!
That's...not generally what "blooper" means...
@@dupersuper1938 Plot holes? Mistakes? Inconsistencies, inaccuracies? I used the term bloopers just to simplify things. And while I understand that it has been used to describe mistakes actors make with their lines, one actual dictionary definition simply says: "An embarrassing mistake." So, writers can't make bloopers?
Re. The Eiffel Tower scene - "the minute the story broke I bundled her on the first Concorde out of here." Getting to the airport, checking in a few hours before the flight leaves, around 4-5 hours flight time, getting through security, and getting to Paris, by that time snipers would have taken out the terrorists. Not to mention all flights to Paris would be suspended anyway!
Also one of them heard a noise, the other said it's your nerves, yet none of them thought that soldiers would try make their way up?
Finally all the people congregating round the Tower - just about all of the population of Paris would have left by then.
@@masere Yes, yes, brilliant.
@@starbrand3726 Ninety-nine point nine-with-a-line-over-it percent of humanity uses the word bloopers to describe a short clip from a film or video production, an alternate take or a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. But you know that already, the thing is, that zero point infinite-zeroes then one percent that uses it to just mean "mistake" is the _exception,_ the outlier, the one using the antiquated definition of the word. When a writer fucks up, just call it a plot hole, like every one else in the world. Mistakes, inconsistencies, inaccuracies, goofs, or errors, would also have worked, you somehow seemed to have randomly picked the only word that doesn't work in this instance.
The theatrical or Donner cut? Or a side-by-side comparison of the two?
Probably the Donner edition.
I’m glad you mentioned the Donner cut, as I felt there were moments in it that were better than in the Lester version.
Not just the Brando scenes, which I felt were the best part of the film, but also using the missile Superman sends into space to free the villains. This makes more sense to me than using an elevator with a bomb, and I think would have been a better tie in to the first film.
Also the scene where Lois tricks Clark into revealing himself by shooting him. Clark points out that if she was wrong Clark would have died and she asks “With a blank?” Showing she’s clever.
The Donner cut made use of what Richard Donner had at the time. It would have been cool if he was allowed to finish his original version.
Incidentally the Donner cut has a cheap gag that I always laugh at. Miss Teschmacher wanders off to look for a bathroom in the Fortress of Solitude and succeeds as we hear a toilet flush. I'm sure we all wondered if the Fortress had a bathroom....
Clancy Brown is the best Lex Luthor to me
Lex Luthor in the White House?! It’s SUPER ironic, as Luthor actually became president of the United States in “Superman/Batman: Public Enemies”.
Another Fun Fact: Anti-smoking campaigners opposed the film, as the largest sponsor was the cigarette brand Marlboro, who paid $43,000 (approximately £20,000), for the brand to be shown twenty-two times in the film. Lois Lane was shown as a chain smoker in the film, although she never smoked in the comic book version. A prop included a truck sign written with the Marlboro logo, although actual vehicles for tobacco distribution are unmarked, for security reasons. This led to a congressional investigation.
Brands don't just pay to be in the movie, the money they pay is used towards the films budget to have their product in the movie...
People that constantly cry about how expensive some movie budgets are never take into account that its literally not the real number after product placements, tax credits etc. The "budget amount" is never the real cost after everything is said and done
British Superman would never allow smoking in _his_ movie!
"Kneeel before Doug!" is the best funniest line. I love it XD
The diner scene and Superman helping rebuild the White House are my favorite scenes
💯💯. They’re great
Another Fun Fact: The 1984, ABC Television broadcast of the film used over 30 minutes of footage deleted from the theatrical release, almost all directed by Richard Donner. The ABC scenes include: Superman flying past the Concorde (intended for the first film), extra dialogue between Luthor and Otis in jail, extra dialogue between Luthor and Eve flying to and within the Fortress of Solitude, the death of the young boy trying to escape East Houston, Idaho, the soufflé, and scenes between Superman and Lois. Nearly 15 minutes of extra footage with Gene Hackman included a pivotal scene in the Fortress, where Luthor begs forgiveness from Superman. While these scenes were included in the Australian theatrical release, subsequent television screenings there had them deleted.
