Rated PG (Peril, Some Mild Sensuality and Language)
Running Time: 2 Hours & 23 Minutes (original), 2
Hours & 31 Minutes (extended)
Cast:
Christopher
Reeve-Clark Kent/Superman
Margot
Kidder-Lois Lane
Gene
Hackman-Lex Luthor
Marc
McClure-Jimmy Olsen
Jackie
Cooper-Perry White
Glenn
Ford-Jonathan Kent
Phyllis
Thaxter-Martha Kent
Valerie
Perrine-Eve Teschmacher
Ned
Beatty-Otis
Marlon
Brando-Jor-El
Susannah
York-Lara Lor-Van
Terence
Stamp-General Zod
Sarah
Douglas-Ursa
Jack
O'Halloran-Non
Directed by Richard Donner
 |
| You'll believe a man can fly... |
‘You’ll believe a man can fly.’ Boy, on December 15, 1978, everybody did! Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and making his first appearance in Action Comics #1 in 1938, Superman has become the most iconic superhero in the entire world. Every other superhero that came after owes, at least in some part, to Superman. In fact, the first comic book I ever picked up was Superman (it was through comic books that I learned how to read) and although the issue number escapes me now, I remember that it involved him battling the unstoppable Kryptonian monstrosity known as Doomsday, who remains as the only villain to have ever succeeded in killing the titular superhero. Richard Donner’s “Superman,” despite being released over three decades ago, has remained as not only as one of the best comic book-to-film adaptations ever but also the most epic in scope and grandeur, perfectly capturing the true essence of what made the character so popular and timeless to a legion of fans, young and old. Others have tried to emulate Donner’s example, with varying degrees of success, but with the exception of Sam Raimi and Christopher Nolan, none have really succeeded. “Superman” is the quintessential superhero film; it has adventure, romance, and humor but it is iconic due in part to the perfect casting of Christopher Reeve and no other actor—past, present or future—will ever come close to matching his performance.
On the planet Krypton, a brilliant scientist named Jor-El (Marlon
Brando) and the rest of the Ruling Council sentence a group of
insurrectionists, General Zod (Terence Stamp), Ursa (Sarah Douglas), and Non (Jack
O'Halloran), to a lifetime of imprisonment in the Phantom Zone. Later, Jor-El
attempts to convince the rest of the Council that their sun will soon become
supernova and the resulting explosion will engulf and destroy Krypton.
Unfortunately, the Council dismisses such claims and force Jor-El and his wife,
Lara (Susannah York), to remain silent to avoid causing widespread panic.
Jor-El takes matters into his own hands and builds a life-sustaining spacecraft
for his infant son, Kal-El. Shortly after the ship is launched on its journey
towards Earth, Krypton is destroyed by the resulting shockwave from their sun and
all its inhabitants perish. The ship crash-lands on Earth three years later in
the middle of Smallville, where Kal-El is found and adopted by a kindly couple,
Jonathan (Glenn Ford) and Martha (Phyllis Thaxter) Kent. They name the boy…Clark
Kent. Tragedy strikes when Clark turns eighteen as his father passes away from
a heart attack. After the funeral, he finds a glowing green crystal hidden in
the remains of his ship, which compels him to travel to the Arctic. The crystal
builds the Fortress of Solitude and inside, Clark finally meets his true father in hologram form. Over a
twelve year period, Clark is trained in his powers and responsibilities. When his
training is finished, Clark dons a colorful red, blue, and yellow costume and
becomes SUPERMAN (Christopher Reeve)! He creates a mild-mannered civilian
identity and manages to land a job as a reporter in Metropolis for the
newspaper The Daily Planet, whose
editor-in-chief is Perry White (Jackie Cooper). Clark also meets the feisty
Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), a no-nonsense reporter who’s unafraid to get her
feet wet when chasing down a lead. Lois immediately becomes infatuated with Superman
when he saves her from plummeting to death during his first public appearance.
Meanwhile, a criminal mastermind named Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) is hatching a
plan to sink California using a nuclear warhead in a twisted real estate
scheme. He is aided by his two accomplices, the bumbling Otis (Ned Beatty) and
beautiful Eve Teschmacher (Valerie Perrine). However, in order for his plan to
succeed, he must destroy Superman once and for all!
When Richard Donner was
brought onboard to helm “Superman” in 1977, his motto during production was ‘verisimilitude,’
to achieve a sense of realism in the film despite its outlandish fantasy elements.
