****SUPER-SPOILERS AHEAD!*****

Having written a retrospective on “Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut” a couple years ago, I recently realized I’d never tackled my personal favorite of the Superman (and superhero) movie canon.  In December of 1978, I’d just turned a precocious 12 years old when a new movie was released that everyone at school was gabbing about; “Superman: The Movie.”  While I loved “Star Wars,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” and other trailblazing sci-fi/fantasy films of that era, I had little interest in seeing “Superman.” It just wasn’t my thing.

As I kid, I read the occasional Marvel comic book (SpiderMan and the Hulk were personal favorites), but DC’s Superman always seemed so…square.  Some of my classmates used to watch reruns of the 1950s Superman TV series starring the late George Reeves, but I just wasn’t into it.  “Batman” was another show that I didn’t appreciate at that age, though I came to appreciate its camp shenanigans as I got older, when my humor began to warp.

The rumor mill at school recess was relentless, and I felt considerable prepubescent peer pressure to check out this movie about a guy who flew around in his underwear.  I knew precisely zilch about Superman’s origins, mythology or anything else. I didn’t even realize Superman was from another planet. Being a Marvel brat, I just assumed he was mutated in a lab accident.  That was my level of unpreparedness when I first went to see “Superman: The Movie” sometime near the end of 1978 or early 1979 (my memory is a mite hazy after 45 years).

“You Will Believe a Man Can Fly…”

The above line was the promise of the movie’s poster, which featured Superman’s “S” emblem amongst the clouds (1989’s “Batman” had a similar ad campaign 11 years later, with a golden bat symbol set against black). Of course, I was skeptical; there was just no way this would be anything close to the life-changing theatrical experiences of “Star Wars” or “Close Encounters.” 

Even at that age, I’d read that the movie was being written by Mario Puzo (“The Godfather”) and that it would star Marlon Brando (“The Godfather”), Gene Hackman (“The French Connection”), and an adult Jackie Cooper (whom I watched in the “Little Rascals” serials on TV).  The lead actors were two relative unknowns named Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder.  I was vaguely familiar with the names of Lois Lane and Clark Kent through cultural osmosis, but I knew next to nothing about the characters. 

I also remember reading tabloid stories about the movie’s famously troubled production, detailing how father-son producers Ilya and Alexander Salkind famously didn’t get along with their brilliant maverick director, Richard Donner (after seeing the film, I was firmly in Camp Donner).  Much of this was read after I saw the film, but going in to see it that first night, I was completely oblivious.  Back in that innocent, pre-internet age, knowing very little about a major new movie was still possible. 

“Superman: The Movie”

The movie begins with an old 4:3 ratio black and white scene of an uncredited child narrator reading a Superman comic book; a reminder that the roots of this story were already 40 years old at the time (and 85 years old now). We then segue into widescreen opening credits over a starry background. The credits sequence is boosted by one of legendary music composer John Williams’ all-time best scores, as each name in the credits whooshes by into a silvery infinity…  

After the credits, the movie shows us the icy world of Krypton (or “Krip-tin” as pronounced by Marlon Brando); a small frozen orb around a dying red sun. The first words, spoken by Marlon Brando’s Jor-El are “This is no fantasy…” which also doubles as director Donner’s mission statement about the movie itself; he intended to take the material very seriously.

Act I: Krypton

Inside of a massive dome, a group trial for treason and sedition is underway.  Prosecutor Jor-El presents final arguments against three Kryptonian dissidents; General Zod (Terence Stamp), Ursa (Sarah Douglas) and their hulking companion Non (Jack O’Halloran).  The three are found guilty by the disembodied holographic faces of the Kryptonian Council and exiled into the ‘Phantom Zone,’ which reduces them to a two-dimensional existence within something resembling a flying album sleeve. As a kid, I found the visual effects of the first act quite extraordinary; the massive dome and subterranean city on the detailed, icy miniature landscape of Krypton was impressive.  Obviously, this was not going to be TV’s Batman…

Note: While actor Marlon Brando certainly adds much presence to the role of Jor-El, it’s debatable whether the admittedly legendary actor was worth his then-record $3 million salary; it’s not that he isn’t great in the role, far from it; but the role—as written—isn’t necessarily exclusive to Brando’s skillset.  Also of note, the glowing white costumes worn by the inhabitants of Krypton were coated with the same glassy reflective material used for highway signs and movie screens, which was then illuminated by strategically-placed key lights throughout the sets.