They used to show that version
on Greek TV,
usually around Easter time.
It really makes you question your memory.
Oh man! I remember those scenes! I thought them killing the kid on horseback with a police signal light and Ursa saying “…and he will never be a man!” was so cold! 😊
"He was just a boy."
I still have my recorded vhs with this version - it’s what I grew up on - for me the only version (though yes the cut Brando storyline would have been fantastic (my favorite part of the Donner cut))
I never noticed before, but Christopher Reeve's eyes were a bright radioactive blue!
I can't wait til you do Superman 3 and get to the robot machine.
To all the complainers hating on Lois in My Adventures with Superman because she jumped off a building, she has been doing this shit for years! Especially in the beginning
Sadly I get the feeling they only now noticed because that Lois isn't white.......yep....
The difference is that in the new show, considering how Lois act and talk, she appear a lot more of an hypocrite as result.
Comics Lois used so many schemes to expose Clark (jumping off buildings (plural), giving Clark a kryptonite etc). She was a bigger foil to Supe than Lex Luthor ever was
That doesn't make it okay. We're supposed to improve, not repeat. Also, why does she look like a preadolescent boy?
The problem a lot of people have with her and others is because they figure out the person they got to know was a superhero. Then instead of understanding why they hid this, they get pissed at them and berate them from not revealing their secret, even though it wasn’t necessary.
“Kneel before Zod” I love this quote
Looking back, I'm OK with Man of Steel's Zod not telling Superman to kneel before him, but MAKING him kneel.
I didn’t know the cast was so randomly stacked with names I know. Terrence Stamp, Ned Beatty, John Ratzenberger, Clifton James, Shame Rimmer, Richard Griffiths!? What a lineup.
my favorite perry deciding on wich story is surperman returns, where after sueperman falls from the kryptonite, and it says, "Superman dead" and then you see, "Superman lives." as he has both papers ready.
Reeve was such a perfect Superman/Clark that in the scene in the hotel where he burns his hand, dressed as frumpy Clark, when he confesses, he resumes the Superman, straight back posture and somehow makes a dowdy, oversized cardigan look buff, all just in how he holds himself. Incredible acting!
Man. I can't wait until NC covers Superman III.
That's the movie where Richard Pryor is the goofball computer genius guy. He even wears a pair of skis down a skyscraper. That movie is wild.
Looking back on Superman 3, I feel like there’s a good plot in it. There’s just too much suckatude and is honestly kind of unfocused. I think the scene I laughed at the most is when Ross says, “He didn’t die. I asked you to kill Superman and you’re telling me you couldn’t do that one simple thing.” and then he just drops the phone. Can’t lie, I kind of got a chuckle. Maybe also that Olympics scene where bad Superman comes in and just blows out the torch.
"Superman's drunk!"
@@iamhungey12345Yes that too.
Lol you mean Richard Prior the Movie, guest starring Superman?
@@liamtheman2099half of the movie is fun, everything with Richard Prior is pretty bad. The Clark and Lana stuff is really wholesome, and it might be the only time in all of Chris’s movies where he plays the real Clark. Plus the action scenes are pretty on point. It’s just let down by such a by the numbers plot and excessive comedy.
i hope he talks about the donner cut.
13:27 Damn, you are the ONLY person Doug that agrees with me on this! There are certain bits that are better in the Donner Cut, such as Brando appearing and restoring Clark to Superman-ness, but overall, despite the annoying, childish humour and the sloppier shots, I prefer the theatrical release. And that's despite me being TOTALLY on Dick Donner's side against the Salkinds.
Raimi's Spiderman trilogy took a lot inspiration from the Reeve's Superman trilogy.
Superman 1/Spiderman 1: Hero's origin story
Superman 2/Spiderman 2: Hero loosing power and get it back again! also being the best entrance of the trilogy
Superman 3/Spiderman 3: Hero become evil and accidentally become hero we know again!
I'm surprised Doug didn't make a Superman Nicolas Cage joke with the clip he used from Con Air. I know he already mentioned it in The Flash review, but still it wouldn't hurt to have more Nic Cage.
