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The Movie is directed by Richard Donner (Lethal Weapon.)
The film stars Christopher Reeve, Ned Beatty (Back to School),
Marlon Brando (The Godfather), Jackie Cooper, Glenn Ford
(Blackboard Jungle), Gene Hackman (The French Connection),
Trevor Howard, Margot Kidder, Valerie Perrine, Maria Schell,
Terence Stamp (Star Wars Episode I), Phyllis Thaxter and
Susannah York. The musical score is by John Williams (Star
Wars series.) The screenplay with written by Leslie Newman,
Mario Puzo (author of The Godfather), Robert Benton and
David Newman. ***
When the distant planet of Krypton is destroyed following
the exile of three who conspired against the world, the
planet is destroyed. Following its destruction, one of the
world’s leading members sends his only son off to Earth,
where he will be safe and have an advantage over the locals
due to his Kryptonian abilities. Upon being discovered on
Earth, the boy is renamed Clark Kent, and after growing
up, discovers hi s true identity and begins using his powers
to keep the city of Metropolis safe. All seems to be going
well for the superhero at first, but self-proclaimed criminal
genius Lex Luthor has begun a scheme that involves using
military weapons to destroy the west coast of the United
States – allowing him to profit immensely as a result. It’s
up to the Man of Steel to put an end to Luthor’s scheme.
***
In many ways, Superman is the first modern superhero
movie. It’s a big film filled with interesting characters,
great actors, astounding special effects, and larger-than-life
set design. In the world of cinema, this film was critically-acclaimed
and has stood the test of time. It isn’t hard to see why.
***
Where Superman stands out as a film most of all is
its ensemble cast. Christopher Reeve brings the Man of Steel
to life like no one before him – and no one since. He’s
right at home acting as either a timid-mannered reporter,
or in the Superman uniform, saving Metropolis and its citizens.
Gene Hackman is terrific as the villainous Lex Luthor, a
self-proclaimed genius who wants nothing more than to profit
from his evil scheme – even if it means taking hundreds
of thousands of innocent lives. While it’s these two main
men that steal the show, the rest of the cast is equally
impressive. We’ve got Marlon Brando as Clark’s biological
father on Krypton, Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, the love
interest of both Clark Kent and Superman, Ned Beatty as
Luthor’s bumbling, idiotic henchman Otis, Jackie Cooper
as Clark’s boss at the Daily Planet newspape r office, Glenn
Ford as Clark’s adoptive Earth father, and plenty more talented
actors. There isn’t a weak performance in the entire film.
***
While the film does look and feel dated at times, it
has aged pretty well. Even if the movie is a bit on the
long side and paced a bit slow (it runs nearly 2 ½ hours
and we don’t even see Clark as Superman until over 45 minutes
into the movie), it doesn’t matter because we grow to care
about our main character as the film progresses. What has
aged surprisingly well are the flyi ng scenes with Superman
– they very rarely seem staged or artificial. The set design
was state-of-the-art then and still looks good today, and
John Williams score gives the film an atmosphere it would
have lacked otherwise. ***
In 2000, the film was remastered and some extra footage
was reinserted into the film (much of this footage had appeared
in television airings.) This resulted in about 8 minutes
or so added to the movie, however it is debatable as to
how much of this footage was really necessary for the film.
Disappointingly, the Blu-Ray only inclu des the extended
cut, with no option for the original theatrical version
without the extended footage. The packaging is misleading
as it is the same cover art as the 4-disc DVD version, but
lacks most of the bonus material (including the other deleted
scenes) and only has the extended cut of the movie. ---
Image and Sound:
After selling my DVD Superman set to upgrade to the
wonderful world of Blu-Ray, this transfer of Superman: The
Movie comes off as a monumental disappointment. Throught
the movie, I felt like I was watching an upconverted DVD.
Yes, there are some upgrades here and there, including more
vibrant colors and more detail in a few scenes. But heavy
grain dominates much of the movie, and the picture is generally
very soft. Audio is equally disappointing, as Warner has
failed to include a lossless audio track. Someday Warner
will likely give this film series its due on Blu-Ray, but
this package just doesn’t stack up against better transfers
of films from the same era. If you have the DVDs, it isn’t
worth upgrading.
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