The first true Superhero film
Back in 1978 Superman became the first superhero film and made with the intent of treating it's source material seriously. It was a big special effects movie that was made at the time of the rise of blockbusters like Jaws and Star Wars and still has fans today. But does it stand the test of time.
On the planet of Krypton the ruling council ignores their leading scientist Jor-El's (Marlon Brando) warnings that their planet is about to face destroy and threaten him with exile to the Phantom Zone, a fate worst then death, if he tries to leave the planet. Given no option and seeing that his planet is about to be destroyed he put his only son Kal-El in a space ship and send him to Earth with all the knowledge Krypton has. On Earth Kal-El crash lands in Smallville and is raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent (Glenn Ford and Phyllis Thaxter) as their son, Clark. Years later Clark (Christopher Reeve) becomes a reporter for a major newspaper, the Daily Planet and the North Pole his he created his Fortress of Solitude where he learns about his planet and its history. He becomes Superman, having abilities no one else Earth has and soon starts a relationship with Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). But villain Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) plans to commit the crime of the century and willing to kill Superman to do it.
Before Superman all superhero programs and film serials were either seen as children programmes, like the George Reeves Adventures of Superman or the camp Adam West Batman. Even as comics were getting darker and more serious comic books were still seen as children's entertainment. This Superman project had a lot of potential, being one of the best known superhero and it had a long production. A number of directors were attached, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, William Friedkin and Sam Peckinpah. Guy Hamilton of Bond fame, director Goldfinger, was set to director but had to leave because he could not live in England for more then a month because he was tax cheat. Richard Donner stepped in, having only made The Omen and a few TV Movies. Donner's directing is mixed, he is able to come up with some grand visions for Krypton and a dark sombre tone when Jor-El sends his son off as the planet is being destroyed. The action sequences are strong and the special effects were the best available at the time, though the flying effect does look a bit ropey by modern standard. But I do like the physicality of using models and more does need to be used for modern blockbusters. There are also tender moments between Superman and Lois Lane, the flying send being the most famous and Donner did do well for the most part for having to fit in a lot of the Superman story in one film, his origins from his childhood to his early days as Superman and mixing the tone and action sequences.
For me however I do not have the nostalgia for Superman that some people have, growing up with this series. They see it a proper serious superhero film, but I find there are still problems. There is a lack of a good antagonist: you can not really respect Lex Luther as the main villain of this film. He sometimes has a dark edge, killing a police officer like a Bond villain but for the most part Luthor and his henchpeople are just played for laughs taking away an threat they main hold and some of the leaps of logic is extraordinary, particularly how they figure out Superman's weakness is Kryptonite. Luthor has an extraordinarily dumb play and its only in Superman Returns when Luthor is actually a sinister and creditable villain. I think Donner was so focused on showing Superman's origins he didn't have time to develop a good villain. There are also so really cheesy and silly moments like when Lois and Clark at robbed and Clark's exaggerated geeky traits. There is also no set scene of time, with a lot of the characters looking like they were from the 50s. We can also not over look the ending, how the hell is spinning around the world and making it rotate backwards able to make time go backwards? There are a lot of problems with it and it causes a lot of plot holes, including Superman could have gotten both nukes within seconds. It is the type of ending which pretty much say the previous event didn't matter because we reset time.
We know that there was a long casting process to find someone who could play Clark Kent and Superman, from James Caan, to Christopher Walken, to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Reeve was an unknown stage actor but he really was Superman, who was torn between Jol-El who was his mentor and his desire to protect Earth because of the ideals he was raised on. This Superman is a little more arrogant but that is because he is still young and starting out as a hero. But of course he is still a good man. Reeve had excellent chemistry with Kidder, both as Clark and Superman and she is strong in role as a smart journalist on the up. My view on Hackman is that his role was ruined by the comedy but at least there was so banner with Valerie Perrine. There is no denying Brando was a great Jol-El, giving his character a calm grandness and he played his role deadly seriously.
Plus Superman has one of John Williams' best scores, a really powerful rousing bit music.
Overall Superman is a fun film but what lets it down are some cheesy/silly moments, a bit too much comedy and a lack of a treating antagonist. It is not the classic some people think it is but it is a worthy film. A 7.5/10 would be a fair IMDb score.
