Superman: The Movie Review (Revisited again)

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, since I've been re-watching the Superman movies of late, I thought I would update my review of the first one (and maybe the second we'll see) as it could do with the odd bit of expansion here and there. 

So, with that said let's take another look at this classic superhero film...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY

So, it all starts on the planet Krypton where Jor-El (Marlon Brando), one of the esteemed scientists of their civilisation, states that the planet will explode within a short space of time (30 days or less), however the high council of Krypton refuse to believe him and insist he keep quiet on his findings.  Regardless of this though, Jor-El is proved to be right as the planet does indeed start to destroy itself, but before doing so, Jor-El arranges for his son to be evacuated in a spaceship.  

The baby Kal-El (Superman of course as a wee yin) travels in the spaceship for three years before it gets to Earth.  On crash landing on Earth, in a small mining town Smallville, a middle aged couple, Johnathan (Glenn Ford) and Martha Kent (Phyllis Thaxter), come across the young Kal-El and adopt him as their own son, and he later is named as Clark Kent.

Later as Clark grows and becomes a teenager (played by Jeff East) his father Jonathan, dies from a heart attack, after this happens, Clark is awoken one night and goes into the house barn and he finds a glowing green crystal.  On finding this, Clark decides to leave Smallville and head North where he throws the crystal into the icy waters, and it soon causes the creation of the Fortress of Solitude.  On entering the Fortress, Clark finds a crystal which allows him to talk to a holographic projection of his father, who tells him who he really is and informs of his powers.

12 years later, Clark leaves the Fortress for Metropolis (New York City in real life) where he gets a job as a reporter, and befriends Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) an esteemed reporter with the Daily Planet.  However, not long after Clark starts work with the DP, Lois who is scheduled to do an interview, sets out to make the trip in a helicopter, however there is an accident, which causes the helicopter to crash land on the edge of the Daily planet roof.  Clark emerges from the building and looks up, and then decides this as his moment to unveil his identity (although at this point he's not named as Superman), as he changes into Superman and rescues Lois.

Later that night Superman makes his presence known in Metropolis as he does a number of good deeds, such as foil robberies, prevent a plane from crashing, and of course helping a cat stuck up a tree.  Soon after he is made public, the newspapers and television go wild, and soon enough Lois gets an exclusive interview with Superman, who takes her for a fly around the skies of Metropolis and its clear there is a chemistry between the two of them. After Superman leaves, Lois then comes up with the name of "Superman" for him, which she adds to her article for the paper.

However as things get going for Superman, the villainous Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman), schemes to destroy him, as he locates a piece of debris from Krypton for Addis Ababba.  Luthor lures Superman with the threat of killing the population of Metropolis with poisonous gas, which turns out to be just a trick.  However Luthor's real aim is to destroy California by having changed the trajectory of newly launched test missiles, and use the barren lands he has bought as the new West Coast which he will own.  And its up to Superman to stop Luthor from carrying out his nefarious plan and to save the destruction happening.....

THOUGHTS AND BACKGROUND OF PRODUCTION  

Superman: The Movie, is without a doubt something of a landmark in superhero films, as the film itself was a massive undertaking, with an incredible budget (55 million dollars) and covering a lot of ground in Superman's background, civilian life and being a superhero.  And one of the film's main triumphs is of course the casting of Christopher Reeve as Superman, who makes the character so believable.  And it would be hard to find an actor who could have played the part better as Reeve was picked from over 200 actors who were put forward for the role.   

The film's production had its fair share of problems as its director, Richard Donner clashed off set with the film's producers, the Salkinds, which eventually lead to his dismissal halfway through shooting Superman II.  Donner was later replaced with Richard Lester, whom directed the Musketeers films for the Salkinds and they got on well with.  Marlon Brando, cast as Jor-El, Superman's father also proved to be difficult as he later sued the Salkinds for $50 million having felt cheated out of his share of the film's box office profits. 

PERFORMANCES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers and detailed scenes from the film!) 

As for the performances well they are all excellent starting with Christopher Reeve who is perfect in the role as Superman/Clark Kent.  Reeve nails his character's dual identity to a tee and he shows Superman's righteous heroism as well as Clark's bumbling and comical nature.

Reeve has plenty of memorable moments that include the scene Clark and Lois leave the Daily Planet building after Clark's first night on the job only for them to get assailed by a mugger at gunpoint in an alley. So, in the scene, Clark tries to reason with the mugger and says "Sir, I realise that times are tough for some these days but you can solve society's problems with a gun!" and the mugger sarcastically says "You know something, you're right! I'm gonna turn over a whole new leaf". Clark then smiles and says "See? He doesn't want to hurt anybody" and the mugger then cocks his gun and says of Lois "Right after I rip off this lady's purse! Now come on, lady! Hand it over!". Lois then starts to but ends up kicking the mugger instead who falls back and fires his gun and Clark quickly catches the bullet, causing the mugger to flee in panic and Clark pretends to faint.

