DVD : Superman II

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- Not as good as the original, but exciting to watch
Superman must fight 3 ex-convicts that escaped from the Phantom Zone..the prison of the planet Krypton. However, Superman reliquishes his powers to marry Lois Lane. Can he go back to being Superman and save the Earth? Watch & find out.

Rating:

- Good Sequel
This is one of the best early 80's action/science-fiction film I have seen. I thought Christopher Reeve was perfect for the role of Superman. The Plot: 3 exiled kryptonian criminals from Krypton: General Zod(Terence Stamp), Non(Jack O'Halloran), & Ursa(Sarah Dougless) are accidently released from THE PHANTON ZONE. Meanwhile Criminal Genius Lex Luthor(Gene Hackman) & his never-do-well sidekick Otis(Ned Beatty) plans to escape from prison, only Lex was able to succed with the help of his girlfriend(Valerie Perrine). Later, the 3 criminals arrive to earth with plans to take over it. Meanwhile, Clark Kent(Christopher Reeve) agrees to abandon his super powers to be with Louis Lane(Margot Kidder), But learns that Zod has taken over the planet, & is forced to retrieve his powers to stop Zod.
The music is great, too! Buy this movie

Rating:

- Reeve made me belive agian
Superman is a national icon everyone looks up to him to do the right thing even Lex admits that. In the last one Lex Luthor threatened the world and Superman stop him now he is in prison. But he was right no bars can keep Lex Luthor the greatest criminal mind ever, locked in. he escapes and finds Superman's home in the north and learns that Krypton's most feared villains did not die with the planet and that they roam in a prison in the negative zone in space, and can be brought out by a big enough explosion. Superman while saving Lois Lane and Paris throws a hydrogen bomb up in space and it explodes, the explosion reaches the native zone and brakes free three bad Kryptoneons! Will they travel to earth and cause harm? Will Superman lose all of his powers? Will Lois find out Clark's secret? What side is Lex on? Will all earth bow down to General Zod? Find out in this awesome movie!

Rating:

- Why No ABC Special?
This dvd would be even better with the addition of the scenes that the ABC special had. Why does Warner Brothers not release this version? If anyone has this version please let me know.

Rating:

- Rare Jewel Among Super-Sequels
Superman II

Shot simultaneously with Superman: The Movie, this first of three sequels proved to be one of those Hollywood rarities - a sequel just as good as the original.

Because Mario Puzo (author of both the Godfather novel and the screenplays) had written such a huge script for the Superman movie, producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind broke it up into two installments. When they hired director Richard (The Omen) Donner, the deal was "$1,000,000 for two pictures), and that Superman II be released a year after Superman: The Movie's release. Thus production began on both pictures back-to-back, with actors shooting scenes from I, resting, shooting a few scenes for II, then back to I again.

However, even though Superman II was halfway done, the Salkinds decided to replace Donner with British director Richard Lester, who had done The Beatles' "Help!" in the mid-1960s and also directed the swashbuckling The Three Musketeers and its sequel. The change in directors and the death of director of photography Geoffrey Unsworth caused a delay in Superman II's release date from 1979 (if you have the VHS version of Superman I you can see a credit that says "Next Year: Superman II) to 1981.

The link between the two movies is the opening of Superman I: the trial of Krypton's three arch-criminals Gen. Zod (Terence Stamp), Ursa (Sarah Douglas), and Non (Jack O'Halloran) for acts of treason and sedition. They are sentenced by the Kryptonian High Council and Jor-El, Superman's dad, to spend eternity in a flat glasslike thing out in space's The Phantom Zone.

This scene (depicted in Superman II in a different fashion) is reprised, not only to set up a flashback laden title sequence but the movie itself, which is part love story, and part full blown conflict between Superman (Christopher Reeve) and the three Kryptonian baddies.

Because Superman I's role was to provide the "origins of" Kal-el/Superman and introduce us to the characters, Superman II's pace is brisker and focused. At last we get to see the romance between Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) and Superman go from simmer to heat (in a very touching scene, Superman gives up his powers to be able to love Lois). It is, in fact, Superman's first rescue of Lois in this movie that allows the three hometown villains to escape from their imprisonment in the Phantom Zone.

Superman II reunites most of the first movie's major cast. Gene Hackman (one of my favorite character actors) returns as Lex Luthor, joined by the ever funny Ned Beatty as his hapless and clueless henchman, Otis. Rounding out this trio is Valerie Perrine's loyal-to-her-Lex moll, Miss Tessmacher. Also in the movie are Clark Kent's boss Perry White (Jackie Cooper) and photographer Jimmy Olsen (Mark McClure).

The DVD - released both singly and in a Superman boxed set - in 2001 is adequate but lacks the extra features of the first movie's DVD. There are no making-of documentaries or director's commentary, just a theatrical trailer and a cast and crew list with a filmography for only a few major cast members.

One film flub mentioned in the funny and revealing book Roman Soldiers Don't Wear Watches: In the first movie, Jor-el is the parent who places the baby Kal-el into his tiny starship. Watch carefully at the flashback title sequence...now it's Lara (Susannah York) who places the baby in the ship!

page 14 of 36