2005 Movie News Archives

Superman II

April 4, 2005: Superman II: Restored International Cut

In 2001 work began on a fan film project for "Superman II." The ultimate goal was to raise awareness about the lost footage from that film, and hopefully convince anyone with influence that the work of original "Superman II" director Richard Donner should see the light of day. If you have no idea about the long odd history of this film, please refer to the Superman II section. You'll learn all you need to know, and more.

This project began as a fan edit. The hope was to recut the film to make it feel more like Donner's "Superman The Movie." Before work could seriously begin, the extended TV broadcasts needed to be acquired to include some of those great Donner moments that didn't make it into the theatrical cut.

There would always be those hard-core fans that would want to see everything. So with the support of fans and friends from around the globe, the fan edit was put aside, and the business of restoring the entire film began. It took about 2 years to acquire the footage, and make it watchable, but the results were less than satisfying. The word once again went out for extended broadcasts, and both Bill Williams and Jonathan Hoyle answered the call. The choice wasn't easy, but after a lot of scrutiny, Bill's footage was the actual source chosen to improve RIC. But special thanks to Jonathan for sending his original master as well.

It's been said many times, this film will never win any quality awards. The footage supplied came from home recordings. So anyone expecting amazing detail and clarity will be sorely disappointed. But if you've seen any version of the extended broadcasts, you'll probably appreciate the way it's presented here. Great care has been taken to make the film as watchable as possible, no commercials, no subtitles, no station ID's. Thanks to the generous help of a very talented individual, even the audio got a polishing as well.

The final two disc RIC DVD set contains:

  • The complete two hour, twenty-six minute version of the film.
  • On-screen commentary track, detailing what footage Donner shot, and other RIC trivia.
  • Long out of print documentary "The Making of Superman II."
  • Long out of print "Superman II Soundtrack."
  • "Lost Scene Gallery" featuring pictures of Donner's unreleased work on Superman II.
  • "Restoration Demonstration" showing before and after footage examples.
  • Complete RIC artwork folder. All the artwork, from the cover to the disc art, it's all included in TIFF file format.

So how do you get a copy? This question has been incredibly difficult to answer. The most reasonable solution seems to be a trading "tree" idea. DVD's have already been sent out to all the contributors, as well as a handful of others. Simply make a request on Superman CINEMA's message board in the Trader's Forum. RIC was mastered in both NTSC and PAL. There's no guarantee someone will help provide a copy, but people have already shown interest in trading it.

"Restored International Cut" is strictly non-profit. It's become a worldwide effort created by the fans, for the fans. If you would like to contribute to the project, please help spread the word about the real "Superman II." With enough fan support, maybe Warner Brothers, or even the Salkinds themselves will someday make available the lost work of Richard Donner, Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando, Geoffrey Unsworth, and many many others. If you get your hands on a copy of RIC, please share it with others.

RIC's artwork and DVD menus were generously donated by the immensely talented George L. Pitcher III.

Want Warner Brothers to officially release the lost footage?



2005 Movie News

Listed below are all the Movie News items archived for 2005 organized into 5 categories:

“Superman Returns” Movie News:

Christopher Reeve Movie News: George Reeves Movie News: Other Movie News:

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