I can easily see Davids version surpass .. they went to the same acting school and it’s gonna be less dated without the cheesy cringe factor so whole new generation will fall in love with Superman
@@chrisszostek67001978 cringe is much different then 2020 cringe. This will bomb and the cringe nowadays is CRINGE. 1978 cringe still gets a chuckle at the very least
@@johncap6495 the new generation is just not gonna watch the old superman movies and if they do they got Superman 3-4 to get through 🥴 Blud you haven’t even seen a trailer yet🤣🤦♂️ What happens in the first minute of Gunns Superman film ??
My theory as to why Lex works with idiots is because he sees his intelligence as so above that of other humans that there’s no appreciable difference between Otis and Benjamin Franklin.
@@GrahamBandage Also, being surrounded by very smart criminals might be complicated. They might not always agree or want the same thing. Idiots will just do what you tell them. Easier to control.
@@miller-joel Let's face it - there is no good justification other than it makes the movie really fun to watch. On every level that materially counts Lex is as much an idiot as Otis, and is the architect of his own downfall. Luckily I don't watch Superman for plot-holes or lack of plot verisimilitude - I watch it because I love it and it entertains me. 🙂
The composer was not aware that the director wanted Margot Kidder to speak the lyrics of "Can You Read My Mind?" - the composer had already hired an excellent singer and was NOT happy with the decision. And I have said for decades that the best special effect in the movie is Christopher Reeve himself!
Never knew that! I'm sure the singer must've been super talented but that was a good call by Donner. No way it would work if that scene wasn't with Kidder's voice
Me and my best friend went to the first day Superman opened, and we were 3rd and 4th in line, the line ended up going around the theater! We were so excited, we were 9 and 10 years old, and we loved it ! I liked Star Wars , but I loved Superman the Movie !!!!!
I love the opening titles because it forces the cinema goer to take in the people that worked on it, and it primes anyone who has never seen it with the Superman score before they have even seen superman on screen. Krypton is what I feel a dying planet in orbit of a Red Giant would look like. the sort of planet you'd need to be superhuman to be able to survive on.
@@miller-joel There are several symphony versions of the music on You tube ... my favorite has the movie playing on a screen in the background. The music is a favorite of mine too ... I love Holst's "The Planets" and the Superman march has the same almost emotional/psychological impact. The march of the army in Aida has that same impact. ((search parameters) Superman Theme John Williams Royal Philharmonic. Royal Albert Hall. ) I'm like a kid when I listen to certain pieces of music. Instant smile on my face, thumping fingers or a foot along with the music. Some people never grow up and I am one of them. 🤓
I doubt very much that there will ever be another Superman film as good as the original. I don’t care how dated the effects are. Or how dated the film is. This movie never bores me and still has a magical epic feel to it. I will never forget sitting in a theater as a ten year old and being completely blown away just by the opening credits and the amazing music. I knew I was in for something special and I had no idea how right I was.
The Krypton sequence bothered me originally because I had remembered it being more like earth but scientifically advanced.. I watched the animated series, recently, and it returns to more like i remembered. After I thought about it, in later years, I realized it was logical. Their sun was red and collapsing, it made sense that it would be a colder ice planet. They implied that Krypton was in a great deal of trouble, already. It was barely supporting life. (and how did they grow food? Why hadn't they hadn't colonized other planets if their world was going through a snowball phase?) I like the idea that the sun went supernova... shrinking and blowing up, taking Krypton with it. It kept it in the realm of Science Fiction. Death at the cosmic level. I thought they were trying to do a "2001" trip through space when I saw it originally, it reminded me of the long wormhole journey at the end of that movie. I wish they could have written more serious version of Clark Kent. He shouldn't be awkward comic relief. He doesn't have to awkward and laughable. He needs to be normal. Very normal. His true disguise---the glasses, his suits, his polite demeanor are just part of his normalcy. He's an alien who has mastered the art of being human. I do like Hackman's Luthor but you are right he needed more henchmen - and better.. A bit too much comedy. He's evil, fine, but the humor blunts that perception? Maybe they didn't want to show a real crime lord Luthor in the movie? Both the radio and 1950s TV show were both for kids. Superman and all comic books - in fact, all science fiction, was going through a period of transformation. From being a genre for kids and poorly educated adults (the popular mainstream view), it was becoming far more serious and mature. - and popular. Yes, Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Robert Heinlein had been writing for decades, Star Trek had been on TV in the 1960s, Star Wars would appear the next year.. but it was not the popular genre that it would become. Lex Luthor in this movie is funny because they don't want to scare the children? Just a thought. My advice was close the trunk and then seal it with your heat vision but that would have messed up the plot, right? Time Travel never makes sense to me. The more I think about it the more my brain feels like a badly twisted pretzel. It's a great premise, I love the idea... but I never can visualize how it would function in reality. Sometimes I just put down the nitpicking and enjoy a movie? Hard to do.
