Countdown to Man of Steel Part II–Superman II (1981, original and director’s cut)

The adventure continues….

Both versions of Superman II push the mythology and its respected love story into a dizzying array of spectacle, comedy and tragedy.  Each incarnation begins when Jor-El’s three imprisoned enemies escape the Phantom Zone and threaten Earth.  Superman, is already entrenched with personal torments.  In just two films, his identity is revealed to Lois Lane.  Their romance blossoms, but Superman is unable to live the life of a normal mortal while serving as Earth’s protector.  Superman’s quandary beckons comparisons to the life of Jesus, who is sent by his father from the heavens to be a savior at the expense of being a sacrificial deity.  Despite the childhood source material, Superman II retains Donner’s verisimilitude; it tackles adult themes within the confines of a children’s comic book.  In fact, Lois and Superman have sex, which set the nerd’s heads on fire with surprise — and/or envy.

The screenwriters inject Superman, the icon, with human desires.  When Superman impetuously becomes mortal, he immediately forgets his established vulnerabilities at great expense.  He’s easily beaten up by a bully and finds himself powerless to stop General Zod and his followers from conquering Earth.  What’s interesting is that Superman — or should I say Clark — almost immediately decides to restore his powers.  Despite his love for Lois, his duty towards the greater good remains even in his feeble human body.  Superman is doomed to be Earth’s subservient protector.

Superman II was mostly assembled at the same time as the original.  Conceived as one big production, the ballooning budget prevented director Richard Donner from completing both parts.  After Superman: The Movie released and became Warner Bro’s biggest money maker, the Salkands fired Dinner because of the growing tensions between them.  Richard Lester (A Hard Days Night and the Salkands’ Three Musketeers), who had a reputation for delivering films on time and on budget, was brought in to direct the missing scenes and redo some of Donner’s.

Originally released three years after Superman, the sequel arrived unscathed, despite a changing of the guard.  Lester’s take on Superman II does reveal a lack of interest in the mythos.  However, Lester manages to carry the second half of the story to new heights.  His greatest triumph remains the night battle between Superman and the three villains throughout the skies and streets of Metropolis.  The Kryptonians crash through buildings, buses and billboard signs — that shamelessly carry advertisements used to garner extra capital.  (Superman crashes into a Marlboro truck.  Zod destroys one giant Coca-Cola sign, yet the wording remains…)

But Lester tries to inject his own brand of humor, such as silent film tribute when the three villain use their super breath to blow hurricane-force winds and causes mayhem and destruction throughout the Metropolis streets.  Lester incorporates gags that seem slightly out-of-place like a skater that skirts by or a ignorant phone caller, laughing while the chaos ensues  The most bizarre scenes involve Zod’s original arrival in Houston, Texas, where rednecks engage in stereotypically rabble-rousing with the super-beings.  It’s the only moment when these British-produced films seem to replicate America based on television shows they watch.   

The forgivable changes involve Superman’s depowering.  As Lois and Clark engage romance sparks, Clark reaches out to the holographic images of his family for guidance.  Marlon Brando, who received $3 million for his original performance, had also filmed scenes in which he warns Kal-El not to denounce his birthright for his selfish ways.  However, the Salkands removed Brando’s scenes from Part II to avoid paying another $3 million for his footage.  New sequences were filmed in which Superman’s mother, Lara (Susannah York) duplicated the role. 

However, the most notable changes included Superman’s final confrontation with Zod.  Sensing more action was necessary, Zod and Kal-El engage in only final battle that involves a bizarre mix of super powers never introduced, such as Kal-El’s ability to teleport and replicate himself.  There’s one embarrassing moment in which Superman rips a copy of his ‘S’ insignia and traps Zod’s henchmen Non in its foil wrappings.  Zod and his crew can project piercing white streaks from their fingers. 

But the biggest blunder has been Superman II’s ending in which Superman must resume his dual-indentity and his civil service at the expense of losing any romantic future with Lois.  The final moments between Clark and Lois are heart-wrenching and tender, but the effect is lost when Clark kisses Lois and — somehow — manages to erase Lois’s memory, including her knowledge of Superman’s identity and, presumably, her entire encounter with the Fortress of Solitude.  Unfortuately, this resolution feels like a cheat and remains unexplained.

