Unable to convince the ruling council of Krypton that their world will destroy itself soon, scientist Jor-El takes drastic measures to preserve the Kryptonian race: He sends his infant son Kal-El to Earth. There, gaining great powers under Earth’s yellow sun, he will become a champion of truth and justice. Raised by the Kents, an elderly farm couple, Clark Kent learns that his abilities must be used for good. The adult Clark travels to Metropolis, where he becomes a mild-mannered reporter for the Daily Planet…and a caped wonder whose amazing feats stun the city: Superman! Meanwhile, Lex Luthor, the world’s greatest criminal mind, is plotting the greatest real estate swindle of all time. Can’t even the Man of Steel stop this nefarious scheme? —IMDb
Working briefly as an actor in the late 1950s, American director Richard Donner first wielded the megaphone for a group of TV commercials, then graduated to the weekly western Wanted: Dead or Alive. Some of Donner’s best early work was concentrated on the fantasy anthology Twilight Zone, including the imperishable 1963 episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.” Donner also worked for Hanna-Barbera, directing several episodes of “Danger Island”, a component of the 1968 kid’s series The Banana Splits; there was, however, very little that was “kiddie” about “Mystery Island,” a hallucinatory symphony of hand-held camerawork. A film director since 1961 Donner turned to movie work full time with 1968’s Salt and Pepper. The Omen (1976), a demonic-possession opus, was Donner’s first major moneymaker, leading to his directing assignment on the first Superman film in 1978. Superman was popular enough to inspire three sequels, the first of which contained so much uncredited Donner-directed footage that… read more
That poetry reading in the sky... has got to be one of the most horribly out-of-place/unexpected/irrelevant moments in film history. Jesus. Gene Hackman was awesome. Marlon Brando was... surprisingly monotonous. The script got far too quirky at times, but holy hell I laff'd at the "Mom, a man flew down and got the cat out of the tree!" "Haven't I told you not to lie?" *slap*
And wow, did John Williams ever have some repetitive musical themes. I like the dude's music, but damn. I felt like he just revised the music from Star Wars for this.
Updated through 5/7. "Jackie Cooper, the pug-nosed kid who became America's Boy in tear-jerker films of the Great Depression, then survived
"Tom Mankiewicz, a screenwriter and premier script doctor who made his reputation working on such James Bond films as Diamonds Are Forever
To fully appreciate the film one needs to put it in its proper context. This film was made n the mid to late 70s, when the technology for movie making was no where near the way it is today. We live… read review
ULTIMATE GOODASS
After one hour the movie officially begins. The backstory of Krypton and Superman’s upbringing made more sense and worked better when this and Superman II were… read review
The greatest cinematic transition of a comic book ever done. Richard Donner’s vigorous narrative pulse, Christopher Reeve’s perfect incarnation and John Williams’ majestic score made this movie an… read review