'Superman II' -- High-Def Digest review

[PeterB]

More Superman tonight:

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/supermanii.html

Not too much to add versus the HD DVD version -- the film is exciting to see, if not a lost masterpiece in my opinion. Great disc, though, and I still can't believe they were able to make such a good-looking transfer out of so many lost bits and pieces...

[Vindibudd]

I just finished watching this film on Blu-Ray. I went out and bought it after I received and watched my Superman The Movie blu-ray that came with my ps3 5 free movie offer. I appreciate what they are trying to do with the whole purist thing but I simply must point out the following:

Spoiler Alert:

The much maligned magical kiss has nothing on the utter stupidity of Reversing The Orbit Of The Earth solution to all of Superman's problems.

It was annoying in Superman I. In Superman II it's just plain insulting.

Number one, not only is it completely outside the realm of logic even for a superhero movie, it begs the question:

If everything was crappy in the first place, how does it go back to somehow being better simply because Superman pressed Rewind? Doesn't it just start back at where it was?

The villains go back to the Phantom Zone, but somehow, Luther doesn't fire nuclear missiles that accidently break the villains out in the first place? Wtf?

Seriously.

It's like the writers go, "Ha Ha, f&*^ you, we were just kidding."

Honestly, I don't think Lester's version sucks, I think it is a great movie and I wish THAT would come out on Blu-Ray as well.

[Silvers24]

I think the spinning BS was done in the comics first.
But i've seen this "reverse" type hit done so many times in a movie, it does get annoying to see.
Otherwise, no complete on the Supes movies. Then again, I have a nack for liking the horrid of hero movies (Daredevil! Ok, I hate the PG-13 one, but the R rated one I like)

[earthquake]

Originally Posted by Vindibudd

I just finished watching this film on Blu-Ray. I went out and bought it after I received and watched my Superman The Movie blu-ray that came with my ps3 5 free movie offer. I appreciate what they are trying to do with the whole purist thing but I simply must point out the following:

Spoiler Alert:

The much maligned magical kiss has nothing on the utter stupidity of Reversing The Orbit Of The Earth solution to all of Superman's problems.

It was annoying in Superman I. In Superman II it's just plain insulting.

Number one, not only is it completely outside the realm of logic even for a superhero movie, it begs the question:

If everything was crappy in the first place, how does it go back to somehow being better simply because Superman pressed Rewind? Doesn't it just start back at where it was?

The villains go back to the Phantom Zone, but somehow, Luther doesn't fire nuclear missiles that accidently break the villains out in the first place? Wtf?

Seriously.

It's like the writers go, "Ha Ha, f&*^ you, we were just kidding."

Honestly, I don't think Lester's version sucks, I think it is a great movie and I wish THAT would come out on Blu-Ray as well.

You have to understand that the time reversal ending was originally meant for part 2. 1 & 2 were filmed simultaneously. They stopped production to complete the 1st film but had not resolved the film's climax, so they stole part 2's ending figuring they'd find a new one for the sequel when it was time.

Superman 2 is not really a Director's Cut, but more of a "What If?" Donner had been able to finish it as the Salkind's fired him after the 1st films release.

As for the time reversal, you're just supposed to assume that he goes to a point that he can correct what went wrong (in part 1 this would be getting to the other missile).

[Vindibudd]

You know, and I understand that this was supposed to be the ending in the first place. The problem is that it still doesn't make sense, and if they wanted to do this whole Donner cut thing, then maybe there needs to be a Superman: The Movie: The Richard Donnor Cut as well. If Superman couldn't have fixed it in the first place, what makes us assume that he can do it in the second time around? Yeah, and maybe the movie is a what if, it's still a huge issue with basic common sense in my opinion.

[earthquake]

You're thinking WAAAYYYY too hard on this. The reuse of the time travel does suck but of course there was no way Donner was going to use all that footage that was not his. Nothing left for him to do.

But for Supes, it's not a case of getting it right as he did in the 1st. There was no way for him to know the missile would let them out or that they were even there. So I don't understand your gripe with that one.

