Superman (film series)

D: Richard Donner

Warner/Salkind (Pierre Spengler)

US/UK 1978

142 mins

Science Fiction/Adventure

W: Mario Puzo, David Newman, Robert Benton & Leslie Newman [based on the comic book created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster]

DP: Geoffrey Unsworth

Ed: Stuart Baird

Mus: John Williams

PD: John Barry

Cos: Yvonne Blake

Christopher Reeve (Clark Kent / Superman), Marlon Brando (Jor-El), Margot Kidder (Lois Lane), Gene Hackman (Lex Luthor), Ned Beatty (Otis), Jackie Cooper (Perry White), Valerie Perrine (Eve Teschmacher), Jeff East (Young Clark Kent), Glenn Ford (Pa Kent)

You will believe a man can fly in this adaptation of the long-running comic book adventures, filmed on a vast, epic scale by director Richard Donner. 

Beginning with the destruction of his home planet of Krypton, an alien child is placed in a portal which hurtles him towards Earth. The child is taken in by an old couple who live on a small Kansas farm and raise him as their own. As an older teenager, he discovers the truth about his origins and becomes Superman, a seemingly indestructible superhuman who fights crime and cleans up Metropolis (presented here as NYC) while his alter-ego, Clark Kent, works as a journalist for the Daily Planet and vies for the attentions of his love interest, Lois Lane.

The film also sees the introduction of Superman's most popular villain, Lex Luthor, an unscrupulous real estate magnate who plans to destroy California so his land in the Mojave desert becomes a priceless commodity.

At 142 minutes, the length pushes at the boundaries and some of the visual effects appear a little dated by modern standards, Superman became a milestone of cinematic achievement, not only in the field of optical effects, but also paving the way for a subgenre which hadn't been taken in any seriousness in comic book film adaptations in years prior. Before this film set down the marker, superhero and comic book vehicles were done on the cheap, usually rather campy and tacky in the vein of the 1960's Batman television series. 

The casting choices are perfect, especially Christopher Reeve, who unfortunately couldn't again escape from the typecast, despite being a fine actor in his own right. Margot Kidder is also excellent as the spunky love interest, Lois Lane, giving the character more than just one dimension of a regular damsel in distress.

Much was scrutinised in the casting choice of Marlon Brando, who received a massive $3m payout and top billing for a mere ten minute performance. He doesn't really do anything any other actor could do, but with his name atop the credits, it was a statement that this was a film to be taken seriously.

For me, this is the father of all superhero movies. The credit sequence alone is the stuff of legend, bursting to life with John Williams energetic, iconic score.

8/10

D: Richard Lester 

Warner/Salkind (Pierre Spengler)

US/UK 1980

127 mins

Science Fiction/Adventure

W: Mario Puzo, David Newman & Leslie Newman [based on the comic book created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster]

DP: Geoffrey Unsworth & Robert Paynter

Ed: John Victor-Smith

Mus: Ken Thorne

PD: John Barry & Peter Murton

Cos: Yvonne Blake & Sue Yelland

Christopher Reeve (Clark Kent / Superman), Gene Hackman (Lex Luthor), Margot Kidder (Lois Lane), Terence Stamp (General Zod), Jack O'Halloran (Non), Sarah Douglas (Ursa), Valerie Perrine (Eve Teschmacher), Ned Beatty (Otis), Susannah York (Lara)

Considered by some to be a sequel which betters the original film, it shouldn't come as a surprise that principal photography was subsequently filmed back-to-back, but when producer's needed a scapegoat for the expensive casting of Marlon Brando in what was ultimately a cameo role, Richard Donner was replaced by Richard Lester, who refilmed some scenes and added some extras (more about this is analysed for Superman II - The Richard Donner Cut).

Following on from events in the first film, Superman is busy fighting crime and acts of terrorism, but can't help but yearn the life of a normal man and settle down with Lois Lane. He finds a way to lose his superhuman strength, but his timing couldn't have come at a worse time, as the planet is taken siege by a trio of exiled Kryptonians who share the same phenomenal powers. 

While the first film spent a good amount of time on setting up characters and their origins, this dives straight into the action and even utilises snippets from the first film in the opening credits to serve as a reminder. The visual effects, production values and performances are every bit as good as the first film, if not better, especially considering the brilliant casting of Terence Stamp as the malevolent General Zod.

Unfortunately, the series took a steep downward trajectory for the following sequels.

7/10

SUPERMAN II - THE RICHARD DONNER CUT (PG)

D: Richard Donner 

Warner/Salkind (Pierre Spengler)

US/UK 1980 [released 2006]

116 mins

Science Fiction/Adventure

W: Mario Puzo, David Newman & Leslie Newman [based on the comic book created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster]

DP: Robert Paynter (& Geoffrey Unsworth)

Ed: John Victor-Smith, Stuart Baird & Michael Thau

Mus: John Williams

Christopher Reeve (Clark Kent / Superman), Gene Hackman (Lex Luthor), Marlon Brando (Jor-El), Margot Kidder (Lois Lane), Terence Stamp (General Zod), Ned Beatty (Otis), Jackie Cooper (Perry White), Sarah Douglas (Ursa), Jack O'Halloran (Non), Valerie Perrine (Eve Teschmacher)

For those not in the know, the first two Superman movies were filmed back-to-back in an epic style similar to the Lord Of The Rings films, but over halfway through the production, shortly after the 1978 premiere of the first film and with over 70% of the sequel filmed, producers panicked due to a budget spiralling out of control and a Marlon Brando lawsuit which was costing them even more money.

