Superman The Movie

[Conway]

Just watched it again, and it reminded me that out of all of my issues with MOS the biggest disappointment was the lack of John Williams' score. No matter how great Gene Hackman and Ned Beatty are that score outshines them all. Sure the rest of it is so cheesy that my DVD attracts mice but that music makes up for it.

[Powerboy]

Just watched it again, and it reminded me that out of all of my issues with MOS the biggest disappointment was the lack of John Williams' score. No matter how great Gene Hackman and Ned Beatty are that score outshines them all. Sure the rest of it is so cheesy that my DVD attracts mice but that music makes up for it.

I'm beginning to realize that, by and large, with every decade, everything done in previous decades begins to feel "cheesy" to later audiences largely just because it's not the style that is currently being done. I liked MoS but, in a decade or two, it will be considered laughably cheesy.

As to the John Williams score, it was great. It's interesting how, when something like StM came out, it didn't feel cheesy (well, maybe the Lex Luthor stuff).

[Jim Kelly]

I'm beginning to realize that, by and large, with every decade, everything done in previous decades begins to feel "cheesy" to later audiences largely just because it's not the style that is currently being done.

I had the exact same thought as I was reading the original post. Good to know I'm not alone.

In fact, when I think back to the '70s and '80s, I remember how often "old" movies from previous decades were held up as being cheesy in contrast to all the presumably non-fromage movies of the day. Just watch SCTV and the various skits they did parodying old movies--I was rolling on the floor laughing whenever they mocked the old "cheesy" movies.

As for John Williams, to be honest, at the time I hated the stentorian flourishes in his soundtracks. I wasn't too happy to know that the STAR WARS composer was going to inflict the same noise on my ear drums for SUPERMAN THE MOVIE. I've made peace with that in the intervening years and now enjoy the soundtrack. But that trend toward louder and louder soundtracks was not a good thing. Too often loud music is used to cover up bad acting and a poor script.

[MykeHavoc]

This film is magical. It still is the best representation of Superman on film, where as every other one has had major issues. The incomplete feel to the Donner cut of part 2 is so damn close and I truly wish he had gotten his chance to finish it properly. But alas, the first film is what we have in regard to the purest distillation of the Superman mythos. Its probably the greatest origin story captured. I was born in '86 and it still holds up for me, much in the same way the Burton Batman films do. I don't really get the complaints of it being cheesy. Anyone who watches a film of a bygone era should have the capability to put themselves in the mindset that the older a film is, the further its limitations visually may be. The important thing is the story, the power, and the lasting effect it has on the viewer. I sympathize for anyone that can't allow themselves the full wonderment of the film because of something like visual effects or hammy villian performances.

[Myskin]

I was never a fan of this movie when I was a child. It never succeeded in grabbing my interest, I found it monotonous and pretentious (especially the Brando speeches and the night-flight-with-Lois parts).
I have no problem in admitting its objective importance within the history of cinematic entertainment, which is obviously huge, but I simply don't like it. Nothing of this movie really attracts me, John Williams included. I think that it is a very overrated movie, and there are entertainment examples of the 70s and the 80s which IMHO today aren't as dated as STM. If STM had been my first and only contact with Superman, I would have never become a fan of the character.

(Several fans' Donnerism, as well as the insistence on DC's part in re-proposing the aesthetics of the movie in the comics - 30 years later - made me hate STM with a passion, but that's a completely different matter).

['Dax]

Superman: The Movie was probably cheesy back then as well. I have always thought the film was mediocre though, completely average. It is charming, sure, and well-cast. But overall, it is only okay. Also, the film has aged considerably, coming from a guy who regularly watches and enjoys old films. There are timeless movies out there. This is not one of them. It's terribly dated.

Oh, but the film score is kind of amazing.

[The Frozen Reptile]

Yes, but I was 6 when I saw the movie (in theatre) and already reading Superman comics; this movie made me into a fan for life.

[confusiongrows]

I re-watched it for the first time in years a few weeks ago. I'm not sure if I'd properly appreciated it before, this movie is smegging brilliant. Almost everything works - the epic feeling which ties together stories decades apart, the way it juggles playing everything mostly straight with a few more light-hearted moments, the score, the casting, the cinematography/editing, the Lois/Superman/Clark dynamic, all of it. Most significantly, the simplicity of it. No plot convolution, no heavy themes that get poorly executed, and a script that seems to understand who its characters are. It is still the best Superman film and I'm not holding my breath that will change any time soon. I liked Man of Steel - sort of - but it just makes the 1978 film look better whenever you look at everything both films did, and realise they did it better the first time. It's so frustrating that the sequels weren't able to go up from here, instead of down.

[Sacred Knight]

The Superman Main Theme is the best single piece of music from a film of all time. Beats out the Star Wars theme by a hair. Although altogether , I feel the score probably falls short of the masterpieces of Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back, but its still up there.

[Jon-El]

I still love the movie! There are awkward moments but I just love it! I'm an old movie buff though so I love a lot of movies that would be cheesy to some today. I think we just get more jaded with every decade. The older movies that people feel hold up today are ones with a certain cynicism.

I love the score!! Bought the box set & it's awesome! I'm glad it wasn't in MOS though. It's too hand on his hips super heroic. MOS had its own identity & needed it's own score.

[lancerman]

The Superman Main Theme is the best single piece of music from a film of all time. Beats out the Star Wars theme by a hair. Although altogether , I feel the score probably falls short of the masterpieces of Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back, but its still up there.

Eh. The Rocky series has "Gonna Fly Now" and "Eye of the Tiger". Half a dozen Disney movies have classics originally made for it. Jaws has one if the most iconic pieces of music ever. The James Bond theme and classic songs like Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever, Live and Let Die, that came out of that film series. The Indiana Jones theme. Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany's.

I wouldn't put Superman's theme above all of those, and there's plenty more.

[Lois]

This is my all time favorite of all the Superman films.
Don't find it cheesy at all.
I remember standing in the line up to see it in the movie theater when it was first released on the big screen.
The cast and the story line was wonderful and super to watch and the cinematography.
Really liked Marlon Brando and the flight scene with Lois and Superman for me is a sheer pleasure to watch.
A delight from start to finish.
I've lost count how many times I've watched it.
And the score of the film IMHO is best I've ever heard of any film.

[Ultiman]

First of all, I LOVE Superman: TM. To this day if I find it on flipping through the channels, I will turn it on and watch it. I also LOVE John Williams. I played trombone in high school marching band, and the biggest thrill of my life was when we did "Star Wars" as our competition show my sophomore year. Williams' themes are always iconic - Superman's theme is just "right".

All that being said, I find myself humming Zimmers' main theme more and more these days. The more times I watch MoS, the more it continues to grow on me.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

It's probably my favorite live-action Superman movie. There's plenty of stuff in it I don't like, or just seems out of place, but there's collectively at least a solid hour of a perfect Superman film in there.

[The World]

I need to rewatch SM I and II. I remember liking it when I was younger. But then I rewatched when I was an adult right before SM Returns and just spent over half the movie cringing and shaking my head. Somethings stand out to me like why he didn't just catch both missiles or him dropping his powers to bang Lois Lane, but other things are hazy.