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Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut [2006]

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Director:Richard Donner
Writer:David Newman [II]
Leslie Newman
Mario Puzo
Tom Mankiewicz
Composer:Ken Thorne
Length:115 minutes
(1 hour 55 minutes)
MPAA Rating:PG
Sorting Category:Graphic Novel
IMDB Rating:8.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating:83%
Amazon Rating:4.0/5 stars
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Classifications:
  • Action
  • Drama
  • Sci-Fi
  • Family
  • Romance
Available Formats:
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Synopsis: The Zod Squad arrives on Earth and challenge Superman over the fate of the Earth.


Reaction: It's great to see this alternate take on a story that is essentially the same as the one released to theaters. The quality is a bit low because they had to simply put this together from footage already shot 25 years before (some footage even coming from screen tests) rather than shoot necessary footage to fill out the necessary scenes.


Personal Rating: 7/10

Select Cast and Crew
Richard Donner => Director
David Newman [II] => Writer
Leslie Newman => Writer
Mario Puzo => Writer
Tom Mankiewicz => Writer
Ken Thorne => Composer
Jerry Siegel => Characters
Joe Shuster => Characters
Antony Sher => Bell Boy
Christopher Reeve => Superman / Clark Kent / Kal-El
Clifton James => Sheriff
Don Fellows => General
E.G. Marshall => The President
Gene Hackman => Lex Luthor
Jack O'Halloran => Non
Jackie Cooper => Perry White
John Ratzenberger => Controller #1
Marc McClure => Jimmy Olsen
Margot Kidder => Lois Lane
Marlon Brando => Jor-El
Ned Beatty => Otis
Pepper Martin => Rocky
Peter Whitman => Deputy
Richard LeParmentier => Reporter (as Richard Parmentier)
Sarah Douglas => Ursa
Terence Stamp => General Zod
Tony Sibbald => Presidential Imposter
Valerie Perrine => Eve Teschmacher

Random Trivia For This Title:

  • This movie is Richard Donner's Director's Cut of the original Superman II. Donner was the original director, but was replaced by Richard Lester.
  • The green crystal Clark picks up in the Fortress of Solitude is a prop from Superman Returns. A shot of editor Michael Thau's hands was used for Clark picking up the green crystal.
  • The actor playing Clark Kent yelling out to Lois Lane after she jumps out of the Daily Planet is not Christopher Reeve. An uncredited actor was brought in to film the shot for the scene for the DVD release.
  • According to editor [?] Michael Thau, the films contains about 200 new special effects.
  • Most of the new scenes in this cut were shot during the production of the original Superman. They had to be re-written and re-shot by Richard Lester because, under Director's Guild rules, he had to direct more than half the film to be credited. One exception to this is the new alternate scene where Lois discovers Clark's true identity by shooting him. Richard Donner was never able to shoot this scene during principal photography. The take now used in this cut was actually used as screen tests. The shots of Lois come from Margot Kidder's screen test (with the already cast Christopher Reeve) the reverse shots of Clark's reactions come from screen tests that were shot with Reeve and other potential Lois candidates.