We then see Jor-El pleading with his fellow council members to evacuate Krypton, which is in imminent danger of obliteration.  He’s ignored, of course, as other council members (Maria Schell, Harry Andrews, et al) arrogantly insist their dying planet is merely “shifting its orbit.”  Pressured into silence by his denialist colleagues, Jor-El and his wife, Lara (Susannah York) have a secret plan to launch their infant son Kal-El into space towards the “primitive” planet Earth, where it’s hoped that Earth’s yellow sun will give him tremendous strength to survive and thrive on the harsh alien planet.  As the red sun of Krypton swells, Krypton is ravaged.  We see Kryptonians falling to their deaths down icy shafts as their sun fills the sky like an entrance to Hell.  The red star then explodes, and takes Krypton with it.  

Note: Much has been made of the story’s Jesus analogy, with Jor-El acting as the god figure sending his “only begotten son” to Earth. Since the original story of Superman was conceived by two Jewish high schoolers (Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster), it can also be argued that it’s a Moses story. Judeo-Christian mythologies are hardly the only religions to feature semi-divine saviors, of course.

Meanwhile, the tiny star-shaped capsule containing Kal-El (who grows to a toddler during his long journey) passes through various nebulae and other space phenomena, while prerecorded vocal lessons and instructions from Jor-El prepare his son for life on Earth, fulfilling an earlier promise to Lara that their son “will not be alone…he will never be alone.” 

Note: The destruction of Krypton, as foretold by Jor-El’s scientific prediction, has a remarkably different vibe today. Currently, millions of people in the United States are making similar denials about the imminent threat of global climate change, even in the face of record temperatures and waves of freakish, record-breaking storms and droughts throughout the world.  Ice shelves are melting into the ocean, as previous ‘cooler’ regions around the globe have been experiencing steadily rising (and record) temperatures with no end in sight. To quote Jor-El, “This is no fantasy.”  Ignoring science can be deadly. 

Act II: Smallville

The capsule completes its long, relativistic voyage between the stars, arriving at the 1940s American heartland in the mythical town of Smallville (filmed in rural Alberta, Canada).  The capsule lands like a meteorite—its concussive force causing Jonathan Kent (Glenn Ford) and his wife Martha (Phyllis Thaxter) to blow a tire.  As they pull over to repair it, they see a stranded, naked, smiling toddler emerging from the charred meteorite.  Putting two and two together, Martha quickly realizes (and accepts) that the boy isn’t from “around here.” As Jonathan repairs the truck’s blown tire, the jack gives way, and the truck begins to fall—but doesn’t.  The grinning toddler is effortlessly suspending the truck safely above Jonathan Kent…! 

We later see a teenaged Kal-El, now going by his adopted name of Clark Kent (Jeff East, voice of Christopher Reeve) as he goes through the usual adolescent angst over girls, namely Lana Lang (Diane Sherry), and a school jock bully, Brad (Brad Flock).  Once alone, Clark kicks a football off into space from frustration.  After racing a train home, Clark is met by his pa, Jonathan, who gently rebukes the boy for “showing off again,” something he’s been warned not to do, for fear he’d be taken away.  Jonathan tells Clark that he’s certain the boy was placed here “for a reason,” even if he can’t articulate it.  That very afternoon, the wise Jonathan Kent dies suddenly of a heart attack.  

Note: Aboard the train that Clark races home, we see a young girl (Cathy Marcotte) who spots the super-fast Clark from her window as he races the train.  This girl is revealed in one of the movie’s extended versions to be young Lois Lane, and her parents are Kirk Alyn, who played Superman in the 1948 serials, and Noel Neill, who would play Lois Lane in the 1948 serial and would later return for most of the 1950s “Superman” TV series (1952-1958), which starred actor George Reeves (no relation to Christopher Reeve). Neill would later return to the franchise with roles in TV’s “Superboy” (1991) and the 2006 film “Superman Returns.” 

At Jonathan’s funeral, a choked-up Clark whispers bitterly to his mother, “All those things I could do…all those powers…and I couldn’t even save him.”  Grieving widow Martha puts comforts her son, and they make their way home.  Sometime later, Clark is awakened early one morning and ‘called’ by a strange signal out to the Kent barn, where he finds a hidden glowing green crystal that glows even brighter in his hand. This is a memory crystal from his native Krypton, summoning him to fulfill his destiny.  After hiring a replacement to help out on the farm in his absence, Clark makes his tearful farewells to his mother Martha before he takes the crystal and heads to an unspecified point in the North Polar region.  

