List Price: $24.98 Our Price: $19.99YOU SAVE $4.99!
Buy it
DVD Superman II - The Richard Donner Cut
The Richard Donner cut of Superman II is an infamous legend come to life. Director Donner shot most of the sequel at the same time as his first blockbuster film, but somewhere along the line, the producers and studio lost confidence and brought in Richard Lester (The Three Musketeers) to rework the film, and receive sole credit. For years fans speculated on how different the final film was from Donner's original until an underground copy appeared showing a fully formed feature. In an unprecedented move, Warner Brothers officially embraces this alternate version. For those who have not been part of the rumor mill, know that Donner shot all the footage with Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman). You can find blow-by-blow descriptions of what is new/changed elsewhere, but most of the changes deal with Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder as the comic-book couple. Donner's cut provides alternate scenes for how Lois tests her hunch that Clark is Superman, the moment he reveals his identity, and how Lois unlearns that truth. Thing is, Lester's reshots are stronger, adding weight to the romance between the two, lifting the picture's stature. Lester also added the dandy Eiffel Tower opening. Donner's chief additions are in the Fortress of Solitude, where Marlon Brando returns to teach (Susannah York, as Superman's mom, appears in the Lester cut). The producers cut Brando's footage so they wouldn't have to pay him millions. The Brando/Reeve scenes continue the father/son dynamic of the first film. There is a great lesson in editing--Lester's less is better than Donner's more--when you compare how Kent turns back into Superman after losing his powers. The Donner cut is completely formed but does use some rehearsal footage, new effects, and some pieces shot by Lester. The history of cinema has many of these stories of movies reshot, hijacked, and changed from the original version, but here the underdog wins and Donner gets his chance to change history, even adding a note in the end credits about the use of fur and smoking as regrettable choices of the time.
Director Donner and creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz have a jolly good time revisiting their past on the commentary track. You get a clearer picture of who shot what, but the two have nothing good to say about Lester's edition. Donner doesn't go much into why he was dropped, just a difference of opinion and the need not to pay Brando. He also explains why the déjà vu ending of this edition was used in the first movie and a new ending would have been thought up for part 2. A quick featurette looks at how Michael Thau and a small crew reconstructed the film and compares several scenes from both versions. Also added are additional scenes shot by Donner but not used, most with Hackman. --Doug Thomas
Review(s): DVD Superman II - The Richard Donner Cut
Well...I will never get back that time!
I went out and bought this "new" edition of Superman 2 and after just finishing it I can't wait to sell my copy to the first person I see! I only gave it two stars because it had some interesting scenes that were never shown previously. The story line is all out of whack, and whatever four year old they made a movie editor really screwed up a classic!
If this was supposed to be the way the movie was to be shown, thank god it never made it to the silver screen! It would have ENDED the Superman series once and for all.
The movie jumps around from scene to scene so much you really notice the scenes they left out that were in the original score. I am severely upset that I not only lost $21.00, but also that 119 minutes of my life I can never get back.
If you have seen the original edition as much as I have you will definitely notice a major difference in this version. It follows no plot. One minute Lois an d Clark are in Niagra...SHE SHOOTS HIM!!! and then they are flying to his fortress...no explanation whatsoever! Now, I KNOW what happens because I have seen it before, but there could have been a better way to incorporate the previously deleted scenes without butchering the movie like they did. Draw your own conclusions on this one, but as a big Superman fan, this was a major disappointment to me. I am going to go buy the original and give this one to someone else!
Same story, new nuances.
I found the Donner cut of Superman II quite interesting. I watched the Lester cut first and then went to the Donner cut. I've always found some of the Zod stuff to be too long in the Lester cut, and i was thankful that some of it was missing in the Donner. I didn't miss the Eifel Tower scene at all, and the alternate revelation of Clark being Supe is actually quite good, even if it is a screen test. The scenes in the Fortress of Solitude are different in places, but no less believable.
BUT the 4 stars are because of the ending. I was never wild about the ending when it was used in Supe I, but to reuse it at the end of Supe II (even if it was the original ending) makes no sense. It reverses too much, and the famous diner scene couldn't possibly make sense. It would be even more fun to insplice the best moments from both films and have a super SUPE II, but that won't happen. I'm just glad to have the alternate available.
Excellent!
After waiting all of these years this film finally gets the treatment it deserved! Its too bad that Donner wasn't able to film an ending before he was dropped from the project like a hot potato.
I won't sit and compare this to the Lester version bit by bit because it is quite similar but things are still different enough in places to really change the pace of story and make both films still quite enjoyable in their own right. Some will hate it because its quite different but in the end its the original version that was to be made if Donner had stayed in the "Director" seat like he was intended.
The Dvd itself looks GREAT for being "lost" for decades!!! Sure the music is reused but people fail to realize that this was shot at the same time as the first film. Why would they score it all that different? Its absurd to see people gripe about this. The sound is great, the picture is great and even the packaging is great.
