Superman

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Before today, I never saw any of the Superman movies, and I recently decided to watch all of them before Man of Steel comes out. That includes the most infamous one where he quests for peace. Also, I'm going to review the sequels in this thread as well as the first one.
For the record, I only watched the expanded edition of the original, so I'm not sure how it differs from the theatrical release.
At the beginning of this movie, I was a little worried that I might not enjoy the film as a whole, because I honestly found the entire opening sequence on Krypton to be pretty boring. But once it took place on earth and Clark Kent was all grown up, it became more interesting. Knowing next to nothing about these movies, Jonathan's death really caught me off guard and added some emotional depth to the film.
When Superman takes up his job as a journalist for The Daily Planet, it's amusing to see him selling the act that he's a complete wimp. Some people say that the glasses are about the dumbest superhero disguise ever, but I think it works once you add the nervous demeanor and everything.
I also thought that Lex Luthor was an entertaining character, and had some of the funniest lines in the movie. He was almost like an evil bald version of Tony Stark.
Of course, this movie does have several cheesy moments in it like the reverse rotation bit. My biggest nitpick is how Clark Kent was able to just jump out of a four-story window in the middle of a busy office area without anyone noticing. Seriously, could those people have given less of a sh*t about that guy?
Despite the minor flaws and the slow opening, Superman was an awesome movie nonetheless and I'm glad I watched it. I've heard that the second one is the best, so I'm looking forward to seeing the Richard Donner cut of that.

What do you think of the Superman movies? Are you excited for Man of Steel?



One of the special things about Christopher Reeve playing Superman was that he changed his gait and acting style completely between characters. For an unknown actor to do such a thing was an absolute work of genius.

It was also key to the film's change in tone. Once Clark is all grown up and moves to Metropolis it becomes more "interesting" as you put it, it's a change in genre almost. The film goes from being a quiet dramatic film to a louder, more humorous turn of events.

Mainly through Reeve and his character, but there's much more in the way of light-hearted writing, slapstick (almost) from Reeve and tongue-in-cheek humour laced throughout the dialogue.


It'll be hard for Man Of Steel to top the original film and Superman 2 as well, but Man Of Steel is going down the more serious side by using The Nolanverse as its base.

I'm looking forward to seeing Man Of Steel, I'm a huge fan of The Supe, but I doubt I'll catch it in cinemas after all the recent news I dug up pointing to there being no 2D release in most British Cinemas.



Superman 3... went too far toward the comedy side of things. It wasn't slapstick exactly, but the sheer presence of Richard Pryor is enough to show what kind of film it would be.
Pryor strangely though was one of the best things about Superman 3.


Superman 4: The Quest For Peace however is one of only two films I've rated 0%... the story really could have worked if it didn't step all over the ethos of Superman that was established in the first two films... but the rest of Quest was just painfully awful film making.



Superman 3... went too far toward the comedy side of things. It wasn't slapstick exactly, but the sheer presence of Richard Pryor is enough to show what kind of film it would be.
Pryor strangely though was one of the best things about Superman 3.


Superman 4: The Quest For Peace however is one of only two films I've rated 0%... the story really could have worked if it didn't step all over the ethos of Superman that was established in the first two films... but the rest of Quest was just painfully awful film making.
I'll certainly keep that in mind. This sounds a lot like the path that the Joel Schumacher Batman movies took.



Tbh honest, Superman 4 is worse than Schumacher's attempts at a Hero film... even with the cast changes. Supes 4 has the same cast at least, but it was made by people with no idea what they were doing.
There was also in-fighting in the Cannon Films and Reeve himself wasn't sure if he wanted to do it, after all he had also turned down a cameo appearance in Supergirl too.
Reeve actually treated the script himself to make it more palatable but it was still hammered by budget cuts by Cannon Films.


Reeve:
We were also hampered by budget constraints and cutbacks in all departments. Cannon Films had nearly thirty projects in the works at the time, and Superman IV received no special consideration. For example, Konner and Rosenthal wrote a scene in which Superman lands on 42nd Street and walks down the double yellow lines to the United Nations, where he gives a speech. If that had been a scene in Superman I, we would actually have shot it on 42nd Street. Dick Donner would have choreographed hundreds of pedestrians and vehicles and cut to people gawking out of office windows at the sight of Superman walking down the street like the Pied Piper. Instead, we had to shoot at an industrial park in England in the rain with about a hundred extras, not a car in sight, and a dozen pigeons thrown in for atmosphere. Even if the story had been brilliant, I don't think that we could ever have lived up to the audience's expectations with this approach.