Arriving at a nexus of water and polar ice, Clark intuitively flings the glowing crystal far ahead of himself.  Within moments, the crystal begins restructuring a large section of ice to resemble one of the elegant icy dwellings of Krypton.  Making his way inside of this “fortress of solitude,” Clark is met by an artificial intelligence pattered after his later father’s consciousness and memories. This virtual Jor-El greets his “son” and spends the next few years answering his curious son’s many questions about their home planet, as well as his true identity and the nature of the universe itself.  This long tutelage ends with an adult Kal-El (Christopher Reeve), now dressed in his familiar red cape, blue tights and family crest, flying from the Fortress and banking upward towards the sky…

Note: The Fortress of Solitude scenes are shot in a surreal, fantasy version of the North Pole; with heavy blue and green-tinted accent lighting that adds to the indoor set’s feeling of a nether reality.  

Act III: Metropolis

The longest section of the film begins with the adult Clark Kent arriving in the city of Metropolis (a faux New York that was largely shot in London), where he lands a job as a new reporter for The Daily Planet, a newspaper edited by Perry White (Jackie Cooper). At his new workplace, he befriends cub photographer Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure), and meets the woman who will one day become the love of his life; scrappy, tenacious veteran reporter Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). By now, Clark has perfected an incognito persona by acting as far removed from his true self as possible—with thick glasses, an outdated 1950s hairstyle, slumped shoulders and speaking with a nasally stammer.  He apparently landed the job at the competitive newspaper by impressing Perry White with his remarkably fast typing…

Note: If I have any issues about the Metropolis act of the movie it’s that there’s a surprising lack of diversity present for a major US city (shot largely London for New York). In fact, the only Black people we see in the film are, disturbingly, a pimp and his working girls (“Say Jim, that’s a baaad outfit! Woah!”). Not exactly representation at its finest. Director Donner would try to rectify this issue with greater diversity in his later films, such as the “Lethal Weapon” series, which prominently feature the African-American ‘Murtaugh’ family.

As Lois prepares to meet Air Force One at Metropolis airport using The Daily Planet’s helicopter, the craft’s landing skid becomes entangled in a rooftop power cable, which cripples the craft, and leaves Lois dangling for her life by a loose seatbelt.  As Clark leaves the Daily Planet office, he finds Lois’ belongings on the sidewalk.  He then looks up to see the helicopter dangling from the edge of the roof!  The music reaches a pulse-pounding tempo as Clark shifts mental gears and realizes Superman has to save her!  Looking for a place to change, he rushes into a revolving door and quickly emerges in full Superman regalia.  Flying up to catch a falling Lois with one hand and the falling helicopter with the other, Superman is filmed by news cameras on the ground and is now officially outed to the world at large…

Note: This scene (particularly John Williams’ music in it) is absolutely iconic; one of the single best moments in any superhero movie yet made.  While the rear-projection effects might not pass muster for today’s audiences, the music and editing by Stuard Baird are perfection.  Even Margot Kidder’s raw screams perfectly trumpet her desperation. 

Later that same night, Superman rescues a cat from a tree, nabs a high-rise jewel thief, stops a boatload of armed robbers, and even manages to save Air Force One, when the plane loses several engines mid-flight to Metropolis during a severe lightning storm. Superman literally acts as an engine himself, so that the craft can land safely (!). This ‘first night on the town’ for Superman changes both himself and the world.

Note: There’s an extra scene reedited into one of the longer versions of the film that sees Superman returning to the Fortress of Solitude after these acts of heroism (arguably fueled by Kal-El’s own ego), only to face a rebuke by holographic Jor-El, who warns his son that his service to the people of Earth will never cease. 

In Metropolis, we’re also introduced to super-villain Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman), who lives under the city in a vast abandoned train station with his bumbling assistant Otis (Ned Beatty) and his vampish gang moll, Eve Teschmacher (Valerie Perrine).  Luthor has hatched an audacious scheme to reprogram two US missiles armed with nuclear warheads, with the aim of splitting California in half; making the state’s vast swath of formerly worthless desert terrain a new West Coast—property which Lex has already bought (from exactly where Lex accumulated the capital for such a sale is anyone’s guess). Later, we see Lex and his accomplices don disguises to distract an army convoy carrying the missiles, as Otis reprograms the missiles’ trajectories to Lex’s specs.  When Lex becomes aware of Superman’s existence, he realizes he must destroy this all-powerful paragon of virtue before it can singlehandedly thwart his outrageous plans for “Costa del Lex.” 