For years I was frustrated by both cuts of the film as I preferred some scenes over others , disliked a lot of the comedy and slapstick of Lester's cut and disliked a lot of the changes of Donners.
Having editing experience I finally decided to recut the entire film myself using the scenes I preferred from both cuts and make tweaks to make the tone more in line with the first film, Took me months to get it as seamless as I could but ended up with a Superman II I was finally completely satisfied with.
The scene on the moon really freaked me out as a kid. The idea of suffocating in space was an existential fear to little me.
@@zonesproductions this scene is so brutal compared to the rest of the film.
I think the NC should review the Donner cut somewhere down the line just because it shows another amazing way to view this movie and is a pretty good addition to the Superman movie lore
It would help stretch Supermonth out
Superman & Superman II remind me of what happened with Batman & Batman Returns. Both had positive critical reception, the second film had creative liberties, and both received 2 sequels that destroyed the franchise (Superman III, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin).
Batman Forever didn't do NEARLY as much damage to the franchise as Batman & Robin. At least Clooney and Schwarzenegger could joke about it now. Did you see him and de Vito at the Oscars point out Keaton in the audience?
Kneel before tye Nodzodgia critic! All hail Doug!
The alternate cut where Zod catches the boy escaping on horseback and ordeing Non to throw the police light at him and explode off screen was darker that anything in Man of Steel or BvS.
So regarding the Donner cut; I would say there are two other scenes that are much better in it than in the Original.
Even though it looks a bit odd because it was much older footage, I feel like the scene where Lois confirms Clark is superman by shooting him with a blank puts Lois in a much more intelligent light than Clark...tripping over a fire? The first one has Lois putting Clark in a position where he thinks he can't fake it, while the other just makes Clark look more clumsy and doesn't add anything to Lois's character.
The second for me is the first scene in the fortress between Clark and Jor El, where Clark is a lot angrier about why he should be denied his happiness for the sake of his duty. It is a lot more heartfelt and understandable than what makes it in the theatrical cut where he talks with his mom. She does a fine job but it is so much less impactful and dramatic.
Aside from that, yeah, the pacing and the ending was terrible. But Those two scenese should NEVER have been cut.
I agree/disagree. I agree that Brando scene should not have been cut and really gives all more meaning to “the father becomes the son” but I am glad that Lois shooting Clark was cut. To me, it just seems way too out of character for Lois.
@@liamtheman2099 Not really. Lois shooting a blank at Clark is absolutely something she'd do (In fact, in Smallville I'm pretty sure she did it there too? Idk).
Superman II featured a new director in Richard Lester after the Salkinds fired Donner; by the time Lester was brought on board, around three-quarters of the second film had been shot concurrently with the first film, but the time and budget overruns led to the Salkinds getting cold feet and shutting down production until they saw the box office returns for the first film. When production started anew, Lester didn't just have to film the remaining scenes, but he also had to re-shoot scenes originally directed by Donner due to Directors Guild of America regulations. Both Brando and Gene Hackman both refused to work with Lester, forcing the producers to cobble together the film using some footage from Donner and some from Lester. Some of the scenes were filmed two years apart from each other, leading characters to look different from scene to scene, have completely different hairstyles, or even different hair color. Brando's scenes were cut out completely so that they wouldn't have to pay him.
It always cracked it me up when Ursa was bitten by a "rattlesnake" (8:25), when it was an obvious non-poisonous and non-biting Gopher snake! LOL!!
It should not have affected her at all. She’s supposed to be in vulnerable.
Another Fun Fact: Apparently Richard Lester had to (re-)shoot a large volume of the film to gain a sole director credit, rather than just shoot the remainder of the Richard Donner version scenes to "fill in the gaps." This is why there is a portion of duplicate alternate versions of certain sequences, and scenes in one director's version not appearing in the script of the other version, rather than two alternate edits of one combined source of shot material. Hence why the Donner and Lester cuts are radically different, yet confusingly similar.
Was it an ego thing or money thing that Lester went through this trouble to have his name solely appear as director? I'm surprised WB would spend the extra money for unnecessary additional scenes.
