Which version of Superman II do you prefer?

[Lois]

Like both the Donner cut and the Lester theatrical release.
Both films have parts that I really like and I enjoy watching both.
I like the Eiffel tower scene from the Lester version.
And it's hilarious when Lois jumps out the window in the Donner cut.

[Lois]

Oh I would PAY good money for a Reeve-style animated Donner version. I would for a fleischer one too, but I think I would be more apt to pay (twice + over) for a Fleischer feature length (or even a 30 minute) original.

Me too!
That would be super to see.

[Thor2014]

Oh yeah it was. The conclusion to Superman 1 had originally been slated for Superman 2 if I recall rightly.

But the whole 'reversing time' scenario being brought forward a movie did mean that, when we finally did get to see the Donner cut, it was repetitive.

Makes me wonder though - had Donner stayed on to complete 2, how would have it have ended??

Question, wouldn't have Lois died in Superman? In Superman the Movie, Superman had to turn back the planet because Lois died. I get that Supes throwing the rockets into space would free Zod & co, was the orginal plan not to have Lois die. If so how would've Superman realize how strong his feelings for Lois were as he did after Lois died?

thanks

[WillieMorgan]

Question, wouldn't have Lois died in Superman? In Superman the Movie, Superman had to turn back the planet because Lois died. I get that Supes throwing the rockets into space would free Zod & co, was the orginal plan not to have Lois die. If so how would've Superman realize how strong his feelings for Lois were as he did after Lois died?

thanks

Good point. I guess we'll never know. The first two Christopher Reeve movies were scheduled to be filmed back-to-back but production problems meant that SII was put on hold (even though Donner had already filmed much of it) and the time-travelling element was brought forward into SI. I think we sometimes under-estimate just how difficult it was putting a movie together as ambitious as that in the late 1970's. Then the Salkinds fell out with Donner (or vice versa) and brought in a poorer director to finish the sequel after SI had already been a huge smash hit.

You're right though. In the way the film panned out Lois would have ended up dying. We're no doubt putting a lot more thought into this than anyone did during the production of the movies. We tend to over-analyse stuff on sites like this. That's because we care about these characters.

[tabo61]

Superman II the Theatrical release. Not a big fan of the Donner version.

Yeah, didn't see the reason for the whole flying around earth to change time again.

[DochaDocha]

Yeah, didn't see the reason for the whole flying around earth to change time again.

I believe that was Donner's original idea to end Superman II, with Superman's ending being a cliffhanger, so the Donner version reflects this.

However, it probably would've been more interesting if we got to see how he'd end Superman II if he made a true sequel to his first theatrical movie.

[Doctor Know]

I believe that was Donner's original idea to end Superman II, with Superman's ending being a cliffhanger, so the Donner version reflects this.

However, it probably would've been more interesting if we got to see how he'd end Superman II if he made a true sequel to his first theatrical movie.

^ I agree
With the ending we got in Superman TM works brilliantly with the theme of Superman using his great power to save Lois; defying his father Jor-El's edicts.

Donner says he's not crazy about the Lester ending so he substituted in his ending.


I'm currently looking for the Selutron's fan edit of Superman II. I've heard good things about it. My favorite fan edit is still the Frank Reynold version. It's the Donner version with the Lester ending. So you know there is a sense of pathos and reflection by Superman at the end of the film. Instead of the Donner Cut's retconning the whole movie as never happened via time travel.

[friendly-fire-press]

Superman II the Theatrical release. Not a big fan of the Donner version.

^^^^ This ^^^^

[WillieMorgan]

I believe that was Donner's original idea to end Superman II, with Superman's ending being a cliffhanger, so the Donner version reflects this.

However, it probably would've been more interesting if we got to see how he'd end Superman II if he made a true sequel to his first theatrical movie.

Is it me or does this thread seem to be going around in circles??

[Doctor Know]

Cool photo from the Superman II premiere.

[Terok Nor]

The theatrical.

It's definitely the best Superman/Zod showdown in any movie.

"General, would you care to step outside?"

[Sacred Knight]

I still wanna know how a de-powered Clark Kent walked to the Arctic in a light, spring jacket without freezing to death---or how he walked there at all actually. This has bothered me for decades. Even my 10 year old self thought that was pretty lame writing. Was that in the Donner cut too? I did not see that.

