bump
The stupid have one thing in common.They alter the facts to fit their views not the other way

No they weren't, Lester ruined it, he had no respect or liking for Superman and it made number 2 so disjointed. He completely lost the meaning of Supermans origin and story from number 1 and all his aditions were meaningless. He refilmed parts just to get a credit but they were worse for the most part. No real effort or responsibility went into the parts he directed and it looked like they were filmed with out any passion. Clark crossing the road and denting the cab for example was so badly done and made no sense. It should have been a deleted scene.
Kidder and Hackman hated Donner being sacked so Kidders part was reduced to a cameo for three and Hackman refused to come back for 2. All the Hackman scenes in the theatrical cut of 2 were filmed by Donner. He didn't trust in Lester and was spot on. If Donner had no involvement in number 2 it would have been even worse and would have been as pathetic as number 3.
If Donner and Mankiewicz had been left in charge of number 2 and 3, the Superman franchise/film legacy would have been much better off as they had a better understanding and presentation of the character and the material!

I think that the scenes Richard Lester changed in Superman II, for the most part, were for the best, and made the movie even better.
However, Superman III does show what happens when Richard Donner has no involvement.

Or perhaps they could just re-watch the first two instead which are easily superior. The studio and director should've put in more effort if they expected anyone to take it seriously.

source material
If you're so into source material, my suggestion to you is to read a comic instead of watching this movie.
"These days, if say you're English, you'll get arrested and thrown in jail"

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I think also, the Salkinds still owed Lester money over his
Three Musketeers
films (in which the Salkinds split it into two movies w/o Lester's consent or prior knowledge).

what I don't understand is people talk like those were the only 2 directors in the entire world
No, they just happened to be the ones the Salkinds used.
http://www.freewebs.com/demonictoys/

what I don't understand is people talk like those were the only 2 directors in the entire world

The Salkinds brought back Richard Lester because they wanted more creative control over the film. Richard Donner and the Salkinds never got along.
I enjoy this film all things considered, but the humor was a bit overdone.
http://www.freewebs.com/demonictoys/

Richard Donner grew up reading the comics. Clearly Lester was the wrong man for the job. Had Donner and Tom Manckiewicz been around for III, it would have been a much better movie.