For the Donner cut to work the viewer has to disregard the time travel ending of #1 and assume he handled both missiles without the whole catastrophe event. Then jump into #2 and the time travel end works. Impossible for Donner to make that work but that was more like the original plan.

I personally hate the whole time travel cop out. they wrote themselves into a corner by thinking too big with too much going on. Filming 1 & 2 at the same time in the 70's? It took, what?, till back to the future for some one to do that again?

[Vindibudd]

Originally Posted by earthquake

I personally hate the whole time travel cop out. they wrote themselves into a corner by thinking too big with too much going on. Filming 1 & 2 at the same time in the 70's? It took, what?, till back to the future for some one to do that again?

Actually, I think it wasn't done again until Lord of The Rings. BTTF II&III were back to back, not simultaneously.

[BLU HD DEFENDER]

the first 2 superman movies wasnt the first time two movies were shot at the same time.

the salkinds were notorius for doing this sort of bargin basement shooting back in the 70s most notroiously on the 3 musketeers in which they realized they had enough footage to make a second movie so they decided to go ahead and do just that, they let the talent know only after the production was more than half way through shooting and did not compensate any of the talent anything in addition to what they were to earn for making ONE movie.

it was a big big deal,as result of movies like the 3 musketeers and the first 2 superman movies, now sag has it written into every actors exactly how many movies are going to be made with the footage shot durring the shoot.
and sees to it that the actors are compensated for each film created using the footage from one film shoot.
this was called the salkind clause.

lets just say ths salkinds arent very well liked by members of the screen actors guild.

[earthquake]

I kind of figures Supes wasn't the 1st simultaneous shoot but didn't know which others were. Thanks for the info.

The Salkind's probably aren't liked by the Director's Guild either.

BTTF 2&3 being shot back to back WAS/ IS a simultaneous shoot as it's 1 film split in two.

[bfellow]

Matrix 2 and 3 were shot together and we know how that turned out..

[Giles]

Toxic Avenger 2 and 3 were shot together than released seperately too.

[earthquake]

Originally Posted by bfellow

Matrix 2 and 3 were shot together and we know how that turned out..

I thought extremely well. I believe the people who didn't like it usually:

A) had preconceived ideas of where they thought the story should go

or

B) didn't understand it

I thought the story progression was excellent in that it DIDN'T go where people expected. I would've been bored with a Neo as Superman saving the human race with a happy ending. I like the subtle dialogue that makes you think. Every time I watch the sequels I like them more.

[utl768]

watched this last night and liked it alot

highly recomended

[earthquake]

Same here. Thought it was a much better cut. Had a lot more personality and humor. You just have to disregard the unfinished effects that aren't polished and the use of the screen test (which I have always loved).

I really wonder how the 1st film was supposed to end given the time travel ending was slated for part 2. I don't think they ever figured that out themselves.

PLUS- NO cheesy mid air kick during the fight.

[Motorheadache]

Originally Posted by earthquake

Same here. Thought it was a much better cut. Had a lot more personality and humor. You just have to disregard the unfinished effects that aren't polished and the use of the screen test (which I have always loved).

I really wonder how the 1st film was supposed to end given the time travel ending was slated for part 2. I don't think they ever figured that out themselves.

They didn't have an ending for part 1 and needed to finish it so like you said they used the ending they were going to use for part 2. So the real question is how would they have ended part 2 had Donner never been fired?

Personally I really love Superman: The Movie but I hate hate hate the ending. There's so many things wrong with it:
1) It doesn't make any sense- reversing the earth's rotation would not reverse time- what were they smoking when they came up with this?
Also, how did this enable him to stop both rockets?
2) It implies that anytime Superman makes a mistake or screws up (say some bad guy kills Lois or something) all he has to do is reverse time and try it again. Pretty silly stuff.

Personally, I like the Superman II Donner Cut for what it is, but I don't consider it vastly superior to the theatrical version because it's just too incomplete of a film. Had Donner never been fired and made the movie he wanted, I'm sure it would have blown the crap out of Lester's cut though. On a related note, I hope they release the extended cut of Superman II which has a lot of scenes that neither of the current releases have. Thats the version I grew up watching recorded off tv before I bought the original Superman II dvd and noticed all kinds of missing scenes.