However…

In 2006, riding off the short-lived success of Superman Returns, Warner Bros procured and reinstated the excised footage that was shot by Donner in 1977.  This included an alternative opening in which Lois simply glances over and notices a startling resemblance between Clark and Superman.  After all, Lois is a top-notch reporter.  The scene retains Donner’s sense of screwball comedy-style romantic banter and concludes with Lois taking a swan-dive from the top of the Daily Planet so Clark can reveal himself as Superman.  There is also the scene in which Lois shoots Clark to, once again, prove he’s Superman.  Since the sequence was never completed, the editors had to use screen test footage featuring a slimmer Christopher Reeve and a glaringly shift in glass frames that deviates between angles.

But the “Director’s Cut” preserves all of the Marlon Brando footage in which Kal-El’s father mentors Superman during his depowering and ultimate restoration.  It also answers the question as to how Kal-El regained his abilities and adds a new sense of tragedy to Superman’s folly.  It also balances the father-son themes established in the first film.  In order for Clark to become Superman again, Jor-El must exhaust the final powers of the crystal he bequeathed to Kal-El.  This means that all contact between Jor-El and his son must end.  This also reinforces the idea that Superman’s fate is to exist alone. 

It’s unfair to compare both cuts as one cut was never completed, but the product of a stitching effort; an idea of what could have been.  Watching both cuts, it remains obvious that Donner had his soul invested in the saga and that his interest in legitimizing Superman and creating an epic was slightly lost in the transition.

Yet, Superman II works in both incantations because of Kidder and Reeve, who retain their juicy chemistry even after three years and a changing of the guard.  Lester seems less interested in Superman, but has a flair for their romantic interludes  Both versions carry a sense of romantic weight and tragedy.  Both endings, which differ greatly, conclude with Lois forgetting everything that’s transpired.  Of course, Lois is perfectly capable of rediscovering Clark’s identity.  Right?

The performances continue to shine, with Christopher Reeve striking a sympathetic chord during his brief stint as a mortal.  But the villains steal the show, especially Terence Stamp as General Zod, who possesses a wonderful bit of arrogance and self-entitlement.  He remains dry, even during a great bit when Zod conquers the White House.  As the President kneels before Zod, he utters “Oh, God…”.  “Zod”, the General quietly reminds him.  Gene Hackman is regulated to being Zod’s manipulator, but has fun with his fragile situation of trying to earn kudos from his Kryptonian allies, but is one quip away from being killed by Ursa’s left pinkie finger. 

Superman II muiscal score was conducted by Ken Thorne, who reused most John Williams original cues.  However, his interpretation carries a campier vibe and, as a result, ages the film.  Also, Lester’s cut omits many scenes involving Hackman, who was unable (or unwilling) to return for reshoots.  As a result, there are moments when Hackman is replaced by a stand-in or literally dumped off screen to explain his absence.  Despite the 2006 cut’s obvious misgivings, the original Donner cut remains the better of the two, thanks in part to Brando’s moments and the ageless John William orchestration.  It carries the same magical aura that was displayed by its original cinematographer; rather than colorful, campier feel delivered by Lester’s sequences. 

Superman II will always be the second half of one ambitious saga that was deterred by Richard Donner’s premature departure.  Yet, it retains the satisfactory mix of “verisimilitude” and sense of fun.  It’s strikingly adult ending concludes with Reeve’s trademark flight in space as he surveys Earth and smiles while whisking away — forever doomed to be alone. 

Next time: Superman’s loneliness is remedied by an old girlfriend and Richard Pryor. 

Countdown to Man of Steel Part I–Superman (1978)

You will believe a man can fly!

The best sequence in Superman remains his debut.  After spotting Lois Lane dangling from the top of a skyscraper, Clark Kent scopes a phone booth only to discover it’s bottom half is missing, ruining any hope of secretly changing into Superman.  (For Henry Cavill, his options will be even more limited in the cell phone age.)  Using a revolving door instead, Clark surfaces as Superman, skirts past an impressed pimp and rockets to the sky just in time to catch Lois — and then a helicopter.  During Superman’s rousing rescue of Lois, he assures her “Easy, Miss.  I’ve got you.”  Lois replies, “You got me?  Who’s got YOU?!”

