Haven't downloaded it yet, but is this the 151 minute version, which seems to be the only one Netflix is renting on DVD, or the theatrical cut?

Agreed. For those who don't know, the ending of Superman was in fact the end of Superman 2, where going back in time is how Superman gets rid of Lois's memory of knowing his secret identity. The studio, getting frustrated with Donner, had him stop work on 2, finish 1, and use that ending. Also in the Donner cut of 2 is a great scene where Lois shoots Clark to prove he's Superman. Pissed, he tells her she could have killed Clark if she was wrong. Lois then shows him the gun was full of blanks. They never actually filmed this, but luckily it was one of the screen tests so that footage is worked into the new version.

It was interesting hearing Trey bash the second film, if only because for years I assumed the general consensus was that 2 was the better film, as it was a big super hero fight which is what people actually wanted in a Superman movie, as opposed to the bore that was the first half of the first film. That's what I seemed to remember from when it came out, but obviously time has not been kind to it

With regard to Superman's powers, every writer who comes on to tackle the character resets his power level to fit what they need for the story. Thus, in the 1990's Bruce Timm cartoon he's weaker than you'd expect, but once they moved on to Justice League episodes his strength was upped so he could fight gods.

Yeah, that's the one thing about J.J.'s writing style that gets a little old, and his protege Lindelof took that ball and ran with it hard.

As aggravating as it is to us normals, I think it's actually part of what gets these guys the jobs. The beancounters reading the scripts don't know from story, but the script sure seems EXCITING AS HELL and a skimming executive can catch all the IMPORTANT PARTS because they're RIGHT IN HIS FACE.