Subsequently, original director Richard Donner was the fall guy and he was sacked and replaced with Richard Lester, best known for directing The Beatles' 1964 movie A Hard Day's Night, who didn't really understand the source material, was not a fan of comics and filled a lot of scenes with out of place slapstick (this is obvious for all to see in Superman III).

Using the footage filmed by Donner, including some screen test footage and scenes featuring Brando which were replaced with Susannah York in the theatrical version, this is the version of the movie which was originally envisioned by Richard Donner.

It's a brand new experience of the movie, with a completely different beginning, Lois discovering Clark Kent's true identity in a completely different fashion and a full explanation of how Superman gets his powers back.

Narratively, it's no better or worse than the original theatrical version, but gone is the bomb in Paris opening, the ridiculous polythene 'S' which Superman throws at Non and all the stupid slapstick gags when General Zod & his cohorts are destroying Metropolis (i.e. the couple coming out of Kentucky Fried Chicken and getting blown away).  The ending even left it open for a possibility of General Zod, Ursa & Non to return.

Of course, some scenes aren't as polished as what they would have been had filming been completed by Donner, but it leaves you thinking what could have been had the producers not pushed the panic button.

7/10

D: Richard Lester

Warner Bros/Dovermead/Cantharus (Pierre Spengler)

UK 1983

125 mins

Science Fiction/Comedy

W: David Newman & Leslie Newman [based on the comic book created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster]

DP: Robert Paynter

Ed: John Victor-Smith

Mus: Ken Thorne

Christopher Reeve (Clark Kent / Superman), Richard Pryor (Gus Gorman), Robert Vaughn (Ross Webster), Annie Ross (Vera Webster), Pamela Stephenson (Lorelei Ambrosia), Annette O'Toole (Lana Lang), Margot Kidder (Lois Lane)

Richard Lester may have got away with it for Superman II, which was virtually completed when he took the reins over, but his inexperience in the genre is highlighted here as he takes a slapstick approach to the superhero series. The plot of the movie was inspired by an interview between Richard Pryor and a talk show host, where the comedic actor quipped that he'd love to be in a Superman movie. Unfortunately, the producers didn't realise that he was being ironic...

The plot here concerns a megalomaniac entrepreneur who hires a luckless computer programmer to create a supercomputer so he can control the world's commerce as well as creating a synthetic substitute for Kryptonite so he can destroy Superman, but the bodge job uses tobacco instead of an unknown element, turning Superman into a villain.

The film has some good moments, particularly when good Superman and bad Superman fight each other in a junk yard and the special effects laden finale, but there's a lot of mess to sift through, especially in the moments including Richard Pryor, the blatant product placement for Kentucky Fried Chicken and the shameless dropping of Lois Lane as the apple of Superman's eye (this was due to Margot Kidder's annoyance at the treatment of previous director Richard Donner).

5/10

D: Sidney J. Furie

Cannon (Menahem Golan & Yoram Globus)

UK 1987

89 mins

Science Fiction

W: Lawrence Konner & Mark Rosenthal [based on the comic book created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster]

DP: Robert Paynter

Ed: John Victor-Smith

Mus: Ken Thorne

Christopher Reeve (Clark Kent / Superman), Gene Hackman (Lex Luthor), Mariel Hemingway (Lacy Warfield), Jon Cryer (Lenny Luthor), Mark Pillow (Nuclear Man), Margot Kidder (Lois Lane), Sam Wanamaker (David Warfield)

It's a huge shame that Christopher Reeve's last appearance in the role which launched his career would be such a travesty. The movie rights for this third sequel were passed to Cannon Pictures, a film company synonymous with cheap production values, tacky special effects and corners cut at every turn, hence the movie was off to a losing start before filming even commenced.

The threadbare plot concerns Superman ridding the entire world of nuclear arms, rounding them all up and hurtling them into the sun. Lex Luthor and his nephew Duckie (for some reason) have their own dastardly plan and create Nuclear Man, an evil doppelgänger, to be an unstoppable nemesis.

This plot actually makes the movie sound more fun than it actually is, but with such poor filmmaking standards it becomes an insult to the intelligence of even small children. The basic laws of physics are ignored to a ludicrous degree, even going as far as having human characters floating in space with the capability of speech and the moon being able to turn on its own axis.  London Underground stations stand in for a Metropolis (New York) subway station, while a building in Milton Keynes is selected as a rather unconvincing choice to represent the UN Headquarters.

During the poorly structured fight scenes, wires are clearly visible and there's just no defending the general shoddiness of the visual effects, even with the same process shot being used over and over. For some reason, Superman also develops a new ability where he can rebuild The Great Wall of China with his eyes.

Easily one of the worst superhero movies of all time.

1/10

SUPERMAN RETURNS (12)