Producer Ilya Salkind first conceived of a Superman film in late 1973 and after
long negotiations with DC Comics, he and his father, Alexander Salkind, managed
to purchase the film rights a year later. Mario Puzo, famous for his 1969 novel
The Godfather, which was adapted into
a critically-acclaimed film in 1972, was hired to write the screenplay for a
two-part film. Unfortunately, it was overly long and bloated, and carried a
campy tone, prompting Donner to hire Tom Mankiewicz to do an entire rewrite
which would treat the character seriously. However, the Writers Guild of
America refused to credit Mankiewicz so despite Puzo’s script being virtually
thrown out, he received sole story credit as shown in the opening credits.
Donner credited Mankiewicz as a ‘creative consultant’ on the film, much to the
chagrin of the Guild. Both “Superman” and its sequel, “Superman II” were filmed
back-to-back but Donner was removed from the project and replaced with Richard
Lester due to continued creative disagreements with the Salkinds despite the
fact that he had already filmed three-quarters of the second film. Looking
back, the story presented in “Superman” isn’t all that special; it’s a classic
good vs. evil tale that set many of the standard tropes found in modern comic
book-to-film adaptations. However, what were amazing were how faithful to the
source material and epic in scale the film was, all the while grounding the
character and making his humanity the main focus. Sure, there are some issues
but they are relatively minor when taken as a whole. Yes, I am referring to the
climax where Superman, in anguish over the death of Lois Lane, turns back time
by flying around the Earth in a reverse orbit. It required too much suspension-of-disbelief, even for a “Superman” film but it
did emphasize the relationship between him and Lois.
“Superman” is best
remembered to this day for the pitch-perfect casting of then-unknown actor
Christopher Reeve. His performance is so memorable
and sincere that he has become virtually inseparable from the character. In
fact, whenever one thinks of Superman, Reeve immediately springs to mind and
every future portrayal will inevitably be compared to him. Reeve embodied not
just the physicality of Superman but all of his ideals: ‘truth, justice, and
the American way.’ With his warm smile and natural charisma, he won over the
audience and created not just a performance but something iconic. As Clark
Kent, Reeve portrayed him as a good-natured but bumbling fool. Many a fan have
poked fun at Clark’s simple disguise of wearing glasses but Reeve made
Superman’s civilian identity so markedly different from his alter-ego that
casual passers-by would find it hard to believe this awkward man is the
greatest superhero who ever lived. There’s this great scene where Clark and
Lois get mugged in an alley but Lois being Lois, she refuses to give up her
purse and kicks the thief in the head, making his gun go off. Clark catches the
speeding bullet and slumps to the ground. He explains that he fainted and then
subtly breaks the fourth wall by giving a knowing smile to the audience. Unfortunately,
Reeve suffered a spinal cord injury while horseback riding on May 27, 1995,
leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. He tragically passed away on October
10, 2004 at the age of 52 due to cardiac arrest but he will forever be
remembered as Superman.
Another piece of perfect casting is Margot Kidder as
Superman’s one and only true love, Lois Lane. Kidder does not fit the shallow
definition of sexy that most Americans seem to be enamored with. She was
attractive in a homely sort of way and it helped ground the romance between her
and Superman. Reeve and Kidder have natural chemistry together and in the
film’s grandest moment, Clark, seeing Lois dangling precariously from a
malfunctioning helicopter, rushes to change into Superman. Lois loses her grip
and falls but Superman catches her just in the nick of time and with a smile he
says, ‘Easy miss, I’ve got you.’ Shocked at being caught by a flying man, Lois
blurts out, ‘You’ve got me?! But who’s got you?!’ Later, Superman asks if she’s
all right and still in shock, Lois just shakes her head, her eyes wide. Before
he flies away, our hero gives one more piece of advice, ‘Well, I hope this
little incident hasn’t put you off flying, miss. Statistically speaking, it’s
still the safest way to travel.’ The most romantic scene in the film is when
Superman arrives at Lois’ home to be interviewed and then takes her in his arms
for a trip around Metropolis (which is actually New York City). All the while
the love theme, “Can You Read My Mind,” composed by John Williams, with lyrics
by Leslie Bricusse and sung by Maureen McGovern, plays in the background.
