Why was Richard Donner fired from directing the original cut of Superman II?

Sadly, the ending makes this greatly superior cut fall short of a masterpiece.

Filmed together with Superman 1 is the ticket!

Gene Hackman, Terence Stamp, Christopher Reeve, Jackie Cooper, Sarah Douglas, Margot Kidder, Jack O'Halloran, and Valerie Perrine in Superman II (1980)

Gene Hackman, Terence Stamp, Ned Beatty, Christopher Reeve, Jackie Cooper, Sarah Douglas, Jeff East, Margot Kidder, Jack O'Halloran, Valerie Perrine, and Susannah York in Superman (1978)

Richard Pryor and Christopher Reeve in Superman III (1983)

Gene Hackman, Mariel Hemingway, Jon Cryer, Christopher Reeve, Jackie Cooper, Margot Kidder, Marc McClure, and Mark Pillow in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

Christopher Reeve in Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (2024)

Peter O'Toole, Helen Slater, Hart Bochner, Faye Dunaway, Mia Farrow, Peter Cook, Marc McClure, Brenda Vaccaro, and Simon Ward in Supergirl (1984)

George Reeves, John T. Bambury, Tony Boris, Phyllis Coates, Billy Curtis, and Jerry Maren in Superman and the Mole-Men (1951)

Michelle Pfeiffer, Danny DeVito, Michael Keaton, and Christopher Walken in Batman Returns (1992)

Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton in Batman (1989)

Terence Stamp, Christopher Reeve, Sarah Douglas, and Jack O'Halloran in Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)

Lois, now we've been through these haullcinations of yours before. Can't you see what you almost did? Throwing yourself off a building 30 stories high? Can't you see what a tragic mistake you almost made?

I made a mistake. I made a mistake because

And don't fall down 'cause you're just going to have to get up again!

I guess I've known this for the longest time.

You realize, of course, if you had been wrong, Clark Kent would've been killed.

Terence Stamp, Sarah Douglas, and Jack O'Halloran in Superman II (1980)

Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder in Superman II (1980)

Gene Hackman and Ned Beatty in Superman II (1980)

Terence Stamp, Sarah Douglas, Richard LeParmentier, and Jack O'Halloran in Superman II (1980)

Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder in Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)

How long is Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut?

Gene Hackman

Christopher Reeve

Marlon Brando

Joe Shuster

Jerry Siegel

Mario Puzo

Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.

Richard Donner

Richard Lester

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

Back in 1978, &apos;Superman&apos; was a huge success and stands today as a generation defining film. The disputes between the father and son production team, the Salkinds, and director Richard Donner were no secret; filming the two original films back-to-back proved problematic. Following the triumph of the first film, Donner was sacked and the director&apos;s chair was handed over to Richard Lester for &apos;Superman II&apos;, who distorted Donner&apos;s original idea significantly, producing a camp and hugely flawed Superman sequel that started the franchise&apos;s fall to ridicule. &apos;Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut&apos; is the film that should have been, superior in every way to Lester&apos;s theatrical version until the last few minutes.

Richard Donner&apos;s name explodes emphatically onto the screen at the end of the opening credits, establishing Donner&apos;s authoritative mark on this film: the closest thing he can get to *his* original vision. It is an entirely different film to Lester&apos;s, which is to be expected. Donner had already recorded roughly 80% of the footage before he was fired, which Lester would have to rewrite and reshoot under the rules of the Director&apos;s Guild. Thus, everything ludicrous about &apos;Superman II&apos; is gone: no more Kryptonians with finger pointing levitation beams or the power to erase memories with a kiss (even those giant Superman emblem &quot;nets&quot; are not present). Instead, the story is much more absorbing, the characters are therefore fleshed out incredibly and it truly is a much more enjoyable and worthwhile Superman film.

