Superman the Movie- Again

[Buried Alien]

SUPERMAN (1978) remains a great movie. The SFX of the film held up well until the present era of superhero films (which began with IRON MAN in 2008) showed us what is possible with today's technology. SFX aside, SUPERMAN remains a well-made film with heart.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[_Feely_]

In the original theatrical cut, there was a scene where we see a girl on the train see Clark running and points and he waves to her.

That's the one. There's no dialogue in the cut I have. But curiously, the scene where Supes goes to see Luthor and is shot at, frozen etc, is there in full. Good scene but feels misplaced to me.

Anyhoo, never knew that that was Neal and Alyn on the train and I've been rewatching this movie for over 30 yrs

Thanks for that tidbit!

[BBally]

Superman The Movie is not only my Superman movie but my favorite superhero movie period. It's also one of those movies I can watch again and again.

I'm surprised how well several of the effects held up, the atmosphere feels about right, even the more cheesy effects like the Krypton outfits still don't affect the film. Christopher Reeve of course was the highlight and the glue that the film together, both his Superman and Clark Kent was given enough distinction to make them feel apart and Reeve's performance sold it in a way no live action actor could do since, the closest to come to mind is Gerard Christopher from the Superboy TV series.

There are some issues with the film, while Gene Hackman's Lex has grown on me, I feel that Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville), Shea (Lois & Clark) and Shawn Howard (Superboy) were better live action Lex Luthors (didn't watch the serials so can't comment on Tabolt). And the ending with the Earth spinning is an issue for me in that it gives detractors ammo to use against the character.

[manofsteel1979]

I've two minds on the cuts. Because I like to see all that extra stuff; however, the recuts don't feel as well paced as the theatrical release. So I think the cuts were made for good reasons. It's a pretty long movie as it is, so any more stuff slows it down. From a self-indulgent perspective, I can see them wanting to keep all this precious material in the movie--but if they're calculating what will carry the movie forward then I can see the reasoning for the cuts. Of course, there are a few precious scenes in the theatrical release that they could have cut for time yet they kept in the movie.

THE WIZARD OF OZ also has lots of extra scenes that were cut and it's fun to watch those, too. But the theatrical cut is the theatrical cut.

Having recently bought and watched the three hour cut, I have to agree. Of the three cuts (theatrical, Donner and Extended TV cut) the theatrical is the better paced, better flowing one. All three are fantastic movies,and it's fun watching the deleted scenes reinserted in,but there's literally nothing added in either the Donner or TV cut that was essential. Still, I'm glad I have all three on Blu-ray.

[JBatmanFan05]

I'm so glad the 3-hour TV cut got released, bravo WB, such a fun watch (even if you don't think it's the ideal cut).

[STC]

I love STM, but these things have always bugged me.

1 - He leave Ma alone for 12 years. He doesn't tell her where he goes (North) and most likely didnt write. I can only image what the poor woman was thinking, and he leaves after Pa dies.
2 - He gets a job because he's a fast typist. He didn't go to college. Did he have a resume? If so what did it say? 1966-1978: Traveled through time and space w/ space dad, learned about the 28 known galaxies. Skills: Super typing.
3 - Otis. Lex does not need him. He's an idiot. And Lex trusts him w/ his missile plan as he programmed them the 2nd time after messing up the 1st time? Seriously?

I do love this movie though.

[JBatmanFan05]

I love STM, but these things have always bugged me.

1 - He leave Ma alone for 12 years. He doesn't tell her where he goes (North) and most likely didnt write. I can only image what the poor woman was thinking, and he leaves after Pa dies.
.

A few too many assumptions there for me. I think we just don't know moreso what his level of communication was. My money is that he did at least write.

[Last Son]

He does tell her he's going north and she does seem to sense why he's leaving(his origins, his powers, his purpose on Earth), and that he talked to a family friend(Ben Hubbard) to have him help her out while he's gone.

[RedWhiteAndBlueSupes]

Anyhoo, never knew that that was Neal and Alyn on the train and I've been rewatching this movie for over 30 yrs

Yeah I want to watch then scene again now. Pretty cool.

[Powerboy]

Just watched the Donner/ Tom Mankiewicz commentary and the Music only soundtrack. We all know how much the music enhanced an already great movie but it's great to listen to the John Williams score while accompanied by the visuals.

Some interesting discussions by Donner and T.W. Donner was clearly sitting at the microphone and the other guy further away because you really have to strain to hear what Mankiewicz was saying which is unfortunate because I honestly found his insights, when I could hear them, to be more interesting.

There was a debate along the way where Mankiewicz insisted that the reason Jor-El put the no time travel rule on Superman was because he would just go back in time and prevent every disaster and every death that was preventable to the point people would start to become dependent on him for everything. Donner insisted that was not the case because the whole point of Luthor firing two missiles was that Superman had limits. He wasn't fast enough to catch them both. Mankiewicz insisted that was not the case. Superman, once he threw the rules out the window, clearly was fast enough as he was fast enough to time travel, presumably exceeding the speed of light. Donner jokingly insisted that although Mankiewicz wrote the missile scenes, he didn't understand them. But it sounds like Mankiewicz understood loud and clear what he was writing and Donner missed the boat on understanding that one.

I never knew this before but it seems, in the original intent, when Superman pushed the first missile up into space, it's explosion was what freed Zod. Superman would then save Lois before she was killed and then capture Luthor. The second movie would be the one where he turned back time because he couldn't beat all three of the Kryptonians. I knew the last part but never knew it was supposed to be the missile.