Unfortunately, Kidder simply recites rather than sings the lyrics but her
delivery manages to capture the wide-eyed, schoolgirl awe she is in when she
flies with Superman. I always get a smile from seeing Reeve and Kidder interact
on-screen as Donner successfully captures what makes Lois and Clark the
quintessential superhero couple in all of comics.
Playing Superman’s eternal
archenemy Lex Luthor was Gene Hackman, who is noticeably not bald but it is
revealed later that he has a penchant for wearing wigs. Much of the humor,
which may come off as cheesy to modern audiences, is derived from Hackman’s
portrayal of Luthor and while he chews the scenery, he never really becomes
more than an annoying pest to Superman and this is emphasized by the company he
keeps. Of course, “Superman” managed to score a big name for their cast—Marlon
Brando. However, Brando’s scant fifteen minute screen-time did not justify the
ridiculous salary ($3.7 million plus a percentage of the box office receipts,
totaling $19 million!) he received and his performance is rather dull, to be
honest. The special effects of “Superman” look primitive after three decades
but despite the obvious blue-screen and wire-work being employed, I still get
chills whenever Superman soars to the skies. There’s plenty of spectacle,
especially during the climax as Superman rushes to stop a nuclear warhead from
destroying a city in New Jersey. As earthquakes begin rollicking through
California, Superman saves both a school bus full of children and a speeding
passenger train. He also flies under the Earth to stabilize the San Andreas
Fault and creates a makeshift dam to stop a nearby town from drowning in river
water. Yes, he never throws a punch at anyone, which might not sit well with
modern audiences watching the film for the first time (who hasn’t seen this
film already?) but there is no written rule stating that a superhero film is
obligated to have fight scenes. Its goal is to tell a story, not bury itself in
an avalanche of meaningless battles, something which is lost in today’s summer
blockbusters. Finally, there’s the famous John Williams score, whose iconic orchestral
theme for the film has remained a timeless classic and like Reeve, has become
inseparable from Superman. It would be doing Williams and the character a
disservice if the theme wasn’t used in some capacity in Zack Snyder’s upcoming
2012 reboot.
“Superman” arrives on Blu-Ray courtesy of the “Superman Motion
Picture Anthology” box set which includes the original theatrical version and
the extended edition. The theatrical version runs at 2 hours and 23 minutes
while the extended is at 2 Hours and 31 minutes, eight minutes longer. For the
most part, there’s no major difference between the two; some scenes are
extended and the only new addition is when Superman returns to the Fortress of
Solitude to speak with the hologram of Jor-El after rescuing Air Force One. Both
versions are virtually identical in picture and audio quality, although I’m
sure someone will take the time out to do a frame-by-frame comparison. While
this is the best that “Superman” will ever look in HD, the picture is marred by
a hazy softness. Still, colors are bold and vibrant, especially those on
Superman’s costume, and textures look fairly detailed. Despite its age,
watching “Superman” on Blu-Ray is akin to experiencing the film for the first
time all over again. Audio is a different matter altogether and it soars while
Williams’ triumphant score plays in the background. Ambiance may be limited and
sound effects dated but dialogue remains very clear. Both the theatrical and
extended editions feature a cavalcade of special features; unfortunately the
material is in standard definition but the sheer amount of extras makes up for
it. There’s too many to list here but it has the usual audio commentaries and
making-of featurettes, plus deleted scenes and screen tests. A nifty extra
included is the 1951 film “Superman and the Mole-Men,” which introduced George
Reeves as Clark Kent/Superman to the world.
“Superman” was released into
theaters on December 15, 1978 to widely positive reviews and it currently holds
a franchise high of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics wrote that the film ‘deftly
blends humor and gravitas, taking advantage of the perfectly cast Christopher
Reeve to craft a loving, nostalgic tribute to an American pop culture icon.’ It
was also an instant box office success with a worldwide gross of $300 million
against a $55 million production budget (unusually high at the time). The film
was also nominated for three Academy Awards in 1979 for Best Film Editing,
Original Score, and Sound but it only received a Special Achievement Award for
visual effects. There are some flaws but “Superman” remains a classic comic
book-to-film adaptation, so reverential to the DC Comics character even as it
thrills us with its sense of fantasy escapism. I have no doubt that future
adaptations will turn out great but they will never come close to achieving the kind of magic that Donner imbued
into his film. Such a thing only happens once. For two-and-a-half hours, we
truly did believe a man can fly and “Superman” will remain as not just the
quintessential superhero film but a timeless classic.
Final Rating: 5 out of 5
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