Marlon Brando As Jor-EL In The Donner Cut (2006)
Gandalf of Superman Cinema, a primary reason that The Donner Cut, even saw the light of day--posts the following:
By now you must have heard about this super duper BladeRunner DVD set... Why am I talking about Bladerunner? Selutron thought it would be a good idea to show that if Bladerunner DVD set can feature numerous cuts, then there's still life in Superman. Included are a number of different versions of the film - 5 different cuts - how could anyone be disappointed? Plus 47 minutes of deleted scenes in a chronological narrative form. I'm being presumptuous, but I think every fan is being catered for. This brings me on to Superman...
...Superman 2 The Donner Cut was to be the end. The King of kings, yet there are a number of disappointed fans questioning the quality of the Donner cut 9 months later. So bemused with the choices made that they are creating their own cuts. There's an insatiable demand for these cuts and at the top of the pile is Selutron's ambitious project that's been causing quite a sensation. His mission statement is quite clear, to resemble something that Donner might have finished back in 1980 using newly shot footage, stock footage and the creation of special effects. What I've seen is exceptional and is hard to ignore; the possibilities are frighteningly good, but also ominous that anyone can reshape material without the consent of the author today and throw it into the public domain. This is not an attack on anyone involved in fan cut projects, but just food for thought. There is a market for enabling viewers to control their protagonist, but you know what? I just want to sit back and enjoy the film without it being my arbitrary decision - I want the author to take me on an adventure.
Selutron has vision and talent, so it's a shame in some respects that he's working on reshaping the Donner cut and not on something original of his own. He's too gifted to be bogged down in fan cut mire, but I think he's going to make the Superman throng very happy.What is the best cut of Superman 2? There isn't one and, judging by the various discussions, there never will be one. Everyone has their own conceived idea of what the Donner cut should be. Maybe if they included the International cut... people might have been more forgiving?
I still think the best way of presenting the Donner material was a roundtable type discussion with footage shown in chronological order. The budget limitation on the Donner cut is so obvious, if you're not going to commit to it wholly, then why bother? The Donner cut has been a big success, I wouldn't be surprised if they revisit the cut upon the next anniversary. If Stone's Alexander can get umpteen releases, why can't the Donner Cut? The capacity is there, and hunger for various cuts is still evident judging by the sales. Hollywood lives on flogging dead horses and, may I add, saving injured ones, too...
If you missed it, Selutron was interviewed about his Superman 2 re-cut AKA The version we deserved. You can read the interview here and check out his clips at YouTube -- here.
While I had/have issues with the DC as released, I think it works well enough overall...I have read the interview with Selutron and watched the clips...I am impressed with the work that's been done by him. It is frustrating that Warner Home Video didn't go that extra mile for Supes II DC in the way they're doing for Blade Runner 25th anniversary release. I actually think the studio decision to not include every stitch of footage shot by Donner was made for economic reasons...giving the studio reason to double dip down the road...
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