Lois then looks alarmed and shouts "Clark! Clark!" and she pats Clark's face to wake him up and he comes around and says "Golly! I must have fainted" and Lois not impressed says "You fainted!" and Clark says "Sorry" and Lois walks off and we see Clark hold the bullet in his hand and he smiles to himself and gets up. Clark then says to Lois who fumbles with her purse "Really, Lois, supposing that man had shot you. Is it really worth risking your life over 10 dollars, two credit cards, hairbrush and a lipstick?" and Lois looks inside her purse and surprised asks "How did you know that?" and Clark asks "Know what?" and Lois says "You just described the exact contents of my purse" and Clark looks at it and smiles awkwardly and says "Emmm, wild guess!" and walks on and calls for a taxi, leaving Lois puzzled. 

Then we have the introduction of Superman to the world as Clark changes into Superman going through the Daily Planet's revolving doors at lightning speed and he emerges and flies up to rescue Lois.  And in the scene Superman says to Lois "Easy, miss, I got you" and Lois in sheer disbelief says to him "You've got me??  Who's got you??!!" and as the chopper crashes over the edge and hurtles toward the ground, Superman effortlessly catches it and flies up to the roof.  And as Superman drops Lois off ontop of the roof he says to her "I hope this little incident hasn't put you off flying, miss.  Statistically they say its still the safest way to travel!". Lois then asks Superman "Who are you?" and Superman looks at her and says "A friend" and he flies off leaving a stunned Lois to faint in shock.

Another good scene is where Superman stops a jewel thief climbing up the side of a skyscraper building by using suction pads on his hands and feet. However, the thief soon encounters Superman as he climbs up and he sees Superman stand above him on the building and he says "Hi there! Something wrong with the elevator?" and the thief stunned, suddenly falls back and plummets below but Superman flies off and saves him and says "Going down!" and he then catches the thief. Superman then lands with the thief and goes up to a police officer and says to him "Good evening, Officer..." looking at his badge "Mooney. They say confessions are good for the soul?" and he takes some jewellery out of the thief's bag "I'd listen to this man! Take him away" and he then flies off.   

Then there are the scenes where Superman has interview with Lois at her apartment and she asks him some personal questions such as how old he is and he candidly says "Over 21!" and also what colour of underwear is she wearing and after not being able to tell because a lead planter she turns and walks away and Superman says instantly "Pink!".  And in the scene Superman also tells Lois why he is on Earth and he tells sincerely "I'm here to fight for truth, justice and the American way!" and Lois laughs and incredulously says "You'll end fighting every elected official in this country!. Superman then says "Surely you don't mean that, Lois" and Lois says "I don't believe this!" and Superman says to her firmly "Lois, I never lie".    

And later there is of course Supe's confrontation with Luthor after Lex tells him his plan to destroy California for his own selfish ends to create his own luxurious land. So, Lex asks Superman "So, what do you think, Supe baby?" and Superman says "Well, your theory is quite impressive, Luthor but the rest is just a sick fantasy!" and Luthor corrects and says "No, not fantasy, history. Its happening, Superman!". Lex then yells out for Miss Tessmacher, who comes in and he asks her "Where is the rocket now?" and Miss Tessmacher tells them that its going over the Grand Canyon as is the other one, which prompts alarm from Superman who asks "The other one?! There's two of them?!". So, Lex tells Superman "Yes, Superman, double jeopardy, even with your great speed you couldn't stop both of them, where on the other hand I can stop them with my detonator". So, Superman angrily grabs Lex and lifts him up in the air and asks "Alright, Luthor! Where is it?! Where's the detonator?!" but Lex says nothing and Superman let's him go.

So, Superman looks around Lex's desk and safe and scans them with his X-ray vision but sees no detonator in them. Superman however then notices the box Lex sits on, which is made of lead and he says to him "You diseased maniac!  You really think you could hide it from me by encasing it in lead?!  I'll mould this box into your prison bars!". Lex then warns Superman "Don't touch that!" but Superman opens it anyway and sees the kryptonite in it and he instantly reacts to it as Lex says to him "I told you! That's kryptonite, Superman! A little souvenir from the old home town. I spared no expense to make you feel at home!". 

This is then followed by the scene Miss Tessmacher, torn by loyalties to Lex and Superman, over her mother living in an area where one of the missiles will hit, decides to rescue Superman, whom Lex has left to drown in his large pool, as he places the Kryptonite around Supe's neck, which severely weakens him. 

So, in the scene, we see Miss Tessmacher approach the pool and Superman, struggling to stay afloat in the pool calls on her and says "Miss Tessmacher! Miss Tessmacher! Surely you can't just stand there and let millions and millions of innocent people die!" and Miss Tessmacher "Maybe...". Superman then desperately pleads with her "Please let me save them!" and Miss Tessmacher "If I do, will you help my mother first?" and Superman says "But Lois and Jimmy..." Miss Tessmacher "No, I want you to promise my mother first as I know you always tell the truth!" and Superman then nods and says "OK, I promise". 

So, Miss Tessmacher jumps into the pool and drags Superman to the edge of the pool and before she removes the kryptonite chain from Superman's neck, she gives him a kiss and then removes it and tosses it away and falls down the drain. Superman, beginning to recover then asks "Why did you kiss me first?" and Miss Tessmacher smiles and says "I didn't think you'd let me later. Why is it I can't get it on with the good guys?" and Superman smiles and gently touches her face and he get's up and says "Stand aside now and I wouldn't stay here either" and he takes off and crashes through the roof and takes to the skies to stop the missiles.   

