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Post by crazy_asian_man on Dec 17, 2014 14:41:58 GMT -5
Though we know how STM became a giant hit regardless....
Test audiences can be schizo... "12 Monkeys" and "Blade Runner" tested horribly- now are classics.
Wonder what the effect would have been if Donner got one test screen?
Nobody now or then loved time reversal.... Feeling it would have been scrapped & the original cliffhanger put in, if so.
Would audiences feel like it took too long to get to Metropolis?
It would have been horrible to have seen the Smallville bits cut down, if so...
What of Luthor and Otis? Too campy?
In any case, I have a bad hunch anything negative would have gotten Donner booted sooner...
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crown
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Post by crown on Dec 17, 2014 20:15:11 GMT -5
Probably would have trimmed the Otis trek a bit. I imagine time travel would stay in just because Lois dying was powerful enough. How would test audiences have felt about the Can You Read My Mind sequence I wonder?
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Post by crazy_asian_man on Dec 18, 2014 0:57:32 GMT -5
Probably would have trimmed the Otis trek a bit. I imagine time travel would stay in just because Lois dying was powerful enough. How would test audiences have felt about the Can You Read My Mind sequence I wonder? I'm lucky/unlucky enough to have been old enough to see it in the theatres when it came out & saw it multiple viewings- so I can at least share what I heard from audiences in the theatre showings (at least what I recall). * Just about unanimous: everyone in the theatre laughing and cheering during the helicopter rescue. * Also unanimous: sheer silence during the time reversal. * Some tiny laughter here and there: during Lois' monologue as it started. * Some groans: some of Luthor's and Perry White's one liners. * At the big theatres: a few genuine 'wows' during the credit sequence that made everyone dizzy, as that effect was a 'first' for the time. Personally- if I were part of that screening, what I'd put on a test card: 1. Might have trimmed the Otis walk. 2. Complained about a little too much over the top humor with Lex. 3. Love the bit with Superman facing his 'fathers' in the cloud- I don't mind Lois dying & being saved- but could there be SOME other way to save her? Also... reviews at the time were mixed. A good number seemed a little puzzled by the different tones. I got used to it but finally felt like I 'got it' when seeing some of the Donner footage with Lex & the villains. All praised Reeve. Most said it was a good time, especially with all the giant hype surrounding it prior to release. Anyhow- overreactions to screenings can be disastrous. So.... again, maybe it's a mixed blessing there wasn't one. Hard to know....
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crown
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Post by crown on Dec 18, 2014 16:04:14 GMT -5
There was a fan novelization where Superman saves Lois by administering CPR, not sure it would work on screen. Understand that the Lex humor really pays off in vagina's Superman II against evil Zod.
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Post by crazy_asian_man on Dec 19, 2014 19:55:27 GMT -5
There was a fan novelization where Superman saves Lois by administering CPR, not sure it would work on screen. Understand that the Lex humor really pays off in vagina's Superman II against evil Zod. It makes more logical sense for CPR- but you're right- even with the best John Williams' music, hard to see that scene working on-screen. I agree with the Lex humor paying off in SII- but at times, it is a bit TOO much (chasing after Otis while the ambulance is moving on the freeway is one instance I wouldn't have minded being cut).
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