Superman (1978)

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Superman is my favorite superhero of all time. I know he's a boy scout, I know he's a trump card, but I do think there are interesting stories to be told about a man who is invulnerable and can fly. And this was the first attempt at not only the story of Superman, but basically a comic book movie. 1978's Superman sets the standard for Superhero movies and without it, we might not have the quality films we have today. But does Superman The Movie hold up?

I'm gonna say right off the bat, the first hour of this movie is REALLY slow!

It all begins on the planet Krypton where Jor-El (played by Marlon Brando) warns of the destruction of Krypton to the deaf ears of the leaders of the planet. When they turn him down, he instead sends his son of Krypton before it is destroyed off to live on Earth because he knows the rays of the sun will make him strong. Young Kal-El is quickly adopted by the Kents, a nice old couple living in Kansas where they raise him as Clark Kent (played by Jeff East as a teenager). Having the powers of Superman is difficult of course growing up as a human and even super powers can't prevent the loss of Clark's adopted father (played by Glenn Ford). But eventually, Clark decides he must go and find out the origins of his powers and who he is.

Eventually he finds the Fortress of Solitude where a program of his father teaches him everything he needs to know to dawn the cape and become the Man of Steel, Superman.

When he's grown up, he's played by Christopher Reeves and he goes to Metropolis to start a new life as Clark Kent, working at the Daily Planet, but also to save the day as Superman.

At the Daily Planet he meets star reporter, Lois Lane (played by Margot Kidder) and when he is finally revealed, everyone wants to know who this flying man is and what he stands for.

All the while, an evil plot is being hatched by the criminal mastermind, Lex Luthor (played by Gene Hackman), and its up to Superman to foil his plan and save the world.

And here's the thing. Superman is such a quintessential 70's movie. I never really knew that until I watched it with a critical eye. I always thought that it was just Richard Donner trying to make a campy superhero film because it would still be a while until they superhero films would be taken seriously. And while that is also true, I've also realized that the dialogue, the visuals, and the costumes are all reminiscent of a different time.

But because of this, the movie has a very big camp factor. This movie is hokey, its ridiculous, and its kind of poking fun at itself. Its very obvious that this movie was a risk and Donner (and I'm guessing other people in the studio, etc) didn't want to go full comic book quite yet as they didn't know how profitable it could be. Limitations in technology and visual effects also held it back but you can tell this movie wasn't supposed to be taken too seriously.

That being said, there are a couple of moments that really work in this film and make it the iconic film that it is today. First off, the tag line in this movie was, you'll believe that a man can fly. While the visuals of Superman flying probably don't hold up today, you can still understand how this was innovative cinematography at the time and ground breaking, especially if you look at it in the historical context of superhero films.

One of the other moments that really work is the scene where Superman first reveals himself and saves Lois and the helicopter she was in.

This scene of course is only supplemented by the fantastic John Williams score that is unfortunately incredibly lacking in the new Superman movies.

Something I realized while watching that movie is that it wasn't the campy dialogue or the corny things Superman does that gave people hope, a lot of it had to do with hearing that music as he flies in the sky.

We live in a world where Brandon Routh can lift up a small continent, Henry Cavil can fight Doomsday and they can both fly at the speed of sound, breaking the sound barrier. But when Christopher Reeves flies up, grabs Lois and holds a helicopter up with one hand, when that music is playing, it still got me a little bit emotional.

And the other thing that really works in this movie is the cast.

I think for a while I didn't really like Christopher Reeve. The truth is, he was never really gonna win any awards with his acting. I didn't know him in anything else and with how campy this movie is, I didn't really think there was much else to him.

But watching this film with a critical eye has actually made me really like him in every single part of this movie. He's a bumbling fool as Clark Kent who just has a heart of gold but is so folksy that you'd never guess that he was the Man of Steel. Now as this movie has dated itself a little bit, some of his folksiness could not be interpreted as creepiness, but if you keep in mind that he's just the kind hearted goof ball from Kansas, you'll enjoy it a lot more.

And as Superman, he's charming, he's clever, he's witty, and while he doesn't have the stature of a Henry Cavil and a skin tight suit, he still has a commanding presence that makes you feel good about who is out in Metropolis saving people, and gives you hope.

Lois Lane is played by Margot Kidder and I gotta say, I like Amy Adam's Lois Lane better. While Kidder does give a spunky performance that I still think Adams had to live up to, Kidder is much more of a damsel in distress and she's just there as a girlfriend for Superman. Sure she's smart and a little witty, but her character did not age well, especially in the times we live in. Also Kidder's Lois Lane screams at EVERYTHING!

The other really great standout is Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor.

Gene Hackman is so charismatic and suave in this movie that I can't imagine why they would ever portray Lex Luthor as anything else.

And yeah, if you look at the evil plot he has, its not exactly the worlds worst plot in the world. I mean how scary is an evil plot that is in reality just a real estate scam? And yeah, Lex Luthor is a little bit of a goof ball and probably is more of a cooky 70s Bond villain instead of a real super villain, but he's just so damn good at it that I understand why he goes down as one of the best super villains of all time.

Apparently, Hackman refused to shave his head for the role, even though Lex Luthor is the trade marketed bald character. But that comes down to movie trivia at the end of the day because you would never really know for how the story progresses.

Other characters are pretty small and not really worth mentioning. The only other person worth mentioning is of course Marlon Brando who looks bored out of his mind and was probably thinking he had better things to do than this hokey superhero film.

The thing about it though, Brando's Jor-El is still seen as really iconic. The man got top billing and was even used in the reboot of Superman Returns. It just shows you the caliber of Marlon Brando that even when he's phoning it in, he still does a really good job.

But let's be blunt.

There's a lot of things you can call this movie. You can call it campy, you can call it iconic, you can call it a trend setter, but one thing I think you also need to call it is a little bit boring. I tried my best to keep the judgement of this movie within the context of the time it was released, the technological limitations it faced, and the fact that its a lot different than the superhero films we see today.

But like a lot of things in this movie, the story does not really hold up. Like I said, the first hour of this movie is pretty boring and the rest of it is what you would expect from a Superhero movie with the budget and visual technology of the 70s.

Its not a bad movie, it just really has some boring parts for sure. As I said before, you have to look at this movie through a historical lens to really enjoy it. You've got some really enjoyable characters, some fun performances, and visuals that, while they didn't really hold up almost 40 years later, are still fun.

Superman stands as an example more for the character of Superman himself and saying that good Superman films can be done. Since all the old Superman films are now on Hulu, I'm hoping that I can watch them and watch this series go from good to bad very quickly.

But for now that's what I think of Superman. What did you think? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. Here's the Honest Trailer for Superman. Enjoy!