And last of all is the scene where Superman drops off Lex and Otis at a prison and Superman says to the warden "I leave this men with you until they can get a fair trial" so as Lex reveals who he is and takes off his wig to reveal that he is bold, they are taken away. So, the warden says to Superman "The world is safe again, Superman, thanks to you!" and Superman says "Don't thank me, warden. We're all part of the same team! Night!" and he takes off.  

Margot Kidder is also great in her role as Superman's love interest, Lois Lane, the feisty Daily planet reporter, who is held in high esteem by her editor, Perry White, yet can't spell to save herself!

Margot also has some great moments that include the scene where Lois interviews Superman and she asks him various questions, but before he turns up Lois thinks she has been let down and she drinks down her glass of wine saying "Another one bites the dust!". However, Superman then shows up and says to her "Good evening, Miss Lane!" and she spins round in surprise and says "Hi!" and the two of them start the interview after a few awkward exchanges. 

So, as the two of them sit down, Lois with her pen and pad asks "Right, let's start with your vital statistics. What age are you?" and Superman says "Over 21" and Lois then asks "And how big are?" and she corrects herself "I mean how tall are you?" and Superman says "About 6ft 4" and how much do you weigh?" and Superman says "About 225" and Lois at him surprised and says "225?!" and Superman shrugs. So, Lois then asks him "And I'm guessing the rest of your functions are normal" and Superman leans in and asks "I beg your pardon?" and Lois asks almost in a daze "I mean to put it delicately...do you...eat?" and Superman smiles and says "Yes, yes I do. When I'm hungry" and Lois laughs and says "Of course you do!".  

 So, they both get up and move around a little as Lois continues her interview "So, are you completely impervious to pain?" and Superman tells her "Yes as far as I know" and Lois then asks "And you can see almost everything?" and Superman says "Yes, I can pretty much". Lois then quietly asks him "What colour underwear am I wearing?" and Superman takes a moment but he can't give an answer and Lois says "Oh, I'm sorry, I embarrassed you!" and Superman says "Oh, no! Not at all, Miss Lane. Its just this planter must be made of lead" and Lois says of the planter that stands between her and Superman "Yes it is". So, Superman admits "Well, you see, I do kind of have a problem seeing through lead" and Lois says "Oh, that's interesting" and she makes a note of it "Can't see through lead". Lois then continues, "So, do you have a name?" and Superman asks "You mean like Ralph or something?" and Lois walks away and Superman suddenly says "Pink!" and Lois asks "I'm sorry?" and Superman referencing her underwear says "Pink".

And Lois then asks "And why are you here? There must be a reason why you are here?" and Superman tells her " Yes. I'm here to fight for truth, justice and the American way" and Lois laughs and says to him "You're gonna end up fighting every elected official in this country!" and Superman smiles and says "Surely, you don't mean that, Lois" and Lois says "I don't believe this!" and Superman firmly tells her "Lois, I never lie". Lois then finally asks him "Oh, just how fast do you fly?" and Superman says "Oh, I don't know really. I never bothered to time myself. Hey, why don't we find out?" and Lois asks "And how do we do that?" and Superman says "Take a ride with me". So, Lois a bit reluctant agrees to go and before they do, Lois tells him "Clark, says you're not real, like Peter Pan" and Superman asks "Clark...Who's that your boyfriend?" and Lois says "Clark? Oh, no. He's nothing..." and Superman interrupts her and says "Peter Pan flew with children, Lois, in a fairy tale" and the two of the fly off much to Lois's alarm as they fly in the sky but she soon settles down.       

Then later there is the scene where Superman (SPOILER!!!) rescues Lois from the earthquake by reversing time, flying faster than the speed of light around the Earth.  And as Superman puts things back to rights and has saved Lois's life, Superman lands back in the desert as we see Lois desparately try to start her car.  And Superman says "Don't bother I think its dead" and Lois says to him "Sure its dead!  That's the problem with a man of steel, there's never one around when you want one!". So, as Lois complains about the earthquake, Superman breaths a sigh of relief, and she says "And top it off, this stupid car ran out of gas!" and Superman says "I'm sorry about that, Lois, but I've been kind of busy for a while". So, Lois smiles and says "That's alright, I'm sorry" and the two of them make to kiss but Jimmy interrupts them and Superman says "Wait, there's something I have to do" and he flies off. 

So, after Superman flies off, Jimmy says to Lois "Its a shame Mr Kent was here to see this" and Lois says "Oh, yeah, Clark..." and she has a sudden thought "Wait a minute Clark is never around..." and she dismisses the idea "Oh, Lois Lane that is stupidest idea!". Jimmy then says "You know, Miss Lane. I think he really cares about you" and Lois says "Clark? Of course he cares..." and Jimmy says "Not Clark..." and he looks to the skies and Lois smiles and says "Oh, Superman cares about everybody, Jimmy". And we see Superman fly in the sky and we hear Lois say "But who knows? Maybe one day...".   

Gene Hackman is terrific as the villainous Lex Luthor and he too has his fair share of great moments in the film of which there are too many to mention but I will quote one or two.

