Superman II: Richard Donner Cut Info?

[Defshep]

With Superman returning and all, does anyone have any new scoop on the movie boxed set featuring the re-edited Superman II? I really think Donner had the right vision for the films. It would be nice to see a more cohesive S2.

[Woochifer]

Warner announced back in January that the new Superman II: SE DVD will include the Donner footage. They never firmed up whether this would be a new cut of the movie, or if the footage would be inserted as a supplement, and I haven't read anything recently that indicates which approach they decided to go with. Here are some links to previous discussions and an article on this ...

http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=15964
http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=13861
http://www.movieweb.com/dvd/news/56/10756.php

[superpanavision70mm]

Not sure...there has been rumors everywhere. That Warner box set needs some serious attention! I can only hope that we get those films in the different cuts, plus something besides those crappy SNAPPER cases!!! Arrggghhh.

[Woochifer]

Not sure...there has been rumors everywhere. That Warner box set needs some serious attention! I can only hope that we get those films in the different cuts, plus something besides those crappy SNAPPER cases!!! Arrggghhh.

Warner hasn't released anything with the snapper cases in about two years, so that's not an issue. If the treatment of the Superman series is anything like how Warner handled last year's Batman DVD set, then the new Superman set will be very much worth buying. At the very least, Superman II, III, and IV will finally be available with 5.1 soundtracks. The inclusion of only 2.0 Dolby Surround tracks on those original DVD releases was inexcusable given that Superman II and III had six-track mixes done for their respective 70mm theatrical releases.

[superpanavision70mm]

Yeah and Superman II was one of only 4 films issued theatrically with 'superbass'...the latest gimmick at the time along with another one of my favorite films WOLFEN. If you actually would have read what I said you would realize that I am complaining about Warner using snapper cases on the previous edition and would certainly hope that they would not return to that outlet. Also, they have certainly released a few titles within the past 2 years in the snapper case...not many, but they have not eliminated it altogether except it seems like they are finally on the right path these days.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Yeah and Superman II was one of only 4 films issued theatrically with 'superbass'...the latest gimmick at the time along with another one of my favorite films WOLFEN. If you actually would have read what I said you would realize that I am complaining about Warner using snapper cases on the previous edition and would certainly hope that they would not return to that outlet. Also, they have certainly released a few titles within the past 2 years in the snapper case...not many, but they have not eliminated it altogether except it seems like they are finally on the right path these days.

What is "superbass" I have never heard of it, and have never heard of a format that had this attached to it.

[Woochifer]

What is "superbass" I have never heard of it, and have never heard of a format that had this attached to it.

They called it "Megasound" and it was only issued to a few select showcase theaters with 70mm screenings. I saw Superman II at the Chinese Theater and it was supposedly screened in Megasound, but I don't remember seeing any special equipment inside the theater. So, it wasn't like Earthquake in Sensurround where the Chinese Theater installed extra subwoofer stacks and netting above the audience to catch chunks of the ceiling that might get dislodged by the bass! That screening did have a lot of bass, but it was nothing like descriptions I've read of the stomach churning experience that Sensurround supposedly dished out. Altered States was another movie that I recall getting released with that Megasound tagline.

[Defshep]

There was a fan-assembled cut of Superman II floating around the internet for a while, until Warners made it disappear. Has anyone seen this version? It's supposed to be kinda crappy quality, due to the fact alot of it was recorded from the extended tv versions airing in the 1980s.
Man, I don't know what it is about S2. I just always thought there was something keeping it from being really great, and that it had the potential to be better than Superman: The Movie. That something may have just been Richard Lester.
By the way, the Look Up in the Sky! documentary on A&E is pretty amazing.

[superpanavision70mm]

There were four films issued in MegaSound and they were:

ALTERED STATES
SUPERMAN II
WOLFEN
and OUTLAND

[Defshep]

I saw in interesting interview with Bryan Singer linked to the Superman Homepage. He says that there may be new footage shot by Donner, as well as some unfinished footage being worked into the Superman II SE dvd. This could go either way, although I'm betting it'll be for the better.

[Defshep]

Access Hollywood showed footage from the "Donner Cut" recently. I gotta say, the alternate footage of the battle above Metropolis is better than what we saw in the Lester version. www.supermanhomepage.com has a link.