I forgot how fantastic Superman was. (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

Best superhero movie, IMO.

It's basically flawless, save for a few cheesy parts.

The DVD is top-notch, too. The audio is excellent (a few parts of dialogue are tinny because of the condition of sound elements.) and the video is perfect. I actually find the new director's cut to be better than the original. The added scenes, especially the "Gauntlet of Doom" scene make the movie better.

Plus, the DVD extras are great...the Donner/Mankewicz commentary is highly entertaining and informative. The price of the disc is worth it just for the featurette on the special effects (and the screen tests.)

Another top-notch disc from WB. (The fact that the original sound mix and original cut isn't on the disc doesn't bother me. Who would want to listen to the inferior 2.0 track when there's a reference quality 5.1 track on the disc. Plus, the director's cut improves the flow in a few parts.)

 

[Paul_D]

I've never been a big fan of it, but I tuned in a couple of weeks ago when it was on and really enjoyed it! MY favourite bit is just after Lex tells Superman theres a warhead heading for Hackensack, NJ, and Miss Tessmaker tells Lex that her mother lives in there. He just looks at his watch and shakes his head!

 

[Josh_Hill]

Oh yeah! I needed a Superman topic here. Superman is my 2nd favorite film of all time. Ive seen it so many times it aint even funny! Ever since I was a kid, Ive dreamed of being Superman, hell I even had my mom make me a little cape with a yellow Supes symbol on the back, and used to run through the house making like I was superman! Lots of fun. Cute little story here: My cousin and his kids came in about 2 months ago for Thanksgiving and they wanted to watch a movie, I asked if they'd ever seen Superman, they had not seen it. Granted these kids are only about 2 and 3, but not seen Superman, blasphemy! So, I popped it in and put on the first Helicopter rescue and throughout the entire sequence and the forthcoming rescues, the kids were clapping and their jaws were on the floor, literally, I mean they were just yelling and saying, "Go Superman!" I broke out crying. To what this film meant to me when I was a kid and now seeing my little nephews love it as much as I did, just brought me to tears.

My favorite moments in the film are:

Clarks father dies, gets me everytime.

Supes first rescue.

Supes chasing the rockets.

Ms. Tesmacher helping supes out.

The new seen where Supes goes down through the sewer main and get shot at, fire thrown on, and froze.

The dying seen with Lois. Man, this is just so powerful, its one of the greatest acting moments Ive ever see. Reeve's face is just heartbreaking.

And this film demands to be seen in widescreen, this is one of the best shot films ever and the widescreen shots are magnificant. I remember all I had was the crappy VHS and when the DVD finally came, I was amazed at how much I missed with the P&S.

And the Special Effects still look great and totally believeable.

 

[Ryan_M_M]

Superman The Movie is truely a beautiful movie. It captures the magic of the character and the film is without doubt the best comic book adaptation of all time. From the corn fields of Smallville to the busy life of Metropolis Richard Donner totally captures everything you want from a comic book adaptation.

How sad it was that he was sacked by the Salkinds having completed 80 percent of Superman II, then had to watch as scenes he did film with Brando, the villains and the Fortress of Solitude were shamelessly removed to deny him a director's credit. Superman II Donner cut needs to come to life.

In a way, I am disappointed though in the DVD. When you look at it from the point of diehard Superman fans it is pretty bareless. Donner could have placed a lot of his Superman II footage onto the disc in a supplimentary section without any legal comebacks. The commentary didn't really say much about the production problems that occured on the set. Some may think I am wrong, since the DVD appears to be filled with features, but the reality is this could have been a 2 disc set in the style of T2 or Game of Death. Warner badly treat their DVDs in comparison to other film studios.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The scene where he flies from the Fortress of Solitude is truly a defining moment in cinema. Though the integration has gotten more seamless as special effects have improved, noone has given as convincing a protrayal of a man in flight than Mr. Reeve did.

 

[Patrick Sun]

If Superman was strong enough (which he is) he could easily stop the rotation of the object about its pivot point. If the part of the helicppter which he grabs stays fixed in space completely, then the helicopter will not move at all. Superman could easily do this by countering the torque with his wrist

This wouldn't work in real world physics, in the film, he grabs one of the landing "blade/ledge" gear of the helicopter, and with the way it was falling, due to the gravitional force, the joint would have broken off with any attempt of sudden "counter-torque-ing" that that piece of the helicopter required to stabilize the helicopter. Imagine the amount of stress caused by the de-celeration of the helicopter by Superman, something has to give, and it would have been the landing gear.