And to start off there is the scene where Lex in his underground lair and he keeps an eye on Otis as he moves through the railway tunnels and he says of Otis "Its amazing that brain can generate enough power to keep those legs moving!". So, after Lex kills a cop that follows Otis down onto the tracks, Miss Tessmacher looks on in disapproval and says "Sick! You're really sick!" and Lex says "Sick? Sick, Miss Tessmacher?! When I am on the verge of committing the crime of the century?!". And then Otis comes in and he tells Otis "You were followed again" and Otis suddenly spins round nervously and clumsily knocks over a lamp and Lex says "In spite of those cat-like reflexes!".

This is then followed by the scene where Lex swims in his large swimming pool and listens to the news of Superman's arrival to the world. And in the scene Miss Teschmacher asks him if he's the genuine article and Lex says "If he is, he isn't from this world!" and Miss T asks him why not "and Lex says "Because if anyone was able to perpetuate such a fantastic hoax it would have been me!". So, he calls for Otis to get his robe, who gives him it and Otis suggests "Hey, Mr Luthor, maybe this guy is just passing through" and Lex says "Not on your life, Otis, which I would gladly sacrifice by the way for the greater good!". Lex then says to Otis "Oh, and Otis...next time, try giving me my robe when I am OUT of the pool!" and we see the bottom of Lex's robe is wet as he stands in the shallow pool water.

Then there is the scene where Luthor, his incompetent henchman, Otis (Ned Beatty) and Miss Teschmacher try to sabotage the missiles but Otis get's it wrong.  And in the scene Luthor angrily barks at Otis for getting the missile trajectory numbers wrong and Otis, who wrote them on his arm says "Oh you see my arm isn't long enough, Mr Luther!" prompting a furious Luthor to say "Otis, would you like see a long arm??!!  Would you like to a very, very long arm????!!!" OTIS??!!!" as he makes to punch him!

Another good scene is when Lex uses a high frequency radio to catch Superman's attention and he tells him "There's only thing less than four legs that can hear this frequency Superman and that's you!". So, Lex explains that he has a lethal gas compound waiting to disperse through the city, which forces Superman to trace and find the signal to Lex's lair. And one of the best lines in the film comes when, Superman tries to locate the signal source, Lex says "There's a strong streak of good in you, Superman, but then nobody's perfect...almost nobody!". 

This is then followed by the scene where Superman locates Lex's lairs and breaks his way into it and Lex says to him "Its open, come in! My attorney will be in touch with you about  the damage to the door. Otis, why don't you take the gentleman's cape?" and Otis appraoches Superman, who gives him a hard look and Otis says "I don't think he wants me to, Mr Luthor!". Superman then asks Lex "Alright, Luthor, where's the gas pellet?!" and Lex says "Somewhere..." and he suddenly smiles and says "Somewhere in the back of my mind! Its just an idea I was toying with" and Superman asks him "Is that how a warped brain like yours gets its kicks? By planning the death of innocent people?" and Lex says "No, by causing the death of innocent people!". 

Then there is the scene where Lex tells Superman about his plan to destroy California, so he can rebuild it into his own new state. So, Lex smiles and says to Superman "Now, call me foolish, call me irresponsible. It occurs to me that a 500 megaton bomb planted at the proper point would..." and Superman looks horrified and continues "...would destroy most of California! Millions of innocent people would be killed! And the west coast as we know it would..." and Lex smiles and says "Fall into the sea. Bye bye, California! Hello, new West Coast. MY new West Coast!". So, Otis then puts down a new map section of his intended new west coast but he takes offense to Otis naming a section of it Otisburg, who he makes wipe it off. 

Superman then dismisses Lex's idea and tells him "You're a dreamer, Luthor! A sick, twisted dreamer. You're plan couldn't possibly work". Lex then admits "I'll admit there were a few problems. Adjusting the precise trajectory of the missile, finding the optimum stress point for the fault line itself... which by the way is, uh, Target Zero, right..." and he smashes the map overlay with his stick "...here!" and we see it is over the San Andreas fault line part of the map.

And later there is of course Supe's confrontation with Luthor after Lex tells him his plan to destroy California for his own selfish ends to create his own luxurious land. So, Lex asks Superman "So, what do you think, Supe baby?" and Superman says "Well, your theory is quite impressive, Luthor but the rest is just a sick fantasy!" and Luthor corrects and says "No, not fantasy, history. Its happening, Superman!". 

Lex then yells out for Miss Tessmacher, who comes in and he asks her "Where is the rocket now?" and Miss Tessmacher tells them that its going over the Grand Canyon as is the other one, which prompts alarm from Superman who asks "The other one?! There's two of them?!". So, Lex tells Superman "Yes, Superman, double jeopardy, even with your great speed you couldn't stop both of them, where on the other hand I can stop them with my detonator". So, Superman angrily grabs Lex and lifts him up in the air and asks "Alright, Luthor! Where is it?! Where's the detonator?!" but Lex says nothing and Superman let's him go.