What’s interesting is that bystanders below aren’t frightened or alarmed.  Instead, they applaud in awe and delight.  Would this actually happen?  I doubt it, but it fits well in director Richard Donner’s world. 

Superman, like its predecessor, Star Wars, embraces true-to-form heroics and idealism during a time scarred by Vietnam and Watergate.  Even after 35 years, Superman remains the Frank Capra of superhero films.  It legitimized the cook book film.  Without it, there would be no Batman, no Dark Knight, no Iron Man, no Spider-Man. 

The first Superman is all set-up and promises and, ultimately, it awards our patience.  Surprisingly, the narrative avoids cluing those in who may not follow comic book lore.  The first hour tells Superman’s backstory: his life-minute rescue from Krypton, his childhood upbringing in Smallville, Kansas; his venture to the North Pole where he assembles his alien fortress and finds his destiny.  When he finally takes flight in Metropolis, we do believe.

It would be impossible to posit a completely objective retrospective.  Superman remains my childhood cinematic treasure.  In the early ages of VHS, I sat patiently and gobbled up every ounce of it — right up to the grandiose opening credits I couldn’t read or the grim and the political, scientific jargon between Superman’s father Jor-El  who futily warns his fellow Kryptonian’s of their home planets utlimate destruction.  It works because the actor’s believe every word of it.  I relished in the history and mythology. 

The production cast Marlon Brando, who had just reached his career high after The Godfather (and was paid $3 million for 15 minutes of screen time).  Donner even casted well-respected thespians as the Kryptonian council, such as Trevor Howard (The Third Man) and Maria Schell, whose given just four lines!  Yet, the caliber adds a sense of believability to a genre that had not earned respect in the film medium. 

Superman was produced by Ilya Salkind during a time when studios saw big money in big films such as Jaws.  They cast Brando and Gene Hackman before they even had a finished script or director.  But, the casting added a credibility to an untested genre.  They foresaw Superman as something epic!  Donner was recruited based on the success of his debut feature, The Omen.  Immediately, he recruited screenwriting pal Tom Mankiewicz.  The two ruffled through hundreds of pages delivered by Mario Puzo (The Godfather) as well as four additional screenwriters. 

The duo eschewed the lampoonery humor, such as the brief moment when Superman stumbles across TV’s “Kojak” who utters “Who loves ya, baby.”  Instead, Donner posted a sign for his crew to see each day.  It carried a singular word: “Verisimilitude”.  In other words, Superman had to feel genuine.

Despite striving for authenticity, Donner and Mankiewicz retain the humor and fun of the comic.  Once the story gets to Metropolis, we are immediately thrown into the fun of seeing Superman dress in fedoras and thick rimmed glasses and deceive the world into believing he’s a mild-mannered reporter, including his impetuous, strong-willed, co-reporter, Lois Lane.  Somehow, Donner manages to retain the verisimilitude without compromising the tongue-in-cheek self-awareness.  You can almost see Reeve winking at the camera. 

Donner manages to tell three separate films before Superman makes his grand entrance, incorporating a wave of disparate genres, injecting hues of white during his Krypton opening, which hearkens back to Shakespeare.  He throws in a pigment of Norman Rockwell green during Clark’s Smallville teenage phase.  His adult years in the hyperactive Metropolis remains dull in strokes of brown and gray.  Each gives us a clue into Superman’s characteristic make-up.  When Superman finally takes stage, the blues, reds and yellows of his costume chew at our senses. 

The first two Superman films weren’t necessarily about Superman, but about him and his relationship to Lois Lane  For example, the only sequence that allows us to know Superman/Clark is when he communicates to the hologram messages of his biological father, Jor-El, who sees his son as a symbol and protector.  We get a sense that Superman is destined for great things, but is he still a man?  During Superman’s first date (interview) with Lois Lane, we’re thoroughly allowed a peak into Superman’s humanity. 

