I just watched "Superman" [the Movie] again and had the same reaction I did when I watched it a couple of years ago which was about the same reaction as when I watched it the first time when it first came out. If anything I think I had a stronger and more positive reaction to it than ever before.

NOW this is NOT a thread intended to be yet another lame excuse to criticize other versions of the character in live action movies. Onward.

I don't know exactly why but I found many parts of the movie to be incredibly touching as in "I seem to have something in both my eyes and I think it's raining".

Of course, the Krypton scenes with a father and mother having to say goodbye forever to their child that they will never see again is going to have that emotional quality and then it carries over to the sort of classic Coming of Age story with Clark in Smallville with the death of Jonathan Kent with dialogue that, depending on who you are, is either corny or profound and maybe it's both. I know some find the country home and the Cheerios to be corny but that's how I grew up so corny versus realistic is all in your life experiences.

Of course, for Clark, the sadness continues when he is compelled to leave home and his mother for twelve years. By the time he becomes Superman, I actually welcomed the fact that the rest of the movie would be more lighthearted although I readily admit it's that first hour that I find so powerful for the most part.

Still, there are moments that I find so good.

Clark taking his glasses off and about to tell Lois who he really is as it shows the essence of Superman here, how lonely he is, unable to be who he truly is as Clark or to share his life as Superman.

Forgot to mention this was the Donner cut and the scene with Jor-El in the Fortress where Superman goes to hug the image of his father only to look at his empty arms which again emphasizes the core loneliness of the character.

Superman's rescue of Lois and the helicopter which had people in the theater jumping in their seats when it first came out.

Lois and her joking and risque demonstrations of how she feels about him with the most profound moment being when she says, "Why are you?" When he gives her a puzzled look, she concludes, "I mean, why are you here?' But the initial question seems like one of those questions about life that you just can't quite find the right words to frame. It's almost like a writer saying: Why does this character exist? What is it in us that needs him to exist? Because there are things within us that we need a character like this.

Well, I could go on and on but actually only home watching movies due to recovering from the flu and I'm sure plenty of people can fill in the blanks about why this was such a wonderful movie and portrayal of Superman. And I'm sure a few uncouth individuals can explain why it wasn't. [joking]

But everybody has an opinion.