Superman then scans Luthor's desk and safe with his X-ray vision and sees nothing resembling a detonator but then sees Luthor sitting on a lead treasure chest. So, Superman angrily says "You diseased maniac! You really think you could hide it from me by encasing it in lead?!" and he grabs Lex and throws him aside and say "I'll mould this box into your prison bars!" and Lex warns him "Don't touch that!" but Superman opens it anyway and we see the kryptonite, which Superman instantly reacts to. Lex then grins and says to Superman "That's Kryptonite, Superman.  I spared no expense to make you feel at home.  You were great in your day, Superman, but when it came time to cash in your chips, this old...diseased maniac would be your banker!"

Superman backs off, weakened greatly by the kryptonite and Lex smiles and says "Mind over muscle?!" and he walks up to Superman who weakly says "You don't even care where the other missile is headed, do you?" and Lex says "Sure I do! I know exactly where its headed! Hackensack, New Jersey!" and he drops Superman into Lex's large swimming pool. Lex then smiles and stands over Superman, who flails in the water and he says to him "I gotta leave you now. No hard feelings, we all have out little faults. Mine's is in California!" and he walks off. Miss Tessmacher however, now concerned by Lex's admission says to him "Lex, my mother lives in Hackensack" but Lex looks at his watch and shakes his head and walks off, leaving Miss Tessmacher looking very worried. 

Marlon Brando even though he only appears for maybe 20-30 minutes or so in the film is also pretty good in his role as Jor-El, Superman (or Kal-El) and he plays him with a strong nobility.

Brando's good scenes include the one where Jor-El expresses his concerns over Krypton's fate as he is convinced it will be destroyed in 30 days and tries to reason with the council to listen to him. 

So, Jor-El angrily says to the council members "Its suicide! No, its worse. Its GENOCIDE!" and the first Elder warns him "Be careful, Jor-El. The council has already evaluated this outlandish theory of yours" and Jor-El says to him "My friends, you know me to be neither rash nor impulsive. I'm not given to wild, unsupported statements. And I tell you that we must evacuate this planet immediately!". However a female scientist, Vond-Ah says to Jor-El "It isn't that we question your data. Its your conclusions that we find unsupportable" but Jor-El warns her "This planet will explode in 30 days" but Vond-Ah dismisses his concerns and says "I'm telling you that Krypton is merely shifting its orbit". A 2nd Elder then pitches and pleads with Jor-El "Jor-El, be reasonable!" and Jor-El approaches and places his hands on the 2nd Elder's shoulders "My friend, I never been otherwise". The First Elder then finishes by warning Jor-El "Any attempt to create fear or panic will be seen as an act of insurrection" and Jor-El reluctantly agrees to their decision and says "I will remain silent, neither my wife or I, will attempt to leave to Krypton".   

Then there is the scene where Jor-El prepares to send off his young baby son, Kal-El, and he tells his wife, Lara, as he intends to send him to Earth that "His dense molecular structure will make him strong".  And as Lara, concerned says "He'll be odd.  Different" Kal-El says "He'll be fast.  Virtually invulnerable" and Lara says "Isolated.  Alone" but Kal-El says to her "He will not be alone" and he holds up a clear crystal and continues "He will never be alone" and he places it gently on the spaceship.

And lastly there is the scene where Clark uses the green crystal to create the Fortress of Solitude and when he arrives he uses a crystal to talk with his father.

So, in the scene we see Clark places the green crystal in a chamber, which produces a ghostly white image of Jor-El's face, who smiles at him and says "My son, you do not remember me. I am Jor-El. I am ... your father. By now you will have reached your eighteenth year of time as it is
measured on earth. By that same reckoning I will have been dead for many thousands of your years". After some dialogue, Jor-El says to Clark that he should now ask him questions of himself "So, my son, speak" and Clark asks "Who am I?" and Jor-El tells him "Your name is Kal-El. You are the only survivor of the planet Krypton. Even though you have been raised as a human, you are not one of them. You have great powers, only some of which you have yet discovered". 

So, as the sequence continues, Jor-El tells Clark all about their history and who he really is and he finishes off by telling him about the Earth and the humans.  And Jor-El's last words are "They can be a great people, Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you... my only son".   

Ned Beatty is also great as Otis, Luthor's inept henchman and he shares a good comedic chemistry with Gene Hackman.

Beatty also has some fun moments but to keep things brief I will mention just the odd one or two that include when Otis at Luthor's lair, gives Luthor his robe as he steps to the shallow edge of the pool but neglects to notice that his robe is wet!  And Otis tries to convince Luthor that Superman "Listen, Mr. Luthor, maybe this guy that flies is just sort of passing through, you know?!" and Luthor dismisses the notion saying "Not on your life, Otis, which I would gladly sacrifice by the way!".  And Luthor finishes by saying to Otis "And, Otis, by the way, next time put my robe on AFTER I'm out of the pool!" and Otis notices that the robe is wet and goes "Ooooohhhh!!".  

