1 00:00:20,989 --> 00:00:24,459 DONNER: I never thought my cut would see the light of day, and maybe rightly so. 2 00:00:24,626 --> 00:00:27,529 When the picture came out, it was what it was. 3 00:00:27,996 --> 00:00:31,199 It wasn't the original director's cut, but it was... 4 00:00:31,366 --> 00:00:34,369 ...a fellow-- I forget his name on purpose --who took over. 5 00:00:34,536 --> 00:00:37,639 It was 25 years ago. And then one day Michael Thau called me and said: 6 00:00:37,805 --> 00:00:44,078 "Listen, there really is an Internet movement afoot, that they want to see your cut." 7 00:00:44,245 --> 00:00:47,382 I said, "I wouldn't know where to start." He said, "Well I'd love to do it." 8 00:00:47,549 --> 00:00:50,118 I said, "Hey, of all the people you're the right guy. Go do it." 9 00:00:50,285 --> 00:00:53,755 Then he told me the studio was cooperating and they were gonna do it and I was-- 10 00:00:53,922 --> 00:00:57,625 And it was exciting to me. I kind of forgot it. 11 00:00:57,792 --> 00:01:01,262 And when I realized it was really gonna happen... 12 00:01:01,429 --> 00:01:02,931 ...it was, yeah quite anticipatory. 13 00:01:03,097 --> 00:01:07,936 Reconstructing this film is not only rare, but unique in film history. 14 00:01:08,336 --> 00:01:14,108 I don't think there is a film that had so much footage shot and not used... 15 00:01:14,275 --> 00:01:17,044 ...and the opportunity of putting this back together... 16 00:01:17,210 --> 00:01:20,213 ...is the best job I could ever have in my life. 17 00:01:20,514 --> 00:01:24,184 Superman I and II were shot simultaneously-- 18 00:01:24,351 --> 00:01:30,023 not back-to-back. And Dick was working off of an enormous script... 19 00:01:30,190 --> 00:01:32,993 ...and so when they were in the Daily Planet set... 20 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:36,363 ...Donner shot out all the scenes from Superman I... 21 00:01:36,530 --> 00:01:39,933 ...and then shot out scenes from Superman II. So, think about 22 00:01:40,100 --> 00:01:43,236 just keeping track of continuity between the two films... 23 00:01:43,403 --> 00:01:46,540 ...that are not sequels, but a Part One and Part Two of the same story. 24 00:01:46,707 --> 00:01:49,810 DONNER: When I look at it now, I like it. I'm a little embarrassed by things... 25 00:01:49,977 --> 00:01:52,879 ...but I have to take myself back 25 years and see it... 26 00:01:53,046 --> 00:01:57,050 ...why I did it then, and how I did it then. Not knowing what I know now. 27 00:01:57,484 --> 00:02:00,787 THAU: Dick shot most of the shooting script for Superman II... 28 00:02:00,954 --> 00:02:03,757 ...before they had to stop shooting Superman II... 29 00:02:03,924 --> 00:02:06,460 ...so they could make the release date on Superman I. 30 00:02:06,627 --> 00:02:09,463 So Lester had most of the film to start out with. 31 00:02:09,630 --> 00:02:15,002 And also they didn't wanna include Marlon Brando for financial reasons. 32 00:02:15,168 --> 00:02:18,805 So Richard Lester needed to rewrite the Brando stuff. 33 00:02:18,972 --> 00:02:23,910 They also probably looked at the cut that Stewart had put together of Superman II... 34 00:02:24,077 --> 00:02:26,813 ...and decided to change certain things for whatever reasons. 35 00:02:26,980 --> 00:02:30,317 When I got started on this, I didn't know what to expect. 36 00:02:30,484 --> 00:02:33,620 But I wanted to see that old footage. 37 00:02:37,189 --> 00:02:41,293 When six tons of film comes over from Technicolor London... 38 00:02:41,460 --> 00:02:45,898 ...it needs to be sorted through and the negative-vault people... 39 00:02:46,065 --> 00:02:48,634 ...first of all, had to separate everything... 40 00:02:48,801 --> 00:02:52,271 ...find the music elements, put them aside. Y'know, organize all that. 41 00:02:52,438 --> 00:02:57,043 And then it got moved downstairs into the feature-film vault... 