You have to remember where the center of gravity is on that helicopter, it sure ain't at the part that Superman grabbed a hold of. Any force applied elsewhere will cause the helicopter to rotate out of control, and the joint of the landing gear to break off with Superman's one-handed "save". To do it properly, he'd need to fly up and back down to match speeds with the falling helicopter and get right underneath the center of gravity and then start to apply force upwards to stop its fall.

Again, it was one of the few times where they relied on cartoon physics to show off his powers.

 

[Terrell]

I believe you guys are thinking too much. This is fantasy, and those small details didn't detract from the film. Besides, this was about a man who could fly.

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

Personally, I loved much of the movie, and most of it has been covered here. Humor, great performances especially by Reeve, Hackman and Beatty...

But I can't stand Margot Kidder.

The whole chain-smoking whiskey-hoarse annoying hyperactive reporter thing she did in that movie had - and has - me much of the time thinking: "Ok... he's Superman. He could be with basically any woman on the planet, and he falls for THIS?"

Other than that miscasting of the leading lady (IMHO of course, others may disagree) I love the movie.

 

[Josh_Hill]

I will not let this thread die. It must live.......
I watched Superman yesterday for about the 500th time. Im obsessed!

 

[Nate Anderson]

By the way, anyone remember Otisburg? Another laugh moment.

Oh yes, most definately one of my favorite parts.

"It's amazing that brain can generate enough power to move those legs."

 

[Terrell]

Otisburg kills me. Anyway, I just started using DVDProfiler, and I've only got 47 loaded in. But you dwarf me, with over 350 discs. Just think, we get to purchase these films all over again when HD-DVD comes out, unless you want to keep the ones you have. HD-DVD will almost certainly be backwards compatible.

 

[Josh_Hill]

Otisburg kills me. Anyway, I just started using DVDProfiler, and I've only got 47 loaded in. But you dwarf me, with over 350 discs. Just think, we get to purchase these films all over again when HD-DVD comes out, unless you want to keep the ones you have. HD-DVD will almost certainly be backwards compatible.

Hunh? HD-DVD? Where the hell did this come from?

And I beat both of you with 400 movies! MUHAHAH.....okay sorry.

 

[Tiffany A]

Sorry to sound uninformed, but what is HD-DVD? Should I quit buying DVD's til they come out?
BTW, Kimmo...couldn't agree with you more on the Margot Kidder "smoking" thing. However, I believe it was a "trend" in the early movies in the USA. It seems that all the actors smoked until the movies of the 80's.
The Nordic countries have always been healthier than the USA in most ways! Must be the clean air!

 

[Terrell]

HD-DVD is Hi-Definition DVD. And no, HD-DVD players will almost positively be backwards compatible with yur current DVDs, and will be able to play them. Only they won't be HD. However, I'm gonna have to buy a whole a**load of films all over again. But you shouldn't worry tiffany. That's a long ways off.

 

[bill lopez]

Nice to see this movie is remembered as the best comic book movie ever. It was but forgotten when BATMAN (1989) and all it's hype was the talk of comic book movies.

 

[DmitriP]

I bought Superman I & III. Richard Prior as a hacker was great..
He types: "Remove all security codes"
And he gets in. Then proceeds to reprogram a satellite that watches weather to MAKE weather.
Then there's the classic Superman in a bar scene, him fighting his 'evel' self, etc. I've let a few of my friends borrow the movie, and they all loved seeing it again.

 

[Josh_Hill]

Yeah, I like Superman III. Its a pretty good little flick and the battle between Supes and Evil Supes is one of the highlights of the series and the high point of Superman III.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Josh: I'd say the ONLY high point. Truly a mythic scene, too bad it's stuck in the middle of a truly mediocre film

 

[stan hiller]

Confirmation that John Williams IS the most accomplished film composer ever- the 'Can You Read My Mind' sequence with margot kidder is truely beautiful and clarkes first meeting with his long dead father and his education leading to his maturity as superman are amongst the most moving moments for me.

Raiders, Jurassic Park, Close encounters, Jaws, Star wars (all 5), ET, AI, SPR - I could go on & on - how can one composer be this good?

 

[Dalton]

I would just like to add the opening credits of this film make for a damn good HT demo. This has to be the best sounding dvd from a 70's or 80's film i have heard. The new soundtrack is simply amazing. What a great film!