The humour in this movie was spot on at the time. I remember the whole theatre exploding with laughter at each joke. Maybe it does not translate so well today, but it was made for 1970's audiences. Personally, I agree Christopher Reeve was the best superman...but wow Tom Welling really embodied the role of Clark and Henry Cavill was born to play Superman but needed a better story behind him.
The only thing that bothered me about the movie was Luthors Wig ! I didn't know it was a wig until the end of the movie, but it anoyed me thst he wasn't bald throughout the movie, because at 10 years old i had been a Superman fan since before i had conscious memory!!!!
One thing about the art direction I don't think anyone ever points out is the use of colour. For example when ever there is danger the colour red is on the screen red sun, the planet krypton turns red, Jonathan dies Clark in a red shirt, harry dies by red train, Red poster and grafitti in the mugging scene behind lois and Clark, Lois in red helicopter, lois in a red car, missile programme red lighting, abort red button, red bridge, red Trans am, red fuel light, jimmy wearing red shirt. Green is used for Wicked or evil Tessmacher in green swim suit surrounded by green leaves, lex in green cap with green shorts in green tinted water, Kryptonite Green. lois thinking less than wholesome thoughts about Superman wearing a green dress. Also they do explain the missile thing in the film Superman had never known how fast he could fly "You know I never really bothered to time myself", and they do say about the missiles "Can't you knock them down?" the reply "negative, absolutely impossible, they have the new reaction avoidance system".
Great observations! Although I suspect that line about never bothering to time himself was mostly just an excuse to invite Lois to fly with him. It’s also probably true he never timed himself, but I have to think he knows exactly what his top speed is and it’s the one that breaks the time barrier. Jor-El must have gone over all that with him, or else how would he have known how to do it? Just another fun hole to poke in the script, really.
I agree. It’s fun to nitpick certain things like we do in this piece but it’s such a tremendous achievement that it’s really kind of impervious to criticism.
Hey your talking about when he was young so running with the train I looked at like I said and I liked at he's learning his power I grew up with the first Superman and that were I started liking him
I think they (WB) should be remake this whole movie exactly like that first one! with some little changes. Like put Brainiac in places over lex lutor. And the actor who was play superman, should be the spit of image of chris reeve. What do you guys think?
I don’t want a remake, but more stories from that continuity would be really fun, maybe in animated form. There is of course the Superman ‘78 comic series which starts off with Brainiac as the villain. It’s pretty brilliant, highly recommended.
The scream of a billion souls all dying at once is drowned out by the scream of someone You love, dying before your eyes. We human beings don't handle large nameless numbers of dead very well.
@@miller-joel Kid's entertainment can have some horrors in it that I don't particularly want to see as an old woman! Read real fairy tales and myths, if you don't understand. Look at Star Wars! (the original not this modern junk!) Or any of the Indiana Jones movies.
18:40 No need to be strapped down. But what did he eat? Where did he go to the bathroom? The first 3 years of your life without any contact with another "human" would make you a sociopath. If Jor-El has been dead for 1,000s of years, how did he know about Einstein? And so on.
Oh man good call on Einstein! I think we just have to assume Krypton tech was practically omnipotent, with the ability to collect knowledge across space and time. It’s frustrating because Mankiewicz was only a couple lines of dialog away from ironing out those wrinkles.
