You'll believe a man can fly

Grade: A+

In 1978 the advertising slogan for this movie was, "You will believe a man can fly". That was filmmaker Richard Donner's intent, and he suceeded ten times over. But not only did he convince an audience that a man could fly, but he told that story with a lot of heart, which is something most superhero films lack.

The film opens on the planet of Krypton. There a scientist named Jor-El (Marlon Brando) warns that the planet will explode within 30 days and that they must evacuate. The government, so to speak, doesn't want to cause a widespread panic, and since they think that the planet is only shifting, they decide that it is wise not to do anything. They also tell Jor-El that he and his wife cannot leave the planet. However, they do not say anything about his son. So, Jor-El and his wife Lara (Susannah York) take their son Kal-El and put him inside of a spaceship, while the planet is crumbling around them, and is able to get away in time. However, Jor-El and his wife aren't so lucky, along with the many other people of Krypton, as the planet explodes.

The trip to Earth takes a few years. During the trip though, Kal-El is taught about the history of Earth, by recordings his father recorded for him. The recordings are in tiny crystals that make up the ship. He then crash lands on Earth, where he is found by The Kents, Jonathan (Glenn Ford) and Martha (Phyllis Thaxter). Since they aren't able to bear any children of their own, and once they realize that this boy doesn't have any family, they take him in as one of their own. They name him Clark.

Clark grows up to be an all-american boy in the midwest in the small town of Smallville, in the mid 1950's. There he goes to school and works on a farm with his family. This entire sequence of the film, looks like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting. However Clark and his Earth parents know that he is not of this world. Clark is able to run faster than a moving train, and is able to kick a football miles into the air. Then one day his father has a heartattack and ends up dying. With only his Earth mother left, 18 year old Clark decides it is time for him to leave Smallville and see the world. He heads up north. There, in the midst of glaciers and mountains, he creates The Fortress of Solitude, with a little help from a crystal his father left behind for him, and that Clark only found days before he left Smallville. There he spends 13 years learning more about Earth, his skills and many other things. In other words he is training to become more than what he seems to be. Once 13 years go by, he becomes Superman.

Clark Kent, a.k.a Superman (Christopher Reeve), decides that it is time to get a job as a cover for his "other job" and he heads for Metropolis (It's really New York though). He decides to work at The Daily Planet. There he meets his new boss Perry White (Jackie Cooper), a young photographer Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure of Back to the Future fame), and a reporter named Lois Lane (Margot Kidder).

Superman though reveals himself to the world, when he sees a Daily Planet helicopter hanging off the side of a building with none other than Lois Lane dangling in distress about to fall to the ground. Superman comes out of nowhere catches the falling Lane, and then catches the falling helicopter to add onto that. Once Lane looks into Superman's eyes, she is in love. This causes one of the most strangest love triangles in the history of movies, between Lane, Superman and the bumbling Kent. However, Lane and everyone else don't seem to realize that Kent and Superman look an awful lot alike. I think we are meant to assume that Superman has some sort of special power on people to make them forget about how much they look alike. Lane and Superman later meet up for an interview for The Daily Planey. It's an article that is supposed to introduce the world to Superman. Before long though the two of them are flying high up into the sky. The two of them now love each other.

However after this, we are introduced to the main villians. We have Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman), his bumbling sidekick Otis (Ned Beatty), and Luthor's mistress Eve Teschmaucher (Valerie Perrine). The three of them live under Grand Central Station, in what seems to be an abandoned part of the station. It's basically an underground mansion. There they devise a plan to set off a nuclear missle in the San Andrea's fault sinking most of California due to a massive earthquake. However, Luthor has bought a bunch of property in California, where the quake wouldn't have an effect, and thus becoming oceanside property. Luthor would make millions. Before all of this though, Luthor reads the article about Superman and grows a hatred towards him, because of his wholesome clean cut attitude. He fakes an attack on Metropolis in order to get Superman to come and visit him, because after all Superman probably wouldn't accept an invitation for the two of them to meet over tea. There, like any other intelligent villian in movie history, he tells Superman his entire plan. He tells him all of this though, because he has developed Kryptonite to stop Superman and has encased it in a lead case so Superman can't see it (Superman can't see through lead). So once it seems Superman is down for the count, he launches the rockets. Will Superman stop them in time? I think you can figure this one out on your own.

So where does Superman rank on my list of favorite movies? It's right up at number one. I have loved this movie ever since I was a little kid and I continue to love this movie today. Everything about Superman just seems to be perfect.

Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder make the perfect Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane. Gene Hackman makes the perfect Lex Luthor because of his sly and dark sense of humor. Richard Donner was the perfect director for this movie because at the time it was made, he was crazy and young enough to take on this task of making a man fly. And then there is John Williams. Out of all of the scores he was written, this is by far his best. It's just absolutely beautiful, and it is by far the best I have heard in any movie. Finally, there are the special effects. Now even though this movie was made in 1978 and the effects may seem cheesy to some of us, to me the effects remain the most realistic special effects in a superhero movie to date. The filmmakers were not lazy. In Spider-Man, Spidey comes across as looking like a cartoon whenever he swings across the sky. In Superman, even though you can tell that Christopher Reeve was in front of a green screen, you can at least see himself making the movements. That alone makes it more realistic.

