In my opinion this was the best comic book film ever made. While a few sequels (while the second is great all inferior), a new Superman, Batman, Spiderman and countless DC and Marvel movies being made I admit I haven't seen them all, but this one takes the cake. Perhaps you had to see this one as a child, but thanks to some wonderful acting, amazing music and direction from Richard Donner this is a very moving and motivating story for everyone.
They really cram a lot of story into the version that I have seen (runs at 143 minutes) and I would completely agree that what audiences found acceptable in 1978 may not apply so well today from an opening credit sequence that runs too long, but hey, I don't care it mixes in maybe from favourite score of all time by John Williams with some beautifully cheesy late 70s effects. We follow Superman's father Jor-El (Marlon Brando) who believes his planet of Krypton will explode after its sun goes supernova. The high council toss away his pleas and in turn to save his only son Kal-El he sends him in a spaceship to Earth where his dense molecular structure will make him stronger than any mortal man. He lands on Earth where he is found by Jonathan and Martha Kent (Glenn Ford and Phyllis Thaxter) in a pretty cool scene. When he grows older he moves to Metropolis where he works for the Daily Planet as Clark Kent the nerdy, no-nothing, ultra old-school boy from the mid west. He works with and falls for the attractive Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), yet there is the most brilliant criminal mind of our time working in the underground depths of the city; Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman is simply wonderful in his hammy spin of the character). Along with his buffoon sidekick Otis (Ned Beatty) and Miss Teschmacher (Valerie Perrine) he plans to detonate the San Andreas Fault causing California to slide into the ocean depths.
I think to this day Christopher Reeve is underrated as an actor as he did a fabulous job in this and all the sequels. To go along with Richard Donner's great direction (and my thoughts that he knew the material and appreciated it as well) there was a pretty darn good script co-written by Mario Puzo who wrote THE GODFATHER.
The big thing that I love about this film and SUPERMAN II is that it does take its material seriously, but doesn't take itself seriously. It is swimming in camp at times much like the comics did at that time as well. Today they seem to have gone the other way in taking itself seriously, but to me the camp that is within these films brings a high level of joy and fun.
Maybe give it a shot to the younger group who may have never seen this film. It is different than the comic book movies they make nowadays, but it was huge at the box office as well raking in over $300 million. Also starring Jackie Cooper as Daily Planet editor Perry White, Terence Stamp as Zod (who returns for the sequel) and Susannah York as Superman's mother Lara.
They really cram a lot of story into the version that I have seen (runs at 143 minutes) and I would completely agree that what audiences found acceptable in 1978 may not apply so well today from an opening credit sequence that runs too long, but hey, I don't care it mixes in maybe from favourite score of all time by John Williams with some beautifully cheesy late 70s effects. We follow Superman's father Jor-El (Marlon Brando) who believes his planet of Krypton will explode after its sun goes supernova. The high council toss away his pleas and in turn to save his only son Kal-El he sends him in a spaceship to Earth where his dense molecular structure will make him stronger than any mortal man. He lands on Earth where he is found by Jonathan and Martha Kent (Glenn Ford and Phyllis Thaxter) in a pretty cool scene. When he grows older he moves to Metropolis where he works for the Daily Planet as Clark Kent the nerdy, no-nothing, ultra old-school boy from the mid west. He works with and falls for the attractive Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), yet there is the most brilliant criminal mind of our time working in the underground depths of the city; Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman is simply wonderful in his hammy spin of the character). Along with his buffoon sidekick Otis (Ned Beatty) and Miss Teschmacher (Valerie Perrine) he plans to detonate the San Andreas Fault causing California to slide into the ocean depths.
I think to this day Christopher Reeve is underrated as an actor as he did a fabulous job in this and all the sequels. To go along with Richard Donner's great direction (and my thoughts that he knew the material and appreciated it as well) there was a pretty darn good script co-written by Mario Puzo who wrote THE GODFATHER.
The big thing that I love about this film and SUPERMAN II is that it does take its material seriously, but doesn't take itself seriously. It is swimming in camp at times much like the comics did at that time as well. Today they seem to have gone the other way in taking itself seriously, but to me the camp that is within these films brings a high level of joy and fun.
Maybe give it a shot to the younger group who may have never seen this film. It is different than the comic book movies they make nowadays, but it was huge at the box office as well raking in over $300 million. Also starring Jackie Cooper as Daily Planet editor Perry White, Terence Stamp as Zod (who returns for the sequel) and Susannah York as Superman's mother Lara.