Then there is the funny scene where Otis having altered the test missile's trajectory course, is piced by Lex and Otis laughs at his alleged success. So, Otis laughs and says "I did it, Mr Luthor! I did it! I did it, Miss Tessmacher". Lex, who drives the van they travel in, then a little concerned asks "Its not that I don't trust you, Otis...I DON'T trust you Otis, what did you do?". So, Otis tells Lex "I reset the first vector heading to 38, the second one to 67 and the third one to 117" however Lex then asks "Wait a minute, the third one to 117? What about the fourth one?". Otis then tries to make an excuse "Well you I wrote it down on my arm..." and Lex angrily interrupts "OTIS! OTIS! The third one was supposed to be 11 and the fourth one 7!". So, Otis awkwardly says "Oh, gee, Mr Luthor! You see my arm wasn't long enough!" and Lex furiously asks him "Otis, would you like to see a long arm?! Would you like to see a very, very long arm???!!" and he makes to punch Otis while Miss Tessmacher desperately grabs the van wheel.   

And later there is the scene where Otis tries to make his mark on Luthor's real estate scheme by naming his own place in Luthor's prospective land calling it "Otisburg" and this angers Luthor no end.  And in the scene Luthor absent mindedly reads it out and stops and says "Oitsburg?!" and Otis nervously says "Miss Teschmacher's got her own place" and Luthor again says "Otisburg???" and Otis tries to reason "Its an itty bitty town!" prompting a final "OTISBURG???" from Luthor, causing Otis to wipe the name off saying "Okay, I'll wipe it off. Just a little town, that's all!".

Valerie Perrine also does fine in her role as Miss Teschmacher, Luthor's sultry accomplice and girlfriend.

Val has some fun moments that include her first scene where Luthor kills one of the cops following Otis in the subway tunnels.  And in the scene after Luthor makes the kill, Miss T berates him for it saying in disgust "Sick!  Sick!  You're really sick!".  And as Luthor protests and bigs himself up by saying "How do you choose to congratulate the greatest criminal mind of our time? Huh? Huh? You tell me than I'm brilliant? Oh, no, no, that would be too obvious, I grant you. Charismatic. Fiendishly gifted, uh..." and Miss T cuts him off saying "Try "twisted!".

Then later there is the scene where Luthor tells Miss T and Otis about the kryptonite in Addis Ababa and Luthor smugly says "Doesn't it give you a shudder of electricity to be in the same room as me?".  And Miss T says "Not like the shudder YOU'RE gonna get when you try to lay that rock on him. He can see you coming for miles with those super-peepers of his!".  And Luthor reminds Miss T how Superman can't see through lead and that kryptonite will kill him and then "Any questions class?" leading Miss T ask "I wonder what they wear in Addis Ababa?!" and Otis looks at the magazine and says "Looks like a burnoose!" leaving Luthor to shake his head in disbelief.  

And lastly there is the scene where Miss T saves Superman from drowning and before she takes off the chain of containing the chunk of kryptonite, she kisses him and then removes it and tosses it away and it drops down the drain.  And after Superman asks why she kissed him first and she says "I didn't think you would let me later. Why is it I can't get it on with the good guys?".

Jackie Cooper is also great in his role as Perry White and he's soon good in the role that its hard to imagine anyone else play the part aswell.

I will mention a few of Cooper's scenes including his first one where Perry is introduced as Lois finishes typing a story and the newspaper's photographer, Jimmy Olsen asks her "Golly, Miss Lane! How do you find all the great stories?" and Lois walking toward Perry's office says "A good reporter doesn't find great stories..." and she into his office and we hear Perry finish her sentence as he talks to Clark "...a good reporter MAKES them great!".   

So, during the scene, Perry introduces Clark and tells Lois "I'm giving him the city beat" and Lois protests "Chief! That's MY beat!" and Perry puts her in her place and says "Lois, Clark Kent may seem like just a mild-mannered reporter, but listen, not only does he know how to treat his editor-in-chief with the proper respect, not only does he have a snappy, punchy prose style, but he is, in my forty years in this business, the fastest typist I've ever seen!".

Then there is the one where the day after Superman reveals himself to the world, Perry addresses his staff at the Daily Planet he wants a full story on Supe.  And Perry says to them all as he shows all the other newspapers headlines "Now look. The Post: "It Flies." The News: "Look, Ma, No Wires." The Times: "Blue Bomb Buzzes Metropolis." The Planet. "Caped Wonder Stuns City." We're sitting on top of the story of the century here! I want the name of this flying whatchamacallit to go with the Daily Planet like bacon and eggs, franks and beans, death and taxes, politics and corruption!".  And Perry finishes by saying "Now listen to me, I tell you boys and girls - whichever one of you gets it out... is going to wind up with the single most important interview since... God talked to Moses!". And one of the reporters lights a cigarette for Perry, who has a drag on it and then angrily looks at his staff and says "What are you standing around for?! Move! Get on that story!". 

And finally there is the scene where Perry calls Clark into his office for a chat and he tells him about the theft of the kryptonite in Addis Ababa (although he refers to it as a meteorite) and that two people were killed during the theft. So, Perry asks Clark of the crime "How do you figure it?" and Clark says "I've never been able to understand violence in any form, Mr White" and Perry says "I know that about you, Kent and that's what I wanted to talk to you about".

