Superman II - The Richard Donner Cut
was released last year by Warner Bros. to coincide with the release of the new Superman movie. This cut is a re-edit of the original 1980 movie by the movie's original director, Richard Donner, who had a different vision of the movie than the producers. I don't remember the original that well, although I do remember it being more campy than this release, which is more serious in its treatment of the Superman character. For details, check out this extensive entry in Wikipedia.
Christopher Reeve's Superman was the film Superman I grew up with, and is a Superman I'm glad was replaced last year. I'm not a Superman purist, and most of those would probably prefer Reeve's incarnation. Don't get me wrong, I like the films, but after seeing it recently, I realized that, 1) I saw the films as a kid, and, 2) special effects sure have come a long way, thankfully. Special effects are an artifact of their time, but the interpretation of the Superman character isn't. What I couldn't get over this time around was the painfully awkward Clark Kent. Did Superman's alter ego really need to be such a stereotypical nerd? That being said, there was much more of Kal-El in the movie than there was of Superman. This cut did allow for introspection, instead of being superficial, as the original had been. I had also forgotten how large glasses were in the 1980s. (Most of my 1980s photographs have long been hidden.)
If you haven't seen a Christopher Reeve's Superman flick in sometime, I recommend watching this latest cut. It'll take you back.
was released last year by Warner Bros. to coincide with the release of the new Superman movie. This cut is a re-edit of the original 1980 movie by the movie's original director, Richard Donner, who had a different vision of the movie than the producers. I don't remember the original that well, although I do remember it being more campy than this release, which is more serious in its treatment of the Superman character. For details, check out this extensive entry in Wikipedia.Christopher Reeve's Superman was the film Superman I grew up with, and is a Superman I'm glad was replaced last year. I'm not a Superman purist, and most of those would probably prefer Reeve's incarnation. Don't get me wrong, I like the films, but after seeing it recently, I realized that, 1) I saw the films as a kid, and, 2) special effects sure have come a long way, thankfully. Special effects are an artifact of their time, but the interpretation of the Superman character isn't. What I couldn't get over this time around was the painfully awkward Clark Kent. Did Superman's alter ego really need to be such a stereotypical nerd? That being said, there was much more of Kal-El in the movie than there was of Superman. This cut did allow for introspection, instead of being superficial, as the original had been. I had also forgotten how large glasses were in the 1980s. (Most of my 1980s photographs have long been hidden.)
If you haven't seen a Christopher Reeve's Superman flick in sometime, I recommend watching this latest cut. It'll take you back.
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