In the original (Lester) version of Superman II, Superman first asked his mother about Lois, and then they slept together after losing his powers.
In the new (Donner) version, first they slept together, and then he asked his father, after which he lost his powers.
I don’t understand the Donner version. If they already slept together, what was the point of asking, and why did he have to lose his powers? (I have a guess what the answer might be, but I’d like to hear from others first.)
So here’s my guess: In the original (Lester) version, there was some sort of biological problem which prevented Superman and Lois from having sex, so he first had to get rid of his powers, which saddened Lara very much.
In the new (Donner) version, there was no biological impediment, but he wanted his father’s permission to marry her; this was a much more severe problem of allegiances, and Jor-El went ballistic about how his son was abandoning Earth, and insisted that Superman must prove his sincerity by going whole hog and giving up his powers.
Any other ideas?
Man of steel, woman of Kleenex.
Of course! That’s why Lester’s version made so much sense!
The odd thing is that this was the one and only point on which Lester’s version was better than Donner’s. In everything else, Lester went for the sight gags, and Donner really understood Superman. So I’m figuring that Donner had some real reason for showing it as he did, and I’m hoping someone will post it here.
Um, I always kinda figured it was to prevent this from happening…
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Just saw the Donner cut - Pretty good, except for one HUGE continuity problem:
At the end of the movie, as in the original, he goes back to the diner to take care of the Bully Trucker. Unfortunately, he had rewound time, so his initial, non-powered confrontation NEVER HAPPENED. So here’s this unnamed stranger. who just walks into a diner and attacks a customer. Kind of out of character for Supes, no? NOT TO MENTION the fact that apparently the inital fight DID happen, as the owner, had just ‘spent a fortune’ fixing the diner from the last time.
Wait a minute. I thought the whole reversing time thing happened in the first movie. I don’t remember Supes doing that again in the sequel. Was that something added to the Donner cut?
Yup. He does it again, this time instead of the magic kiss, so that Lois forgets who he is, and the three Evil Kryptonians end up back in the Phantom Zone
:dubious:
I don’t think Superman slept with his mother in either version.
I thought the point was not the actual sleeping together, but that Supes decided he wanted to be with Lois permanently, thus he has to become human if he wants to do so. Not that he absolutely has to become human, but that Jor-El is telling him that if he is “in for a penny, he must be in for a pound,” no doing things halfway, etc.
Sir Rhosis
Well, Lois was in for a pounding, certainly.
Fortunately, it was faster than a speeding bullet.
Wait a minute. Are we talking about Superman Rex or Superman at Colonus?
Okay. Thanks, lawoot.
About the ending:
Donner says that they had planned for the “turn back time” ending to be used for Superman II in the first place, but as they were finishing Superman The Movie (remember both movies were being shot simultaneously for a while) they could not figure out a way for Supes to get out of the mess there so they nicked the turn back time thing from II and used it for that film, figuring they would come up with another ending for II. Donner was fired and the rest is history. But he decided to use his original ending when he got a chance to do his cut, and used footage from the first I think.
Sir Rhosis