So, Perry goes on a little speech to Clark and says "I've been in this business for 40 years, man and boy and I get there by guts, compassion, elbow grease and something you're sadly lacking in, son!" and Clark suggests "Humility?" and Perry says "No, not humility. You got bags of humility! Aggression, confidence! That's the ticket! Take charge! Let people know who you are!". However as Perry talks, we suddenly hear a high pitched noised that jars Clark's ears and he suddenly hears Lex's voice and he soon leaves the office while Perry continues rambling on with his back to Clark as he stands by the window saying "I want you to get Lois to get you to talk to Superman! Where did he get that suit?! What is it made of?! Is it plastic?".  

And lastly I will mention a few more of the cast, Glenn Ford does well in his role as Clark's Earth father, Jonathan Kent.

And I will mention Ford's main scene where he chats to a young teenage Clark, who has just been showing off by speedily running back home before Brad and Lana drive by his farm. So, after Brad drives off, Jonathan asks Clark "Been showing off a bit haven't you, son?" and Clark says "I didn't mean to show off, pop. Its just guys like that Brad, I just want to tear him apart!" and Jonathan puts his shoulder around Clark and walks with him and says "Yeah, I know, you can do all these amazing things and sometimes you feel like you will just go bust unless you can tell people about them".  

And Clark says how he can score touchdowns every time at school and is it wrong to show off his abilities. So, Jonathan "Now, you listen to me. When you first came to us, we thought people would come and take you away because, when they found out, you know, the things you could do... and that worried us a lot. But then a man gets older, and he starts thinking differently and things get very clear. And one thing I do know, son, and that is you are here for a REASON. I don't know whose reason, or whatever the reason is... Maybe it's because... uh... I don't know. But I do know one thing. It's NOT to score touchdowns. Huh?". So, Clark laughs and says "Thanks, dad" and Clark jokingly asks his dad to run with him back to the house and Jonathan tries slowly to catch up with him, however he suddenly grabs his arm in pain and says with a gasp "Oh, no!" and he collapses.     

Marc McClure  also does a fine job as the young Jimmy Olsen, the photographer at the Daily planet, even if his role is pretty brief. 

And I will mention two of Marc's scenes including his first where Jimmy points his camera around the office at the Daily Planet and focuses in on Lois and says to her "Smile!" and Lois looks up and smiles and he takes her picture. So, as Lois types up a page on her typewriter, Jimmy asks her "What are you writing?" and Lois says to him "An ode to spring. How do you spell massacre?" and Jimmy tells her "M-A-S-S-A-C-R-E" and she types it up and finishes it. So, Lois heads to Perry's office and Jimmy asks her "Golly, Miss Lane! How do you get so many great stories?" and Lois tells him "A good reporter doesn't get great stories, Jimmy..." and as she goes into Perry's office he finishes her line "...a good reporter makes them great!". 

And last of all is the scene near the end where Superman rescues Jimmy from falling off the cracking Hoover dam and he puts him down and later on Jimmy runs up to Superman and Lois after he has rescued Lois's life by turning time backwards, flying around the planet at super fast speeds.

So, in the scene, Jimmy runs up to them just as they are about to kiss and he shouts "Hey! Thanks alot, Superman! You put me out on a road in the middle of nowhere! No food, no water, snakes everywhere! I had no idea if you were coming back..." and Lois puts her hand over Jimmy's mouth. So, at this point, Superman says "There's something I have to do. I'll see you later" and he flies off. Jimmy then looks to the sky and says "He can't stand still for a second! Golly, Miss Lane. Its too bad Mr Kent wasn't here to see all this". Lois then has the notion that Clark and Superman might be the same person by dismisses it as silly and Jimmy then says "Hey, Miss Lane. I think he really cares about you" and Lois says "Clark? Of course he does..." and Jimmy says "Not him" and he looks to the sky and Lois gets it and smiles and says "Superman cares about everybody, Jimmy".

Jeff East too does a good job as Clark Kent as a teenager, although his dialogue was actually dubbed over by Christopher Reeve instead given East sounded nothing like Reeve himself.

And Jeff's most notable scene is when Clark speeds his way home from school as he sprints by a train and jumps the track past it and makes his way back to his home before even Brad can drive by there. And as Brad pulls up in his car and sees Clark smugly standing by his house gate, Brad asks "How did you get here so fast?!" and Clark smugly says "I ran!" and Brad says "Told you he's an oddball! Let's get out of here!" and drives off. 

So, Jonathan, Clark's adopted father asks him "Been showing off a bit haven't you, son?" and Clark says "I didn't mean to show off, pop but its just guys like Brad, I just want to tear him apart!". And Jonathan walks with Clark and says "Yeah I know, you can do all these amazing things and you think will just go bust if you can't tell them about it" and Clark says "Yeah, I mean at football I can make a touchdown every time! I mean is it showing off, if someone is showing the things they are capable of doing?" and Jonathan says "No" and Clark asks "Is it showing off when a bird flies?". And as Jonathan tells him that he is here for a reason but its not to score touchdowns and Clark laughs and says "Thanks, dad" and he challenges his dad to run to the house "Come on, pop! Let's go! Go! Go!" but as Jonathan slowly runs toward the house, he painfully grips his left arm and says "Oh no!" and collapses. And, Jonathan's wife, Martha sees her husband lying limp and shouts "JONATHAN!!" and Clark runs from the house porch and says "Dad!" and runs up to him. 

