juniorelevenfritz Three Villians, Two directors, One amazing Superman film. The action is amazing. The characters are beyond iconic, and movie was a blast to sit through. Definitely recommend watching it again.

Sober-Friend This film is very controversial. Mainly because "Superman" and "Superman 2" were both being shot at the same time. When production fell behind schedule Richard Donner stop filming the scenes for "Superman II" and concentrated on filming the scenes for "Superman 1". When Donner was ready to finish work on "Superman II" he was fired. Now why he was fired is up for grabs. Truth be told everything with Gene Hackman is "His Footage". Richard Lester ended up being the director of record for "Superman II". The 1981 film is still a good film. 25 years later Warner Brothers released "Superman II" the Richard Donner cut and it is good but the restored International Cut is actually the best cut of the film. It re-incorporated many scenes that were shot by Richard Donner. In fact the balcony scene in the international cut is much better than the scene that Donner used in his cut. Both scenes however were shot by him. In this film the three villain from Krypton have now found there way to earth and they are taking over the world with a little help from Lex Luther. At the same time Lois Lane is out to find out if Clark is really "Superman". This film has more action than the first film but it doesn't have the heart but its not meant too. Its meant to be an action adventure film and succeeds. THis version (RESTORED INTERNATIONAL CUT) is not available to buy but you can download it. I just wish the Richard Donner would have used more of the Lester Footage to so his cut did not seem so jumpy. Trust me must comic book films today are terrible when compared to "Superman" and "Superman II"

alfCycle As I stated in my Superman (1978) review, I am not really a Superman fan. I have always been a big Batman, X-Men, Spider-Man fan, but never got into Superman. I thought the original movie was decently entertaining, but not that great of a movie (see that review for more info). Superman II has elements that I liked more than the original, but also elements that I disliked more. On the positive side, I definitely liked General Zod way more than Gene Hackman's cartoonish Chairface Chippendale-esque portrayal of Lex Luthor from the first movie. Superman actually has someone to fight. However, the biggest negative has to be with the wildly inconsistent tone of the movie. This most likely comes from the change in director part way through filming. Half the movie is played with a more serious tone, whereas the other half is basically a slapstick comedy/spoof in the vein of the Adam West Batman series, though nowhere near as clever. There are also a bunch of annoying plot holes that I found hard to ignore. Mainly, how the hell did he get all the way back to the freaking Arctic without his powers? You're not telling me he hitchhiked and walked to the North Pole? And how did he actually get his powers back anyway? At least give me some dumb explanation. Not saying I'm some idiot that needs every detail fed to me, but that is a pretty big plot point. Not like this is a Stanley Kubrick / David Lynch film where you have to piece things together for yourself. At least in, say, The Dark Knight Rises, you can "explain" the question of how did Bruce Wayne get back into Gotham with the obligatory "He's Batman!", but in this movie he's not even Superman at the time, he's just some dude that gets easily beaten up at restaurants by a-hole truck drivers. Also, if Superman can erase people's minds with a kiss, does that mean he has telepathic powers like Professor X? Can he control anybody's mind? Does he need to touch them to do so? Is it strictly through oral application? Is it saliva based mind control? Couldn't he just put it in a spray gun and shoot super-mind control spit on Lex Luthor and make him rethink his life choices? Anyway, I will give this movie the same rating out of 10 that I gave the first movie, but if I had to rank them, I would put the original slightly above this one.6/10Recommended for those that enjoy "previously on..."'s, two sided floating space ipads, exploding space elevators, hot air balloon rides, white water lie detectors, kneeling before Zod!, not so subtle product placement, the old switcharoo, mind control spit......but that's just like, my opinion, man# Of Times Watched: Three

Python Hyena Superman 2 (1980): Dir: Richard Lester / Cast: Christopher Reeves, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Terrence Stamp, Sarah Douglas: Every bit as exciting as the first film. Clark Kent faces even greater challenges with his relationship with reporter Lois Lane and his battle against the scheming Lex Luthor and three super villains. However Kent may not be able to stop them thus leaving him torn between his love for Lane and his being a super hero. Directed by Richard Lester who previously helmed the Beatles masterpiece A Hard Day's Night. Christopher Reeves returns as Superman who questions his destiny. Margot Kidder plays the ever testing Lane who knows that something isn't quite right with Clark. Gene Hackman is superb as Luthor who breaks out of prison and recruits three super villains in belief that Superman has met his match. Terrence Stamp is compelling as the leader of the three super villains who are encased in glass sheet prisons hurled aimlessly through space but upon their escape they wreck havoc upon the earth. They embark upon a grueling battle with Superman in the city streets until Superman realizes that their downfall will not be through brawn. Sarah Douglas plays the sly and feisty female super villain. Electrifying special effects highlight as Clark must decide what is more important, being in love or being the man of steel. Score: 9 / 10