The Donner cut makes Superman getting his powers back anticlimactic. In the theatrical cut we don't know if Superman is going to get his powers back (okay we know he will get his powers back). By not seeing it happen and the focus being on Zod and his minions at the Daily Planet instead, there is still tension in those scenes and we don't know what will happen. Superman flying to Metropolis and telling Zod to "step outside" is a moment of triumph that resolves the tension. It is actually one of my favorite scenes in the movie. But in the Donner cut we see Superman getting his powers back making his return to Metropolis and first confronting Zod at the window very anticlimactic and takes all the joy and triumph out of that moment.
Yeah, the Donner Cut was not as good for dialog... Either they used less impressive takes, or they used takes with different lines.
While I didn't like that pink honeymoon suite, and the lame tripping scene... I think the Pistol reveal was too jokey for me... Lois checking out Clark's hand, and that reveal was better. But you can't have Clark sticking his hand in a fire, without the pink honeymoon suite...
I was also not the biggest fan of Lois jumping out of the Daily Planet... But it wasn't too bad. I think that scene could have been in the Theatrical Cut, after the Paris sequence, and Lois still could have jumped into Niagara Falls too...
I missed not having the Paris Sequence in the Donner Cut. That was a good plot.
In the Donner Cut, Superman turns back time, to before he went to the diner to fight the Bully... So at the end of the film, the Bully Revenge sequence doesn't work, because the Bully should not know who Clark is. I like the theatrical cut better, because the Bully knows who Clark is.
Then you have Superman flying the flag to the White House in the Theatrical Cut which was fantastic. I also missed that in the Donner Cut.
I've been wondering about the time reversal power since the last time I watched the first movie, and I've noticed that Lois remembers the gas station exploding even though Superman reversed the whole catastrophe. Maybe it doesn't affect people's memories for some reason. Or not before a certain point. If I had been buried alive in dirt in my car, I doubt I's ever forget that. Don't even get me started on Jimmy Olsen 'cause then this comment would go on longer than anyone would be willing to read it.
Superman didn't reverse the whole disaster. He reversed the total collapse of the damn and Lois's car being consumed in the aftershocks following the repair of the fault.
Still no news on the amount of casualties caused by fall out radiation from the missile blast though.
"In the Donner Cut, Superman turns back time, to before he went to the diner to fight the Bully... So at the end of the film, the Bully Revenge sequence doesn't work, because the Bully should not know who Clark is. I like the theatrical cut better, because the Bully knows who Clark is."
That's why I refuse to see the Donnor Cut. Even if Donnor always wanted it in the 2nd movie, it's just stupid. I also didn't know the Paris scene was cut out in the Donnor Cut. Frankly that makes me not even want to see it even more.