Pick Your Dick or Donner's Pass

The first two Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve had a strong effect on me. (Not as strong as Star Wars. Nothing compared to that.) Until recently, I hadn't watched either in years (though I saw the Brandon Routh debacle).  Then on TV, not long ago, I saw the Richard Donner cut of Superman II.  Like watching footage of Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly, but for two straight hours, it was a glimpse into a freaky alternate universe, where things are the same, but different.

What had happened was the Superman producers hired Richard Donner, a decent action director, to shoot two Superman films back to back. (They'd done the same with Richard Lester doing two Musketeer films.) He shot the first and most of the second, but while taking time to prepare the first for release, he and the producers had a falling out.  Favorite Richard Lester--a quirkier director, more known for comedies (he directed A Hard Day's Night)--came aboard to finish the film, using some of Donner's footage but scrapping most.  Years later the Donner stuff was unscrapped and put together as well as possible, combined with whatever Lester footage was needed.

Many Superman fans were thrilled.  They considered Donner the real auteur of the series and Lester an interloper.  I was more ambivalent.  Donner did a great job with the first, and he took the story seriously.  Lester had a jokier (and somewhat campier) attitude, but I consider him the superior director. (Not that the better director always makes the better film.) For that matter, I'd loved the second Superman, maybe more than the first.

The first was fascinatingly schizoid.  Donner tried to create a sense of size, and awe, and he succeeded (without CGI--imagine that).  But we start with a short sci-fi film starring Marlon Brando.  Followed by a misty origin story set on Earth. Then the real film starts and it's got several balls in the air--a well done romance between Superman and Lois Lane, a pretty well done action film with the introduction of Superman to the world at large, and some weird, even off-putting farcical comedy with Lex Luthor and his gang.  The mix still manages to work, until the stupid ending, where Lois dies and Superman spins the Earth in the other direction to turn back time.  Even if this would work, it's an easy out that means Superman never has to worry about anything.  They tried to be awesome, ended up dumb.

The second film, signed by Lester, is more a romantic comedy with plenty of action.  The Kryptonian criminals sent into the Phantom Zone in the first movie (a big loose end, but sort of makes sense when you realize they're making two films at once) menace Earth. Meanwhile, Lois discovers Clark's true identity.  The two fall in love and Superman gives up his powers just when the world needs them most.  He eventually gets them back and defeats the supervillains (and kisses Lois, making her forget what she knows--Superman had so many powers in the DC comics I bet he had a superkiss in there somewhere).

The basic plot is the same, but there are some major changes.  First, how Lois tests Clark Kent and eventually discovers his identity is done differently.  In the Lester cut, she falls in the river near Niagara Falls and Clark refuses to save her.  Later, he gives away his power by mistake during a scene in the honeymoon suite.  These are far superior to Donner's version, which includes Lois shooting at Clark--with a blank, as it turns out.  But since this scene was allegedly a screen test, maybe we shouldn't expect too much.

The other big difference is Marlon Brando.  There's a major subplot with Brando as Superman's dad giving him advice, and more, from beyond the grave.  Undiscovered Brando!  His role clears up a lot and completes much that was set up in the first film.  But the producers fought Brando and didn't want to pay him for the second film, so Susannah York, Superman's mother, got to give all the crystal advice in the Fortress of Solitude.  Advantage Donner.

Then there's the ending.  Superman pulls the same trick as in the first film, reversing time.  I find it hard to believe this was planned for both films. It's bad enough once.  And it once again makes the whole thing ridiculous.  Somehow, reversing the Earth's spin even puts the villains back in the Phantom Zone.  So all that trickery was unneeded. In fact, confronting the villains was a waste of time--just send them back where they belong.

Watching the film I was reminded of how many performances I enjoyed.  Margot Kidder is quirky but surprisingly good as Lois, and Gene Hackman, not having to play the main villain, has fun as Luthor.  Terence Stamp is good as Zod and Sarah Douglas sexy as Ursa.  Holding it all together is Christopher Reeve, who's actually playing two roles and doing a fine job in both.

I'm glad I got to see the new cut.  Large portions of it were completely new.  It was a more smoothly told story, though I wouldn't call it better.  But then, the Lester film already owed plenty to the Donner version.