While the Donnor cut is superior, I like certain Lester scenes better. If I was an experienced editor, I'd create my own version.
@@dreamlandnightmare WB wasn't footing the bill, the Salkinds were. People forget, but WB had no creative control over any of the original four Superman films or Supergirl, they only distributed them. The creative control rested in the Salkinds. In fact, WB actually backed Donner and nearly backed out of distributing SM2 over his firing, but the Salkinds rubbed Lester's successful previous films (The Musketeers ones and Beatles ones) in WB's face until they went "Fine okay".
And the Salkinds were absolutely dead set on Donner not getting any credit.
@@northwindkey That's a pretty expensive way just to give someone a figurative finger.
I like how Ursa didn’t actually mean to kill the astronaut by ripping off his badge. As we see later, she just likes collecting little badges and pins like an Applebee’s waitress. Cute little detail. 🥰
Holy Krypton does this mean we're gonna get the return of Doug's version of Zod. We haven't seen him since the Too Boldly Flee special PLEASE CRITIC BRING HIM BACK
The last time he appeared was in the Man of Steel review not To Boldly Flee
@@SweenyTodd98 as well as his cameo in Haunted Mansion.
One correction is that Superman 1 and 2 weren’t shot back to back but rather simultaneously. This is why the ending of Superman 2 was recycled for Superman 1 (the time travel) because they spent so much money on that effect they really wanted to use it in Superman 1 in case the movie failed and they couldn’t make Superman 2. Much to the dismay of Richard Donner.
I love both versions of the movie. Even though the Donner Cut has a great epic feel, I still have an attachment to the slightly goofier theatrical version. Either way, General Zod, Ursa, and Non were awesome in both edits.
I think I only grew up watching the theatrical cut but now I understand that the Donner Cut is the more complete version
Zod and his crew were wearing the same clothes for 30 years. The super BO alone would probably be enough to take over Earth.
RIP Akira Toriyama. He gave us so much
I agree. Rest in Power
@@kdusel1991 Rest in Peace Akira Toriyama 😢
He will be missed
Relevant here because Goku ripped off Superman.
@@kimifw58journey to the west. The funimation English dub turned him into Superman.
SUPERMONTH IS SUPER! ❤
This movie was actually the first superhero movie/CBM I ever watched as a kid back when I was around 7 years old, and though I wouldn't say this movie is better than the first one, I was still immediately hooked on this movie, Superman as a character, but honestly, I think this movie got me into superheroes, comics and pop-culture in general even now in my life as Im 21
The thing with the "old" SUperman movies is: they have more fun moments than bad. As for the more present movies: they are just boring, with interesting ideas, but boring.
I always thought that was JW Pepper as the deputy in the town that Zod took over. There by putting James Bond in the Superman universe.
I saw his face in this an immediately thought of Sherrif JW. If Zod had landed in the Louisiana bayou, the law enforcement would quickly put a stop to him.
It’s basically the same character, I think at the time it was supposed to be a nod to the character.
Didn't realize the scene of Zod having a blast blasting away with an AR10 was in the Donner cut. Seeing the clip on RUclips I just assumed I had forgot about it after not having watched Superman 2 in decades.
Antony Sher (the bellboy) was actually considered one of the UK's greatest stage actors.
The two scenes that the Richard Donner cut does much better is the scene where Lois tricks Clark into revealing he's Superman using a gun with blanks in it and the Marlon Brando scene mentioned in this episode. The Lois/gun scene is so clever, I really wish they had done kept that in the script when they reshot with the other director.
I actually think I prefer this to the original. The original is great too, but I felt it was still finding its feet and had quite a few issues in the writing department and I don't think quite got the size and scale that this movie had.
Critic pulling out a altered beast reference 10:14 fills my soul with joy that people remember that classic
15:40 Ok, I get it now: “Neal Before Zod”, a play on “Kneel before Zod”! 😂
I also think the Donner cut does a better job calling out Superman for giving up his powers to sleep with Lois. They don’t outright say that, but Jor El’s disappointment hits pretty hard. He calls the decision to sacrifice his responsibilities and higher calling for her selfish and begs him to reconsider
Definitely prefer the Donner Cut. Especially since they removed a lot of the over the top corny physical gags Lester polluted the film with.
