'Superman II' -- High-Def Digest review

[earthquake]

No, I want to know how #1 would have ended if they had been able to finish both at the same time. Since the time reversal was always supposed to be for part 2 what was going to be the solution to part 1?

If you've read the comics it's more time travel than time reversal actually. If he flew fast enough he'd travel back, so by circling the earth he could see when to stop, set it straight (2nd rocket) and zip back ahead to where he wants to reenter. That's how I apply the comic book logic to #1.

[Mr. Cinema]

The review says the DD 5.1 mix is at a bit rate of 640 kbps. The PS3 says it's at 384 kbps. Which is correct?

[utl768]

id bet the ps3 is right considering the amount of inaccuracies on the reviews on this site

[ShanesWorldNate]

Donner cut far superior to Lesters...no doubt there.

[RichGardner]

I had this on HD DVD and thought it was awesome. I have both the original two Superman films at the top of my buy list.

[jock123]

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I’ve only just seen this movie (in standard def in the Complete Collection box-set), and would just like to say how much I enjoyed it.
However, I feel that the original reviewer was slightly unfair to raise objections to the structure and plot, as if these were not mentioned on the disc itself. The scenes made up from the screen tests, for example, where Chris Reeves hair changes from shot to shot, are remarkable because the actual performances are so compelling that the unfortunate mis-matches in costume and eye-lines really don’t matter at all.

Going back to the review - what are the obvious CGI effects?? I’d read this elsewhere before I saw the film, but both watching it and the “making of” for the restoration didn’t suggest to me that CGI was in use… They recomposited effects from original 1978 elements, sure, and did this digitally rather than optically, but nowhere could I tell that CGI was in use - I suppose the new replacement credits might be - so what wasn’t original?

Originally Posted by earthquake

No, I want to know how #1 would have ended if they had been able to finish both at the same time. Since the time reversal was always supposed to be for part 2 what was going to be the solution to part 1?

The “turning back the world ending” was originally the ending of II, and then used for I, but as Donner makes clear, it was an unhappy choice for them then for either movie: they just didn’t have anything else for II, as it happens, so they filmed what was in the script, but they would have tried to work out a different strategy, given more time.

When it was decided to halt work on II, to release I on schedule, it was expedient to graft the scene onto the end of I, in place of a proposed cliff-hanger ending. Then Donner was sacked, and he never got to redesign an ending, so this reconstruction was left without any real ending, hence placing the scripted ending - which he would have replaced if possible.

Going with what was in the script at the time (as far as the info in the docus and commentary seems to relate it), Supes would have rescued Lois from the fault, and dispatched the last missile into space. This then detonates in space, just as the Phantom Zone “pane” passes, and that gets sucked into a sort of vortex and shatters, releasing Zod & Cº. With a cry of “Free!”, the villains are shown heading for the Moon and Earth, and a caption was to come up saying “Superman will return!” End of movie. This has been reconstructed in the pre-credits “recap” for the Donner “II”.

[Motorheadache]

Having the Donner Cut is pretty awesome, but I keep hoping they'll release a full extended cut of Richard Lester's version at some point. I grew up with that version as a kid (recorded off of tv), so I was a bit thrown off when I first bought the original Superman II DVD and noticed a bunch of scenes missing.