Superman II
(Great Britain/USA, 1980, 127 minutes)
Superman must face three villains who survived the explosion of Krypton and are threatening Earth, while facing the truth about his own feelings for Lois Lane. Slight comic-book adventure taking up a number of loose ends from the first Superman, throwing away some good ideas in rather rote scripting; not as good as the original, though closer to a comic-strip spirit, and even the trick effects seem cheaper. The film was mostly shot by Richard Donner simultaneously with the original, but finished by Richard Lester, who had worked as a consulting producer on the first film and was offered the job after Donner and producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind fell out; in 2006, Donner was given by Warners the chance to put together his original (and vastly superior) vision for Superman II, in a 110-minute cut assembled by Michael Thau and released on DVD.
A Warner Bros. release. Alexander Salkind presents an Alexander & Ilya Salkind production; an International Film Production picture, made by Dovemead Limited. Starring Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Sarah Douglas, Margot Kidder, Jack O'Halloran, Valerie Perrine, Susannah York; with Clifton James, E. G. Marshall as the President, Marc McClure; and Terence Stamp. Directed by Richard Lester (with uncredited material directed by Richard Donner); produced by Pierre Spengler; screenplay by Mario Puzo, David Newman and Leslie Newman, based on a story by Mario Puzo and the character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster; creative consultant, Tom Mankiewicz; music by Ken Thorne, from original material composed by John Williams; directors of photography, Geoffrey Unsworth, Bob Paynter; production designers, John Barry and Peter Murton; costume designers, Yvonne Blake and Susan Yelland; film editor, John Victor-Smith; director of miniature effects and additional flying sequences, Derek Meddings; director of special effects, Colin Chilvers; supervisor of optical and visual effects, Roy Field; special effects director, flying unit, Zoran Perisic.
Superman must face three villains who survived the explosion of Krypton and are threatening Earth, while facing the truth about his own feelings for Lois Lane. Slight comic-book adventure taking up a number of loose ends from the first Superman, throwing away some good ideas in rather rote scripting; not as good as the original, though closer to a comic-strip spirit, and even the trick effects seem cheaper. The film was mostly shot by Richard Donner simultaneously with the original, but finished by Richard Lester, who had worked as a consulting producer on the first film and was offered the job after Donner and producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind fell out; in 2006, Donner was given by Warners the chance to put together his original (and vastly superior) vision for Superman II, in a 110-minute cut assembled by Michael Thau and released on DVD.
A Warner Bros. release. Alexander Salkind presents an Alexander & Ilya Salkind production; an International Film Production picture, made by Dovemead Limited. Starring Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Sarah Douglas, Margot Kidder, Jack O'Halloran, Valerie Perrine, Susannah York; with Clifton James, E. G. Marshall as the President, Marc McClure; and Terence Stamp. Directed by Richard Lester (with uncredited material directed by Richard Donner); produced by Pierre Spengler; screenplay by Mario Puzo, David Newman and Leslie Newman, based on a story by Mario Puzo and the character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster; creative consultant, Tom Mankiewicz; music by Ken Thorne, from original material composed by John Williams; directors of photography, Geoffrey Unsworth, Bob Paynter; production designers, John Barry and Peter Murton; costume designers, Yvonne Blake and Susan Yelland; film editor, John Victor-Smith; director of miniature effects and additional flying sequences, Derek Meddings; director of special effects, Colin Chilvers; supervisor of optical and visual effects, Roy Field; special effects director, flying unit, Zoran Perisic.
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