Superman - The Movie
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Movie Reviews of Superman - The Movie
Movie Review: The Role That Launched Christopher Reeve To Stardom!!
Summary: 5 Stars
The late Christopher Reeve skyrocketed to super stardom, launching a new genre of movies along the way, as "The Man Of Steel" in 1978's "Superman". Sadly, Reeve passed away October 10, 2004 from heart failure after suffering either a heart attack, slipping into a coma from which he would never awaken. The movie itself is classic: Oscar winners Marlon Brando ("The Godfather", "Apocalypse Now", etc) and Gene Hackman ("The French Connection", "The Poseidon Adventure", etc.) shared top billing for this movie, with Christopher Reeve, a relative unknown at the time, though he had appered in bit parts in movies like "Midway", coming in third. The strategy worked like a charm, because not only did he closely resemble the hero of the comic strip, but also because he played the part perfectly. The special effects were flawless (the film won an Oscar for Special Achievement in Visual Effects), proving that a man CAN fly. Marlon Brando was paid $10 million for 10 minutes of screen time (he appeared in the beginning as Jor-El, Superman's real father). Gene Hackman proved he could play a cartoonish villain after violent roles in films like "The French Connection". Glen Ford ("Blackboard Jungle", Midway", etc) appears in a small role as Jonathan Kent, Superman's adoptive father. Terence Stamp and the other two who played the Krypton renegades on trial at the beginning would appear in "Superman II". Margot Kidder, who played Superman's love interest, Lois Lane, did a wonderful job, becoming one of Christopher Reeve's closest friends, both on/off screen. Valerie Perrine and Ned Beatty provide comic relief along with Hackman (as Lex Luthor, who would go on to appear in "Superman II" and "Superman IV") as his henchmen Otis and Miss Tessmaucher (who becomes good at the movie's climax.) John Willaims' score is irrevocably classic, identifying itself immeadiately as the main theme from "Superman", adding it to his scores from the six "STAR WARS" movies ("Episode III" to be released in theaters next summer), "Indiana Jones" and "Jurassic Park" movies, among others. Richard Donner ("The Omen", "Lethal Weapon" quadrilogy, "Ladyhawke", etc.) provides 8 minutes not seen in theaters, which enhance the film's exposition and moves ahead with the action. Also, the sound has been remixed and the widescreen format allows you to experience the picture the way the director wanted it. I have no idea why the two scenes that show up under 'deleted scenes' were cut from the film. The 2nd one would've been better if it had been restored into the picture, because it gives us an idea of the cruel way Lex wanted to punish Miss Tessmaucher. But, its showing up on DVD is okay.
My favorite scene is when Superman and Lois are flying over New York City, that is just beautiful. Although the film is based on a cartoon character, I wouldn't recommend it for kids under 5 years of age, though there might be some who'll enjoy the movie, no matter what. It would be nothing less than an insult to Christopher Reeve's memory to make "Superman V". The majority of people consider Christopher Reeve to be the only person who could play Superman. Memo to Warner Bros.: If you persist in making "Superman V", it'll be the biggest mistake you've ever done, because "Superman" is one of your most popular film franchises (not only yours, but in the history of movies, there has never been such a thing as a movie franchise, like the "James Bond 007" or "STAR WARS" movies that haven't gotten A TON of hype prior to its wide release). It'll be a DISASTER for you, unless you make it (if you persist on it), do what Blake Edwards did for "Trail Of The Pink Panther": put Lois Lane (Margot Kidder, of course) to remeniscence about Superman/Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve, showing up only in shots from the four films) before he was killed by kryptonite, making it a montage of footage from all four movies, releasing it in theaters nationwide. That would be,in my opnion, the best option if you want this franchise to end with a bang. Or, if you're thinking of continuing the series (bad idea unless you want the franchise to stink after four successful movies), you could put Dean Cain (TV's "Lois And Clark" and "Clubhouse", airing on CBS) in the role instead of another actor and release it straight to video/DVD. Do that, I think it'll go a lot better or don't make it at all. Why did the MPAA say that this movie had sensuality, even making it 'mild sensuality'? There was no sensuality in this movie and the 'mild language' was only one 'damn', one 'hell' and one 'a--'. Nothing worth mentioning. Same thing with "STAR WARS Episode IV", the 'brief mild language' only consisted of two 'damn's and one 'hell'. No big deal. Also, the packaging for this movie could've been better, instead of those cheap cardboard boxes. Rated PG for peril.
