Supermoan: Movie Moan's Ultimate Superman Retrospective Episode 2 - 'Superman II' (1980)
Thu, May 2, 2013 You can watch this week's show on Blip:
Or on Youtube:
"SCREW YOU BRAD!"
Why did Superman kill General Zod with a disturbing smile on his face? Why did he kill Lex Luthor in the Donner Cut? Why won't he stop killing people?
That's just one of the themes we cover on this epic 105 minute joy filled analysis of the prototype comic book sequel that influenced all that came after it. You wouldn't be watching 'Iron Man 3' this weekend if it didn't exist.
Joining Phil and Jamie again for the second installment of our ultimate Superman retrospective are Justin Korthof and Randall Maynard.
Other topics covered include Zod worship, similarities with Total Recall, the random crazy powers, the final fates of Otis and Miss Tessmacher, Brando's floating pervert head, spot Lobot, the 'Big Jesus', how we would have ended the film, and Phil's homemade fan edits that have to be seen to be believed.
As the film's original trailer said; "if you've only seen the first part, you haven't seen the best part".
Download the audio only MP3 version right here:
Reader Comments (7)
A pleasure to listen to, as always. Your various “fan edits” were hilarious, and the very strategic usage of HOME ALONE footage almost had me in tears!
As far as II’s ending, I’ve always thought that striking a more contemplative/introspective note should have been the way to go, and I really dislike that both the Donner and Lester cuts restore the status quo to what it was at the beginning of the movie. Let the characters and their relationships grow and change, and move on from there.
Another great retrospective, guys! I love the use of the title cards from the Ruby Spears TV show. Phil, your fan edits were hilarious!
A lot of really great points were brought up in this discussion. There is so much to talk about with this film and the first one, from story points to behind the scenes and more. I've wished for a long time that they would have ended II with Lois knowing the secret.
I guess my version of the ending would also end with them broken up. We'd get the conversation with Jimmy about his new camera and we'd see Clark go back to teach the diner guy a lesson. It's obvious from people's reactions to him when he's introduced that he's an ass and really has this coming. Then back to the White House and the classic flying over Earth ending. Ideally, we'd see Lex go back to prison and learn for sure what happened to the Phantom Zone villains somewhere in there too. If III had worked out the way it was should have, we'd see Lois & Clark work on their relationship while Superman has to fight off Brainiac.
I look forward to the next one. I can't wait to hear what you all have to say about Superman III!
My very first movie was Superman 2. I'm so used to the Lester version it just didn't bother me. But as i grew older and the Donner cut was released so many things started to irk me. Like Brett mentions, nothing basically happened at the end of Superman 2. It's like they created a "What if" universe and then undo it at the end. There were silly bits in the Lester version but the Honeymoon scenes in Niagra Falls i still love these scenes because of the depiction of Reeve and Kidder as a married couple.
I laughed quite a bit you guys about your banter in these Superman reviews and hope you will continue to do more Superman reviews. Although i'm not looking forward to one bit in the Superman 3 review. That bit when Vera is sucked into that computer is still giving me nightmares to this day.
And oh yeah.....Brad is indeed a jerk. :-)
Every clip in this showing Reeve playing Clark Kent makes me want to kick a puppy! Gad! I can take his limited range when playing Superman but his mugging as Clark Kent is atrocious.
Never have seen anywhere in the Queen's Oxford English dictionary that mild mannered is defined as klutzy doofus.
The most promising thing about Man of Steel is this abhorrent deviation of the Clark Kent character will be terminated.
I tip my hat to all involved in the podcast. Great discussion and an entertaining listen.
PS - I loved the Otis & The Shawshank Redemption clip. You have a scary mind indeed Phil!
@Brett Blake
In my rough cut, I originally used the clip from 'Airplane' where they're all playing instruments in the cockpit but 'Home Alone' was playing on my TV one day and inspiration struck. Glad you liked it.
@Kal-El Fan
After we recorded, I thought about it some more and realised that if the villains were arrested at the end and we got a shot of them locked together in one cell, mirroring the very start of the film, it would have been AMAZING. I bet Selutron's version would have that. He's never shown us his version of the ending.
@Springrose
I understand your concern but, having put it together, I can assure you that you will see things a lot more disturbing than Robot Vera on the next episode. You have been warned.
@Lou
Aaaaaaand that's why you're not recording these with us. Ha ha. We could get you on for the George Reeves episode though.
Hi guys,
I just listened to the Superman II podcast. I'm a huge fan of Superman and the movies. I prefer the Richard Donner cut myself.
I have to say that I absolutely disagree with your conclusion that Superman killed Zod and the rest. I have seen the movie dozens of times in the theatre and on video and that thought never crossed my mind once. I had always assumed that Superman disposed of the Kryptonians later in a scene they didn't show. Say locked up in a cell in the Fortress or in a civilian jail.
But Superman killing the Kryptonians? Absolutely not.