DVD : Superman II (Two-Disc Special Edition)

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Rating:

- Excellent Sequel
Superman does it again with this sequel, which truly is a great sequel indeed. What makes the movie is the three villains, especially Zod. In this movie, Superman almost meets his match when three fellow Kryptonians arrive on Earth bent on conquest. There are a lot of scenes in this movie that are very memorable. From the big battle in Metropolis to the strange plastic "S" that Superman uses from his chest.

I give this movie four stars, probably more like four and a half. I just don't think that this film had as much emotion as the original movie. In the first movie, you felt for Superman when he has to go back in time (which I won't give away why). This movie is way different than the Donner version of the film, so buy both if you want to see the difference. This movie is the canon version, especially with the new "Superman Returns" storyline. Overall great film, but a little less than the first movie

Rating:

- Superman II a must, but nothing Special in this Edition

There are only two Superman movies before he Returned, and those were I and II - Anything else is a joke. Let me review the movie and the edition:

I needed Superman II since I purchased the original some time ago, but looking at it now I can really notice the change of pace, tone and respect to the material from the different directors. Richard Donner's Superman I is the grandaddy of all comic book movie adaptations, the standard to follow, and one of my all-time favorites. Sadly Superman II has a more "Campy", dare I say "Corny", feel to it despite many of the scenes being planned and shot by Donner at the same time as the first movie. The promise of a Super-men (and woman) fight is central, but the execution falls short with action sequences clearly meant to be comical and kid-oriented. Nevertheless, it is part of the collection.

The Special Features on the second disc, however, are not worth much. Half of it is dedicated to a great series of original Superman cartoons, which I admit were before my time but should have nostalgic value to some. Then the other half is a "Making of" special as old as the movie (and TV quality at best, with grainy images to boot") and not up to modern documentary standards - missing current and new points of view from cast and crew that are not forced for promotional benefit at the time of the movie release. Then there is a 50th anniversary special hosted by Dana Carvey with very lame humor and mock-up interviews which I felt demeaning and a total waste of time. I was hoping for an in-depth explanation of Superman's history in print and film, and/or a "making of" that went into further detail about the change in direction the series took for Superman II and after. Sadly, there is four-times as much information and high-quality exposition on this movie in the special features of my Superman I one-disc release (which I highly recommend to anyone).

Rating:

- Good for the money
YOu get more than you expect to get with this dvd. only negative part is you don't get the extensive deleted scenes as seen on the abc late moving showings.

Rating:

- Very powerful!
Usually only the first movie in a series of movies with the same title is the best, but thhis is not the case with superman 2. I thought that this was the best superman film that Christopher Reve was in. I liked the confrontation with the kryptonion outlaws and all the action sequences displaying the kind of power that the man of steel has. This film is a keeper.

Rating:

- Not the ABC-TV Version!
I was disappointed when I bought this version, when I recorded the Superman 2 version on ABC way back in the late 80's. VHS tapes don't last, so I wanted the UNCUT version of Superman 2 on DVD. I wasted my money.

Vital scenes are cut from the DVD:
1) Superman saves the boy at Niagra Falls. He goes back to the hot dog stand and meet up with Lois, changes back to Clark Kent and walks away from the hot dog stand with a proud and humourous smile on his face (knowing that he saved the boy).
2) Flying to Paris.....and it shows him passing the Concorde in the sky.
3) A prison scene with Lex and Otis, about Otis going "pssh", which Otis mentions he had wished before they left the cell, even though it means something else. Funny scene.
4) Miss Teschmacher needed to go to the bathroom at the Fortress of Solitude, where she says she thinks she found it. And Lex says, "she found it."
5) And finally, the ending where Superman defeats the 3 supervillains, Lex shows more interest in befriending Superman (which he doesn't), the cops show up at the Fortress to arrest Lex, and Superman destroys the Fortress Of Solitude.

There's more from the ABC version, but too difficult to explain.

Just to say, the Lester cut wasn't worth the price! I don't know about the Donner version, but the DVD creators destroyed this movie....and who knew a TV version would be so much better!

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