Rating: Summary: Wow! I Believe A Man CAN Fly! Review: The only element disappointing about the stellar SUPERMAN II is the fact that, for reasons never disclosed, Warner Bros. opted to go extraordinarily cheap on the special effects this go 'round with The Man of Steel ... and you can tell it very easily on the screen. Otherwise, this story of three Kryptonian villains descending upon the Earth and wrecking all kinds of havoc is exactly what it should be: a comic book, with stirring retreads on John Williams' score from the first flick, put to celluloid. A fantastic story and a fantastic joy ride.The DVD sadly features little by way of extras for what is, perhaps, the most popular of the Superman films. You'd think the studio would've made a greater investment.
Rating: Summary: Why does everybody love this movie? Review: This movie is at best average. It's a violent "normal" sequal and as usual can't live up to the original. The original lived up to the comic book and was very faithfull. Christopher Reeve was again great as the man of steal and who could top Gene Hackman. Terrence Stamp was good as General Zod and Sarah Douglass was goods as Ursa but Jack O'Halloran as Non was a wasted and useless character. The great Superman theme by John Williams is still there but as massive and exciting. If you want a good sequel see Superman 3. But only see this if your a die hard fan.
Rating: Summary: EXCELLENT ALL ROUND, WAIT AWHILE PLAN FOR A SPECIAL EDITION Review: What can you say this is the best Superhero movie of all time. Superman 2 is equal in comedy, action, Superaction and romance. The most freaky and upsetting part of this movie is seeing the twin towers, by the way my love goes out to all you Americans. Only problem with this movie is the fact of being limited extras, there is rumors that a Special Edition is coming out sometime next year hopefully, with a extended version of the film giving a better scoop on the storyline and how Superman got his powers back. Movie companys usually release a movie on DVD with limited or no extras, then a year or two later re-release the movie with a dozen extras after everyone has bought the movie. I would wait for afew months or a year or two just to see if a Special Edition is released. But over all extras or no extras this movie is fantastic, in music, action, romance, Superaction and comedy.
Rating: Summary: THE BEST SUPERHERO SEQUEL OF ALL TIME! Review: Okay, so by now we're all aware of the behind-the-scenes mayhem that went on during filming such as Richard Donner being fired, Brando sueing the Salkinds, blah, blah, blah....Who cares anymore?!? It's in the past people! All this lamenting about things that happened 20 years ago is doing nothing more than taking attention away from the fact that this really is a terric sequel that's almost every bit as good as the original that spawned it. Christopher Reeve even said that this was his favorite of the Superman movies. I think that all the on-set drama that's been recently brought to light due to the Internet (are we really better off for knowing these tabloid details?) should only enhance our appreciation of this quality film that the Superman movie crew put together for us. Be proud of your work guys, because it really is a movie classic!
Rating: Summary: Ignore the criticism...This movie is a CLASSIC! :) Review: I've been reading some of the criticism of Superman II ...and I have to say that really, it just seems to be a load of sour grapes spouted by people who know more than they probably should! Superman II, whoever takes most credit for the directing duties (who cares?!), is, has and always will be a classic movie... I don't know anybody who really gives a toss about the production problems - this movie is just as exciting as the first and, basically, equals the first movie for excitement and entertainment value. One thing I would note though, is that I have given the movie the full 5 stars strictly for the movie itself as there are no real extras to speak of besides the trailer. Superman II on DVD just doesn't compare to the value for money you get with the DVD version of the first movie. It's a shame because, as with all 4 Superman movies (especially the much criticized Superman IV), there were lots of footage which were cut - some of which were (strangely) reinstated in television broadcasts of the movies. (Why? I have no idea!) Scenes still not in this version include how Clark got his powers back, and deleted scenes could have included General Zod using a machine gun(!)... In terms of using DVD to its full potential, Superman II is definitely a let down... But saying that, you really can't beat Superman II on DVD in widescreen, compared to the dodgy old tapes released commercially way back in the late eighties, (and that goes for any of the other Superman movies), so if you have a DVD player I still can't recommend Superman II highly enough!! One point of interest for the Superman movie fans who wonder why there's nothing extra in the DVD version of Superman II: The reason is because Richard Donner refuses to have anything to do with the movie. Apparently he was offered the chance to rework the film as he did with the Superman: The Movie DVD, but he declined, still angry at being sacked by the producers all those years ago... (I think he must own the bits which were cut out then, otherwise why couldn't somebody else at Warners have put them in as "Deleted Scenes"...????)