42 00:02:57,209 --> 00:03:01,747 ...and Bruce, and Dorothy, and Tony, and John... 43 00:03:01,914 --> 00:03:05,618 ...dutifully went through all kinds of cataloguing... 44 00:03:06,786 --> 00:03:12,258 ...that was done, just to try to find the particular pieces of negative 45 00:03:12,425 --> 00:03:14,393 that made up what Dick shot. 46 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:17,863 Trying to find those little pieces, those little cuts, those segments-- 47 00:03:18,030 --> 00:03:20,433 In those days, when you cut on a Movieola... 48 00:03:20,599 --> 00:03:24,403 ...you made a cut and a positive cut, you'd have a foot and a half clip... 49 00:03:24,570 --> 00:03:26,706 ...that was laid on the side, put in the bin and... 50 00:03:26,872 --> 00:03:30,176 ...you'd cut it in later. Well, when they'd get lost, they're lost. 51 00:03:30,342 --> 00:03:32,511 Unless you go and find that negative number... 52 00:03:32,678 --> 00:03:36,247 ...and you reprint that reel. And so Michael's done it. 53 00:03:36,414 --> 00:03:39,084 RASCH: We found sound reports in all sorts of different places... 54 00:03:39,250 --> 00:03:43,187 ...so I went and put together a list of everything in order... 55 00:03:43,353 --> 00:03:47,391 ...so that when we order sound reprints or things for the Sound Effects department... 56 00:03:47,558 --> 00:03:50,661 ...they know which quarter-inch has which slate on it. 57 00:03:50,828 --> 00:03:54,131 CABRAL: The sound elements have come to us in all kinds of different conditions. 58 00:03:54,298 --> 00:03:57,501 We have a lot of "mag," which we've had to go through a restoration process... 59 00:03:57,668 --> 00:04:02,206 ...to sort of get it back to even a quality that's acceptable by any standards. 60 00:04:02,372 --> 00:04:06,043 They run the "mag" through a baking process to get it... 61 00:04:06,210 --> 00:04:08,712 ..into as clean of an analog format as we can. 62 00:04:08,879 --> 00:04:11,648 HEDGCOCK: We would be baking the tape or film... 63 00:04:11,815 --> 00:04:17,121 ...because over long-term storage, the tape absorbs moisture from the environment... 64 00:04:17,287 --> 00:04:19,389 ...thereby making the base very sticky. 65 00:04:19,757 --> 00:04:22,493 So we bake the film to... 66 00:04:22,659 --> 00:04:25,228 ...eliminate the water content that is absorbed into it. 67 00:04:25,394 --> 00:04:27,864 THAU: It was just painstaking, meticulous work. 68 00:04:28,030 --> 00:04:31,834 It took a long time, a lot of work; but we found everything. 69 00:04:32,335 --> 00:04:33,935 -Boy, I like this. -I like it too. 70 00:04:34,102 --> 00:04:35,970 -Why'd he take all this out? -Jeez, Michael. 71 00:04:36,137 --> 00:04:39,006 -Look at that. Bad effects, that's all. 72 00:04:39,173 --> 00:04:41,742 -We would have.... -Oh, put that back in. 73 00:04:41,909 --> 00:04:42,943 [CHUCKLES] 74 00:04:43,110 --> 00:04:44,210 -Boy, oh, boy. -Dick... 75 00:04:44,377 --> 00:04:47,247 Michael, what must you have been thinking? 76 00:04:47,413 --> 00:04:48,581 Do you drink a lot during the day? 77 00:04:48,748 --> 00:04:52,719 THAU: When we did find the footage, and it took months and months and months... 78 00:04:52,886 --> 00:04:56,156 ...Dick came over and saw all the scenes. 79 00:04:56,322 --> 00:04:59,491 He also didn't want to deal too much with... 80 00:04:59,658 --> 00:05:04,229 ...the Lester scenes that needed to be left in to make a complete story. 81 00:05:04,396 --> 00:05:11,303 But I realized after a while that he had been familiar with those scenes. 82 00:05:11,470 --> 00:05:15,974 And they hurt him, I think. That was always a sore spot. 83 00:05:16,141 --> 00:05:20,912 DONNER: I've looked at it a couple times I've given my input as best I can... 84 00:05:21,078 --> 00:05:24,782 ...but I can't do it anymore. I can't divorce myself from... 85 00:05:24,949 --> 00:05:27,018 ...the disparagement of time. 86 00:05:27,185 --> 00:05:29,420 Whereas he can, 'cause he's going in fresh. 