Movie Review: I certainly believed that Christopher Reeve was Superman
Summary: 5 Stars
As soon as I heard that Christopher Reeve died the first thing that came to my mind was my favorite scene in "Superman." This is when Clark Kent has spied Lois Lane dangling from a helicopter atop the "Daily Planet" building, discovers that there are no phone booths in which to change in the modern version of Metropolis, and as he runs across the street he opens his shirt and for the first time we see the big "S" that stands for truth, justice, and the American way. The second thing I thought about was the director, whose name I forget, who was chastised by a friend for considering Reeve for a serious film since the actor had played Superman. The director's rejoinder was to stop and consider how hard it is to play an American icon like Superman (if you want more evidence of that consider how hard it is has been to cast the role for the 2006 film "Superman Returns," and that apparently they have settled on actor James Caviezel, who knows a lot about playing a character considered sacred by a lot of people). Of course, the final thing I thought about with regard to Reeve was that he was never going to benefit from the tireless lobbying he did for spinal cord injury patients ever since he began the most famous quadriplegic on the face of the planet after that horrible equestrian accident in 1995.
The tagline for the 1978 film "Superman" was that "You'll Believe a Man Can Fly!" but the impressive thing was that audience were willing to accept a relative unknown in the role of the Man of Steel. Reeve did not even get top billing; in fact he was billed third behind Marlon Brando as Jor-El and Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor. Yet the whole movie hinged on Reeve, not only as the heroic Superman but as the purposefully bumbling Clakr Kent. Of course it was a put on and with Reeve it was clear, as it would become in the DC comics about "Superman" after this movie came out, that Superman was the real person and Clark Kent the faux identity (I also liked the idea that in addition to the glasses on/off variable Clark and Superman part their hair on opposite sides).
Richard Donner filmed "Superman" and a lot of "Superman II" at the same time and at one point it was apparently supposed to be one giant movie (think "The Three Mustketeers" and "The Four Musketeers"). But there is decidedly a sense in which "Superman" is three different films. The first, taking place on Krypton, is a solemn and almost sacred recreation of the events that led Jor-El to put the infant Kal-El into a spacecraft and send him to Earth to survive the death of Krytpon. The second, set in Smallville, Kansas, is pure Americana as young Clark Kent (Jeff East) has to deal with the idea that he was literally put on Earth to do something more important than score touchdowns, a lesson imparted by Pa Kent (Glenn Ford, in a wonderful bit part that deserved at least serious Oscar nomination).
However, most of the film takes place in Metropolis and has a decidedly comic tone that is different from the first two parts. Clark Kent is a klutz, Perry White (Jackie Cooper) a blowhard, and Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) cannot spell. Hackman's Lex Luthor has fun going over the top, playing out his grandiose plans to his dumb and dumber tag team, Miss Teschmacher (Valerie Perrine) and Otis (Ned Beatty). No wonder Reeve's Superman comes out of this one looking so good; he is clearly taking what is going on in this movie far more seriously than anyone else. The sequence in the film is when Superman follows up his rescue of Lois with a series of heroic deeds that go from saving Air Force One to rescuing a cat up a tree. Certainly this Superman has more of a sense of humor than his predecessors, although clearly in an All-American sort of way. The ending is big in a comic book sort of way, but all the larger than life stuff is grounded in the moment when Superman weeps over the body of Lois.
Watch "Superman" and "Superman II" again some time to remember how good Reeve was in the role. But to honor his memory skip the third and fourth "Superman" movies. If you want more of Reeve then go check out "Someone in Time" (another instance of where his acting ability overcomes the problems of believing you can "think" yourself back in time), "Deathtrap" and "The Remains of the Day." If you want more of the Superman mythos the first two seasons of "Smallville" are out on DVD, which connects nicely to the second act of this film, while if you catch repeats of "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" you can see the stars finally get uncrossed for the love triangle that was made up of only two people.
Movie Review: Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
Richard Donner's SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE is, by far, the greatest Superman film ever made, and might very well be the greatest super-hero film ever made (although SPIDER-MAN 2 comes pretty close, and BATMAN BEGINS very well MAY surpass it). The movie re-counts the origins of the titular character, from his birth on the planet Krypton to his adolescent years in the mid-west town of Smallville to his eventual arrival in the city of Metropolis.
Almost everything about this film is spot-on. John Williams' score is (as usual) a masterpiece. Christopher Reeve is PERFECT as Superman; no other actor before OR since has approached him in the role. Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor certainly isn't the cold hearted billionaire that is so well known today, but keeping in mind that this is a pre-crisis version of the character, Hackman is HYSTERICAL (it's too bad he doesn't do this kind of comedy more often). Margot Kidder is surprisingly charming and funny as Lois Lane, and Marlon Brando lends a definite gravitas to his rather limited role as Jor-El.