And last of all is Terence Stamp who makes a brief appearance in the film at the start as the villainous General Zod, who is imprisoned in the Phantom zone along with his underlings, Ursa and Non.

And in Stamp's scene, Zod stands trial along with Ursa and Non as a guilty vote is called in, Jor-El is the last to make his verdict and Zod tries to reason with him but Jor-El simply walks away.  And in the scene Zod yells "You have been known to disagree with the council before. Yours could become an important voice in the new order, second only to my own! I offer you a chance for greatness, Jor-El! Take it! Join us!   You will bow down before me, Jor-El! I swear it! No matter if it takes an eternity, YOU WILL BOW DOWN BEFORE ME!  BOTH YOU AND, ONE DAY, YOUR HEIRS!!". The funny thing is that the word "heirs" always sounded like arse to me at this point lol! 

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

Finally moving onto the director, Richard Donner does a terrific job with the film and he confidently handles the film's action and perfectly balances out the drama and the comedy.  And Donner despite is troubles during the production of the film brought together the film aswell as he possibly could and succeeds in making Superman feel like an epic film with a real sense of scale behind it.  Its just a pity that Donner had the production troubles with the Salkinds that lead to his dismissal which happened during the shooting of Superman II as both films were shot back-to-back.

Music wise, the film has a terrific score by John Williams and its simply one of his best and most memorable and the theme tune is so instantly recognisible and catchy.  The other tracks in the film also really stand out well and Williams composes the perfect mix of drama, suspense and humour into his score.  The only slight blemish to the score however is the inclusion of that crappy spoken word song "Can you read my mind?" that is spoken by Margot Kidder, which remains one of the film's weakest points.  But that aside this is still a great score from arguably Hollywood's greatest composer.

FLAWS 

As for the flaws....yes Superman does have some.
 
And to kick off it would safe to say as a film that it does take its time to get going as the film begins with quite a big prologue of Superman's early life before it really picks up the pace when we get to the Daily Planet.

In fact the changes in tone between the early scenes and later ones are quite seismic, from incredibly serious to quite comedic, and it definitely feels like we are watching two different films.  The early sequences on Krypton are quite lengthy, and it has to be said that the depiction of the destruction of planet Krypton is actually quite harrowing, as you see the planet collapse, and people screaming and falling to their deaths, which is pretty heavy stuff. 

Also regarding a couple of the film's plot holes there is a major one involving the high council of Krypton who simply refuse to listen to Jor-El's theory on how Krypton will explode in 30 days.  And instead of taking him at his word, especially given he is a respected scientist, they decide to ignore his theory or his warnings, and they don't even think to set a contingency plan in place to evacuate just in case he is right, but instead they just sit around until the place blows up!  Yep that is real common sense right there!  You think the Kryptonians would at least try and err on the side of caution rather than just make the colossally stupid decision to sit and wait for their deaths. Yeah, not very bright! 

I also think there is a strange timeline inconsistency between the time it took for the infant Kal-el to travel to Earth and the time in which Jor-El later tells the teenage Clark that he has been dead for. The reason I say this is because from Superman's interview, it was said it took him three years to get to Earth but Jor-El says that by Earth's timeframe, he would have been dead for thousands of years. Now, this really does raise the question of just how did time work on Kyrpton and Earth? There is obviously some weird time dilation going on here because if it took just 3 years for Kal-el to travel to Earth from Krypton how could you explain that Jor-El has been dead for thousands of years by contrast?! It doesn't really make any sense basically that the number should be so different.  

And lastly there is the film's biggest plot hole which is to do with Superman saving Lois after her death in the earthquake by flying at super fast speed around the Earth to make it go in reverse in order to turn back time before the earthquake happened.  OK now this does not even begin to make any sense because for starters if Superman is reversing time then surely all he is doing is putting the actions back in time BEFORE the earthquake and surely the earthquake is still inevitably going to happen!  So I don't understand that at all!

And secondly if Superman is flying mega fast around the Earth and reversing it, surely all he is really doing is reversing its rotation and NOT reversing time itself and again I don't see corralation between either of these in this instance.  Not only that how does Superman even known when to actually stop reversing the Earth's rotation??!!  I mean he is at least thousands upon thousands of miles away from the surface of the Earth and even from California for that matter so how can he see and know when he's done enough to reverse the effects of the earthquake?!!  Again it makes no sense at all and clearly the writers weren't interested in providing any kind of logical reasoning for Superman's time reversal trick so this one had to do!

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to finally sum up, Superman is still a terrific superhero film to this day and it has a great deal going for it, especially with its excellent cast lead superbly by Christopher Reeve in the lead role, which he was surely born to play.  The film also has some great optical effects and stunning photography (by the late Geoffrey Unsworth who died not long after shooting was complete) and visually its a film that has aged pretty well (despite some 1970's fashions!). 

It does of course have some drawbacks as highlighted above such as its lengthy opening prologue of Superman's early life which drags the pacing down and one or two plot holes as already mentioned.  But if you can forgive all that then Superman is still a great movie that stands the test of time and its worth repeated viewing time and time again. 

So, after that exhaustive review, I will give Superman a rating of:

9 out of 10.

So, that's it for now and I will return with another post.

Till then, bye for now!