Superman has been a popular character for years, so it was probably only a matter of time before a major movie was made featuring the character. Superman: The Movie was released in 1978 and was very successful. It was followed by Superman II in 1980.
Lois Lane went to Paris to cover a story about terrorists holding hostages at the Eiffel Tower. She managed to get herself in a dangerous situation. Superman showed up in time to rescue her, but the way he dealt with the bomb the terrorists planned to set off caused a new problem. When the bomb detonated in space, it freed General Zod, Ursa, and Non from the phantom zone. The three criminals eventually made their way to Earth, realizing that they will have extreme powers on the planet. Zod set out to rule the entire planet.
Lois started to suspect that Clark might be Superman and she tried to force him into revealing it while they were in Niagara Falls for a story. Lois got her confirmation, though not when she had expected it. They spent time talking in the fortress of solitude before Superman decided to give up his powers so that he could have a normal relationship with Lois. Unfortunately he didn't know about what General Zod, Ursa, and Non were up to when he made that decision which put the world at the mercy of the three criminals.
Superman II was based on the character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The character has appeared in several comic books over the years as well as cartoons and television shows. I haven’t read any of the comics, so I’m not sure how much of the plot connected to General Zod might have been pulled from them. I also don’t know if certain things connected to Lois and Clark/Superman’s relationship - specifically him giving up his powers for Lois - was in the comics either.
At first it seemed like Superman II was starting the exact same way that Superman: The Movie did. It quickly became clear that while it was very similar, there was a big difference. Jor-El, who had played a fairly significant part in the opening scenes of the first movie, had been completely removed from the footage. That seemed very odd to me, but I have learned about issues behind the scenes involving the producers and various others, including Marlon Brando. Brando had already filmed scenes intended for the second movie that were cut and mostly replaced with footage of Lana, Kal-El’s wife.
I learned for the first time in 2006 that Richard Donner had actually filmed much of the second movie while filming the original only to be fired by the producers after the release of the first movie. Even though I had seen both of the movies a few times before, I really hadn’t paid any attention to who directed the movies. Richard Lester was hired to finish the second movie. He shot certain things again and added in his own ideas, like the situation in Paris at the beginning of the movie. Some of the footage shot by Donner did make it into the final cut of the movie, so there were a few things with how the characters looked that seemed a little bit off. Lester was responsible for a scene that made Clark look even more like a bumbling klutz as well as for the rather silly kiss that caused amnesia. It seemed like Lester was trying to go for a more campy movie and while I don’t hate his version, I don’t think it worked as well as he thought it did.
The plot for Superman II wasn’t really complicated even though there were two major plots going on. The first one dealt with General Zod, Ursa, and Non arriving on Earth and using their powers to take control. Since they were also from Krypton, they had the same type of power that Superman had. They did do one or two other things that I don’t remember Superman ever doing like causing other people to levitate. Most of the conflict in the movie was related to the three criminals. They actually arrived on Earth and set about taking over while Superman was off at the fortress of solitude giving up his power to have a normal life with Lois. That left the world wondering where Superman was and why he didn’t do something since he’d always been so quick to deal with things in the past.
There was a decent amount of action throughout Superman II. A lot of the action was connected to what General Zod, Ursa, and Non were doing in their quest to take over the world. Later in the movie Superman did face off against the three. There were a few fights included without the movie being really violent. The action did keep things interesting and I was never bored while watching the movie. Different special effects were used throughout the movie, especially during the action scenes. The effects were done well and still hold up well now.
There was a lot of focus on the relationship between Lois and Clark/Superman throughout Superman II. Early in the movie, Lois still mostly seemed to only consider Clark a friend while having stronger feelings for Superman. She did start to have stronger suspicions that Clark was actually Superman. I did like that Lois learned the truth and the two attempted to have a relationship. There was a definite attraction between the two and they act on it. I think I remember reading that some fans of Superman were not happy about that development. It was made very clear that Lois and Clark/Superman had sex even though there wasn’t an actual sex scene. I didn’t really like how Superman gave up his powers and then later how there wasn’t an explanation for how he got them back.
Clark/Superman had a lot to deal with throughout the movie. He had to first adjust to the idea of Lois knowing his secret and then to living without his power. The impact of being Superman on Clark was explored more. I did like that time was taken to show more development of Clark and showed how he struggled with certain things. That helped to make him a fuller, more developed character. Christopher Reeve continued to be wonderful in the part, making both aspects of the character seem believable. Martha Kent wasn’t in the movie at all and I don’t even remember hearing her mentioned.
Lois Lane continued to be very dedicated to her career while also juggling her growing feelings for Superman. She did seem a bit nicer in this movie and more relaxed, which did help to make her more believable and likable. As things progressed through the movie, Lois also had a lot to deal with. I did think Margot Kidder seemed to fit the character a bit better in this movie. Jackie Cooper was back as Perry White. He didn’t have a large part, so he didn’t have that much to do. Marc McClure was also back as Jimmy Olsen in a few scenes.
Lex Luthor returned to cause some trouble. He decided it would be a good idea to try to make a deal with General Zod, Ursa, and Non without understanding the true nature of the three. Lex continued to plot and scheme to bring about the downfall of Superman and save his own skin at the same time. Lex wasn’t in as much of the movie, so Gene Hackman didn’t have much to do. Valerie Perrine also returned in a couple of scenes as Eve Teschmacher. She just seemed to vanish later in the movie with no explanation.
General Zod thought he was better than everyone, including Ursa and Non. They had been convicted of trying to over throw the government on Krypton and setting up General Zod as the ultimate ruler. They were fierce and didn’t care who was hurt as long as they got what they wanted. Terence Stamp was very good in the part. Ursa was just as cruel as General Zod. Non was very strong, but not too bright. I did wonder how Ursa and Non ended up working for General Zod originally. The three of them made formidable enemies for Superman.
Main Cast
Ned Beatty - Otis Jackie Cooper - Perry White Sarah Douglas - Ursa Gene Hackman - Lex Luthor Margot Kidder - Lois Lane Marc McClure - Jimmy Olsen E.G. Marshall - The President Jack O’Halloran - Non
Valerie Perrine - Eve Teschmacher Christopher Reeve - Clark Kent/Superman Terence Stamp - General Zod Susannah York - Lana
Richard Lester - Director
DVD Information
I believe that Superman II was first released on DVD in 2001. It was included as part of the Ultimate Collector’s Edition DVD that released in the fall of 2006. I decided that I wanted the set after I first heard about it and picked it up early in 2007. The set contains all five of the Superman movies, an extended version of the first movie, the Richard Donner cut of this movie, and hours of other extras on fourteen discs. Since I have the DVD set, I’ll be mentioning the extras from the set that are connected to this movie.
I think some of the extras were included when Superman II was first released on DVD. There was a commentary by two of the producers, the theatrical trailer, and a deleted scene. The Making of Superman II TV special was also included. The special showed some footage from the premiere of the movie. Some of the cast were shown talking a little bit about making the movie. There was some footage from the filming of the movie shared as well. Richard Lester talked about different aspects of making the movie. There was no mention of the fact that Richard Donner had ever been connected with the movie in any way. I really wasn’t impressed with anything Lester said. He was taking credit for things that I’m sure Donner was really responsible for because some of those things were brought up in the extras for the first movie. It did seem like Lester was getting a dig in at Donner at one point when he was talking about changes he made for the movie. There was also a Superman 50th anniversary television special, something about the cartoons from the 1940's, and eight of the cartoons.
Superman II was an entertaining continuation to Superman: The Movie. I do think the movie could have been better. Fans of Superman should give the movie a chance.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.