Rating: Summary: Just As Good As The First Review: Superman 2 is one of those rare occurences in Hollywood that does not happen very often. The film is just as brilliant, if not more, than the classic original. Superman 2 is, in may ways, even more awe inspiring and sensational than the first one. The plot revolves around three villains from Krypton who are freed from their space prison and fly down to Earth to completely take it over and rule. Gene Hackman returns as Lex Luthor, who joins forces with the evil alien trio. It's up to our hero Superman to save the day once again. Christopher Reeve again brilliantly plays both Clark Kent and Superman to perfection. Gene Hackman is just as fun and over the top as in the original. The three villians are fun, but kind of wooden. The effects are out of this world phenomenal, and the action is superb. The opening in Paris is thrilling and a film classic. The end battle in the middle of downtown Metropolis is awe inducing excitement. One of the best battles captured on celluloid. Clocking in at a nice epic like 2hrs. 7min, the movie moves at a pretty swift rate. The action gets going rather quickly and the movie as a whole is filled with it. The romance between Superman and Lois heats up in this film as well. It's handled gracefully, so as not to alienate comic fans who think maybe they shouldn't be together. The director, Richard Lester, did a fine job. Many people criticize his work on this film and I can't understand why. He does a brilliant job. This film has everything the original had and more. And, just in case you missed the first one, the opening credits of this one have a montage of what's previously happened. Nice touch. In the end, this is one superb action/fantasy film that's great fun and filmmaking to enjoy for decades to come.
Rating: Summary: Paul Wentzells Review: Review: I want to start off saying what I thought about Superman II. I did enjoy most of this movie very much. I was very disappointed in Richard Donners dismissal, seeing as he directed a lot of the scenes in the film and didn't get credit for them. I felt it was an ultimate betrayal, though Richard Lester did have some good scenes in the film as well. The opening scene in Paris was very good. So was the phantom zone criminals attack on the small town. The battle with Superman in Metropolis was for the most part very good as well. Some of it was too corny for me. I loved every scene with Lex Luthor. The Niagra falls story line was pretty good. That is until when Superman was forced to loose his powers. I felt that was stupid. How did the line in the first film go, "Live as one of them Kal-el." The minute he does he looses his powers. "HELLO!" As for the special effects, those were top notch as usual. Okay now for my opinion on the DVD. I was very disappointed with that. It was no different than owning the VHS. It wasn't remastered, none of the extra footage was added. As one of your other reviewers said the scenes Richard Donner did would have been good to see. In a nutshell, the extra features were pathetic. Hopefully they will put out new special editions to all of the Superman sequels with these features included. It would have been better if they did it in the first place so people wouldn't have to spend the extra money on buying the DVDs twice.
Rating: Summary: Weird to watch in light of recent events. Review: I ordered the Superman 2 online on Sept. 7 and received it shortly after the Sept. 11 tragedy in New York, and I must say it made me see one of my all-time favorite movies in a slightly different light. First of all, you can't miss the World Trade Centers prominently displayed on the DVD cover. The movie then opens with an attempted act of terrorism on a world landmark, the Eiffel Tower, and also includes scenes where the villains attack both Washington D.C. and Metropolis (New York City). The scene with Superman flying with the American Flag gave me goosegumps, since never before had I seen the flag displayed more proudly and reverently than in the days following the disaster, not only to remember the victims, but to show our patriotism, and the way in which this country can pull together when our values are under attack. I found myself wishing that Christopher Reeve's Superman had been around to save some of the people that lost their lives in the WTC disaster. Regarding the movie itself, it has its flaws. You have to swallow the fact that caucasian, English-speaking aliens land in a caucasian, English-speaking country. But if you're able to suspend your disbelief, Superman II remains one of the best, if not THE best, comic book movie of all time. I only wish I could have seen the version Richard Donner envisioned, and that John Williams had done the score. I gave this DVD four stars instead of five because of the sad lack of extras. Hopefully we'll see a Collector's Edition sometime in the near future?
