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Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

Play trailer Poster for Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut PG 2006 1h 56m Adventure Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
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Kryptonian villain Gen. Zod (Terence Stamp) and his henchmen are accidentally freed from their outer-space imprisonment and threaten Earth with destruction, just as Superman (Christopher Reeve) decides to renounce his superpowers for his new love, Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). This alternate version of the film is based on footage shot by director Richard Donner before being replaced on the project, and it includes material not seen in the film's original 1980 release.
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Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

Critics Reviews

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Brad Cook Flickering Myth The Donner cut is a fun exercise in what could have been, Rated: 3/5 Jul 1, 2025 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Loyalists overpraised this edition as superior -- that’s hardly accurate for a few reasons. Rated: 3/4 May 13, 2023 Full Review Danielle Solzman Solzy at the Movies Given everything that happened, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut restores Donner's vision and makes the best out of an otherwise terrible situation. Rated: 4/5 May 9, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Adam P A treat to be able to see this on the big screen along with the original. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 04/20/23 Full Review Randal so unlike the original. changed lines and scenes. Don't ruin a classic!! Rated 1 out of 5 stars 04/19/23 Full Review Joshua H Now this is Superman 2 this much better than the theatrical release. Everything just makes a lot more sense it feels like it's one guys vision. The big decision are lead makes at the end of the film although it does get concluded it doesn't completely undone what has already and the consequences are felt. I also feels this tells the story of Superman making sacrifices for the greater good so much better than in the theatrical realse. Christopher Reeve is still delightful in the roll. The only negative thing is that it redoes the ending of the last film and it makes less sense now than it did before. But also like last time it does not at all detract from how good this film is. This is I'm my opinion the best Christoper Reeve Superman Movie (it also had a lovelytrbute to him at the start the film). Yeah this was fantastic. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 07/22/25 Full Review Audience Member Sure, this version of the movie has less silliness and humor than the Lester version, however I also feel like the Lester version had a lot more content to it and therefore made it more entertaining and complete. Plus, the end of this movie doesn’t make a lot of sense. Super-Man turned back time and undid things like he did in the first movie, however the people at the diner remembered him and what happened during the course of the movie (but apparently it actually never did happen since events were undone??). That’s a glaring error that doesn’t make any sense. I’m glad I watched this version but no, the original Super-Man 2 is still better and great in my opinion! Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/20/25 Full Review Tre B This epic verse of Superman 2 is the definitive Superman 2 film I love this verse of the I’ll it still has that Richard Donner love and fill to it like it’s predecessor. I love this version of the film so so much 💯💯💯 Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/07/25 Full Review Johnathon W Solid recut of the film that while flawed like the original version, still has plenty of merits. The cast remains excellent, with Christopher Reeves setting the standard for playing Superman/Clark Kent. He gets nice support from the rest of the cast, especially Terrence Stamp as the villainous General Zod. Behind the camera, Richard Donner manages to mostly bring his vision to life, especially in making Lois Lane a smarting character (she figures out Clark is Superman in a much better way). However, the return of the time travel ending still doesn't work and the edits are a bit jarring. Plus, they for some reason changed Superman's iconic opening line to General Zod for no reason. Overall, a solid watch but honestly not as good or bad as the original cut. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/08/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

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Movie Info

Synopsis Kryptonian villain Gen. Zod (Terence Stamp) and his henchmen are accidentally freed from their outer-space imprisonment and threaten Earth with destruction, just as Superman (Christopher Reeve) decides to renounce his superpowers for his new love, Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). This alternate version of the film is based on footage shot by director Richard Donner before being replaced on the project, and it includes material not seen in the film's original 1980 release.
Director
Richard Donner
Producer
Pierre Spengler, Michael Thau
Screenwriter
Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman
Production Co
Dovemead Films, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Comics
Rating
PG (Some Language|Sequences of Action Violence|Brief Mild Sensuality)
Genre
Adventure, Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 29, 2013
Runtime
1h 56m
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