87 00:05:29,587 --> 00:05:32,723 And so, he's doing a wonderful job. It's tough to look at. 88 00:05:33,157 --> 00:05:34,792 "Bow before Zod!" 89 00:05:34,959 --> 00:05:39,130 -It's kneel. "Kneel before Zod!" -Right. Sorry. Always rewriting. 90 00:05:39,297 --> 00:05:44,836 THAU: So, I cut a lot of these scenes from scratch, and then showed them to Dick... 91 00:05:45,002 --> 00:05:49,974 ...and tried to make it in the style of what the first film was like. 92 00:05:50,141 --> 00:05:53,611 -Let me show a little cut that I did. -You made a cut here? 93 00:05:53,778 --> 00:05:55,847 You made a cut in my footage? 94 00:05:56,013 --> 00:05:59,317 One thing that I could work on from the very beginning is the opening sequence. 95 00:05:59,483 --> 00:06:04,856 I did have access to Superman I and we all thought it would be... 96 00:06:05,022 --> 00:06:08,659 ...kind of cool to show scenes from a different angle. 97 00:06:09,627 --> 00:06:12,864 It's the same scene, the same line readings... 98 00:06:13,464 --> 00:06:15,833 ...but showing things from a different perspective. Like... 99 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:21,072 ...when Zod is screaming at Brando as he's walking away in Superman I.... 100 00:06:21,239 --> 00:06:24,575 All those lines were played off of his eyes or his mouth... 101 00:06:24,742 --> 00:06:28,613 ...and this time you can see fuller shots of Zod screaming. 102 00:06:28,779 --> 00:06:31,582 You will bow down before me! 103 00:06:31,749 --> 00:06:32,783 Both you... 104 00:06:32,950 --> 00:06:34,118 ...and then, one day... 105 00:06:34,285 --> 00:06:36,854 ...your heirs! 106 00:06:37,555 --> 00:06:41,058 The toughest scenes to look at, and that is the scenes I wanted to shoot... 107 00:06:41,225 --> 00:06:42,493 ...that they wouldn't let me.... 108 00:06:43,094 --> 00:06:45,830 You know, or they moved on or they decided to shoot-- 109 00:06:45,997 --> 00:06:48,933 Perfect example: There's a scene I didn't shoot except for the screen test. 110 00:06:49,100 --> 00:06:53,404 I thought it was so important that I used it as the screen test for Lois and Clark-- 111 00:06:53,571 --> 00:06:57,775 And that was the scene where they go to Niagara Falls on this assignment-- 112 00:06:57,942 --> 00:07:01,646 And what we had-- and I only have it on the screen test-- 113 00:07:01,812 --> 00:07:05,783 was they get to this hotel room and they decide to go out that night... 114 00:07:05,950 --> 00:07:07,450 ...and he knocks on the door, comes in. 115 00:07:07,617 --> 00:07:10,120 She pulls a gun out of the drawer He says, "Lois, what are you doing?!" 116 00:07:10,287 --> 00:07:12,956 She says, "I'm betting your life that you're Superman." 117 00:07:13,123 --> 00:07:16,793 She points the gun at him and fires. 118 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:20,529 And Chris transforms. The glasses come off and it's Superman. 119 00:07:20,696 --> 00:07:23,332 And that was the tip. I mean, that broke the whole thing. 120 00:07:23,499 --> 00:07:24,599 It was beautiful. 121 00:07:24,832 --> 00:07:27,201 Dick wanted that scene to be part of this cut... 122 00:07:27,368 --> 00:07:31,940 ...and it shows a little of the dynamics between Clark and Lois... 123 00:07:32,106 --> 00:07:35,376 ...that were envisioned for that revelation. 124 00:07:35,643 --> 00:07:40,648 We also decided that in the scene with Lex Luthor and Miss Teschmacher... 125 00:07:40,815 --> 00:07:45,420 ...that we could allow the audience to see Brando much clearer. 