Kal-El may not have been conscious in the usual sense, --suspended animation, so not really alone. He wouldn't need to eat, defecate, etc. His vital signs were down to near nothing using that concept, right? Great call about Einstein (1879-1955), but how would Jor-El know about him, anyway, if he lived light years away from our solar system? (or in another galaxy? - Einstein was very recent history) Maybe they should have made up a Kryptonian version of Einstein who discovered the theory of relativity, for them? Sometimes, especially in the lighter forms of Science Fiction, the writers don't bother to consider the sticker points about interstellar distances, speed of ships, time dilatation at light speed, etc etc. It's forgivable, because heck, I don't think science fiction would even exist if writers kept up with the most recent discoveries in astrophysics, astronomy, physics, geology and tried to actually obey the rules. And that would be a tragedy. The horrible truth of life is we may never be to leave our own solar system and if we do, we may never meet another sentient life form. No handsome Kryptonians or pointed-ear Vulcans or wrinkled forehead Klingons. The distance between stars is just too great. We may be all alone, in the ultimate sense, that we never meet a neighborhood species. logically, there must be other civilizations scattered throughout our galaxy but if we never meet them, it doesn't matter. Lets hope the universe is a lot stranger than our scientists are claiming in the early 21st century. If I am not mistaken Superman doesn't have to eat, he does so because it's socially pleasant and he likes to. What I've wondered is, If They could build entire cities from a crystal that is a 8-12 inches long.... A crystal that would also be programmable. Doesn't that mean they could programmed the crystals to shape things the way they wanted, so they wouldn't have to hollow out their homes just program it into the crystal's matrix. No one has ever discussed it unless it's in the comics, but it is reasonable to assume the crystals would be programmed.
@@kathleenhensley5951 Well, we see Kal-El floating around in the spaceship, and he's not in suspended animation. And he grows from infant to ~3 years old. And his father is talking to him the whole way.
Superman was the first movie I ever saw at the cinema, I'd just turned 7 and I was up past my bedtime so my Dad could take me. I fell asleep during the shorts before the main feature and had to be woken up :D. I used to buy the collectable Superman cards from the Post Office, there was a little stick of chewing gum in the pack.
I just re-watched the flying scene from the copy I purchased from iTunes, and they have removed the dialogue in the flying scene, but kept the scene intact. It’s a vast improvement!
Oh, phew! I honestly wasn’t surprised at the possibility because I’d heard WB had apparently taken some liberties with the Donner Cut as it was released on a couple of streaming services, but I can’t personally verify that.
The woman in the opening scene is Maria Schell (Gary Cooper’s co-star in “The Hanging Tree”). Her brother was Oscar winner Maximilian Schell (“Judgement at Nuremberg”). He made a fascinating documentary about he, “My Sister Maria.”
Re Jor-El being dead for many thousands of years, but Krypton only appearing to have blown up three years earlier, surely it is just a question of Earth only sees Krypton blow up recently because the event's light has taken many thousands of years to travel here? For instance, when we at last see the relatively close star Betelgeuse go supernova in the next 50-100 years - the actual event will have happened over 400 years before hand. If anything it shows that Lex is not nearly as clever as he tells everyone he is. But on the other hand that is obvious because he employs Otis! ;-) I like the 'Can you read my mind' scene - I love any part of the film (including the opening credits) set to John Williams music. I guess I just love this movie 100%.
Zod, Non, and Ursa mirror Luther, Otis and Ms Testmocher. Even Zod and Luther make annoyed faces at their idiocy. 😂(I just thought of it really) Luther/Zod think they are superior gods to everyone. Even Zod corrects the President. Non and Otis are constantly trying to please their superior. Now Ursa and Testmocher are a little different. Testmocher actually helps Superman. Ursa feels everyone except Zod is below her
Always has been and always will be my favorite movie of all time. It's not just a movie, it's an EXPERIENCE. It's about hope and wonder, even as it's also about love and self-sacrifice. The music still gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. This film is epic in every way, beautifully shot, and gives us the Superman we'll always believe in. Thank you Donner, Reeve, and Williams for this incredible gift.
Let's not forget Chief Tug Smith also had a line when he was being interviewed by Lois in the desert. He even got to include a dig at Custer's expense! As a Native, I always appreciate what little representation we get.
My understanding is that, for the time, the miniature city in the dam scene was not as good as they wanted, because their top guy had to leave for another project.
I ... loved ... this movie. I remember my father telling me back in the summer of 1978 about a "Superman movie" coming out soon. Even at 11 years old, I recall being cynical enough to say to him that I thought they would mess it all up. Still, in December of that year, Dad took us kids to see it in one of the last remaining single-theater cinemas in town. It had a huge lobby with an incredible and classy chandelier and everything. We snuck in coolers of iced tea and hoagies, and even a cassette recorder as well, to capture the audio from the movie... all my Dad's idea, by the way. We were all AWESTRUCK at the spectacle that was "Superman: The Movie", and it was made extra sweet by my father's childlike wonder and glee at seeing his favorite superhero come to life in such a literally perfect way. I played that tape until the player itself finally stopped working. It's funny to have such an emotional attachment to a film as I do to this one. While it is a fantastic work of art to be sure, in my heart I know that the real reason is the eternal connection to my Dad that it gives me whenever I see it. For this reason, above all, "Superman: The Movie", will always hold a special place in my heart that is more than just the love of a great film, far more indeed. It is the connection it gives me to the very first Superman I ever knew and loved, who I was so very blessed to call ... "Dad".