After rewatching Superman, I’m utterly surprised by the number of sequences that enchanted which did not involve special effects.  Superman’s meeting with Lois at her luxurious apartment (much too nice for a reporter’s salary.  Only Trump can afford a city rooftop) remains a highlight thanks to Margot Kidder’s chemistry with Reeve.  Rather than dwell on Superman’s heroics, Donner allows a fun series of exchanges between the two.  The two actors have fun with the awkwardness of the conversation.  It also engages in some funny use of humor as Lois stumbles through the interview, completely mesmerized by her male subject.  There’s some nice touches of sexual innuendo that completely escaped my five-year-old mind that now award my adult awareness.  “How BIG are you?  I mean…how TALL are you?”  

The date concludes with Superman taking Lois on a flight around the world, because, if you were Superman, wouldn’t you want to show off?  And if you were a woman, wouldn’t you want to go?  The sequence works because Williams’ score is completely magical and the actors sell the awe of the moment.  Their exchanged glances speak volumes.  We witness these two characters fall in love.  Donner shared in interviews that for Superman to succeed, the love story should remain in the forefront.  Unlike other comic book films where a love story in thrown in as an aside or to remain dutiful to its source material, Superman keeps the triangle between Lois, Clark, and Superman front and center. 

Donner wisely incorporates Lois and Clark’s introduction simultaneously.  Immediately, we see Clark is a insecure, accident-prone dullard.  He pulls and prods to open a bottle of champagne.  Lois nonchalantly grabs the bottle, slams it against the desk and hands it back without ever turning to face Clark.  The bottle explodes over Clark.  Did he plan all of that?  Did Lois do it intentionally?

Prior to Superman’s release, flight sequences were accomplished by literally marionette the actor in front of a projected background.  The special effects team propelled beyond the limitations by incorporating a series of zooms and maneuvers to instill a sense of dimension.  We see Superman fly directly at us and then spurt into the background and circle a building.  When he’s chasing down nuclear missiles, both and he and the missile fly before and in front of the backdrop, creating a sense of reality never accomplished before.  There are also brief moments that impress, even if they could be throw-aways, such as Superman’s plunge into the Earth’s core and lateral pressing the crust back into place.  But the greatest effect remains Reeve who sells the effects with unbinding discipline and determination. 

Reeve remains the unsung hero of these films.  Whereas George Reeves and television’s Batman, Adam West, always had their tongue-in-their cheek, Reeve legitimizes his hero by making him stoic and human.  He speaks with a genuine sense.  Rather than turning Superman into a self-righteous icon, his Superman is a tempered idealist with genuine affection and resolve.  Reeve has fun toying with varying dimensions of his persona as his flirts with Lois and threatens his arch-nemesis Lex Luther.  But Reeve also creates a wonderful array of vulnerability during his bouts with Kryptonite and the supposed demise of Lois, which is thwarted thanks to Superman’s insane ability to reverse the Earth’s rotation and turn back time.  The actual affect remains astonishing, even if the logic is completely unraveled.  However, the faltered logic is saved by the emotional undercurrent and themes.  Superman is challenged by the ghosts of his two fathers and, finally, Superman decides to use his near infinite powers to do the right thing and damn the consequences. And Reeve sells the hell out of it!

Reeve also succeeds in making Clark a unique character, which sells the insanity of his petty disguise.  Instead, Superman deceives by being simply ordinary.  Sure, he looks like Superman, but how on Earth could he actually be Superman? 

Superman’s only dated elements remains Luther’s unnecessary dumb henchman, Otis (Ned Beatty) who feels like a product of an earlier era.  His juvenile comic tendencies feel unnecessary as Hackman has more than his fair share of humorously ego-maniacal quips and a confident menace. 

Superman remains the reigning champion and the hero for all the comic craze to follow.  It rode the coattails of Star Wars (released the year before) and singlehandedly injected Superman with the same sense of awe, wonder, and innocence.  It helped to erase the cynicism that plagued the 70s.  It continues to hold the standard for balance of drama, action and comedy.  It remains of my favorite, most majestic movie-going experiences; a film that cleanses my soul of doubt and dismay.  For two-and-a-half hours, I remained swept away by its majesty and its unadulterated purity.  Even after three decades, I still believe.