126 00:07:45,586 --> 00:07:50,858 In that scene, he is reciting recordings that Jor-El has made for his son. 127 00:07:51,025 --> 00:07:54,429 And rather than being the ghostly head of... 128 00:07:54,595 --> 00:07:57,632 ..Jor-El talking to his son almost in person... 129 00:07:57,799 --> 00:08:02,270 ...it allowed us to actually show Marlon Brando clearly... 130 00:08:02,437 --> 00:08:07,775 ..yet give it some sort of a look as if it was some sort of a Kryptonian recording. 131 00:08:07,942 --> 00:08:11,279 We had close to 200 visual effects in the film. 132 00:08:11,612 --> 00:08:14,449 And that's on top of all the visual effects that were already there. 133 00:08:14,615 --> 00:08:19,053 -Nowadays we'd use computer graphics and even that all out, huh? 134 00:08:19,220 --> 00:08:22,056 -Why didn't you do it? -We do have a budget here. 135 00:08:22,223 --> 00:08:24,559 We do have a budget that we try to stick with. 136 00:08:25,093 --> 00:08:27,595 -Oh. Why? -Yeah. I know. 137 00:08:28,563 --> 00:08:29,597 Trying to endure your career? 138 00:08:29,764 --> 00:08:31,466 THAU: There was a lot of work to be done. 139 00:08:31,632 --> 00:08:34,801 I mean, the villains escaping the Phantom Zone was all shot by Dick. 140 00:08:34,968 --> 00:08:37,404 The rocket was shot by Dick's model people. 141 00:08:37,571 --> 00:08:42,275 The explosions, everything that was all shot back then-- we just had to composite it. 142 00:08:42,442 --> 00:08:47,381 Then all the Brando stuff and some little touch-ups we did here and there.... 143 00:08:47,547 --> 00:08:51,118 IVINS: This is sort of one of the typical things that they did for it. 144 00:08:51,284 --> 00:08:54,788 Lester shot his fight over Metropolis, 145 00:08:54,955 --> 00:08:57,324 Superman gets thrown into the side of a building. 146 00:08:57,924 --> 00:09:02,029 In Donner's version, he actually gets thrown into the Statue of Liberty torch. 147 00:09:02,763 --> 00:09:05,766 But they changed that when Lester finished the movie. 148 00:09:05,932 --> 00:09:09,269 THAU: It was interesting working with Max and Look Effects... 149 00:09:09,436 --> 00:09:12,939 ...to get the visual effects to look as if... 150 00:09:13,106 --> 00:09:16,576 ...they were integral to the Superman I/II movies. 151 00:09:16,743 --> 00:09:20,447 And not make them look like 2006 visual effects. 152 00:09:20,614 --> 00:09:24,851 So this is some of the new Fortress of Solitude shots that were done... 153 00:09:25,018 --> 00:09:29,022 ...that have Marlon Brando in it, because he wasn't in the second movie originally. 154 00:09:29,189 --> 00:09:30,957 But he had shot all the footage for it. 155 00:09:31,124 --> 00:09:34,928 This was pretty nicely set up. They were plates that were shot way back when; 156 00:09:35,095 --> 00:09:36,863 the backgrounds, the sacred elements. 157 00:09:37,030 --> 00:09:40,067 They had shot him over black velvet... 158 00:09:40,233 --> 00:09:43,970 ...with a black turtleneck on to get just his face. 159 00:09:44,137 --> 00:09:47,407 And the foreground people were on a separate element too. 160 00:09:47,574 --> 00:09:51,878 Back in its day, this was a pretty heavy, sophisticated shoot. 161 00:09:52,045 --> 00:09:55,282 Now with digital stuff, you have a little more leeway. 162 00:09:55,449 --> 00:09:57,984 But it's kind of nice having, like things almost pre-setup. 163 00:09:58,385 --> 00:10:00,187 There's a lot of these kind of shots with... 164 00:10:00,353 --> 00:10:02,856 ...Marlon Brando in them, which was pretty interesting to work on. 165 00:10:03,023 --> 00:10:06,992 I'm supervising the sound, which is organizing a team of people... 166 00:10:07,159 --> 00:10:09,662 ...to put together all the sound effects and... 167 00:10:09,829 --> 00:10:12,331 ...all the different sound elements of the film for the remix. 168 00:10:12,498 --> 00:10:15,634 The sound elements have come to me in every possible form. 169 00:10:15,801 --> 00:10:17,436 Basically some of our challenges are... 170 00:10:17,603 --> 00:10:21,674 ...taking 30-year-old tracks that are from various different sources... 