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| Superman II | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Credits | |
| Title: | Superman II |
| Director: | Richard Lester Richard Donner |
| Writers: | Mario Puzo; David Newman; Leslie Newman |
| Producers: | Ilya Salkind; Pierre Spengler |
| Composer: | Ken Thorne |
| Cinematography: | Bob Paynter; Geoffrey Unsworth |
| Editors: | John Victor-Smith |
| Production | |
| Distributed by: | Warner Bros. (United States) Columbia Pictures (United Kingdom) |
| Released: | June 19th, 1981 |
| Rating: | PG |
| Running time: | 127 min. |
| Country: | USA |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $54,000,000 [1] |
| Gross: | $108,200,000 (US) [1] |
| Navigation | |
| Previous: | Superman (1978) |
| Next: | Superman III (1983) |
Superman II is an American feature film of the superhero fantasy genre. It is the sequel to the 1978 film Superman: The Movie, and is based on the comic book character Superman as seen in titles published by DC Comics. The film was directed by Richard Lester, though a re-edited version of the movie exists directed by original filmmaker Richard Donner. Home video releases of this version title it Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut. The script was written by Mario Puzo, David Newman and Leslie Newman based on a story treatment by Puzo. It was theatrically released by Columbia Pictures in the United Kingdom on April 9th, 1981, and Warner Bros. in the United States on June 19th, 1981.
Superman II sees the return of most of the original film cast beginning with Christopher Reeve reprising the role of the eponymous Last Son of Krypton, Superman. Gene Hackman returns as the villainous Lex Luthor, with Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, Jackie Cooper as Perry White, Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen, Valerie Perrine as Eve Teschmacher, and Ned Beatty as the bumbling doofus Otis. The primary antagonists of this sequel are three evil Kryptonians named General Zod, Ursa, and Non, who are respectively played by Terence Stamp, Sarah Douglas, and Jack O'Halloran. All three of them made a cameo appearance in the beginning of the first film which showed them being exiled from Krypton by Superman's father, Jor-El, into the Phantom Zone. In this movie however, they break free of the Phantom Zone and come to Earth (or Planet Houston depending upon who you ask) to avenge themselves by killing the son of their jailer.
Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Gene Hackman | Lex Luthor |
| Christopher Reeve | Superman, Clark Kent |
| Ned Beatty | Otis |
| Jackie Cooper | Perry White |
| Sarah Douglas | Ursa |
| Margot Kidder | Lois Lane |
| Jack O'Halloran | Non |
| Valerie Perrine | Eve Teschmacher |
| Susannah York | Lara |
| Clifton James | Sheriff |
| E.G. Marshall | The President |
| Marc McClure | Jimmy Olsen |
| Terence Stamp | General Zod |
| Leueen Willoughby | Leueen |
| Robin Pappas | Alice |
| Roger Kemp | Spokesman |
| Roger Brierley | Terrorist #1 |
| Anthony Milner | Terrorist #2 |
| Richard Griffiths | Terrorist #3 |
| Melissa Wiltsie | Nun |
| Alain Dehay | Gendarme |
| Marc Boyle | C.R.S. man |
| Alan Stuart | Cab driver |
| John Ratzenberger | Controller #1 |
| Shane Rimmer | Controller #2 |
| John Morton | Nate |
| Jim Dowdell | Boris |
| Angus McInnes | Prison warden |
| Antony Sher | Bell boy |
| Elva May Hoover | Mother |
| Jason | |
| Todd Woodcroft | Father |
| John Hollis | Krypton elder |
Appearances[]
Featured characters
Supporting characters
Villains
Minor characters
Organizations
Races & Animals
Locations
Items
Vehicles
Vocations
- Cab driver
- Criminal mastermind
- Nun
- President of the United States
- Reporter
- Security guard
- Sheriff
- Terrorist
Powers
- Energy projection
- Flight
- Heat vision
- Superhuman durability
- Superhuman speed
- Superhuman stamina
- Superhuman strength
- Telekinesis
Miscellaneous
Notes & Trivia[]
- Superman was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster. He first appeared in Action Comics #1 in June, 1938 in a story called "Superman, Champion of the Opressed".
- There are fifty credited cast members in this film.
- Production on Superman II actually began in 1977 when they were first putting together Superman: The Movie. Most scenes from the original cut were filmed back to back with the first movie. Principal filming on the movie began in 1977 and concluded in 1980. [2]
- Scenes that take place in Niagara Falls and in Paris, France, were actually filmed in those locations. Studio shots for the movie were filmed at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England. [2]
- Christopher Reeve, who plays the main character of Superman, actually receives second billing after Gene Hackman. The irony of this is the fact that Hackman had no direct involvement in this film. All of his scenes were shot during the production of Superman: The Movie.
- Director Richard Donner makes a cameo appearance as a man walking into the diner where Clark Kent has his second encounter with the bully at the end of the film. He appears in both the Richard Lester version and the Donner Cut.
It's all in how you say it[]
- This is actually a callback from Superman: The Movie relating to Marlon Brando, who did not actually appear in this film other than previously filmed footage. Despite being from the planet Krypton, he insists on pronouncing it as "Kriptin". With as much money as Brando earned for his small role in this movie, you would think that he could pronounce his character's home planet correctly.
- A sheriff's deputy from the American midwest, actually sounds like he hails from the deep south. This is not a blooper so much as a curiosity as it is never established where the character was born. He also pronounces the city of Los Angeles as Los An-gil-ees.
- General Zod must hail from Dublin, Krypton. In the line "Why do you say this to me, when you know I will kill you for it?", he distinctly speaks with an Irish accent, which is odd since actor Terence Stamp is from London, England.
- General Zod also has a tendency to pronounce Houston (which he believes to be the name of the planet, mind you) as "Hooston".
Recommendations[]
See also[]
Media
The World of Superman
Superman miscellaneous
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 IMDB; Superman II (1980); Box office & business.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 IMDB; Superman II (1980); Filming & Production.