The fully restored version of the 1981 sequel, seen only on Tv screens overseas, was available free online but Warner Bros. quickly shut it down!
A "restored international cut" of Superman II which included extra footage from original director Richard Donner was free online at Superman Cinema, according to Entertainment Weekly. But by the time the issue hit newsstands, Warner Bros. had shut down its distribution.
Donner shot both Superman and its sequel at the same time in 1977 but was replaced for the sequel by Richard Lester, EW explained. Later in the 1980s, Warner Bros. put together an extended international TV version that contain previously unseen Donner footage, EW said.
Thanks to fans and an anonymous team dedicated to Donner's vision, a DVD has been put together from videotapes of that original TV broadcast. But Warner Bros. saw it as a violation of the studio's copyright and ordered it taken down.
"Details of this fan restoration have been removed because Warner Bros. have contacted me. I think as a collective group, we've achieved what we set out to do, that is to raise awareness of Donner's work on Superman 2; it imperative that the wider audience learns about Donner's work on Superman 2, and they will; Entertainment Weekly...check it next week! :)," the Webmaster of the site writes.
"Warner Bros. knows the fans will buy it, but this needs to reach the wide audience who do not read these types of sites. I think it's a great achievement that this will be in Entertainment Weekly. We await a legit version of Superman 2 featuring Donner's lost work."
Why give it away free? "It's not about me, it's about the film," the remastering bandit told EW. "When you get down to its core, it had a great story that even Richard Lester couldn't screw up."
The Web site still includes many interesting details of the lost footage.