Firing Richard Donner on Superman II was a mistake. The original cliffhanger ending of one and two with Donner would've been badass. Like a comic book "Kill Bill".
At the time, they weren't sure if the first film was going to make money and with the missing of release dates as well, they just wanted to get the first picture out. They felt it would be too much of a risk to let it cliffhang with that original ending with the villains getting free at the end at the time. Today, they'd do it.
@Random Commenter They did make up eventually, from what I've read. I didn't even know until years later that Donner was supposed to do the second one and his stuff in the film was the Hackman scenes. Still, I liked Superman 2 originally. The Donner cut is pretty much the same, although we don't really see the villains doing the stuff in the small town (must've been Lester's stuff). It was better to see the villains arriving and starting to use their powers on people.
This might sound goofy or corny to some. But this is the only soundtrack that I get choked up. Titanic does it but Superman's John Williams score is instant.
I agree. Number 2 is an excellent film, but you can see with the big battle in Metropolis that Richard Lester had added slapstick scenes which would be the hallmark of number 3. Film number 2 is brilliant but the foundation of this series’ going down hill. The Donner Cut is more serious in tone.
They were toxic to the production, but III and IV were handed off to Golan/Globus where were the ultimate cheapskates in cinema history and had no business with a franchise like this. They can handle ninja movies, but they destroyed superman with bad effects and hack scripts.
@@Moviefan2k4 true. And in an interview Donner did years ago (can be found on TH-cam) he actually said that “Ilya wanted to make a movie” whereas his father and Spengler were mostly causing tensions and Ilya eventually gave in against Donner
How is it that Superman can fly around the Earth at blinding speed and make it reverse it's rotation, yet in Superman II he barely makes it from New York to Paris in time to save Lois Lane in the Eiffel Tower elevator? Just asking...
The whole Paris sequence was not part of Donner's original vision. It was added by Richard Lester and the Salkinds, after Donner was fired and Mankiewicz left.
RIP to Richard Donner, who made this movie work!
@15:16 Tom Manc talks about original endings for Superman 1 and 2
Firing Richard Donner on Superman II was a mistake. The original cliffhanger ending of one and two with Donner would've been badass. Like a comic book "Kill Bill".
At the time, they weren't sure if the first film was going to make money and with the missing of release dates as well, they just wanted to get the first picture out. They felt it would be too much of a risk to let it cliffhang with that original ending with the villains getting free at the end at the time. Today, they'd do it.
@Random Commenter They did make up eventually, from what I've read. I didn't even know until years later that Donner was supposed to do the second one and his stuff in the film was the Hackman scenes. Still, I liked Superman 2 originally. The Donner cut is pretty much the same, although we don't really see the villains doing the stuff in the small town (must've been Lester's stuff). It was better to see the villains arriving and starting to use their powers on people.
I love that idea that the 'S'-logo was in fact never an S, but the El's family crest
Yeah, it just happens to look like an S. The origin stuff was very good.
lol, "Yeah i do!"
This might sound goofy or corny to some. But this is the only soundtrack that I get choked up. Titanic does it but Superman's John Williams score is instant.
@20:50 makes perfect sense, if that guys voice is deeper than Chris than it really would have sucked
The franchise went down hill when Richard Donner got fired.
1 and 2 are top quality. The rest of them look incredibly cheap. Putting Richard Pryor in there? Wtf.
I agree. Number 2 is an excellent film, but you can see with the big battle in Metropolis that Richard Lester had added slapstick scenes which would be the hallmark of number 3. Film number 2 is brilliant but the foundation of this series’ going down hill. The Donner Cut is more serious in tone.
Is it just me or do the Salkinds seem like a bunch of pennypinchers who ruined Superman eventually?
Pretty much...or at least, Alexander was. From the interviews, it seems Ilya was more reasonable, but only God really knows.
Moviefan2k4 Ilya says in retrospect that firing Donner was a mistake
They were toxic to the production, but III and IV were handed off to Golan/Globus where were the ultimate cheapskates in cinema history and had no business with a franchise like this. They can handle ninja movies, but they destroyed superman with bad effects and hack scripts.
@@scottlowell493 superman 3 wasn’t, only 4 was handed off to globus
@@Moviefan2k4 true. And in an interview Donner did years ago (can be found on TH-cam) he actually said that “Ilya wanted to make a movie” whereas his father and Spengler were mostly causing tensions and Ilya eventually gave in against Donner
How is it that Superman can fly around the Earth at blinding speed and make it reverse it's rotation, yet in Superman II he barely makes it from New York to Paris in time to save Lois Lane in the Eiffel Tower elevator? Just asking...
exactly. to be able to fly that fast negates so many things. i love lois and clark but they were always so inconsistent with superman's speed.
The whole Paris sequence was not part of Donner's original vision. It was added by Richard Lester and the Salkinds, after Donner was fired and Mankiewicz left.
It could be re-accomplished so that it seems like superman takes off and arrives in a more accurate manner. Lester sucks.
18:09 lol
Lol