That’s wonderful, thanks so much for sharing that. I have preserved a lot of great moments with my dad back in those days thanks to a cassette recorder. Now we can record anything anywhere and people seem to take it for granted. Back then it was like a fragile kind of magic. Cheers. 👊
I was born in 1973 and I saw Superman the first time when I was about 10 years old. I always thought, that Superman must have more muscles. Yes, I know now that Christopher Reeve was very skinny and he made a lot of workout to not have to wear a suit with fake muscles. But Christopher Reeve`s muscles just weren`t enough to be Superman, even after his workout. Maybe he should have accepted to wear fake muscles.
Can't disagree more. Fake muscles would have cheapened the whole thing. Also I really don't think Superman needs to have massive muscles. He shouldn't be a skinny beanpole, sure, but I think Reeve's physique in the movie was perfect. If he was built like a championship body builder it would be too much. I know he's often been drawn that way in the comics, but his powers are based on Kryptonian cell structure and solar energy, not massive muscles.
I always wondered why they got the baby that looked close to Brando as possible as opposed to Reeve. I get it Brando is the big start but i didnt know that or care about that as a kid.
You need to rewatch that scene again. Jor-El said “By now you should’ve reached your 18th birthday, as it is measured on Earth. By that reckoning, I would've be dead for many thousands of our years.” time difference between Krypton and Earth.
Nnnnope sorry he very distinctly says “your”, and that’s what it says in the shooting script as well. Anyway, if that were the case what difference would that make? How would that make any more sense?
@@prodigioussaps I read that draft as well, along with your years. A previous draft had “thousands of our years.” which could help explain the measurement of Krypton time and Earth time. Then again, Lara mentioned that “the Earth was primitives, thousands of years behind them,” but there were just a few discrepancies. Still, the best version of Superman will ever have. I was 8 when it came out, and I was in awe. To this day, I’m still amazed by what they attempted to do with the tech they had and the budget they were given.
I’m not sure how 18 earth years could translate to thousands of Kryptonian years unless we’re talking time dilation based on Kal-El’s ship traveling faster than light or whathaveyou. Either way, none of this explains away Luthor’s line about Krypton exploding in 1948. Anyway, it’s just fun nerdy crap. There really is no making sense of it. Luthor’s deduction of how Kryptonite works doesn’t really make sense, either.
The best Superman with the best suit in the best Superman movie
There will never be a better Superman then Christopher Reeve never
He did set a very, VERY high bar.
I can easily see Davids version surpass .. they went to the same acting school and it’s gonna be less dated without the cheesy cringe factor so whole new generation will fall in love with Superman
@@chrisszostek67001978 cringe is much different then 2020 cringe. This will bomb and the cringe nowadays is CRINGE. 1978 cringe still gets a chuckle at the very least
@@johncap6495 the new generation is just not gonna watch the old superman movies and if they do they got Superman 3-4 to get through 🥴
Blud you haven’t even seen a trailer yet🤣🤦♂️ What happens in the first minute of Gunns Superman film ??
Truth
My theory as to why Lex works with idiots is because he sees his intelligence as so above that of other humans that there’s no appreciable difference between Otis and Benjamin Franklin.
@@GrahamBandage Also, being surrounded by very smart criminals might be complicated. They might not always agree or want the same thing. Idiots will just do what you tell them. Easier to control.
@@miller-joel Let's face it - there is no good justification other than it makes the movie really fun to watch. On every level that materially counts Lex is as much an idiot as Otis, and is the architect of his own downfall. Luckily I don't watch Superman for plot-holes or lack of plot verisimilitude - I watch it because I love it and it entertains me. 🙂
I’m totally with you. I turn the volume all the way down for the flying scene, but I love the imagery.
They didn't need the poem, it was romantic already.
I love the subtle dum de dum ,dum de dum dum de dum , more exciting than jaws ,it's so so great to listen to you and read your chatters
The composer was not aware that the director wanted Margot Kidder to speak the lyrics of "Can You Read My Mind?" - the composer had already hired an excellent singer and was NOT happy with the decision. And I have said for decades that the best special effect in the movie is Christopher Reeve himself!
