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Superman II

Superman II

List Price: $19.96
Your Price: $13.97
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The firing of Donner killed this movie!
Review: Richard Donner, the director of STM, shot both STM and SII at the same time, and it was supposed to be released just one year after STM. But sadly, director Richard Donner was fired because of arguements between the producers(Alexander and Ilya Salkind), and wasn't able to finish SII. Nobody never knew what happend between the director and the producers, and it still remains a mystery. Rumors say that the producer, Alexander and Ilya Salkind, was holding Richard Donner under a lot of preasure, and that made him very angry and frustrated.

After the firing of Donner, the producers hired director Richard Lester to finish SII. They were not able to get Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando or Ned Beatty back to finish, so alot of the scenes required a stand in, or dubbing of Hackmans voice. Even Marlon Brando's hand in the opening credits had to be re-shot with a different actor, because Marlon Brando demanded more money if they used any footage of him.

Lester put alot of Slapstick comedy into SII, and it almost became what SIII became. If it haden't been for Donners scenes, then I doubt this movie would have been as popular as it is now. Donner saved SII, and don't even try to imagine what this movie would have been like without any of Donners scenes!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Another Sequel
Review: I love Christopher Reeves as superman, the first one was by far the best one. This movie was good up to a point. Why do we have to have sex in everything we see nowadays? In the comic strips of superman he didn't ever go to bed with Lois Lane and I felt the insert of that was totally unnecessary. It would have been better without it. Giving up his powers for her was foolish, thats what she loved about him, he was mysterious and different than all other men, making him exciting and giving her a sense of being someone special. Without those qualities, he was just another man. ....

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great movie! Unfortunately...
Review: The DVD leaves a bit to be desired. Here we have one of the great sequels and adventure movies out there. One whose appeal outweighs the somewhat dated effects that we sometimes see, the bit of suspension of belief (Superman giving up his powers to be with Lois without hardly thinking about it? Doubt it!). Despite all this, the movie soars. The behind the scenes disaster would have led to great extra features on this bare bones disc. Unfortunately, we have to watch the documentaries on Superman 1 to get the juicy details of how Richard Donner was fired after completing a good chunk of the movie, causing actors to quit and so forth, and bringing in Richard Lester to finish. This movie could have been one of the worst disaters you've ever seen. Yet it wasn't? Why? Who the heck knows, the disc sure won't let you in on it. Basically all we have here is a theatrical trailer. After hearing John Williams great score BOOM through the surround sound on the first one, I was GREATLY disappointed to hear it sort of whimper by during the opening credits of this movie. The picture hasn't been remastered like the first one and even the menu screens pale in comparison to the first one. Why Warners, why skimp on us here?!!

All that aside, it really is a fun movie and if you're a Superfan, you probably already know that. This has great goosebump inducing scens as well. The scene where Supes makes his triumphant return to face off against Zod and his cronies. That great scene where Superman finally kneels before Zod, all is looking lost, Superman takes Zod's hands, squeezes, the Supes theme kicks in and dang! That's some great stuff! It's also great seeing Gene Hackman's humorous Lex Luthor pairing up with the more straight General Zod. Cool stuff in Niagra Falls and so on make this a very worthy sequel, indeed. It is definatly worth getting on DVD, if only to see it in widescreen. You know, plus the whole quaility last longer advantage DVD has over VHS.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: No DTS, No 5.1...................Why Not?
Review: The movie is ok, but without 5.1 or DTS, this movie loses 2 stars from me, would have been 4/5.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: what a hottie
Review: this movie is excellent! very adorable and funny. one of my favorites! christopher reeve is a flawless gorgeous man and is great in this movie especially in those tights! the love story between him and lois is wonderful. superman really truly is super!! :oP

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Survived what the Salkinds put it through.
Review: "Superman II" and "Superman: The Movie" were originally filmed at the same time. When the Salkinds had a falling out with director Richard Donner, they scrapped most of what he shot for this sequel and had Richard Lester remake it. The problem they had was that Gene Hackman wasn't available for the reshoots, so it becomes somewhat disjointed in those scenes. Other than that, the first sequel is arguably as good as or better than the original. It's a brilliantly conceived film that has it's origins in the opening scene of the first movie. While it does stray into camp at times, it avoid the outright slapstick of "Superman III."

