here's my Superman II Hybrid Cut review (it's a lil long, but still):
I've been a fan of ADigitalMan's work for a couple of years now. I think my first exposure to his editing work with either one of the Star Wars prequels or with the Wizard of Oz extended edition that included "Dark Side of the Moon" as an optional audio track. Needless to say, like alot of the fanedit community, I await almost every project with ADigital Man's name attached to it. If it's got ADM in the name, it's going to be an edit worth watching.
That being said, I've been a fan of Superman II since I can remember. Back in 1989 or so, I read that fabled issue of Comic Scene that had Richard Donner talking about his cut of the movie and what footage was cut that we would never see. I was hooked. I saw Superman II differently now, as I saw the released version of The Thief and the Cobbler a few years later. I re-read the script excepts over and over, and eventually lost the issue in one of the many moves I had as a "construction brat" over the years.
Enter 2005. Reading OT, I heard about Superman II: RIC. My hunt was on again. In this composite dvd of various tv airings, we see a "fuller" version of a combination of Lester footage we know, and Donner footage some of us have never seen. I quit watching my offical dvd release of Superman II to watch the RIC.
Enter "The Year of Superman". A massive dvd release is due thanks to a new Supes movie being released. One of the dvds listed is Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut. I wait in anticipation for it to be released. Of all the Superman dvds, this is the one I'm most psyched about and one of the only 2 I picked up (along with Returns). I pop it in my dvd player, and I'm in awe at what I'm seeing. It's like watching something totally new all over again. In the first 10 mins alone, I do nothing but smile at what I"m seeing. I'm actually watching footage I've only read about and was told I'd never see.
And yet, certain things didn't work. Yes, I finally get to see Lois jump out the window, but Clark is in broad day light, using his heat vision, and no one notices? Wasn't this the same test footage on the original Superman 1 dvd release? Why is he banging Lois before becoming human (tantric sex?)? Crappy cg Washington Monument falling over. He just beat the shit outta Rocky....but now he's never met him. What is going on???
Don't get me wrong, alot of good is in the Donner Cut. Gone is that retarded ass Eiffel Tower scene (but it works so well in Redeemed), as well as Lois trying to drown herself. Gone is Non having to work at making his powers like he's having puberty or something (everyone has the SAME power level as soon as they hit earth). Gone is that annoying british kid, and the shitty Hack job on dubbing Hack-man lines. We now have Brando and Beatty and Hackman footage that makes this work again. And more Mrs. Teschmacher (which is really really hot to me now). But things are still off.
As I said in my Superman Redeemed review, certain things from the Lester Cut of Superman II work better out when they're taken out of Superman II (Eiffel Tower, I'm looking at you). Now, ADM has taken the parts that do work in the Lester cut ("Care to step outside?") and what works in the Donner Cut (Brando, Hackman, Beatty & hottie Teschmacher added footage) and woven them into a better movie.
Some edits are just quick and needed (heat vision in daylight) and some audio cuts may have been in the Lester version to start off with (which I haven't watched in a while, in all honesty, so I'm not sure if the "Of couse he's Jewish" line is only in the Donner Cut). We see more with this amalgamation of Clark Kent in blue and red becoming more and more human. The Phantom Zone Criminals aren't as "uber-evil" as in the RIC (killin a kid on horseback), but they are evil none-the-less.
Most of the edits are flawless, and if I didn't know any better, I wouldn't have noticed that this was a fanedit (except for some of the Non stuff, as well as use of the Donner Cut deleted scenes, but that's how it was in the Donner cut too). Essentially what ADM has done is take the best of the Donner and the best of Lester, and made it the best Superman II as possible. And as much as I hate to admit it, mainly because I have always thought the kiss ending was retarded, it works in this version alot better then in the Donner Cut (and it sets up Redeemed).
Get this cut. I can't stress that enough. If you can't download it, I'll see if I can send it to you myself, but get this cut any way you can.
Superman II: Hybrid Edition gets my highest possible recommendation.