On the planet of Krypton the ruling council ignores their leading scientist Jor-El's (Marlon Brando) warnings that their planet is about to face destroy and threaten him with exile to the Phantom Zone, a fate worst then death, if he tries to leave the planet. Given no option and seeing that his planet is about to be destroyed he put his only son Kal-El in a space ship and send him to Earth with all the knowledge Krypton has. On Earth Kal-El crash lands in Smallville and is raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent (Glenn Ford and Phyllis Thaxter) as their son, Clark. Years later Clark (Christopher Reeve) becomes a reporter for a major newspaper, the Daily Planet and the North Pole his he created his Fortress of Solitude where he learns about his planet and its history. He becomes Superman, having abilities no one else Earth has and soon starts a relationship with Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). But villain Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) plans to commit the crime of the century and willing to kill Superman to do it.
Before Superman all superhero programs and film serials were either seen as children programmes, like the George Reeves Adventures of Superman or the camp Adam West Batman. Even as comics were getting darker and more serious comic books were still seen as children's entertainment. This Superman project had a lot of potential, being one of the best known superhero and it had a long production. A number of directors were attached, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, William Friedkin and Sam Peckinpah. Guy Hamilton of Bond fame, director Goldfinger, was set to director but had to leave because he could not live in England for more then a month because he was tax cheat. Richard Donner stepped in, having only made The Omen and a few TV Movies. Donner's directing is mixed, he is able to come up with some grand visions for Krypton and a dark sombre tone when Jor-El sends his son off as the planet is being destroyed. The action sequences are strong and the special effects were the best available at the time, though the flying effect does look a bit ropey by modern standard. But I do like the physicality of using models and more does need to be used for modern blockbusters. There are also tender moments between Superman and Lois Lane, the flying send being the most famous and Donner did do well for the most part for having to fit in a lot of the Superman story in one film, his origins from his childhood to his early days as Superman and mixing the tone and action sequences.
For me however I do not have the nostalgia for Superman that some people have, growing up with this series. They see it a proper serious superhero film, but I find there are still problems. There is a lack of a good antagonist: you can not really respect Lex Luther as the main villain of this film. He sometimes has a dark edge, killing a police officer like a Bond villain but for the most part Luthor and his henchpeople are just played for laughs taking away an threat they main hold and some of the leaps of logic is extraordinary, particularly how they figure out Superman's weakness is Kryptonite. Luthor has an extraordinarily dumb play and its only in Superman Returns when Luthor is actually a sinister and creditable villain. I think Donner was so focused on showing Superman's origins he didn't have time to develop a good villain. There are also so really cheesy and silly moments like when Lois and Clark at robbed and Clark's exaggerated geeky traits. There is also no set scene of time, with a lot of the characters looking like they were from the 50s. We can also not over look the ending, how the hell is spinning around the world and making it rotate backwards able to make time go backwards? There are a lot of problems with it and it causes a lot of plot holes, including Superman could have gotten both nukes within seconds. It is the type of ending which pretty much say the previous event didn't matter because we reset time.
We know that there was a long casting process to find someone who could play Clark Kent and Superman, from James Caan, to Christopher Walken, to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Reeve was an unknown stage actor but he really was Superman, who was torn between Jol-El who was his mentor and his desire to protect Earth because of the ideals he was raised on. This Superman is a little more arrogant but that is because he is still young and starting out as a hero. But of course he is still a good man. Reeve had excellent chemistry with Kidder, both as Clark and Superman and she is strong in role as a smart journalist on the up. My view on Hackman is that his role was ruined by the comedy but at least there was so banner with Valerie Perrine. There is no denying Brando was a great Jol-El, giving his character a calm grandness and he played his role deadly seriously.
Plus Superman has one of John Williams' best scores, a really powerful rousing bit music.
Overall Superman is a fun film but what lets it down are some cheesy/silly moments, a bit too much comedy and a lack of a treating antagonist. It is not the classic some people think it is but it is a worthy film. A 7.5/10 would be a fair IMDb score.
- freemantle_uk
- Aug 25, 2011