Anyway, while I felt that the new rearranging of the score, itself, worked for the most part, there were some great moments with the music that were lost in Donner's cut, specifically my favoritwe moment in the film where Superman appears outside the window of the Daily Planet asking Zod if he'd "care to step outside". At this point is a roaring rendition (or what always seemed to me)of William's heroic theme. We lose that great musical climax in Donner's cut, and thus it proves less effective. On the flip side though, in the new Donner cut, we get more variations of the "March of the Villans" theme in extended scenes of Lex traveling "North!" with Miss Tessmacher.

Jeron

Donner's vindication - Look at Lester's filmography on imdb verses Donner's. So funny how the suits who are your best friends turn on you on a dime. Looks like Superman 3 was Lester's career buster. I'm glad Donner's vision could finally be realized.

However, one huge problem with me: the ending. As much as I like how Donner re-incorporated the "turning back time" ending into Superman: the Movie - even if it's a major cop-out deus ex machina - it's inclusion in part two was the only upsetting thing to me. First off, the only reason it really impacted me in the original film is beacuse of Jor-El asking his son not to use his powers to alter the course of human history. I like the idea that he defies his true father to save the woman he loves; it's a great character trait I find in Superman. When it comes to Lois, he's unrelenting in keeping her safe. Using it in Superman II felt cheap and unnecessary. And as much as I abhor the idea of throwing celophane "S"-shields at Kryptonian villians, the "amnesia kiss" works. It was also used in the comic continuity (before Superman II, also). Also, if Bryan Singer intended for Superman Returns (another phenominal film that deconstructs the myth of the Man of Steel both emotionally, heroically, and maturely) to come after part two than Donner's ending doesn't work. If Superman reversed time as he does in part two, than he and Lois would have never consumated their love, thus she never would have been pregnant and given birth to Jason. I'm hoping that someday we'll get a complete and extended cut made up from Donner's and Lester's material. I say, keep a majority of Donner's, and include Lester's original ending. I think it would be a masterpiece of superhero cinema, along with it's predecessor, Superman Returns, Batman, Batman Begins, X2: X-Men United, and Spider-Man.

Totally agree with you nuts on this one. The ending bothered me, also, for the same reason. Actually, I am quite fond of the amnesia kiss because I think Margot Kidder's meltdown here makes for a great scene and you sense the pain that Clark must endure by making her forget the love they consumated. It's a very touching scene and to see her go instantly back to the demanding abusive Lois is comedically devastating.

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Originally posted by JeffBond:
I agree about the turning-back-time ending--this was supposed to be the ending of II and was switched to end the first movie when they jettisoned the idea of a cliffhanger ending. But whatever you think of it, it does work as a dramatic payoff in the first movie, while it seems more of an afterthough in the second. The biggest problem is the final scene with the truck driver, where everyone acts like the previous scene in the diner DID happen. Still, it's SO much better than Lester's version to me, which just looked cheap and cheezy and was overloaded with dumb humor...

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That's the reason the ending *doesn't* bother me and I rather like it, I remember it was plotted out to be the original ending for S2. Donner's cut does leave some gaping plot holes. I chose to overlook them as it was evident he was re-crafting a story from pre-existing footage... and that's tough. I'm sure there were lots of "damn it, I wish I could have just finished this movie like I wanted to" moments while editing.