You’re so right about Reeve, and I love how Donner never stopped praising him for that.
The male of the species as a work of art.
@@prodigioussapsthe arch in his flight as he flies in the fortress of solitude is remarkable,awesome show
Never knew that! I'm sure the singer must've been super talented but that was a good call by Donner. No way it would work if that scene wasn't with Kidder's voice
Me and my best friend went to the first day Superman opened, and we were 3rd and 4th in line, the line ended up going around the theater! We were so excited, we were 9 and 10 years old, and we loved it ! I liked Star Wars , but I loved Superman the Movie !!!!!
I love the opening titles because it forces the cinema goer to take in the people that worked on it, and it primes anyone who has never seen it with the Superman score before they have even seen superman on screen.
Krypton is what I feel a dying planet in orbit of a Red Giant would look like. the sort of planet you'd need to be superhuman to be able to survive on.
👍
Brendan talking about the super long credits: "Oh good, there's catering..." 🤣
Ha, yeah I laughed every time I re-heard that bit while I was editing.
I could watch those credits forever. As long as they have the music.
I agree, the music makes it work for me, along with the concept that we’re traveling from Earth to Krypton in the process.
@@miller-joel There are several symphony versions of the music on You tube ... my favorite has the movie playing on a screen in the background. The music is a favorite of mine too ... I love Holst's "The Planets" and the Superman march has the same almost emotional/psychological impact. The march of the army in Aida has that same impact. ((search parameters) Superman Theme John Williams Royal Philharmonic. Royal Albert Hall. ) I'm like a kid when I listen to certain pieces of music. Instant smile on my face, thumping fingers or a foot along with the music. Some people never grow up and I am one of them. 🤓
@@kathleenhensley5951❤❤❤
I doubt very much that there will ever be another Superman film as good as the original. I don’t care how dated the effects are. Or how dated the film is. This movie never bores me and still has a magical epic feel to it. I will never forget sitting in a theater as a ten year old and being completely blown away just by the opening credits and the amazing music. I knew I was in for something special and I had no idea how right I was.
The Krypton sequence bothered me originally because I had remembered it being more like earth but scientifically advanced.. I watched the animated series, recently, and it returns to more like i remembered. After I thought about it, in later years, I realized it was logical. Their sun was red and collapsing, it made sense that it would be a colder ice planet. They implied that Krypton was in a great deal of trouble, already. It was barely supporting life. (and how did they grow food? Why hadn't they hadn't colonized other planets if their world was going through a snowball phase?) I like the idea that the sun went supernova... shrinking and blowing up, taking Krypton with it. It kept it in the realm of Science Fiction. Death at the cosmic level.
I thought they were trying to do a "2001" trip through space when I saw it originally, it reminded me of the long wormhole journey at the end of that movie.
I wish they could have written more serious version of Clark Kent. He shouldn't be awkward comic relief. He doesn't have to awkward and laughable. He needs to be normal. Very normal. His true disguise---the glasses, his suits, his polite demeanor are just part of his normalcy. He's an alien who has mastered the art of being human.
I do like Hackman's Luthor but you are right he needed more henchmen - and better.. A bit too much comedy. He's evil, fine, but the humor blunts that perception?
Maybe they didn't want to show a real crime lord Luthor in the movie? Both the radio and 1950s TV show were both for kids. Superman and all comic books - in fact, all science fiction, was going through a period of transformation. From being a genre for kids and poorly educated adults (the popular mainstream view), it was becoming far more serious and mature. - and popular. Yes, Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Robert Heinlein had been writing for decades, Star Trek had been on TV in the 1960s, Star Wars would appear the next year.. but it was not the popular genre that it would become. Lex Luthor in this movie is funny because they don't want to scare the children? Just a thought.
My advice was close the trunk and then seal it with your heat vision but that would have messed up the plot, right?
Time Travel never makes sense to me. The more I think about it the more my brain feels like a badly twisted pretzel. It's a great premise, I love the idea... but I never can visualize how it would function in reality. Sometimes I just put down the nitpicking and enjoy a movie? Hard to do.
The humour in this movie was spot on at the time. I remember the whole theatre exploding with laughter at each joke. Maybe it does not translate so well today, but it was made for 1970's audiences. Personally, I agree Christopher Reeve was the best superman...but wow Tom Welling really embodied the role of Clark and Henry Cavill was born to play Superman but needed a better story behind him.