There are really only two negatives. One, they didn't get a chance to refilm the scene where Lois tricks Clark into revealing he's Superman, which I like much better than the ridiculous tripping over the bear rug. It just helps show how clever Lois is. And two, they didn't get a chance to create a new ending.
I forgive these flaws, though, as it is still the superior film and it's understandable that there was no way to do those new scenes at the time they re-edited the film.
This is why there needs to be a version that combines the best material from both Richard Donner and Richard Lester. Such as the deleted scene with the arctic police which should’ve been added back in.
CORRECTION: When you compared the Donner and Lester shots in the beginning, all the Donner shots you used were actually shot by Lester, i.e., Clark and Lois walking slowly to bed and Superman walking away from Lois in the Fortress of Solitude.
Zod: Well, if I'm going to be the messiah, I better start the water walking.
Brian's Mother: He's NOT the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!
I think there’s an even better Superman II movie if you re-edited and combined both Donner and Lester’s movies into one two and a half hour movie (Superman II is 2:08:00) so it’s only twenty mins longer. For example the way he gets his powers back in the Donner cut is better than this cut. Because I agree with you the Donner cut isn’t great but parts of it are. Another one is it having Brando and Hackman scenes all added back in.
If you found the "super kiss" to be creepy at the end of this one, you'll find Superman IV's version (where he can apparently restore Lois' memory through life threatening trauma and then take them away again as he wishes) to be down right unsettling.
That scene is *crazy* lmfao
11:49 That’s actually a scene from the First movie. It was during the scene where Lex Luthor, Otis, and Miss Tessmacher were changing the Army missile coordinates when Luthor Remote Controlled the car and crashed it to Stop the Army mid route. You can tell it because of the background, the car itself, and even the roadsigns and rail guards. I don’t know why they stole that footage from the first anyway.
The image of Superman going around and kissing all his enemies is sending me lol 😂😂
Ah, my absolute favorite Superman Film. (In terms of live action.)
Neil before Critic.
I honestly like the Donner cut more than the theatrical cut of Superman 2 mainly because of the addition of Marlo Brandon's Jor-El. I still like the theatrical cut Superman 2. Also, in both versions of Superman 2, the depowered kryptonians weren't killed.
Tbh both versions work, lester for the humor and donnor for the emotional depth
Doug, it would mean a lot to me if you reviewed these following movies:
- Wild Thornberrys Movie (starring Tim Curry and Lacey Chabert)
- Blast from the Past (starring Brendan Fraser and Christopher Walken)
- Undercover Brother (starring Neil Patrick Harris and Dave Chappelle)
- Igor (an animated film starring John Cusack and Steve Buscemi)
- Spiderwick Chronicles (starring Freddie Highmore and Seth Rogen)
- Penelope (starring Christina Ricci and James McAvoy)
- Aliens in the Attic (starring Kevin Nealon and Doris Roberts)
- The 10th Kingdom (a miniseries starring John Larroquette and Dianne Wiest)
Thank you very much and please accept my requests.
- The BFG (starring David Jason and Amanda Root)
@@ANDCFC95 An Old VS New of The BFG would be better.
@@Spindler2007 others have already done one but I would still enjoy that
@@ANDCFC95 same here as it would be cool to see the comparison from NCs perspective.
Good luck with discussing the feud Richard Donner (& most of the cast) had with the Salkinds.
1. Honestly, if we could have a version of this movie where the only addition is that Marlon Brando scene, this movie would honestly be a much stronger sequel. Mainly because it would have *actual consequences* to him giving up and then taking back his powers like a few days later. Clark losing the only memory of his Kryptonian father forever actually hits really hard considering how much of the last movie was him exploring his alien heritage and balancing it with the life he alredy has on Earth.
2. While this movie is, overall, a bit worse than the original, I do think that the way Superman solves the conflict is more clever and satisfying here. He basically realises that his fight with Zod and his goons would sooner tear the world apart before they could do any serious damage to each other, an unstoppable force meets and immovable object type of scenario, so he tricks them by taking their powers away by simply reversing the machine he used on himself earlier in the movie, while also using Luthor's ego and selfishness against him.