Sydney J Furie really missed the mark.



Wow, that does sound pretty terrible. I'm still going to give it a watch, and I'll be back here with my thoughts on it.



We've gone on holiday by mistake
Superman 4 is awesome, what are you guys talking aboot.



Superman 4 is awesome, what are you guys talking aboot.
I have heard some say they liked it. One person even named Nuclear Man as one of his top ten movie villains. I'm hoping that the movie might work as a guilty pleasure for me.





I said before that Superman had some pretty cheesy moments, and one of the many that I didn't mention was the fact that Superman takes one of Lex Luthor's missiles and foils his attempts to destroy millions of innocent lives and flings it into outer space...presumably to destroy other millions of innocent lives which apparently no one cares about. However, I'd already seen a review of Superman II before watching the original, so I knew what was coming.
I love the fact that the beginning of this movie shows that there can be consequences for the man of steel's actions. At the start of the original, there was this big setup involving three sinister characters who were imprisoned and forgotten about up until now. Thanks to the rogue missile breaking their prison and setting them free to wreak havoc on the fragile planet earth. General Zod, Ursa, and Non are three of the most frightening comic book villains I've seen brought to life onscreen. In the previous installment, these people were introduced as being extremely dangerous, but the only indication of that was Jorel's word. Now we get to see them live up to that as they casually murder random innocents to establish themselves as the dominant species.
Meanwhile, another silly thing about the first movie is firmly covered up as Lois Lane figures out Superman's true identity. Once again I was amused as Clark Kent tried to make himself look as weak as possible, even though he wasn't fooling anyone at this point. And I'd like to bring up the fact that a lot of superhero movies today have clearly been influenced by this franchise. The scene in the first movie where Clark is running through the streets and pulling away his shirt to reveal the "S" underneath was redone in Spiderman, and in the second movie when Lois Lane tests Clark/Superman with a bullet, that went on to inspire an identical moment in Unbreakable. It goes to show that these were more than silly popcorn movies. Superman more or less paved the way for comic book film adaptations to come.
As a viewer, I began to feel genuinely worried about the protagonist as he gave up his powers for the one he loved, without knowledge of the terrible destruction Zod and his people were unleashing. Still, I kind of wish that there would have been a confrontation between regular old Clark Kent without any powers and Zod. That would have made for a really intense moment. Not that it took away from the battle in Metropolis, of course; despite the dated effects, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time during that scene.
Lex Luthor, aka Evil Tony Stark, provides more comedy relief as he assists the main bad guys. The funniest part of the whole movie was when he took Ursa by the hand as he was addressing her and the other two, just to have his thumb nearly broken in her grip. It's entertaining to see one jerk with no power attempt to strike a deal with three jerks with godlike power.
My biggest gripe with the movie is the way Superman wraps everything up at the end. Did they really have to pull the same trick a second time?
Overall, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut was a great movie nonetheless. Despite its flaws, it's easy for me to see why some would name this as one of their all-time favorite superhero films.
Score - 9/10



In it's time the original 70's and 80's superman films were iconic and did offer decent eye candy; however today they are campy popcorn flicks that were never added to my collection and I think they never will be.

I watched the entire smallville series and felt more akin to that show and it's assembly rather than a short drift through the man of steels film shorts.

I will admit I liked the most recent superman film save for(k-pax)the actor portraying lex.....get serious director!

My rating for the first films were between 80-90 out of a 100.



The first two Superman were amazing to watch. Superman Returns was a decent film. I haven't seen Superman 3 and 4 with Christopher Reeve at all.



Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave
I have never actually seen any of the Christopher Reeve Superman flicks! A bit surprising for a film fan in general perhaps, but as a self-confessed comic book geek that may come as a shock to some of you. I've just never gotten around to them, largely as I find the character to be rather dull. I've just never been all that interested in Superman and his story. I picked up a box set of the first two films for an extremely cheap price a while back but still not watched them. The only Superman film I have seen was Superman Returns which was ok but I found to be a bit of a snoozefest.