The only thing that bothered me about the movie was Luthors Wig ! I didn't know it was a wig until the end of the movie, but it anoyed me thst he wasn't bald throughout the movie, because at 10 years old i had been a Superman fan since before i had conscious memory!!!!
Still the best superhero movie, flaws and all. No other movie has what this movie has.
Agreed
One thing about the art direction I don't think anyone ever points out is the use of colour.
For example when ever there is danger the colour red is on the screen red sun, the planet krypton turns red, Jonathan dies Clark in a red shirt, harry dies by red train, Red poster and grafitti in the mugging scene behind lois and Clark, Lois in red helicopter, lois in a red car, missile programme red lighting, abort red button, red bridge, red Trans am, red fuel light, jimmy wearing red shirt.
Green is used for Wicked or evil
Tessmacher in green swim suit surrounded by green leaves, lex in green cap with green shorts in green tinted water, Kryptonite Green. lois thinking less than wholesome thoughts about Superman wearing a green dress.
Also they do explain the missile thing in the film Superman had never known how fast he could fly "You know I never really bothered to time myself", and they do say about the missiles "Can't you knock them down?" the reply "negative, absolutely impossible, they have the new reaction avoidance system".
Great observations! Although I suspect that line about never bothering to time himself was mostly just an excuse to invite Lois to fly with him. It’s also probably true he never timed himself, but I have to think he knows exactly what his top speed is and it’s the one that breaks the time barrier. Jor-El must have gone over all that with him, or else how would he have known how to do it? Just another fun hole to poke in the script, really.
If superman went speed of light during missile chase he would cause catastrophic explosions due to friction
I never knew that Superman was supposed to fly that fast... (or would it be just under the speed-of-light?)
Thats why he goes up to space to fly faster, and acording to comic books depending of the version of superman he can go 10x speed of light.
Superman the movie holds up on every level
I agree. It’s fun to nitpick certain things like we do in this piece but it’s such a tremendous achievement that it’s really kind of impervious to criticism.
Hey your talking about when he was young so running with the train I looked at like I said and I liked at he's learning his power I grew up with the first Superman and that were I started liking him
Cool, yeah it’s a wonderful scene
I think they (WB) should be remake this whole movie exactly like that first one! with some little changes. Like put Brainiac in places over lex lutor. And the actor who was play superman, should be the spit of image of chris reeve.
What do you guys think?
I don’t want a remake, but more stories from that continuity would be really fun, maybe in animated form. There is of course the Superman ‘78 comic series which starts off with Brainiac as the villain. It’s pretty brilliant, highly recommended.
Miniatures were done by derek meddings. His Miniatures were never really great. If greg jein did it may have looked better.
1:13:00 Lois' death was f'ing traumatic. Much more than Krypton exploding.
Yes, absolutely... I can't think of another movie with a gut-punch more powerful than Superman's scream of grief & anger in that scene.
The scream of a billion souls all dying at once is drowned out by the scream of someone You love, dying before your eyes.
We human beings don't handle large nameless numbers of dead very well.
@@prodigioussaps She was buried alive! In a kids' movie!
@@miller-joel Kid's entertainment can have some horrors in it that I don't particularly want to see as an old woman! Read real fairy tales and myths, if you don't understand.
Look at Star Wars! (the original not this modern junk!)
Or any of the Indiana Jones movies.
18:40 No need to be strapped down. But what did he eat? Where did he go to the bathroom? The first 3 years of your life without any contact with another "human" would make you a sociopath.
If Jor-El has been dead for 1,000s of years, how did he know about Einstein? And so on.
Oh man good call on Einstein! I think we just have to assume Krypton tech was practically omnipotent, with the ability to collect knowledge across space and time. It’s frustrating because Mankiewicz was only a couple lines of dialog away from ironing out those wrinkles.
@@prodigioussaps Maybe Jor-El had a TARDIS and never told anyone.