PS:
Superman turning back time, telelporting while making clones of himself and erasing memories is ,for better and for worse, 100% a product of the time as his powers were still kind of all over the place when this movie was made. With him able to casually pull a new one out of his arse with no consistency whatsoever.
But, then again, the 1st movie at least balanced it somewhat well as they heavily imply turning back time was the *peak* of what Clark can do in these movies. So there's really no excuse.
The ending of the Donner cut for supes 2 was the original ending that ended up becoming the ending for Superman 1.
They had to stop filming of Supes 2 because of money issues and finish Supes 1, with the plan to return to Supes 2 with a new ending.
But as Donner was fired, he never got that chance. So, sadly, the ending used was the turn back time again. So, really, they had no choice but to include it.
I think overall the Donner cut would have been better. I think many of the scene that replaced Lester's (exception being the screen test Lois finds out scene) are better. Heck, removing the slap stick was the best thing they did in the Donner cut.
And I might add, Zod under Donner feels more menacing.
I agree that Superman 2 would've been even better if they'd kept Donner on, but also agree with Nostalgia Critic that the cobbled together version they made decades later is more interesting artifact than good movie.
@@dupersuper1938 It's a fair point. But I do think it's worth noting that how what we got was, essentially, incomplete. I get the critique "turning the world back again", but I wish he'd have acknowledged WHY that ending was used. They ended up using that ending in 78 and so where planning on shooting a new ending for S2. Sadly, it never happened.
I do think the actual Donner footage shot that wasn't used in the original cut does work better, and sadly we'll never get a complete Donner cut as he never got to shoot it all.
But I do take the point of it being more an artifact because it had to be cobbled. But I will say, removing the slapstick improved the end fight much more, for me.
S2 was my favourite as a kid. But as I got older, I much preferred 78 and I started to find S2 a little dull. And this opinion changed before I knew about the Donner/Salkind/Lester drama. And seeing the Donner footage, especially the Jor-El editions, wow.
I remember always wondering why Zod sounded all over the show in the film. Listen to how he sounds in front of Jor-El in 78 and with Lex in the white house, and then how he sounds with the Houston police, with the deeper, more put on voice. He always sounded more menacing in the Jor-El / Lex bits and I always wondered why he sounded different. Or why Lois, in the same scene, looked like she did in 78 and then a bit more gaunt.
Fascinating. Sorry for the long reply lol
It’s funny how Diner Guy was perfectly fine picking a fight with Clark. Yes, he didn’t have his Superman powers at the moment, but he was still a towering Greek sculpture of a man with a square jaw and shoulders wider than Dwight Howard. And when you meet someone like that who’s soft spoken and doesn’t really like to fight… you do NOT want the heat with them.
I bet Judge Judy could still demand respect from the three Kryptonians and make them submit.
I never minded the phantom prison shard shattering scene. It's explained by Holo Jor-El well enough. They exist in another dimension, nuke explosion open's door for them to escape.
Just throwing this out there:
There's a thrash metal song called
"In the court of General Zod" by Gama Bomb
Definitely check it out
I liked Richard Lester’s version of this. But I wished they kept the scenes from the Donner cut, the Marlon Brando scenes and the scene where Zod fires a gun at The White House because it’s funny. I really kinda didn’t like the Donner cut because of the Spinning back the earth AGAIN, with Zod, Ursa, and Non being sent back in the phantom zone. Superman 1 and 2 are the best films with Christopher Reeve.
Sarah Douglas as Ursa gave me funny feelings as a kid.
She is amazing in real life. I met her at Planet Comicon years ago.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:00 *🦸 Introduction to "Superman II"*
- Overview of the origins and production of "Superman II".
- Comparison of directorial styles between Richard Donner and Richard Lester.
- Initial impressions of the film's quality and its place in superhero movie history.
01:46 *🎬 Recapping the Opening Scenes and Directorial Styles*
- Commentary on the recap of the film's opening scenes and the transition between directors.
- Notable differences in visual style and pacing between Donner and Lester.