The supporting cast is all superb; Jackie Cooper is perfect as the cantankerous Perry White, Ned Beatty is hysterical as Luthor's idiotic sidekick Otis, and Glenn Ford gives perhaps the best performance in the movie as Jonathan Kent; his scens with Jeff East as a young Clark Kent are some of the best in the movie. In addition, the script (mostly by a largely uncredited Tom Mankiewicz) is full of great lines ("It's amazing that brain can generate enough power to keep those legs moving"), and while the special effects ARE sometimes variable (the Phantom Zone looks especially cheesy), the majority of them hold up surprisingly well (the helicopter sequence in particular looks just as great now as it did in '78.) Also right on the mark is Richard Donner's direction, which is never intrusive but always gets the point across.
The movie isn't flawless; as mentioned before, a few of the effects aren't all that great (then again, look at the turgid CGI in HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE), and the sequence where Margot Kidder recites the lyrics to "Can You Read My Mind?" takes a potentially charming sequence and makes it excruciating to watch. Still, to quote Joe E. Brown in SOME LIKE IT HOT, "Nobody's Perfect". SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE may have a few missteps, but what it does right it does exquisetly.
The DVD Warners has issued is top-notch. The commentary by Mankiewicz and Donner is entertaining, if a little bit relaxed in terms of the actual information doled out. Three SUPERB documentaries, however, make up for that; the only problem I had with these documentaries was that I wished they were about twice as long as they are. The only BIG problem I had with the extra features with the depressing lack of deleted scenes; the original TV premiere had 49 MINUTES of deleted footage, yet all they could fit onto this disk were two (admittedly entertaining) scenes? Hopefully this situation is rectified in the future.
Also, the DVD presents an extended version of the film that integrates the following deleted scenes: a sequence where Jor-El argues with the Kryptonian Council of Elders, a sequence where the council sends a dude dressed like a stormtrooper to investigate Jor-El's laboratory, a ten second snippet involving the Phantom Zone villains seeing Kal-El's starship, a cameo by a young Lois Lane, a scene where Martha Kent gets breakfast ready, a couple of seconds of extra bonding between Clark and Jimmy Olson, a conversation between Superman and his father in the Fortress of Solitude, a cameo by Richard Donner as a skeptical pedestrian, the famous sequence where Luthor tests Superman's mettle and a couple of seconds showing Girl scouts about to be crushed by the falling "Hollywood" sign.
The sequence with Jor-El and the council does kind of slow down the pace at the beginning of the film, but it IS important exposition, so it's a valuable addition. Also valuable is the sequence between Superman and his father, which WOULD HAVE been important later on had Donner been allowed to make SUPERMAN 2 the way he originally intended. And the scene in Lex Luthor's hideout is some great effects material that really gets excitement up for the big finale.
Unfortunatly, however, the rest of the deleted footage should have stayed in the deleted scenes section. The Donner cameo is fun, and Martha Kent opening up the house is a nice piece of footage, but none of these scenes are nessecary and just help to slow down the pace of the film.
Movie Review: If you don't get this dvd, then NO SUPES FOR YOU !!
Summary: 5 Stars
The name Superman brings back so many memories doesn't it? Well watching this special edition brought back all of those feelings and more. This is a FANTASTIC dvd! All dvd's should aspire to be this good! The other reviews seem to mostly touch on the sound and picture quality (which are great), but I thought I would do a review mostly on the EXTRAS on this disc which are just incredible.First of all, there are 3, approximately half hour, documentaries on the making of Superman. These are the real gems of this disc. They're great! One involves pre-production, one involves production and one involves the special effects. They are all roughly a half hour each and they are all well worth your time. You see the original screen tests for both Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder plus screen tests of ... Anne Archer, Leslie Ann Warren, Stockard Channing and other famous actresses all tested for Lois and you see them all. I didn't notice anyone famous trying out for SUPES because they decided early on that they wanted an unknown but there are screen tests of plenty of unknowns including the dentist of one of the producers wives! Too funny. There are some great scenes here. The great thing about all these documentaries is that you get to hear from everyone involved in NEW interviews, even Christopher Reeve. Many documentaries or featurettes on other dvd's try and cut together old interviews and try and fool you into thinking you are getting something new. Not here! This is all new stuff! The second documentary even touches on the shady dealings of the producers of this film and all the wrangling done to get this film to the big screen. It's all quite fascinating. The third documentary is on special effects and it shows you numerous flying tests that they tried to get the man of steel to fly. Some are really bad and some are funny, but in the end, they figured it out. Flying is just one part of this documentary, they also go into matte painting, rear projection, front projection and many other techniques that were new to the biz and even effects that had never been attempted until this film. It really shows you the innovations that this film achieved that would set a precedent for future films to come. There's a lot more stuff in these documentaries but I think I'll just let you discover them for yourself.
There are ADDED scenes that were not shown theatrically but that are edited back into this "director's cut" of this dvd version. Most of them are throw away scenes or "bridges" for other scenes but I can't for the life of me figure out why they cut out the "FIRE AND ICE" sequence in the original theatrical version. It's fantastic. I also got a kick out of "little Lois" on the train.