The character dynamics are of noteworthy interest. The three Kryptonian villains (Terence Stamp, Sarah Douglas and Jack O&apos;Halloran), for example, are much more integral to the plot and Gene Hackman develops much more in this edition as the evil genius Lex Luthor, supported wonderfully by Miss Teschmacher (Valerie Perrine). But dedicated to Christopher Reeves memory, this definitely is his greatest performance as the titular character. Reeves is ever charming as Clark Kent, yet the contrast between him and Superman is particularly mesmerising here, as Reeves is remarkably more powerful and captivating as the superhero. It really is a shame that general audiences may never see him play the character the way he did here: it is the definitive Superman portrayal.

Yet it is still a flawed film. An excusable downside to the cut is the often choppy editing, making some areas feel rushed, but as the film was never finalised, it is fair to allow this slide as an unfortunate product of circumstance. However, the ending is an utter disappointment. It is difficult to get over the way that the closing moments make the entire film inconsequential. Granted, studio interference played a part here, but Donner could have reached unprecedented heights with Superman in this new cut, should he have chosen to make the logical choice and evict this ending from his cut (disregarding continuity errors that may impose).

&apos;The Richard Donner Cut&apos; is overall undoubtedly the better movie, and yet still could have been even better with a more satisfactory finish.

Teaser Trailer

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZjQzMWFmYzYtYjg5Zi00YWU4LThmMDktYTUxODdlMzNmZmU4XkEyXkFqcGdeQWxiaWFtb250._V1_.jpg

Back in 1978, 'Superman' was a huge success and stands today as a generation defining film. The disputes between the father and son production team, the Salkinds, and director Richard Donner were no secret; filming the two original films back-to-back proved problematic. Following the triumph of the first film, Donner was sacked and the director's chair was handed over to Richard Lester for 'Superman II', who distorted Donner's original idea significantly, producing a camp and hugely flawed Superman sequel that started the franchise's fall to ridicule. 'Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut' is the film that should have been, superior in every way to Lester's theatrical version until the last few minutes.

Richard Donner's name explodes emphatically onto the screen at the end of the opening credits, establishing Donner's authoritative mark on this film: the closest thing he can get to *his* original vision. It is an entirely different film to Lester's, which is to be expected. Donner had already recorded roughly 80% of the footage before he was fired, which Lester would have to rewrite and reshoot under the rules of the Director's Guild. Thus, everything ludicrous about 'Superman II' is gone: no more Kryptonians with finger pointing levitation beams or the power to erase memories with a kiss (even those giant Superman emblem "nets" are not present). Instead, the story is much more absorbing, the characters are therefore fleshed out incredibly and it truly is a much more enjoyable and worthwhile Superman film.

The character dynamics are of noteworthy interest. The three Kryptonian villains (Terence Stamp, Sarah Douglas and Jack O'Halloran), for example, are much more integral to the plot and Gene Hackman develops much more in this edition as the evil genius Lex Luthor, supported wonderfully by Miss Teschmacher (Valerie Perrine). But dedicated to Christopher Reeves memory, this definitely is his greatest performance as the titular character. Reeves is ever charming as Clark Kent, yet the contrast between him and Superman is particularly mesmerising here, as Reeves is remarkably more powerful and captivating as the superhero. It really is a shame that general audiences may never see him play the character the way he did here: it is the definitive Superman portrayal.

Yet it is still a flawed film. An excusable downside to the cut is the often choppy editing, making some areas feel rushed, but as the film was never finalised, it is fair to allow this slide as an unfortunate product of circumstance. However, the ending is an utter disappointment. It is difficult to get over the way that the closing moments make the entire film inconsequential. Granted, studio interference played a part here, but Donner could have reached unprecedented heights with Superman in this new cut, should he have chosen to make the logical choice and evict this ending from his cut (disregarding continuity errors that may impose).

'The Richard Donner Cut' is overall undoubtedly the better movie, and yet still could have been even better with a more satisfactory finish.

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Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

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