My brother let me borrow his copy of the recently released Superman II Richard Donner Director’s Cut DVD. As a kid, I loved Superman II. What kid wouldn’t like 3 super villians fighting Superman? As an adult, the theatrical release of the movie is almost unwatchable.

Here’s a little back-story for you : You see Superman I and II were filmed simultaneously as Richard Donner as the director. The Superman project ran into some schedule and budget problems though, so at one point Superman II production was put on hold to ensure that Superman would be completed at a more acceptable time frame, and budget. When Superman I was released, and was a hit, Superman II was revived, but not with Richard Donner. The producers of Superman I and II, the Salkinds, had a falling out with Richard during the completion of Superman I, so the Salkinds brought in a different director for Superman II. Because of this change, the feel of Superman II took a campy turn. (As did all the remaining Superman sequels.) There was a large amount of footage that Richard Donner shot for Superman II (almost a whole movie’s worth) that never saw the light of day because the new director had his own vision for the film.

The Richard Donner version of the film, is a MUCH BETTER MOVIE. Gone are the campy squeeks and whimpers of Non, the large bafoon villain. Gone is the lame bystander dialog during the Metropolis fight scene between Superman, and the Super Villains. (In the original version at some point Superman is knocked into someone’s wind sheild and the person inside the car states “he’ll pay for it!”) Gone are the lame sight gags during the fight scene including someone getting an ice cream cone in the face, a man’s toupee being blown off, and a guy on roller skates wearing a sequin vest being blown down the street.

The most important change, in my opinion, in the Richard Donner version is the removal of the horrible fight scene in Superman’s fortress of solitude. In the original version, Superman and his enemies mysteriously gain powers that Superman has never had, like the ability to shoot beams from their fingers, teleport, and in Supermans case throw a Suran Wrap “S” at his enemies to disable them. This horrid scene is gone in the Donner Cut.

As a whole, the Donner cut is a more serious movie. It’s more consistent with Superman I in regard to “feel.” If you liked Superman II as a kid, but can’t sit through it as an adult, I highly recommend you check out the Richard Donner cut of the movie. It’s much better.

This is not a new movie, I know, but it’s one of those movies my friends kept telling me I needed to see and I never got around to it. Today, I finally did. To my friends, let me say this : “Did I miss something?” To be honest I felt this movie was a waste of 2 hours. When it comes down to it, I think I just didn’t “get it.” Was this movie supposed to be a comedy? A thriller? A dramedy? A thrillomedrama? All of the above? The problem with this movie is that if it was supposed to be all those things, it did none of them well. It wasn’t thrilling or funny. The parts that were supposed to be disturbing were ruined because of the movies quirky humor, and the parts that were supposed to be funny were ruined by the movies subject matter. The main character played by Christian Bale (who did a good job) was so pathetic that he couldn’t create any suspense. The only part of the movie that ellicited any kind of emotional response was the scene in which he spared his assistant by telling her to leave before he hurt her. I gotta say the ending did nothing for me either. It didn’t really wrap anything up, or give the viewer any kind of resolution. Again, maybe I just didn’t get it.

Anyway, I give it ** out of ***** .