Rating:  -
Now THIS is a superhero movie! MUCH, MUCH better than the other
junk Hollywood dishes out! Christopher Reeve once again did
an EXCELLENT job as the man of steel. I love it!
Superman rids himself of his powers and claims his love for Lois, But must somehow reverse things as a trio of kryptonian
villians arrive on Earth and decide to dominate the planet.
That's all I'll tell you for right now. You will LOVE this movie!
Oh, by the way. One of those kryptonian villians,"Nod" as they
call him, did a commercial about MY grandmother!
Rating:  -
This movie presents the deadly three rebels placed in the Phatom Zone, and Superman's battle against them, and his own personal angst to be loved by Lois Lane. The movie falls compared to Donner's movie, but Lester is great at the physical comedy. Margot Kidder and Reeve both give outstanding performances, while Gene Hackman in the few scenes he is in the movie, stills the show.
The battle in Metropolis with the three villians is fun and entertaining, only dated by its outdated special effects. The romance is handled well, but Singer's more recent version is better. Superman is more like Sampson than Mosses, freely giving up his powers for a love (except Lois of course would never betray Superman), only to have cry out to his father to get them back to fight General Zod and his deadly sidekicks.
Rating: -
In the beginning of the original Superman we see Jor-el trap Zod and his followers in the Phantom Zone. In this one Superman stops a nuclear war-head from going off by throwing it into the sun. The explosion is enough to free Zod and his followers from the Phantom Zone. Which is bad timing since Lois finds out that Clark is Superman and he decides to become human and setlle down with her. While Zod is causing chaos all over the world, Clark can't even handle a bully truck driver in a diner. So he has to decide what's more important, his relationship with Lois Lane or becoming Superman again to save the world. What a clever plot!!
Superman 2 is a true classic with Terrance Stamp as a truly awesome Zod. He gives one of the best villian performances ever. In Smallville recently, they had Zod go in Lex's body. It bugged me that they had him kiss Lana. I knocked that part in a forum. I had people writing back saying that he was in the Phantom Zone for a long time and they didn't blame him for kissing Lana. But come on, the Zod here was also stuck in the Phantom Zone and all he cared about was ruling Earth and kicking Superman's butt. You don't see him kissing every woman he sees because he didn't get any action in the Phantom Zone lol. This Zod would've just thrown Lana off the roof or just make her bow down to him. He's a truly ruthless and scary villian.
Rating: -
Terrorists have planted an atomic bomb on the Eiffel Tower. Superman arrives in the nick of time and flings it into orbit, where it explodes. The detonation, however, sets free three Kryptonian criminals who have been languishing in the Phantom Zone, these renegades having been put there years ago by Jor-El, the father of Superman. Landing on Earth, the Kryptonians discover that the earth's sun grants them super powers. Immediately, they begin to enslave the planet. To make things worse, mastermind Lex Luthor escapes from prison and vows vengeance on Supes and joins the supervillains. Meanwhile, Daily Planet reporters Lois Lane & Clark Kent are on assignment on Niagara Falls, where Lois comes to suspect Clark of being the Man of Steel. Through a freak accident, Lois finds out she is right. Now, face to face, Lois & Clark own up to their feelings for each other. To be with Lois, Clark decides to relinquish his powers. It's not until afterwards that he becomes aware of the three supervillains from his home planet, but it's too late...With no Superman to protect our planet, it looks grim for Earthkind.
This is one of those rare instances where the sequel actually is as good as the first movie. What's even more amazing is that they got it right despite all the behind-the-scenes wrangling and in-fighting that went on between producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind, director Richard Donner and actor Marlon Brando. The Salkinds had early on decided to have Superman I & II shot simultaneously. However, the filming of Superman I proved to be troublesome. Things got worse when Marlon Brando filed suit against the producers for failure to pay up on his profits from Superman I. Then, with about two thirds of Superman II having been filmed, Donner, who had issues with the Salkinds, was fired and replaced with Richard Lester. Yet, somehow, Superman II rises above its makers and succeeds as a worthy sequel and a great movie in its own right.
This time, there isn't an opening half hour of foreplay with the overbearing Marlon Brando and scenes of sterile Krypton; we get right into the pertinent storyline: the release of General Zod & co. and a powerless Clark Kent in love with Lois Lane. Not as episodic as the first one, II is more consistently plot driven. Reeve and Kidder are again SUPERB in their iconic roles. The scene where Lois finds out Supe's real identity is still one of my favorite cinematic denouements. The supporting cast, with Terence Stamp (Zod), Sarah Douglas (Ursa) and Gene Hackman (Luthor) as standouts, plays it real. The only downside with the acting for me is Jack O'Halloran's Non, who is played too much for laughs.
The special effects are even better than in the first Superman. While certainly not up to the standards of today's technology, they still hold up well. Remember, these effects are a quarter of a century old! Special mention goes out to the fantastic and devastating battle royale of super powers between Superman and the Phantom Zone fugitives. Also satisfying is Clark Kent's revenge on a mortal bully at the finale.
The special features are utter diddly-squat, consisting of a "cast & crew" breakdown and a theatrical trailer. You'd think there'd be at least some feature commentary or one "making of" segment. Ah, well.
For those who yet don't know, the new Superman Returns picks up after Superman II, totally discounting Superman III & IV (which is fine by me). For great comic book action and more than a touch of romance, watch this one. It's really good.
Rating:  -
Even for such a troubled filled production, Superman II turned out rather well. The villains are excelent but you'll enjoy the fate of the mean truck driver even more.
That said this is the worst looking DVD I've ever seen by a long shot. The image is incredibly dull and the sound not much better. Had I only known a new edition which includes Richard Donner's original cut was going to come out late 2006 I would have surely waited. Now I'll have to but this movie again and throw my first copy straight into the garbage.
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