Onto the content.
****Spoilers****
I see so many people babbling on how parts don't make sense, they interpret idiotic ideas into the story that are just that, idiotic. The film couldn't be any more cut and dried and ANYONE who really sees that it doesnt make sense the way the scenes are pieced together isn't paying attention.
The scenes in the film that are different that people say have HUGE plot holes really dont. So, starting with the scene where Superman sleeps with Lois and then goes to have his powers removed goes under heavy scrutiny by many who say, "Why would he need to give up his powers if he slept with Lois before?". If they pay attention they'll realize that Jor-El states that in order for Superman to really be with someone of Earth he must be like them. Its not some special thing that Superman's manhood doesnt work because his powers cancel it out. Its a principal, nothing more nothing less. A symbol of his love. Its pretty plain and simple. The scene isn't out of place and makes sense here.
The other scene that people spout off more idiotic babble is when Superman returns to get his powers back in which Jor-El explains that he isnt just there as a hologram but some of his essence is still there in this crystal structure which allows Superman to actually converse with him. In turn he then tells Superman that he can then offer his essence to restore Superman's powers making it the last time he (Jor-El) will be able to speak and guide his son. Its pretty plain and simple, people think he is possessing Superman??? That is the most ridiculous thing Ive EVER heard!
Finally, the scene at the end when Superman flies around the earth turning back time before any of this happened goes under more idiotic scrutiny - he as Clark returns to the diner to take care of the jerk that assaulted him previously makes sense here, its not hard to understand, first of all Superman remembers that the guy would still be there at that place and that time and decides to teach the guy a lesson. He even mouths off to the man differently knowing the man will still try something and then proceeds to takes care of business.
In closing - Its all pieced together VERY well for a film that never was really finished. Not many directors can come back decades later and have their film re-edited into an almost completed film. Amidst the foolish know it alls out there who seem to think they know all about this film there are still some people out there that will love it. It is a less corny version than the Lester version by omitting the "kiss of forgetting" scene. It also has some interesting changes that make it unique. Is it the end all Superman film? Of course not. Its a fun and unique film that really stands the test of time with storytelling, cinematography and acting just like the previous film which in reality was stated by Donner to just be a continuation of the first film and not really a sequel in the general sense. This film was put onto dvd for the "Fans" nothing more nothing less.
Related DVD's Superman II - The Richard Donner Cut
If Richard Donner's 1978 feature film Superman: The Movie made us believe a man could fly, Bryan Singer's 2006 follow-up, Superman Returns, lets us remember that a superhero movie can make our spirits soar. Superman (played by newcomer Brandon Routh) comes back to Earth after a futile five-year search for his destroyed home planet of Krypton. As alter ego Clark Kent, he's eager to return to his job at the Daily Planet and to see Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth). Lois, however, has moved on: she now has a fiancé (James Marsden), a son (Tristan Leabu), and a Pulitzer Prize for her article entitled "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman." On top of this emotional curveball, his old archrival Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) is plotting the biggest land grab in history.
I watched the HD version of Superman TMP today. PQ is very good for a film from this time period. It was filmed rather soft and that does not always lend itself to HD, but the colors are nice and it's an improvement over the DVD. Not a great example of HD-DVD, but a very enjoyable HD movie.li-[=]=[
More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 28 November 2006 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $28.99 Your Price: $19.95YOU SAVE $9.04!
Buy it
First off, it really doesn't matter how good a film looks and sounds if it sucks! That being said, Batman Begins HD DVD delivers both the quality plot and the quality format.
I'm sure you have heard about how great this movie is, so I won't spend much time on that. It is by far the best of the Batman franchise.
Why you are probably reading this review is to find out about the HD DVD format quality--is it all it is hyped to be? If you have to go out and spend $1500 on a good HDTV and $1000 for a HD DVD player (or Blu-Ray for other titles), my answer is "no." In all other cases (you already have some of the pieces e.g. HDTV, Xbox 360 + HD DVD) then assuradely "yes!"
There are several scenes that are just jaw-dropping, including my favorite... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 10 October 2006 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $28.99 Your Price: $19.95YOU SAVE $9.04!
Buy it
This 1956 pop adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest is one of the best, most influential science fiction movies ever made. Its space explorers are the models for the crew of Star Trek's Enterprise, and the film's robot is clearly the prototype for Robby in Lost in Space. Walter Pidgeon is the Prospero figure, presiding over a paradisiacal world with his lovely young daughter and their servile droid. When the crew of a spaceship lands on the planet, they become aware of a sinister invisible force that threatens to destroy them. Great special effects and a bizarre electronic score help make this movie as fresh, imaginative, and fun as it was when first released. --Amazon.com
On the DVDs Nestled in a metal collector's box decorated with... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Fred M. Wilcox DVD Release Date: Released the 14 November 2006 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $59.98 Your Price: $39.87YOU SAVE $20.11!
Buy it