- Humorous observations about certain scenes and character interactions.
03:36 *🚀 Superman's Intervention and Lex Luthor's Plot*
- Analysis of Superman's intervention in the Eiffel Tower bombing.
- Discussion of Lex Luthor's scheme involving Alpha Waves and tracking Superman.
- Commentary on the introduction of General Zod and his companions.
05:16 *🌊 Lois Lane's Suspicion and Superman's Revelation*
- Lois Lane's suspicions about Clark Kent's dual identity.
- Analysis of Superman's decision to reveal his identity to Lois.
- Observations on the romantic tension between Superman and Lois Lane.
06:45 *🔍 Lex Luthor's Manipulation and Zod's Ascendancy*
- Lex Luthor's manipulation of Zod and his allies for his own gain.
- Exploration of Zod's characterization and his aspirations for dominance.
- Humorous commentary on the interactions between Earth and Kryptonian characters.
09:38 *💔 Superman's Sacrifice and the Love Story*
- Analysis of Superman's decision to give up his powers for love.
- Reflections on the implications of Superman's sacrifice for his relationship with Lois.
- Commentary on the romantic elements and character dynamics in the film.
14:47 *💥 Action Sequences and Donner's Cut*
- Discussion of the action sequences and special effects in the film.
- Critique of the Donner cut and comparison with the theatrical version.
- Commentary on Marlon Brando's scenes and their impact on the story.
18:23 *🔄 Resolution and Controversial Elements*
- Analysis of the resolution involving Superman's memory-altering kiss.
- Reflections on the implications of Superman's actions and the film's conclusion.
- Commentary on the comedic and romantic elements of the resolution.
Made with HARPA AI
I watched the first Superman after watching the review. I loved it, especially the scene with the little girl and her cat 🤣😂 So let's see how the second film goes
Ironically, when Doug showed the shot of Lois and Clark walking to the bed while talking about Donner's scenes, that scene was actually filmed by Lester. Most of the Fortress of Solitude scenes were re-shot by Lester, with a fathful reproduction of the set built at Pinewood Studios. Once they actually show Hackman in the scene, then we are watching scenes by Donner, with the set in Shepperton Studios. Of course, we have the occasional mixed shots, such as when we see Donner's footage at the end of the sequence in the Fortress mixed with the new shot of Kal-El in the molecule chamber protecting him from the red sun's rays (the original molecule chamber in Donner's cut looks better and more polished).
Superman Did Not Spin The Earth The Other Way! Einstein thought, when you travel faster than light time goes the other way, So the earth doesnt change its spin, it simply seems that way as hes flying.
They literally show you the earth stop spinning and change direction.
That's just perspective. When you travel near the speed of light, time slows down. At the speed of light time stops: meaning light itself wont experience the passage of time, which is an interesting thought. But faster than light If possible, would make your passage of time go in reverse and from your perspective as superman, the earth would appear to slow and stop then go the other way. @@lutherheggs451
16:47-16:52
Everyone loves Kneel Before Zod since it’s iconic but damn this line is really great too
One Last Couple of Facts: According to Sarah Douglas, in Japan, her scene of Ursa killing the astronaut by kicking him in his groin was cut, due to their sensitivity of a woman being so dominant, As previously mentioned, Ursa is based on the comic character Faora. They are both man-hating killers with an aptitude for martial arts. Non was an original character created for the movie. Both he and Ursa were introduced into the comic canon by Richard Donner during his run on Action Comics in 2007, Sarah Douglas said she had more fun working with Gene Hackman than any other actor from the first two Superman films, Christopher Reeve's physique changed significantly during production. Some earlier scenes had to be re-shot, John Williams did not return as composer, due to scheduling commitments with Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). However, Williams granted the Salkinds permission to use his original themes, and even recommended composer Ken Thorne, a personal friend of Williams, to compose the film's score, Director Richard Lester was not sympathetic to the epic look that Richard Donner had given to Superman (1978), saying that he didn't want to do "the David Lean thing." Lester decided to scrap most of Oscar-winning cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth's footage, and hired director Michael Winner's cinematographer, Robert Paynter, to create a style that would evoke Superman's roots in comic books. Lester, Paynter, and camera operator Freddie Cooper replaced Unsworth's gliding camera with horizontal panning and static