171 00:10:21,841 --> 00:10:23,609 Some of them are married tracks; composites. 172 00:10:23,776 --> 00:10:27,113 Some of the raw tracks we were able to find. Some of the original ADR-- 173 00:10:27,279 --> 00:10:29,081 Just clean it up to today's standards. 174 00:10:29,248 --> 00:10:34,120 DONNER: When she first starts blowing, if you can do some kind of an effect there... 175 00:10:34,286 --> 00:10:37,923 ...so it really becomes some sort of an identifiable sound, 176 00:10:38,090 --> 00:10:42,194 which you can then use-- kind of just take that little piece and... 177 00:10:42,361 --> 00:10:43,896 ...push it forward in a lot of places. 178 00:10:44,063 --> 00:10:47,333 -So we know it's not wind, it's her. -Okay. 179 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:48,868 [BLOWING] 180 00:10:59,478 --> 00:11:03,349 "Supey's liftoff." Oh, when Supey leaves the bus or truck or whatever it is-- 181 00:11:03,516 --> 00:11:05,985 that very beginning. Can you give him a little something there? 182 00:11:06,152 --> 00:11:07,752 -A whoosh-off or something? -Yeah. 183 00:11:07,919 --> 00:11:10,288 -This is a really good mix. No, thank you. -Good. Thank you. 184 00:11:13,591 --> 00:11:16,394 THAU: The ending for Superman II was always... 185 00:11:16,561 --> 00:11:18,930 ...turning the world back and turning time backwards. 186 00:11:19,097 --> 00:11:22,500 And then at a certain point in Superman I they decided... 187 00:11:22,667 --> 00:11:25,370 ...to put the most spectacular beat in both films... 188 00:11:25,537 --> 00:11:28,473 ...into the end of Superman I. and Dick said: 189 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:30,642 "Okay, when we come back to finish Superman II... 190 00:11:30,808 --> 00:11:32,043 ..we'll figure out what to do." 191 00:11:32,210 --> 00:11:34,245 It was either gonna be turning time back... 192 00:11:34,412 --> 00:11:36,813 ...or using the Lester Magic Kiss. 193 00:11:36,980 --> 00:11:40,317 And if we use the "magic kiss" then we would go back to the White House... 194 00:11:40,484 --> 00:11:43,387 ...and Superman would return the flag back to the White House... 195 00:11:43,554 --> 00:11:47,491 ...and it would be a very patriotic and a very good ending as well, too. 196 00:11:47,658 --> 00:11:51,461 But when Tom saw it, he came up with a very good point. 197 00:11:51,628 --> 00:11:57,267 He said, "Clark should never kiss Lois. Only Superman should kiss Lois." 198 00:11:57,434 --> 00:12:01,605 And the decision was then made to turn the world back... 199 00:12:01,772 --> 00:12:06,510 ...and that allowed us to use the end scene in the Daily Planet... 200 00:12:06,677 --> 00:12:08,545 ...and now you have this version. 201 00:12:08,712 --> 00:12:11,081 And I'm very proud of what we've put together. 202 00:12:11,248 --> 00:12:13,483 Y'know, you're really super. 203 00:12:13,650 --> 00:12:16,954 [TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING] 204 00:12:18,689 --> 00:12:22,726 THAU: My hope is that people will view this... 205 00:12:22,893 --> 00:12:26,296 ...as a Part Two to Superman Part One. 206 00:12:27,964 --> 00:12:30,967 The same tone; it's finishing the same story.... 207 00:12:31,133 --> 00:12:33,970 And also my hope is that people like it a lot. 208 00:12:34,136 --> 00:12:38,374 When I see things like that, and I know what that picture could have been... 209 00:12:38,541 --> 00:12:41,744 ...and what Tom and I keep saying-- Tom, because he's so good-- 210 00:12:41,911 --> 00:12:46,215 and what Tom and I could have continued the continuing saga of... 211 00:12:46,382 --> 00:12:50,386 ...Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder would have been quite a series of films.