Kal-El may not have been conscious in the usual sense, --suspended animation, so not really alone. He wouldn't need to eat, defecate, etc. His vital signs were down to near nothing using that concept, right? Great call about Einstein (1879-1955), but how would Jor-El know about him, anyway, if he lived light years away from our solar system? (or in another galaxy? - Einstein was very recent history) Maybe they should have made up a Kryptonian version of Einstein who discovered the theory of relativity, for them? Sometimes, especially in the lighter forms of Science Fiction, the writers don't bother to consider the sticker points about interstellar distances, speed of ships, time dilatation at light speed, etc etc. It's forgivable, because heck, I don't think science fiction would even exist if writers kept up with the most recent discoveries in astrophysics, astronomy, physics, geology and tried to actually obey the rules. And that would be a tragedy. The horrible truth of life is we may never be to leave our own solar system and if we do, we may never meet another sentient life form. No handsome Kryptonians or pointed-ear Vulcans or wrinkled forehead Klingons. The distance between stars is just too great. We may be all alone, in the ultimate sense, that we never meet a neighborhood species. logically, there must be other civilizations scattered throughout our galaxy but if we never meet them, it doesn't matter. Lets hope the universe is a lot stranger than our scientists are claiming in the early 21st century. If I am not mistaken Superman doesn't have to eat, he does so because it's socially pleasant and he likes to. What I've wondered is, If They could build entire cities from a crystal that is a 8-12 inches long.... A crystal that would also be programmable. Doesn't that mean they could programmed the crystals to shape things the way they wanted, so they wouldn't have to hollow out their homes just program it into the crystal's matrix. No one has ever discussed it unless it's in the comics, but it is reasonable to assume the crystals would be programmed.
@@miller-joel If he did...why not use it and bring his entire family, including his brother's family to any inhabitable planet in the galaxy?
@@kathleenhensley5951 Well, we see Kal-El floating around in the spaceship, and he's not in suspended animation. And he grows from infant to ~3 years old. And his father is talking to him the whole way.
In this next year, we shall examine the human heart. It is more fragile than your own.
One year on the human heart .
Superman was the first movie I ever saw at the cinema, I'd just turned 7 and I was up past my bedtime so my Dad could take me. I fell asleep during the shorts before the main feature and had to be woken up :D. I used to buy the collectable Superman cards from the Post Office, there was a little stick of chewing gum in the pack.
I remember those. The cards tasted better than the gum.
I just re-watched the flying scene from the copy I purchased from iTunes, and they have removed the dialogue in the flying scene, but kept the scene intact. It’s a vast improvement!
Wow that’s wild! I know editor Michael Thau wanted to do that but Donner didn’t approve. I wonder when that change was made.
@@prodigioussaps Oh dear... I have to take it back... I hadn't gone far enough into the scene. It's there...
Oh, phew! I honestly wasn’t surprised at the possibility because I’d heard WB had apparently taken some liberties with the Donner Cut as it was released on a couple of streaming services, but I can’t personally verify that.
The woman in the opening scene is Maria Schell (Gary Cooper’s co-star in “The Hanging Tree”). Her brother was Oscar winner Maximilian Schell (“Judgement at Nuremberg”). He made a fascinating documentary about he, “My Sister Maria.”
Re Jor-El being dead for many thousands of years, but Krypton only appearing to have blown up three years earlier, surely it is just a question of Earth only sees Krypton blow up recently because the event's light has taken many thousands of years to travel here? For instance, when we at last see the relatively close star Betelgeuse go supernova in the next 50-100 years - the actual event will have happened over 400 years before hand. If anything it shows that Lex is not nearly as clever as he tells everyone he is. But on the other hand that is obvious because he employs Otis! ;-)
I like the 'Can you read my mind' scene - I love any part of the film (including the opening credits) set to John Williams music. I guess I just love this movie 100%.
Zod, Non, and Ursa mirror Luther, Otis and Ms Testmocher. Even Zod and Luther make annoyed faces at their idiocy. 😂(I just thought of it really) Luther/Zod think they are superior gods to everyone. Even Zod corrects the President. Non and Otis are constantly trying to please their superior. Now Ursa and Testmocher are a little different. Testmocher actually helps Superman. Ursa feels everyone except Zod is below her
I subbed after 3 seconds ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ lotta love for anyone who recognises the masterpiece of superman the movie
And thank god you two are funny aswell ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Aw thanks so much! That means the world, so glad you found us. Lots more Superman stuff coming. 👊
Thanks for a warm welcome .
I'm in👍
I love Superman the Movie too much to ever nitpick it.
Always has been and always will be my favorite movie of all time. It's not just a movie, it's an EXPERIENCE. It's about hope and wonder, even as it's also about love and self-sacrifice. The music still gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. This film is epic in every way, beautifully shot, and gives us the Superman we'll always believe in. Thank you Donner, Reeve, and Williams for this incredible gift.