framing to evoke comic books and comic strips, with static frames crammed with people and objects. Similarly, the composition of shots the trio developed for Superman II had objects and people crammed into the frame. To further emphasize comic book composition, the action was photographed from one angle, to give the film a desired flatness. Harkening back to the techniques of the early sound era, Lester's films had always been shot with three cameras filming the action simultaneously; two cameras for close-ups, one for the long shot. Lester's technique added to the friction on the set caused by Donner's firing. Margot Kidder particularly disliked him, Originally, Richard Donner had filmed Superman talking to his father for this movie, but Marlon Brando sued for (and won) a share of the first film's gross. The lawsuit also awarded him a share of this film's gross, even though he doesn't appear in it. Brando's scenes were replaced by scenes with Superman's mother. Brando's scenes appeared in Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (1980), and briefly during a scene in Superman Returns (2006), An early version of the script had four Kryptonian exile villains. Jak-El (a name probably inspired by the German and Danish name "Jakel," the trickster hand-puppet in the Punch and Judy tradition) was supposed to be an evil prankster and source of comic relief. He is described as "a psychopathic jokester, whose pranks and practical jokes are only funny to him when they cause death and suffering to others." The character was never cast, Originally, Richard Donner had filmed Superman talking to his father for this movie, but Marlon Brando sued for (and won) a share of the first film's gross. The lawsuit also awarded him a share of this film's gross, even though he doesn't appear in it. Brando's scenes were replaced by scenes with Superman's mother. Brando's scenes appeared in Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (1980), and briefly during a scene in Superman Returns (2006), Creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz and editor Stuart Baird declined on returning for this movie, in support of Richard Donner. However, Mankiewicz was still credited for it, This was the third most popular movie at the U.S. and Canadian box-offices for 1981, Henry Fonda was the front runner for the major cameo role of the U.S. President. Instead, his 12 Angry Men (1957) co-star, E.G. Marshall got the role, Original director Richard Donner was fired by the producers, According to Sarah Douglas and Jack O'Halloran, they did not get along with Christopher Reeve, Warner Bros. released the film in Europe at the end of 1980, and in the U.S. in the summer of 1981, The scene where General Zod, Ursa, and Non use their super-breath to create a storm in Metropolis was shot over three freezing November nights at Pinewood Studios in England. Richard Lester improvised most of the jokes, When Superman saves the boy at Niagara Falls, a woman in the crowd of onlookers can be heard saying, "What a nice man! COURSE he's Jewish!" Superman's "parents," Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, were the children of Jewish immigrants, and many fans and scholars have long argued that they created the character in 1938 as a Jewish American response to the Nazi idealization of Friedrich Nietzsche's Übermensch (a term that can be translated as "superman"). Superman, like the thousands of Jewish refugees who were fleeing Europe at that time, was an alien from a war-torn place. Also, his origin story bears no small resemblance to that of Moses, and his original name, Kal-El, contains El, the original name of the chief Canaanite/Hebrew deity, Sarah Douglas said she had more fun working with Gene Hackman than any other actor from the first two Superman films, The only one of the first four Superman movies not to have any scenes in Smallville, When the sequel was put on hold, Christopher Reeve had commitments to make Somewhere in Time (1980) which overlapped with the return to making Superman II. He also had reservations about the new script and the way Richard Donner had been treated so he was able to renegotiate his contract at a better rate and with more artistic input,
did you copy this from somewhere, cause you have multiple places that are repeated exactly the same
I don't believe Japan would cut that scene out. They had movies and TV shows with STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS in the 70s and 80s.
@@blackRXrider like?
I've always preferred this movie to the original. Mainly because the villain here is a lot more menacing. I mean, Lex Luthor may be a genious, but he is just a human. When the hero can literally kill the villain with a slap, the situation is not that threatening (even if he uses kryptonite).
Also, I like that Superman loses his powers and Jor El (in the Donner cut) must sacrifice himself to give him his powers back.