BSP 2014 Advent Calendar: Day 2
By Steve Lam
Welcome to Day 2 of Bam Smack Pow’s 2014 Advent Calendar! Only twenty-three more days left until Christmas, and that means twenty-three more superhero films will be mined for trivia. For Day 2, we give you …
Superman II (1980)
Remember how I said that I had a soft spot for Superman? Well, I wasn’t kidding. It’s also only fitting that the second day of this advent calendar be dedicated to the second most awesome superhero film of all time (the first being Superman: The Movie). Okay, I know that’s a very subjective statement. Superman II was directed by Richard Lester (more on that later) and starred Christopher Reeve as Superman / Clark Kent / Kal-El, Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, Ned Beatty as Otis, Jackie Cooper as Perry White, Terence Stamp as General Zod, Sarah Douglas as Ursa, Jack O’Halloran as Non, Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen, Susannah York as Lara, Clifton James as the President of the United States, and Valerie Perrine as Eve Teschmacher.
Superman II was first released in Australia on December 4, 1980. It was later released in the United Kingdom on April 9, 1981, and the United States on June 19, 1981. The film, like its predecessor, was met with praise from critics and audiences. It went on to gross over $108 million at the box office.
Trivia
- Superman II was shot simultaneously with Superman I. When Richard Donner had his famous disagreement with the Salkinds, he was fired from the sequel. Richard Lester was brought in to replace Donner. Even though Donner had already shot enough film footage to finish the movie, Lester had to reshoot eighty percent of the film in order to get a director’s credit.
- Due to Donner being fired, Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman didn’t return for the sequel. Brando’s part was completely cut from the film, and Hackman’s part was salvaged from already shot footage. Newer scenes requiring the character of Lex Luthor were performed by a double. This is also why Lara (Susanna York) has such a large part and is the one guiding Kal-El, versus Jor-El (Marlon Brando) guiding Kal-El.
- In the Donner version, Zod, Ursa, and Non were released from the Phantom Zone by the detonation of the nuclear missile that was diverted by Superman in the first movie. In Lester’s version (the version that made it to theaters), the villains were freed by the detonation of an explosive-rigged Paris elevator that Superman flew into space.
- The 1984 ABC broadcast of Superman II was 30 minutes longer than the theatrical version. The inserted scenes were all from Donner’s original footage.
- After much fan lobbying for a Donner cut of Superman II, which hit a peak after the 2001 DVD release of the restored and remastered Superman, Warner Brothers approached Donner and worked out legal issues with Marlon Brando’s estate. Initially reluctant, Donner would later change his mind and become closely involved with the new cut. Donner brought in Tom Mankiewicz, one of the original screenwriters for Superman and Superman II, and used the original camera negative from his completed footage. Richard Donner’s version was finally made available in 2006 and was titled Superman II: The Donner Cut.
- Early versions of the script had a fourth villain named Jak-El. He was supposed to be the prankster of the group and be a source of comic relief. Jak-El’s gags would often involve death and suffering, which only he found funny.
- John Williams didn’t return to score Superman II partly due to his obligations on Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Rumors have also stated that Williams had sided with Donner, and in protest, refused to be part of Superman II. Richard Lester would later bring in Ken Thorne, who adapted Williams’s original music to score the film. Those weren’t the only changes. The orchestra was also smaller, and as a result, the music sounded thin and tinny.
Make sure to come back each day because we still have twenty-three more days worth of superhero film trivia for you!
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A special thanks to Eric Dufresne for his amazing geometric superhero art that’s being used as the background for the advent calendar.