I have never actually seen any of the Christopher Reeve Superman flicks! A bit surprising for a film fan in general perhaps, but as a self-confessed comic book geek that may come as a shock to some of you. I've just never gotten around to them, largely as I find the character to be rather dull. I've just never been all that interested in Superman and his story. I picked up a box set of the first two films for an extremely cheap price a while back but still not watched them. The only Superman film I have seen was Superman Returns which was ok but I found to be a bit of a snoozefest.
I understand you all the way. As a kid, I never had any particular interest in Superman myself. I thought the cartoons were dull, and the endless supply of powers made him difficult to relate to. However, I assure you that the first two are a lot of fun to watch, and they do make the title character interesting.
I haven't seen Superman Returns, so I can't give you my own opinion on it, but I have met several people who would agree with you.



Superman returns was utter crap.
I know this is unrelated to the present conversation, but I love the new pic! Bane is an underrated villain.



I want to see Man Of Steel Looks Promising! What guys think?



Okay, so I failed at watching the rest of the franchise before going to see this one, but I doubt that any angry fists will be raised.



I love villain posters.
So, I went into this movie with low expectations. The negative things that many reviewers pointed out sounded like they would get on my nerves, but did they end up annoying me too much to enjoy the film or was I able to overcome them?
First of all, I think the opening scenes on Krypton are a big improvement over the original in many ways. Not only is it less boring, but you get more of an idea of how the society works, there's more onscreen technology, and you even get to see more of the wildlife on this planet. Russell Crowe is no Marlon Brando, but he does a fantastic job as Jorel, and I think he's the best modern actor to cast in this role. The scenes on Krypton are not perfect, though. There's an overabundance of shaky cam, and enough lens flares to make JJ Abrams cream his pants.
I thought that Snyder went in an interesting direction in telling the first half of the story in a nonlinear fashion, starting off with Kalel (Superman) as an adult and switching back and forth between the present day and his childhood years. The first scene where you see Kalel all grown up is another example if a poorly executed action scene, though; one moment he's on a ship going to rescue some men on another ship, and then bam - it jump cuts to him walking shirtless through fire on that other ship.
The flashback scenes were some of my favorite parts in the movie. The very first one you see shows Kalel just as he's beginning to develop his x-ray vision and super hearing abilities. As can be expected, it terrifies the poor boy. Kevin Costner does an excellent job as Clark Kent's father, too. I took my grandpa to see this movie with me, and the scenes with Costner made this a perfect Father's Day movie. And yes, good people, I'm aware that Father's Day is tomorrow.
Amy Adams was likeable enough as Lois Lane, but she didn't really have the same oomph as Margot Kidder. The relationship between her and Superman felt extremely underdeveloped. Also, you don't get to see Superman as the clumsy Clark Kent throughout most of this picture, but there is the promise of seeing more Kent in the sequel.
Now, let's get to the villains, my favorite part of any movie. Michael Shannon does a great job as General Zod. He isn't the power-hungry egomaniac this time around. He has a much more realistic motivation for what he's doing, and I like that. He never commands anyone to kneel before him, for those who are wondering, but that's because it wouldn't make sense for his character. I will admit that he's not as memorable as some other comic book movie villains, however. Even the Mandarin had more quotable lines. There are two Zod quotes that stand out to me, though.
"My soul...that is what you have taken from me!"
"I have spent years training to hone my senses. Where were you trained? ON A FARM!?"
Non's name is never mentioned, and he didn't have much screen time, but I recognized him as soon as he showed up; he was the big guy. He always wears a mask onscreen, and the fact that you never see his face makes him even more terrifying. As for Faora (formerly known as Ursa), she was cool, but nothing to write home about. There were never any shining moments for her, at least nothing comparable to crushing Lex Luthor's thumb.
As for the action scenes in the final act, there were moments when I felt overwhelmed, but for the most part they were pretty damn entertaining. Some reviewers found the action repetitive, but I never felt that. And I thought the final confrontation between Kalel and Zod was absolutely perfect. I thought it was less cheap than how the bad guys were defeated in Superman II, anyway.
Overall, was I able to overcome the imperfections enough to have a good time? Will I even buy it when it comes out? The answer, my friends, is hell yes.
7.5/10



In retrospect, the fact that I enjoyed Man of Steel so much may have been due to the fact that I had low expectations going in. My opinions will remain the same, though.