There are 2 deleted scenes, that don't add much to the movie and I can see why they were deleted, but I did laugh at one of them.
Some of the deleted scenes and the added scenes have been shown in expanded tv versions of this film but if you have never seen them, they are quite a treat and it's just good to have them in your home in such a high quality dvd transfer.
The alternate music scores I didn't get much out of and I doubt you will either unless you are a big follower of music scores.
The commentary by Director Richard Donner and Creative Consultant Tom Mankiewiczwas was great. You could tell that these two really had a lot of fun making this picture and a lot of love for the final product. They told some great stories on their troubles filming certain scenes, how they hired certain actors and even giving kudos along the way to the behind-the-scenes folk who helped out. There's some great insight on this commentary on how much hard work it really took to get this picture made. Tom has a great memory and seemed to tell a lot of "little things" that even Richard Donner had forgotten.
The trailers and tv spots were cool to see and they brought back definite memories, including a teaser trailer that I remember way back when, that caused roars of applause from the audience.
If you have even a little nostalgia for this film, you are going to love it! Some of the effects don't hold up in this day and age , but a surprising number of them do! I found myself thinking to myself "how did they do that back in 1978?". The answer: By Hand. The story is timeless and even though today's younger audience might be jaded with all of today's computer wizadry, I think this movie stands the test of time. Just the EXTRAS alone make this disc worth it. After watching this film, you too will believe a man can fly ... I know I did ...
ENJOY!
Movie Review: Set the Standard for all Comic Book Films to Follow
Summary: 5 Stars
What Star Wars did for science fiction and fantasy films, Superman did for comic book films. In fact, Christopher Nolan (director of Batman Begins) frequently credits Superman with how to do comic book films correctly. He wanted his own film to be on that level.
I was seven-years-old when I went and watched the movie. As a young kid, I was a huge fan of the old Adventures of Superman, and ignorantly, that's what I thought I was going to see: a movie with all the characters from the television show. I still recall walking out of the theater absolutely dumbfounded by such a fantastic film that made Superman come alive. It was the flying scenes that captivated me. It looked so real to me, especially compared to the dated effects of the television show.
Thankfully, an unknown actor, Christopher Reeve, was chosen to play the part. In the extra features Richard Donner cites that Reeve immersed himself in the part and even made his body move in such a way that you felt he was flying, even though he was strapped into a harness.
As I've stated in my Smallville reviews, the thing that makes Superman so compelling is that Clark Kent is his disguise, and Superman is who he really is. Most heroes have it the other way around. Reeve also recognized that to pull off a realistic disguise, he'd have to act much differently as Clark Kent. Crediting Cary Grant as the man he borrowed his "nerdy" persona, Reeve successfully creates two separate identities. It's believable that nobody would ever suspect the nerdy, bumbling, and clumsy Clark Kent was being the Man of Steel.
Other performances in this film are very good. Gene Hackman is great as Lex Luthor, even though he decided to give Luthor a decidedly humorous spin. I still like Michael Rosenbaum's depiction the best from Smallville, but these are two different eras. Ned Beatty is hilarious as Luthor's bumbling henchman, Otis.
It's also great to see Jackie Cooper after all of these years (from the Our Gang) to take on the role of Perry White. He's great in the role as well, giving White a fiesty side.
Margot Kidder also does a good job as Lois Lane. I had to admit that she was a pleasant surprise. Considering the women she beat out for the role such as Lesly Ann-Warren and Cindy Williams, it speaks highly to her interpretation of the character.
It's nearly an hour before Superman finally shows up, but when he does, it's a scene that even by today's standards still takes your breath away as he flies up to catch the falling Lois Lane with one hand and then catching the helicopter in the other.
You simply can't mention the greatness of this film without talking about the timeless music of John Williams. The opening credits that start with one of Williams' signature pieces simply speaks to the power and grandeur of this cinematic masterpiece. Donner still recalls vividly of being literally speechless and feeling the hairs on his body stand up when he first heard John Williams' rendition.
If you're going to do a comic book movie, you have to know the character. Unfortunately, most people who attempt to do comic book films don't know the character, and the characters are only shadows of who they truly are. The first four Batman films are a testament to this. Sam Raimi is an avid Spider-Man reader, and Christopher Nolan has also been a Batman reader for quite some time. Richard Donner also immersed himself in the world of Superman to make sure that he made a film that stayed true to the character.
Superman is the hero that all other heroes are compared to. There is no other hero who retains such a mystique and grandeur of goodness and justice. Unlike Batman who is driven by vengeance or even Spider-Man who is driven by guilt and responibility, Superman is driven by a sense of trying to make the world as a whole a better place.
Superman transcends the comic book world to be an American hero as well, as he embodies all the things that we, as Americans, hold nearest and dearest to ourselves. This film gives us that Superman.