James Daniel Walsh:
Well James, since you are as much a Superman fan, I figured you might want to watch and analyze all three versions of “Superman: The Movie” with me! Besides, I said to you I want to do it. (The Last of The Americans joins James Daniel Walsh)
TLOTA:
Okay then let’s talk about “The Different Cuts of Superman: The Movie”
(Whistling version “The Lumberjack Song” is heard as Team TLOTA dressed as Lumberjacks see a gigantic piece of film celluloid and James chops it down and the other members cut it to different lengths and on the ends sticking out of the back of the truck the words “The Different Cuts” are seen in differing syllables. Cut to the opening of “Superman: The Movie” then to clips of the movie as James Daniel Walsh and The Last Of The Americans do voiceovers.)
TLOTA (V.O.):
As stated before, by the 1970s Superman’s popularity had hit such a low that the bottom of the barrel isn’t even at the start of how low Superman had fallen especially as to how people treated Superman as a character and of course, Superfriends pretty much were working network standards and practices to their breaking point. (Cut to James Faraci and James Daniel Walsh dressed in white button-up shirts and black ties.)
Network S&P man #1 (Played by James Faraci):
David, did you see this joke about Superman having landed on Fire Island? (The two briefly laugh)
Network S&P man #2 (Played by James Daniel Walsh):
Cut it! Oh Steve, see this Superman joke in San Francisco with him going over the rainbow? (The Two briefly laugh)
Network S&P man #1:
Gone!
Network S&P man #2:
Good! (The two open bottles of Jack Daniels after reading the script. Cut to clips of “Superman The Movie” as James Daniel Walsh and The Last Of The Americans do voiceovers.)
TLOTA (V.O.):
But after the success of “Jaws” in 1975, “Rocky” in 1976 & the original “Star Wars” in 1977, movies were starting to be more entertaining and father and son producing duo Alexander & Ilya Salkind fresh off of making “The Three Musketeers” and its sequel decided to try their hand at doing Superman justice and after going through half of Hollywood’s directing pool chose Richard Donner to direct this movie and its sequel.
James Daniel Walsh (V.O.):
However, when Production decided to focus on the first movie they had to hope for the best and pray for the worst. What happened was that the movie went on to be the highest-grossing movie for Warner Bros. for a long time. However, in 2000 Warner Bros. released a special edition of the movie and this version is the one Richard Donner considers his favorite version. Little did any of us know growing up who became a fan of both versions of this movie there was a third cut made specifically for TV which threw every scene they had in the book in terms of deleted scenes which was released on Blu-Ray in 2017. I would guess this is the cut of the movie I saw when I was three, which is literally my first ever memory. (Cut to James Daniel Walsh and The Last Of The Americans on the horseshoe couch)
TLOTA:
Well since you we take a look at the Extended TV Cut and compare them against the 1978 original and the 2000 Special Edition versions in “The Different Cuts”. And the way this segment works is…
James Daniel Walsh
I’m aware of the four categories for judgment. “The Plot”, “Editing”, “Cast & Characters” and finally “The Re-Watch Factor”.
TLOTA:
Precisely!
Join James Daniel Walsh & Me as we talk about The Different Cuts of Superman: The Movie here
