JCC Superman Returns

There's nothing in Man of Steel, other than it's not really Superman, that would put it below The Quest for Peace. There's not really anything that would put it below Superman III either, as it's just a more technically-adept movie -- even if there are some individually good scenes in S3.

My list is probably like Rew's except I discount the Donner-cut for the most part as I don't think it was really possible for him to do what he wanted, after Lester took over. I'd have preferred to see the full vision but that's not possible.

 

And even she couldn't save it.

 

Maybe she came to bury it?

 

Blues Brothers 2000 was an utterly wretched film with a wonderful soundtrack. None of it made any goddamned sense.



Like Superman IV: The Quest for Piss

 

We have such sights to show you.



Oh no tears please. It's a waste of good suffering.

 

I did check its size. Therefore, your point is invalid! wooooooooooooooooooooo

 

That's how it worked in the 80s.

Superman III was so good, especially the framing of cinematography.






Dark Superman is so awesome!

 

Oh, I know about the other ideas. My favorite of the bad bunch was that Superman dies, then Lois finds out she's pregnant and gives birth, only for the child to rapidly age into Superman.

They essentially did with the Director's Cut because outside of the "babies" scenes, the shot of the Executioner being crushed and the missile dodging Superman and thus forcing the chase, everything else was just extra second unit stuff that was only filmed for the director's discretion. It existed because the Salkinds wanted to gain a huge ratings boost for the network premiere.

The whole story that Ilya Salkind pitched was awful. Worse than the actual film. The story would begin with Lois having left Metropolis because of the relationship stall with Superman. Then Brainiac shows up and starts causing problems, including using a Kryptonite beam that would turn Superman evil, but then it would also turn him good whenever Brainiac wanted it too. Including a really stupid scene where Brainiac hits Clark with it while in a meeting with Perry White, only for Clark to haul off and slap him for no good reason. At the end, Brainiac would take on a physical form to fight Clark. Mxyzptlk would show up and be a problem as well. Warner Brothers was the one that didn't want Brainiac in the film.

He was only in the film because Salkind watched him on "The Tonight Show", when he did a bit about Superman after seeing the first film. The whole scene where Gus goes into detail about Superman saving Columbia from the typhoons was essentially what Pryor did.

 

i know, but i have that expanded cut on VHS taped from tv years ago, and i just always feel like i'm missing stuff watching the DVD original version.

 

I don't remember anything about the expanded TV version of Superman: The Movie. I don't recall hearing about these scenes mentioned above. Where these scenes in the Donner Cut?

I remember hearing a Kevin Smith podcast/interview with Geoff Johns, where it was Johns that found lost footage for Superman while working as an intern for Dick Donner. It was after Johns found the lost footage they were able to put together the Donner Cut of the film. When did the expanded edition of Superman air on TV?

I remember see some type of documentary that covered some of the battles between the Salkinds and Donner. I would love to see a full documentary or movie on the struggles of getting Superman: The Movie made, as I'm sure there's a bunch of drama, back stabbing and villains within it.

 

What I meant was that all the footage put into the director's cut of the first film was stuff that Donner himself approved of. Those four scenes that I listed were the only other material that was of significant importance to the ABC Expanded Broadcast. The rest of the material, such as extra shots of Otis walking around the train station and extra shots of the earthquake damage, with the full version of "Chasing Rockets" and "Superfeats" playing, was mainly second unit stuff. Donner wouldn't have included them since they were really optional.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=superman+the+movie+deleted+scenes/extended+scenes

You can find all the missing material from the first film under that query. Pay attention to #1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16,17, 20, 21 and 22.

Four and Fourteen in particular are an examples of a lot of second unit stuff that was filler. There's some good stuff in there, but unnecessary filler as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_(1978_film)#Broadcast_television_version_details

It's on the 06 DVD and I think was covered here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Look,_Up_in_the_Sky:_The_Amazing_Story_of_Superman

 

i think the DVD i have of Superman the movie was from 01 or 02'. it had a documentary hosted by Marc McClure about it. I think they mainly battled because the film went over budget. Which was pretty dumb considering how much it ended up making. It was a good documentary, showing the background of the film and how Guy Hamilton almost made it, and Donner got rid of a lot of silly stuff that was in the script.

 

The issue with the budget was that the Salkinds were paying for it from investments, loans and whatnot. They didn't want help from Warner Brothers, because then they'd have more of a say. It's similar to what Lucas went through with Fox on TESB. And as noted, Donner didn't have good relations due to their poor business practices. Which ironically resulted in Alexander and Ilya having a falling out making "Santa Claus: The Movie" and the two not working together, much less speaking to each other until Alexander convinced his son to oversee "Superboy".

 

One can't really fault them for being worried about going over budget. Its success would be impossible to predict.

 

Superman: The Movie was a great film considering all the budget and in-fighting production problems. They really knew how to make movies back then, as they had to focus more on story telling and character development. Donner allowed Reeve to showcase his charisma, making Superman so engaging and likable that he still embodies the role nearly 40 years later.

Singer's homage to Donner's flick obviously didn't go over well with critics and fans alike. Singer's Superman was too emo and flat; same with Lois Lane. Of course, Superman Returns gets widely panned for Superman not throwing a punch. Thus, we get Man of Steel where it more than compensates for Superman Returns lack of fistacuffs. And on the horizon is Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice where, based on the teaser trailer, Superman would be much different from what we saw in Man of Steel.

 

Didn't know C-3PO is on the boards

 

Well, the problem was that the Salkinds never really set a budget. According to Donner they'd complain about the budget, but he's claimed that they never gave him one. He's maintained that if they had, then he would have done more to work with it. The other problem was the Salkinds wanted to half-ass everything, whereas Donner wanted it to be credible. Not just story wise, but effects wise. That's why some of the more weaker bits never made it into the film, such as the missile dodge and the extended shot of Superman flying after the helicopter rescue. When Lester took over, he didn't take as long to get things done. But then, he had the advantage of half of the film was done and all the hard work for the effects was already finished.