Rough Trade Friday: Superman II The Richard Donner Cut

Superman II was a prime example of Hollywood at its best and simultaneously, its worst. No place else in the world could have gather the talents of Richard Donner, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, Terence Stamp (so fabulous in flowing dress!), Sarah Douglas, Christopher Reeve, and Piggie Boy. Likewise, no place else on earth also could drive Richard Donner from the project, replace all of Marlon Brando in the film, significantly change the plot, and give us Richard Lester alledgedly "directing."

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut restores the original vision that Donner had before he was forced off the project and brings the movie back in line with the script. This film is very different than the theatrical release. There is a much darker flow, themes of loss of innocence and abandonment of duty as well as an added complexity to the father-son dynamic. Almost half the film is never-before-seen footage, and what does remain of the original film were all scenes filmed by Donner. I quite frankly can't look at the theatrical release anymore. I simply don't view it as canon now.

Of course, the film does have it downsides. Necessarily, test footage, or raw footage, had to be used as only 70% of primary filming was complete when Donner left the project. Reeve does wear a Member's Only jacket for a large part of the film. Oh, and why did cars look so bad in the 80's? Had you not invented taste yet? That being said, the film does hold up fairly well to the ravages of Joan Rivers time and fashion. At 116 minutes its a comfortable length to play with before going out to play.

Oh and for those of you that care about such things...its 83% fresh.