Yep. In both versions he travels to the arctic while powerless. The big difference there is that the Donner cut actually gives an explanation as to how he gets his powers back, instead of just finding the green crystal and that's that.

[ironpony]

I like a lot of the things in the Donner Cut for sure. I love the scenes with Superman and Jor-El that were put back in. I feel that they are written better and flow better than the Lester version with Super-man and Lara's scenes. Not that Superman and Lara's scenes where bad, I just like the Jor-El ones better.

I also liked how the attack on the white house was extended and resulted in some grittier violence against the secret service men. I feel they didn't need to cut this in the Lester version, if they felt it was too violent, cause it wasn't really, just grittier, in a good way.

And some of the more strange things are taken out, which was for the better, such as Superman throwing the giant S, and redubbing of the mute henchman's scream, which was nice as well. The guy talking on the phone during the attack on the streets was cut too, which is a good thing overall.

I suppose Lois Lane shooting at Clark with blanks to test to see if he is Superman, is better than Clark falling and burning his hand by accident. However, the footage doesn't work in the sense of the obvious continuity flaws, when the new footage is added. So this is both a pro and a con.

I do not like how Superman and Lois have sex before Superman gives up his powers though. It feels like Lois having sex with Superman as a human was a pay off, to him giving up his powers for her. So the pay off came first in this case, and it didn't feel near as special as a result.

I didn't like how Donner removed the opening sequence with the terrorists wanting to bomb the Eiffel tower. I thought it was a really good opening and better than the opening Donner had originally conceived. I know that this movie and the first Superman were originally suppose to be one movie, now that they are two movies, the Eiffel tower opening works a lot better in that case.

The worst part of Donner's cut is how his opening with Lois Lane was changed though. In Lester's cut, Lois starts to think there are resemblances between Clark and Superman so she decides to ask him questions and test it. When she doesn't get the answers she likes, and thinks about it, becoming so convinced, she decides to jump off Niagra Falls hoping Superman will save her to prove her point.

Now this comes about one third into the movie, cause she builds up her decision to jump throughout the first third.

In the Donner Cut, in Lois's first scene, she sees a picture of Superman in the paper, then looks at Clark, and then decides to jump right out of the office building window, right then and there, no question, hoping Clark will reveal that he is Superman.

There is no build up to her deciding to jump like that hardly, and it feels like it comes out of nowhere. Right there, I had doubts about Donner's cut being able to recover from that, cause I was really taken out of it, because of her jarring decision.

And later as I suspect, the Niagra Fall jump was cut completely, cause Donner wanted to opt for this much more jarring test of Lois's, with no legitimate build up to it.

I also do not like how after Superman defeats the villains, he is with Lex Luthor and Lois, then once he leaves the fortress of Solitude with Lois, Lex Luthor is not longer there with them. Superman then decides to destroy the fortress of solitude. Why? Was Lex Luthor in there and he just murdered him then? It was a huge continuity flaw I felt.

And I can understand that Donner wanted to take out the kiss that erased Lois's memory, and have Superman time travel back in time to erase her memory instead, cause Superman never had those kissing powers in the comics. But the problem with this is, now that he has time traveled back to erase her memory, Zod and his goons are now a threat that have to be stopped all over again, and the movie never addresses this.

I prefer the ending where it shows Superman return the flag to the white house, which I thought was nice, but they cut this out of the Donner cut as well.

So overall, I would have to say that the Lester cut is better. Donner has some things that he added to improve the movie, but I think he got carried away, and ended up putting back in things, that do not gel, continuity wise, with the current movie, he had to work with.

I think the ideal version would leave the Jor-El footage in, and the extended white house attack, but everything else is worse in his version compared to Lester's. There are more cons than pros, and Lester's version is my preferred one if I had to pick.

[JBatmanFan05]

The Theatrical overall, but only because the "Donner Cut" isn't really the Donner Cut, it's just a handicapped attempt at it. I consider the "Donner Cut" we have as like an amazing extra. It's a mess that has these great scenes not in the Theatrical. It's like a glimpse into what would have been the Donner Cut.

[Adekis]

There is no version of it that isn't fundamentally broken as a Superman story, but I guess the Donner Cut.

Yeah-- I hate Superman II as a whole, but I guess if I had to pick I'd go with the Lester cut. At least it's a coherent narrative when taken with Superman I and not an artifact sequel to a version of that movie which doesn't exist.

Plus I sincerely like the terrorists at the Eiffel tower.