Rating: Summary: videotape-quality recording Review: Unlike the DVD release for the first film, Superman II has not been digitally cleaned-up. The quality of the recording is no better than that of video tape. Add the fact that the extra scenes which were restored when released on television over the years are completely absent and a complete lack of extras and you end up with a sub-par package. More than a little disappointing.
Rating: Summary: Superman Revisioned Review: Hello everyone, I must say that I am extremely displeased with Superman II DVD. There are several reasons. My first reason is that it is a Dobly Surround, and not digitally remastered in Dobly Digital. Who would want to hear the opening credits and Superman II score, which was adapted from John Williams, and composed by some other guy for this movie?? That leads into my 2nd reason for not purchasing this DVD. Missing from Superman 2 are John Williams and Richard Donner. For Superman II, Richard Donner was replaced with Richard Lester. Everyone knows that Richard Lester is a very, very acomplished director. After all, his claim to fame is the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night. Granted, the better scenes in this movie were directed by Donner, basically, every scene with Gene Hackman was part of Donner's vision. THe scene in Houston was Lester's vision. According to Lester's vision, it is apparant that Texans talk with an English accent. The scenes directed by Lester and plain silly, and hurt the film. In the first film, Superman can catch a speeding bullet, and why not?? Stuff like that makes him super, but in II, he trips over a carpet and lands in fire, in turn, that's how Lois finds out he is Superman. So Lester wants me to believe that the perfect man has now become a clutz. Yea right. In Donner's orginal vision, Lois Lane put Clark Kent to a test to find out if he is Superman. She pulls out a gun and shoots him (this can be scene in the bonus material in Superman DVD). Now that is more believable. Rumors have been circulating around the web, and hopefully they are true,but the rumor is that Richard Donner and Warner Bros (AOL-Time Warner), are gonna dig into their movie collection and pull out the original Superman II film, and make a brand new Superman II movie. This version will be known as Richard Donner's Superman II, where the script is not campy, there is no forced humor, and the movie stays honest to the audience. Gone will be the opeing sequence in Paris, the silly Niagra Falls will be replaced with the original Niagra Falls vision. As a big Superman fan, I would hope that when Richard Donner creates his Superman II, that he will bring John Williams in to rescore the movie. Now, the one problem is that Richard Donner filmed only 70% of the Superman II. The Houston and Battle over Metropolis was filmed by Lester. I'm assuming (and hoping) that Donner will reshoot parts of those scenes, and splice them into the movie, and remove some silliness. I'm hoping the army is removed, and reshot. With the computer capabilities in this day and age, I couldn't see how Donner couldn't tailor the scene to the way he wanted it, or at least make it close. I'm sure everyone has scene Star Wars: Special Edition. And I hope Donner removes the scene with Mt. Rushmore (Mr. Lester, what were you thining?). And in the Battle of Metropolis, hopefully Donner removes the silly parts, such as the an talking on the phone, the man losing his wig, and the ice cream flying in the air. If this rumor is turns out to be true, of Donner finally realizing his vision, then I advise everyone to save their money, and purchase Richard Donner's version. People must remember that Richard Donner is one of three very special directors, along with Tim Burton and Brian Singer, he was able to take a comic book character and make a believable movie. To close my review, I suggest everyone to purchase Superman, and wait until Richard DOnner's Superman II is released. I know the only Superman II DVD that I will ever buy, will be Richard Donner's version.
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