Superman II
Short description
Superman II continues the story begun in its predecessor, with Christopher Reeve returning as both the hero and his mild-mannered alter ego, Clark Kent. The film introduces three surviving Kryptonians, led by General Zod, who arrive on Earth with powers to match Superman's own and intend to take control of the planet. They join forces with Lex Luthor, the criminal mastermind played by Gene Hackman. Clark, meanwhile, is caught between his feelings for Lois Lane, the Daily Planet reporter played by Margot Kidder, and the responsibility his abilities place on him.
Richard Lester directed the film, the eleventh of the thirteen features he directed in chronological order, following Cuba and preceding Superman III. Mario Puzo, David Newman and Leslie Newman wrote the screenplay, and Pierre Spengler produced. Sarah Douglas and Jack O'Halloran appear as Zod's companions, Ursa and Non, alongside 58 credited cast members and 135 credited crew.
Released in December 1980, the film had a budget of 54 million dollars and took in about 216 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.8 from roughly 124,000 votes, and on TMDB it also stands at 6.8, from 2,618 votes. A critics' rating of 7.5 from 113 reviews is higher than either audience score, suggesting reviewers responded to the film somewhat more favourably than the general public did.
What's left behind the scenes
- This is the only Superman film directed by two directors. This was the cause of the conflict between Richard Donner and Richard Lester. Donner claimed to have filmed 75% of the film in 1977 before being removed from the project. In 1979, Lester completed the remaining scenes and reworked Donner's material, but according to the latter, only about 25% of his footage remained in the final cut. In November 2006, "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut" was released on DVD.
- The film premiered in Europe and Australia (December 4, 1980) before its premiere in the United States (June 19, 1981), which was a rather unusual decision for a project of this scale.
- During the filming of the corresponding scene, Margot Kidder (1948-2018) genuinely struck Sarah Douglas (unintentionally, of course), who played Lois, in the face, causing her to lose consciousness.
- The film's clip, shown on August 1, 1981, was the first advertisement aired on MTV.
- Eva, played by Valerie Perrine, disappeared from the plot after she and Lex Luthor, played by Gene Hackman, left the Fortress of Solitude, and her disappearance is never explained in the film. This was because the scenes with Perrine were filmed by Richard Donner (1930-2021) before he was fired before filming was completed.
- Lex Luthor is always depicted as bald in the comics, but Gene Hackman adamantly refused to appear that way on camera. It was decided that he would wear wigs that didn't fit him well, and this would subtly suggest that he was actually bald. However, for the prison scenes, the actor made an exception and agreed to be shaved.
- Christopher Reeve, who played Clark Kent/Superman, underwent a noticeable change in physique during filming, and some scenes shot at the beginning with him had to be reshot.
- During the filming of the corresponding scene, Margot Kidder unintentionally hit Sarah Douglas, who played Ursa, in the face so hard that she lost consciousness.
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