A Classic..
Added 11/17/2009
Watched this a long time ago when I was a kid and thought it was great. It wasn't as good as I remember it from way back then but it's still fun to watch and I enjoyed seeing it again.
On a separate note, I purchased this directly from Amazon and the DVD case was broken on the inside when I got it so the DVD was loose and had a bunch of scratches on it :( Could have been poor handling by the mail service though, I don't know. DVD played okay still but I'm mad about the scratches on a brand new DVD!
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Bring me the head of Richard Donner!
Added 11/14/2009
I know Superman geeks hold Richard Donner in esteem over this tepid "adaptation". Too bad Sam Peckinpah turned this sucker down. I know many people have found it hard to imagine what Sam would have done with this. Let me try: It would take place in El Paso with Clark Kent being some guy on the lam for years. In Peckinpah's "Superman", Kent would not have supernatural powers, only a lot of guns and would be drunk a lot. In flashbacks we learn that in high school he was some put-upon Dustin Hoffman "Straw Dogs" type, who finally goes off the deep end when the bullies who've been giving him hell gang rape his girlfriend Lana Lang. Of course, Lang is shown as sort of enjoying her debasement. He massacres all the bullies and becomes a hit man. On the lam, he meets with a hooker named Lois Lane who's on the run from her sadistic pimp, Lex Luther. There are various hijinks along the way involving bikers, tequila, more gang-rapes, more tequilla, and Kent/Superman killing more of Luther's henchmen. Kent/Superman would be played by Kris Kristofferson or Tommy Lee Jones. Luther would be played by Ernest Borgnine. Luther's henchman Otis would be played by Warren Oates or Alphonso Arau. Lois Lane would be played by either Susan George or even better, Pam Grier. The film would end with another massacre and some depressing 70s era ballad over the end credits (Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind" or something similar).
2 out of 6 people found this helpful.
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And the saga begins with Superman The Movie
Added 11/9/2009
5 of 5 stars for the comic book based movie Superman The Movie. This movie starts the franchise with the destruction of Krypton following sending of its last survivor to Earth. From the landing of his ice craft in the fields to his experiences in high school to his moving to Metropolis and working at the Daily Planet, this movies sets the basic history and story of Superman. An all star cast includes: Reeve, Hackman, Brando, Ford, Perine and Margot Kidder as Lois Lane. This movie has the sequence with Lane in a long gown going flying with Superman. Once Superman is established as a character, we enter the meat of the movie where Superman fights against Lex Luther (Hackman). Helped by Perine & Beatty's characters, Luther learns to use Kryptonite to neutralize Superman. Then he steals a nuke for purposes of setting off a major Earthquake on the west coast to move "ocean-front property" to the east.
A grand movie with sweeping music and visuals, this is a really fun movie and worth watching several times!
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Awful, hackneyed, insulting to its audience
Added 10/3/2009
I am simply astounded by the popularity of this terrible film. One would imagine that one of the most popular superhero films ever made would at least be entertaining in a base kind of way, but this film fails in nearly every way. The script is the worst I have ever seen. The Superman universe's fictional laws are constantly contradicted and broken when it fits the director's whim.
The dialogue and acting are atrocious. All of the actors (and it stars people like Reeves and Hackman, who are both very good actors) portray their roles with a kind of smirky self-consciousness, as if to underscore the ridiculousness of the production. The dialogue is an endless stream of boorish cliches, from start to finish. This particular quality (the low quality of the dialogue) is overpowering in two sequences: the opening scene on Krypton, and the the bit which was probably intended as romantic where Superman and Lois Lane go flying around the city. The latter is worse. Lane's voiceover seems like a distillation of the worst elements of dialogue in Harlequin romances, purified to their rotten, insipid core. Dialogue this bad shouldn't exist.
The film is unaware of whether it wants to be good campy fun or a serious work of cinema. It tries to be both, and fails to be either. The campy plot, dialogue, and acting serve to undermine the seriousness inherent in several of the film's attempts at poignancy. And, likewise, the seriousness undermines the film's campiness.
This is the worst kind of film: that which requires its characters to act stupid or incomprehensible in order to drive the drama. It goes all out. Characters act randomly, with no explanation as to why they are doing what they are doing.. Villains talk about how Superman cannot be harmed by bullets or fire... and then proceed to attack him with bullets and fire. Luthor (who boasts about having an IQ of 200) describes his plot in great detail to Superman, and then leaves him in the same room as a woman who has just expressed horror at his (Luthor's) plans. Clark Kent states that he must leave the home of his mother, without ever expressing why he must to the audience: we (and his mother, evidently) are expected to infer this information.