But Warners wanted a big dramatic finale to the first movie and I agree with them. Superman finally breaking free of Jor-El's rules and reaching the breaking point where the loneliness is overwhelming is the dramatic and emotional culmination of the movie that everything was leading to. Maybe they could have pulled it off by having him choose to save Lois over doing something that would save more than one person but I prefer it as done although I think there could have been more buildup to why he cares so much about Lois in this version.

[Doctor Know]

So there are now 3 version of this movie out there.

The Theatrical

The Special Edition

The 3-Hour TV Version

Which version do you prefer?

[JBatmanFan05]

Which version do you prefer?

I haven't seen all of them recently, but I think I was most partial to the Special Edition.

I think it was the Spec Ed that re-added in the machine gun, flamethrower, freezing gauntlet that Superman survives to get into Luthor's lair.


The 3 hour TV cut might be the most fun version (for fans who are veterans of the film, having seen it a ton of times), but it also has some scenes like Lex playing Beautiful Baby on the piano while Otis feeds the "babies." A scene that was just too ridiculous and silly and cringeworthy really, even for silly Otis and Lex. I kinda wish someone could take the 3 hr cut and trim its fat (but keep it about 3 hrs) and see what could happen...a fan long 3 hr cut, like we often see. I used to follow sites that would make various fan cuts and hybrid cuts.

[Powerboy]

I haven't seen all of them recently, but I think I was most partial to the Special Edition.

I think it was the Spec Ed that re-added in the machine gun, flamethrower, freezing gauntlet that Superman survives to get into Luthor's lair.


The 3 hour TV cut might be the most fun version (for fans who are veterans of the film, having seen it a ton of times), but it also has some scenes like Lex playing Beautiful Baby on the piano while Otis feeds the "babies." A scene that was just too ridiculous and silly and cringeworthy really, even for silly Otis and Lex. I kinda wish someone could take the 3 hr cut and trim its fat and see what could happen...a fan cut, like we often see. I used to follow sites that would make various fan cuts and hybrid cuts.

Special Edition/ Richard Donner cut for me too. It also has the scene where AI Jor-El says that, were it not for the vanity of his people, he would have held his son in his arms and Superman reaches out to the AI suddenly realizing he is responding emotionally to what is really a highly sophisticated but presumably non-sentient computer program indicating how lonely he is.

My memories of the television version are so vague I cannot fairly judge it but definitely the Donner cut which is essentially the same movie as the theatrical cut plus extra scenes.

Btw, just finished the Donner cut of Superman II which is a bit off subject but still. I think the Donner cut again works better as a story but it has the same problems as the theatrical cut of II. In the last few minutes, a great movie suddenly falls apart with crushing Zod's hand for petty vengeance, possibly killing him (though even the Donner cut doesn't give a definitive answer to that one since people will reject deleted scenes or the time travel as counting) and more petty revenge against the guy in the restaurant (which, with the time travel, there should logically be no first fight for there to be any revenge for). Still, at least the Amnesia Kiss is gone but there's no strong reason for the time travel at the end and it's still a reset rather than going on with the story of Clark and Lois.

[manofsteel1979]

Special Edition/ Richard Donner cut for me too. It also has the scene where AI Jor-El says that, were it not for the vanity of his people, he would have held his son in his arms and Superman reaches out to the AI suddenly realizing he is responding emotionally to what is really a highly sophisticated but presumably non-sentient computer program indicating how lonely he is.

My memories of the television version are so vague I cannot fairly judge it but definitely the Donner cut which is essentially the same movie as the theatrical cut plus extra scenes.

Btw, just finished the Donner cut of Superman II which is a bit off subject but still. I think the Donner cut again works better as a story but it has the same problems as the theatrical cut of II. In the last few minutes, a great movie suddenly falls apart with crushing Zod's hand for petty vengeance, possibly killing him (though even the Donner cut doesn't give a definitive answer to that one since people will reject deleted scenes or the time travel as counting) and more petty revenge against the guy in the restaurant (which, with the time travel, there should logically be no first fight for there to be any revenge for). Still, at least the Amnesia Kiss is gone but there's no strong reason for the time travel at the end and it's still a reset rather than going on with the story of Clark and Lois.

Again, I point you to the Superman II: the Richard Donner cut redux fan edit. It doesn't fix all the problems you site, but I still regard as my canon version of II.

And sign me on for the special edition of I as my favorite, but I still think all three are great in their own ways.

[Last Son]

I haven't seen all of them recently, but I think I was most partial to the Special Edition.

I think it was the Spec Ed that re-added in the machine gun, flamethrower, freezing gauntlet that Superman survives to get into Luthor's lair.


The 3 hour TV cut might be the most fun version (for fans who are veterans of the film, having seen it a ton of times), but it also has some scenes like Lex playing Beautiful Baby on the piano while Otis feeds the "babies." A scene that was just too ridiculous and silly and cringeworthy really, even for silly Otis and Lex. I kinda wish someone could take the 3 hr cut and trim its fat (but keep it about 3 hrs) and see what could happen...a fan long 3 hr cut, like we often see. I used to follow sites that would make various fan cuts and hybrid cuts.

I liked the "feed the babies" bits, they made Lex even more cruel and unfeeling than he was already established as being. I think there's quite a bit of footage in the 3 hour cut that works but there's still a lot that's pointless. The biggest offender is the detectives following Otis through the train station for a couple of minutes, where there are a crapload of continuity errors involving a very annoyed-looking extra who appears walking beside both Otis and the detectives simultaneously.

Also, did anyone else notice quite a bit of graininess on anything that was blue or white? It's really noticeable in the Krypton and Arctic scenes and on Superman's suit. I get that any movie that's 40 years old is going to have some graininess, but this seemed excessive somehow.