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Cool movie, nothing special on the DVD
Review: This one has more action than it's predecessor, and moves a lot better, but there is nothing special included on this DVD. No commentary, no deleted/added scenes, and it isnt even redone into 5.1 digital. The first movie is a great one, definitely worth it...this is probably going to be re-issued with added features, so I would wait for that.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great sequel on an O.K DVD...
Review: Superman 2 is a decent sequel to Superman but does not hold the magic of the original film. This is due to the absence of director Richard Donner who was fired by the Salkinds and replaced by Richard Lester and most of the original cast especially Marlon Brando. Even the music lost it's touch of grandness when they decided to remove John Williams. I saw the TV edit in the late eighties and it featured most of Donner's shot and those shots made Superman 2 more 'Superman'.The Superman 2 DVD was release in such a hurry, we only get a theatrical trailer as an extra. Hopefully one day, Warner will release Donner's cut of the movie with a fair amount of extras. Cross your fingers!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "Superman II: The Wrath of Zod!"
Review: That would have made a better title when it came out into theaters in 1981(Giggle)! Anyway, the second Superman movie was definately a gem for anyone to watch! It is action packed as the Man of Steel (Christopher Reeve) takes on the 3 Kryptonian villains (wonderfully played by Terrence Stamp, Sarah Douglas, and Jack O'Halloran), and its romantic in terms of Superman becoming serious with Lois Lane (Margot Kidder)! Although it was sad that Richard Donner didn't get to direct the second movie, Richard Lester did a wonderful job filling his shoes! However, this was the first film which really began the down-fall of the series! It was clear that Richard Donner did set the tone for Superman which meant not to muck around with the legend! That being the case with the powers you see in this film! If you are a die-hard Superman fan, and know the character and his powers, you'll know what I mean when you watch it! Second, the romance of this film with Lois and Superman does reach it's peak, but then at the end of this film, the fans will be upset with the total outcome! The worst was yet to come with the next 2 films! Fortunately, this DVD is special to me because the magic is still there! Along with the "letterbox" widescreen version to the film which preserves this film and the other so well! Still, I know there were scenes cut-out of the original film that I wish could have been added onto this DVD! Maybe they will come out with the complete version someday soon! Still, a very good movie I recomend to anyone!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: With DVD a great movie is now....okay(?).
Review: With all the raves coming in for the newly restored special edition of SUPERMAN-THE MOVIE on DVD, it clear now that 20 years later its follow-up, SUPERMAN II, has not aged as well. While the movie still crackles with wit, romance, and the type of over-the-top comic book action missing from its first opus, SUPERMAN II appears like a hack job with cost-cutting apparent at every turn. This odd loss in quality is no doubt due to the producers decision to fire Director Richard Donner who shot over half of SUPERMAN II while filming THE MOVIE (SUPERMAN I and II where supposed to have shot back to back but the completion of the second half was put on hold in order to devote more time to getting part one into theaters by Christmas 1978). Along with Donner, the downsizing also included creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz who shared Donner's biblical, Hallmark Card-esque take on the hero as well as new scenes featuring Marlon Brando who was in the midst of a contract dispute. Even more jarring is the absence of composer John Williams who's brilliant score for THE MOVIE was seemingly re-used by another composer with a yawn. Gene Hackman had completed his role as Lex Luther and chose not to return amid Donner's dismissal thus all of actor's scenes were, in fact, shot by Donner (check out the documentary for SUPERMAN-THE MOVIE which shows Donner directing Hackman as well as Terrance Stamp during SUPERMAN II's "siege of the White House" scene). Clearly, Richard Donner was robbed of a director's credit and denied an opportunity to complete his vision. Still, with most of the story already in place, new director Richard Lester (A HARD DAY'S NIGHT) gets the job done as the growing romance between Lois and Clark is seamlessly intergrated with the Man of Steels battles with the three fugitives from Krypton. It's like pouring over an old comic book with a snicker bar in hand, its cheap pulply pages fraying at the corners as we breathlessly turn its pages. But therin lies the problem- its predessor, SUPERMAN-THE MOVIE was like a glossy graphic novel. Warts and all, it was a jewel of a movie. SUPERMAN II is a mere Cracker Jack prize. Today with Richard Donner's heightened powers within the movie industry, let's hope that an alternate director's cut can be restored for a special edition DVD. For now, this no frills disc will do.


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