What makes this film so offensive, however, isn't the poor acting, dialogue, characters, or plot (this is, after all, a SUPERMAN movie - you can only go so far with the material), but the fact that the script disregards basic rules of narrative construction, contradicting logic and this world's fictional rules when it sees fit to do so. At one moment, Superman must change in a phone booth in order to rescue Lois Lane. During another, he can magically change what he is wearing in order to address a threat by Luthor. Moreover, Superman can not only reverse time by spinning the Earth backward on its axis (a dubious notion to begin with), but can select which aspects of the past he'd like to change.
This film was primarily a spectacle of Special Effects when it was released. It has suffered the fate all such films must: its techniques are now exceedingly phony looking, and when the graphical prettiness is no longer an element, the film collapses.
I am neither given to misanthropy nor to elitism, but I must question the collective sanity of the people of this world when such a lazy film as this is so widely loved to this day.
4 out of 21 people found this helpful.
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Great superhero flick looks as good as it likely can on Blu-Ray
Added 5/26/2009
The movie:
"You'll believe a man can fly." That was the advertising tagline. Well, I can't think of many instances of it, but this was one time when a movie delivered on its hype. "Superman" fires on many cylinders, but the main one, the integral one, was believability. This film is an absolute achievement in terms of tone, style, and effects. For 1978, the effects are terrific, but also the performances and the writing really gel and sell the concept to the audience.
We haven't seen yet the actor who can top Christopher Reeve's Superman. The solidness, the goodness radiating from his presence in costume, combined with the vulnerability and sheer hilarity of his Clark Kent are (perhaps) impossible to top. Margot Kidder turns in a feisty Lois Lane, and their chemistry is great. Gene Hackman is a credible Lex Luthor, both funny and menacing at the same time. Supporting players fill out a cast that just really inhabits the world and never feels less than real.
The run time of the movie is perhaps a bit flabby, and this edition adds about 3 minute of new material. But I for one am quick to forgive it - it just so captures a feeling of innocence, wonder, Americana, that I'm willing to just bask in it, even when the action slows down.
The Blu-Ray:
Well, this is not one of the discs you'll pop in to show off "how great HD looks." The film was shot almost throughout with soft focus filters which bump up the haze of lighting and obscure detail.
BUT: It looks as good as it probably ever can and ever will. In A-B comparisons with the previous DVD (which was great for its day) the upgrade is subtle but evident. Some shots show very strong detail, when it's in focus. Check out the foliage in Lois' rooftop apartment. Some facial shots show exceptional detail in fine lines. Whenever the soft filter is absent, you can really tell you're watching an HD presentation. The colors are the main upgrade in the Blu-Ray - reds and blues really pop, and black levels are rock solid in most shots not involving visual effects. Film grain is present and generally not too obtrusive, except during some effects shots. But I prefer its presence to excessive digital noise reduction. In the end, how you feel about this Blu-Ray will depend on your emotions for the film itself (mine are very strongly positive), and how you feel about a home video accurately replicating the look and feel of the original presentation's film stock (something I'm also strongly in favor of).
Audio is presented in a strong Dolby Digital 5.1 channel mix. There isn't much of a workout for the surrounds, but John Williams' iconic score really sings, nonetheless.
Extras include an hour's worth of documentaries, reprises from the DVD edition. Casting tests, trailers, a commentary by Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz, and a wonderful score only track highlighting the music, round out the disc. Overall, at least average and probably slightly above average.
**********
I grew up with this film. I'm predisposed to enjoying it. As a Blu-Ray, it is hampered by the stylistic choices of the filmmakers, but still gives us a very good presentation of the film.
It's a five star film in my book. It's certainly in the top 5 comic book movies ever made (and was the true pioneer in terms of big budget successes from comic book material.) I considered downgrading this disc by one star simply because it can't overcome the flaws inherent to the source material. For the paltry sum Amazon is asking for it, you really can't go wrong, though. Kids of all ages (ages 3 to 83?) who just want to feel good about the world will be transported to a better, simpler, more beautiful place. Fans of 1970's cinema will find a lot to love, as well. There are many shots which really shine in detail, and almost all of the shots benefit from zippier colors. If you don't own this film otherwise, or are just a fan of the action/comic book genre, this is a must-buy. It's a classic.
10 out of 10 people found this helpful.
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