Beautiful summation. Cheers. 👊
In 8track stereo surround sound Quad movie 1978 ....no download fees to pay then.
Ah yes them were the days
Let's not forget Chief Tug Smith also had a line when he was being interviewed by Lois in the desert. He even got to include a dig at Custer's expense! As a Native, I always appreciate what little representation we get.
Yes, you’re right - I should have mentioned that! Thank you.
My understanding is that, for the time, the miniature city in the dam scene was not as good as they wanted, because their top guy had to leave for another project.
Ah, thanks for that! I really need to find a good book about this production.
I ... loved ... this movie. I remember my father telling me back in the summer of 1978 about a "Superman movie" coming out soon. Even at 11 years old, I recall being cynical enough to say to him that I thought they would mess it all up. Still, in December of that year, Dad took us kids to see it in one of the last remaining single-theater cinemas in town. It had a huge lobby with an incredible and classy chandelier and everything. We snuck in coolers of iced tea and hoagies, and even a cassette recorder as well, to capture the audio from the movie... all my Dad's idea, by the way. We were all AWESTRUCK at the spectacle that was "Superman: The Movie", and it was made extra sweet by my father's childlike wonder and glee at seeing his favorite superhero come to life in such a literally perfect way. I played that tape until the player itself finally stopped working. It's funny to have such an emotional attachment to a film as I do to this one. While it is a fantastic work of art to be sure, in my heart I know that the real reason is the eternal connection to my Dad that it gives me whenever I see it. For this reason, above all, "Superman: The Movie", will always hold a special place in my heart that is more than just the love of a great film, far more indeed. It is the connection it gives me to the very first Superman I ever knew and loved, who I was so very blessed to call ... "Dad".
That’s wonderful, thanks so much for sharing that. I have preserved a lot of great moments with my dad back in those days thanks to a cassette recorder. Now we can record anything anywhere and people seem to take it for granted. Back then it was like a fragile kind of magic. Cheers. 👊
@@prodigioussaps So true! Stay strong!! 💪
Love your passion guys!
Thanks Annette!!
There has never been a better Superman or Lois Lane. Born to play the roles.👍🏿👏🏿
I was born in 1973 and I saw Superman the first time when I was about 10 years old.
I always thought, that Superman must have more muscles.
Yes, I know now that Christopher Reeve was very skinny and he made a lot of workout to not have to wear a suit with fake muscles.
But Christopher Reeve`s muscles just weren`t enough to be Superman, even after his workout.
Maybe he should have accepted to wear fake muscles.
Can't disagree more. Fake muscles would have cheapened the whole thing. Also I really don't think Superman needs to have massive muscles. He shouldn't be a skinny beanpole, sure, but I think Reeve's physique in the movie was perfect. If he was built like a championship body builder it would be too much. I know he's often been drawn that way in the comics, but his powers are based on Kryptonian cell structure and solar energy, not massive muscles.
I always wondered why they got the baby that looked close to Brando as possible as opposed to Reeve. I get it Brando is the big start but i didnt know that or care about that as a kid.
Huh, I never even thought about that. Is that just your observation or did they say that's what they were going for?
You need to rewatch that scene again. Jor-El said “By now you should’ve reached your 18th birthday, as it is measured on Earth. By that reckoning, I would've be dead for many thousands of our years.” time difference between Krypton and Earth.
Nnnnope sorry he very distinctly says “your”, and that’s what it says in the shooting script as well. Anyway, if that were the case what difference would that make? How would that make any more sense?
@@BrianStevens1 Still doesn't make sense.
@@prodigioussaps I read that draft as well, along with your years. A previous draft had “thousands of our years.” which could help explain the measurement of Krypton time and Earth time. Then again, Lara mentioned that “the Earth was primitives, thousands of years behind them,” but there were just a few discrepancies. Still, the best version of Superman will ever have. I was 8 when it came out, and I was in awe. To this day, I’m still amazed by what they attempted to do with the tech they had and the budget they were given.
I’m not sure how 18 earth years could translate to thousands of Kryptonian years unless we’re talking time dilation based on Kal-El’s ship traveling faster than light or whathaveyou. Either way, none of this explains away Luthor’s line about Krypton exploding in 1948.
Anyway, it’s just fun nerdy crap. There really is no making sense of it. Luthor’s deduction of how Kryptonite works doesn’t really make sense, either.