OK, watched it, spent some time with it, brooded on it...
It's pretty damned awesome. A big step up from the Lester Superman II.
The Pro's:
+ No cellophane "S"
+ Much greater emotional impact between Superman and Lois
+ Holy shit Jor-El is awesome
+ "The Father becomes the Son, the Son the Father" actually makes sense
+ Definately meant to be watched as Superman The Movie's 2nd Half...watching both together really is one 5 hour Superman film
+ Lex Luthor is better used in this one
+ Perry White and Jimmy get more screen time
+ Zod is better used
+ Story is much much more cohesive and makes more sense
The Con's
- It's obvious which parts are test footage, (One well acted Superman and Lois scene in particular...Clark's glasses and hair are totally different, and it's obviously early test because Christopher Reeve is like 40 lbs lighter than in other scenes.)
- switches from low quality stuff to high quality stuff is apparent (some parts look like 2nd gen VCR dubs)
- Effects in the new scenes are particularly rough and dated
- The ending is well...you've seen this ending before. It works when you consider this and SM: The Movie as two parts of one story, for theme I suppose, but it also does come across as lazy use of a deus ex machina
For a fan of Superman, this DVD is definately worth buying. If you like the Lester version of Superman II, you'll love this.
