Not many superhero movies are as good as the first forty-five minutes of this film ...
Including the remaining ninety-minutes of "Superman: The Movie."
shareYou are wrong. Superman 1&2 is in fact one film.
And very few films, not just those of comic books, can match the story, acting, plot, direction, music.
Its 2 films otherwise it wouldn't be called Superman 1 & 2.
shareUnfortunately, you're right because Richard Donner was fired and replaced before he completed the second film. Two different visions for both movies.
Years later, Donner recreated the Superman 2 film as how he envisioned it. The official Superman 2 theatrical release is really good, but Donner's version is even better.
Interesting, I didn't know that. Where can you see Donner's version?
shareIt doesn't seem like they tried as hard with the Metropolis scenes. Whereas the first forty-five minutes are filled with grandeur and pathos the rest of the movie coasts on Reeve's charismatic turn and William's timeless score.
And what's with the villains? I love Hackman but it's like here he's dead-set on out-camping Burgess Meredith's Penguin from the '60s "Batman" series. Hackman has a coiled intensity that's put to extraordinary use in movies like "Unforgiven." Why not tap into that while playing an iconic villain like Lex Luthor?
It's called, "Superman II - The Richard Donner Cut." I bought a Superman box set with all the films, but it's available individually at itunes and amazon to buy or stream. BTW, Donner said he couldn't do everything he had wanted since years had passed when he finally made his version, but I liked the changes I did see.
https://www.amazon.com/Superman-II-Richard-Donner-Cut/dp/B000IJ79WU
The "Richard Donner cut" is available on DVD and blu-ray. In fact, it's the only version of Superman II available by itself on blu-ray in the US. You may occasionally see it at Best Buy for about $8.
It's an interesting concept. But a couple things stick out: the Richard Donner cut features Superman doing the time-travel/spinning globe thing (again), as this was originally intended to happen in the second movie *instead* of the first one. Also, the scene at the hotel now uses some rough rehearsal footage, because it's the only extant footage that comes close to how Donner originally wanted the scene.
To get the *theatrical* version of Superman II on blu-ray, you either have to buy the "anthology" collection that includes ALL of the Christopher Reeves Superman movies (even the stupid ones), or get a hold of the European individual release.