This movie has a certain type of joy in it, which all of the other superhero movies since have lacked in (The exception might Spider-Man 2). All the other movies since have been too dark, which I admit did work for some of them (Batman and Hulk). But since this movie isn't too dark, has a great score a great cast, a great director and great special effects, it remains the best Superhero movie to date. Whenever I watch it, it brings out the little kid in me again, who dreamed of flying, and not too many other movies can do that me, or anyone else like me. It is my favorite movie, and it will probably always be.

GREAT MOVIE! Followed by an OK sequel and 2 shit sequels (I've only seen parts of Q4P though). I give this a 9/10.

The greatest comicbook film ever IMO,i love everything about it,from the start with the original Action comic to the end where superman turns back time.Reeves makes the perfect clark/superman,now we know why people dont recognise clark as superman and its because Reeves plays them so diffrent and makes Clark so wimpy that to people there is just no way he could be superman.Gene Hackman also rules in this film.

One of the best Superhero movies ever, this was one of the first movies I ever saw in the movie theater when I was 3. The first time I may have slept through the first hour but loved the second hour. 5 years later, I caught it again on tv and was in awe of it through his life in Smallville and his time at the Daily Planet. Christopher Reeve truely defined the Superman character and he was made a matryl by his tragedy. Its definately hard for anyone to live up to Christopher Reeve expectation. May he rest in peace

9.5/10
A+

The classic superhero movie, perhaps a bit dated but still fantastic. The origin story is done superbly, building up his beginnings without rushing through it too fast. Though the scenes at Krypton go on for a bit too long, and some don't have any effect on the rest of the film (mainly the trial scene - though it relates to the sequel), the film never feels boring and the pacing is perfect. The one that all other comic book films borrow from nowadays, with the perfect blend of action, romance, and comedy. Truly a classic.

Though he is only third billed, Reeve is clearly the star of the show and delivers an iconic performance. Not only is his portrayal of Superman fantastic, but his dual role as the nerdy Clark Kent is even more difficult to pull off and, yet, spot-on. With Reeve's performance, there's no wonder how the characters don't put two and two together - the two roles are very much separate. Hackman is a great Lex Luthor, with perfect comic timing and good rapport with his sidekicks. Brando pretty much sleepwalks through this one, but he still makes it work. Kidder still irritates me as Lois Lane, she's the one major problem I have with the film. Very shrill and annoying.

The only flaw I see in the story is the ending - not only is Luthor's plan completely implausible (like the military wouldn't check the codes again before firing the missiles), but Superman's solution to Lois' death is a complete cop-out. If Superman can turn back time, what's to stop him from solving any problem at any time? It removes an element of realism from the film and loses the suspense. Though it was nice to see Superman get really angry, to show that he's not emotionless. Everything else leading up to climax, however, was perfect.

The effects are a little dated but still work, you can still believe Superman's flying. John Williams delivers another memorable score, and it works very well with the film. There are some scenes that are far too cheesy (saving the cat out of the tree, delivering Lex to the prison at the end), but they don't feel terribly out of place. And Reeve takes the role very serious, enough to compensate. Overall, one of the best comic book films of all-time and one of the better films of the '70s. Outstanding.

The first of its kind and still one of the best.

Superman along with Superman 2 were a great combo. Superman 3 was the batman Forever of the franchise, but still pretty watchable. The 2nd is probably my favorite of the series, we'll see more when the donner cut comes out, but both are solid As in my book.

I still think Superman 1+2+3 are best superhero trilogy as of now. I loved Batman returns, but Superman beats Batman a lot and Superman 3 is about the same as Batman forever.

Solid A

seeing it on DVD is better, nwo that effects can be increaseed.

B+

I sence over ratting with this film, it was either cheesy or campy or a good mixture of both. Overall good watch great rewatchability.

One of the best superhero films ever. It never feels dated and has great rewatch value.

9/10 (A)

I just watched this for the first time in what must be more than 20 years. Well, what a fucking bore-fest. When you're a child, you never sit down and watch a film in its entirety. You talk, play, eat, and only look up when the action starts. But as an adult you watch it all, and Superman: The Movie is boring as fuck. It's insane how superior Man of Steel is. When it's Marlon Brando or Gene Hackman on screen, it's snooze time. The first 50 minutes of the film is pure crap. It's only mildly interesting when Christopher Reeve is on-screen, and even still it's not great. I don't like this Superman character. He's basically a horny dog that just wants to get into Lois Lane's knickers. And they couldn't even get an attractive Lois Lane! The film is just cheesy and badly made. I know it was 1978 and all, but it's not that year now and the effects and acting and vibe and logic is bad. I think that's why I prefer the sequels because they don't need to waste time on his origin. The best one is the one with the duplicate Superman and Zod and co. This one is just lame. It's all too quick how everyone just accepts Superman and knows all his powers, and then there's the reversing of the planet to reverse time. lol. Absurd. The best thing about it is the score. D

I've always enjoyed this.

I thought I did too!

I haven't seen it for probably 10 years but last time I saw it remember frowning a bit at the special effects but thought the storytelling was pretty good nonetheless. And the reversing the planet thing is what I actually loved about it.

Superman crying over Lois and Screaming is still probably one of the most powerful moments in a superhero film, or any film.