Note: Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor marks the exact point where the movie veers a bit closer to the kind of campiness we saw in 1966’s “Batman” TV series, as Hackman and Beatty really ham it up.  I love Hackman’s performance as Popeye Doyle in “The French Connection” (and many other movies), but Lex Luthor’s arc is where the movie begins to lose its earlier mythic feel.  We go from an orphaned alien’s galactic odyssey and rural coming of age story to… a real-estate scheme. Fortunately, the epic action, outstanding lead performances and music compensate nicely for the story’s middle-act shortcomings.

Due to an anonymous note from “a friend,” Lois lands an interview with Superman, who flies onto her rooftop penthouse (a rooftop penthouse…on a reporter’s salary??) for the greatest interview “since God talked to Moses,” as Perry calls it. With Superman’s arrival, the interview begins.  Photographed in hazy, romantic lighting by master cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth (“2001: A Space Odyssey”), Superman answers Lois’ questions as best he can, sometimes revealing a bit too much, regarding his vulnerabilities. The two then begin one of the greatest couplings in comic book history as Superman takes Lois for a moonlit flight high above the city and the clouds, as Lois narratively sing-speaks “Can You Read My Mind?” to John Williams’ ethereal music. After landing safely back at her penthouse, a dazed Lois says goodnight to Superman like a lovesick little girl nursing a powerful first crush.  She then hears an obnoxious knock at her door that is Clark Kent, who reminds her that they were supposed to “grab a hamburger” together.   As a still-dazed Lois floats away to change, Clark/Superman briefly toys with the idea of telling her the truth—but then quickly nixes the idea when she reemerges.

Note: One of the most romantic scenes you’ll ever see in an action movie, Superman and Lois’ flight over Metropolis is, forgive the cliché, pure movie magic. The following scene where Clark toys with telling Lois the truth (“Lois? I have to tell you…”) affords a chance to see Christopher Reeve literally metamorphose right before our very eyes, as he removes his glasses, straightens his posture and deepens his voice—before demurring right back into “Clark.” It’s a dizzying and highly underrated dramatic moment; one of the best in the film. My only nit about the flying sequence is when Kidder reads the lyrics to “Can You Read My Mind?” as an interior monologue. This is the only misstep of this otherwise elegant scene, since the lyrics, as read by Kidder, come off a mite awkward—they telegraph what we’re already seeing onscreen through Kidder’s facial expressions. 

With Lois’ interview published, Lex learns of Superman’s inability to see through lead, as well as his vulnerability to the radioactivity to Kryptonite (found in meteorites from his home planet). The climax gets underway as Lois and Jimmy are sent to California to cover a story of a mysterious, massive real estate deal, while Superman is lured to Lex’s underground lair by a frequency only he and dogs can hear. In his message, Lex threatens to unleash a poisonous gas pellet into thousands of air ducts throughout the city unless Superman pays him a visit.  Superman eventually traces the signal to Lex’s lair, where he learns of the wannabe-mogul’s outrageous plan to sever half of California into the Pacific Ocean along the San Andreas fault line.  Before he can stop Lex, Superman is disabled by a chunk of Kryptonite that Lex places in a chain around his neck—its radioactivity slowly killing the Man of Steel.  With Superman temporarily out of action, Lex observes the launch of the missiles; one of which is headed to California, while the other is bound for the random destination of Hackensack, New Jersey—which happens to be where Eve Teschmacher’s mother lives, of course.

Note: There’s quite a bit of padding in this section of the movie, as a few scenes reiterate information already given to us.  There are also some redundant, pace-killing comedic bits, such as Otis having to reprogram the missile coordinates again, after goofing up his first attempt.  Such pacing would be considered downright glacial today, but once Superman is off to chase the missiles, the movie kicks back into high gear. 

Learning of her mother’s imminent danger, Eve rescues Superman, and even manages to steal a kiss before freeing him (“Why can’t I ever get it on with one of the good guys?” she laments).  With the missiles en route, a weakened Superman is made to promise Eve he’ll stop the Hackensack missile first.  Regaining his strength, Superman says his goodbyes before bursting through Lex’s underground lair into the skies over Metropolis, as he heads off to pursue the New Jersey-bound missile…

Note: Superman wants to stop the California-bound missile because of “Lois and Jimmy,” but Eve makes him promise to save her mother in Hackensack first, because Superman “always tells the truth.”  But does Clark/Superman “always” tell the truth?  I mean, Superman’s entire existence is a lie, since he leads a double-life every waking minute. Every time Clark speaks of Superman in the third person he’s lying.  This is not a flaw with the “Superman” movie so much as it is with the core Superman concept, as originally conceived by two enterprising Depression-era teenage comic writers, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster back in the 1930s.  Gotta hand it to them, though; those kids were really onto something…

Act IV: California/Coda

Superman manages to catch the first missile and force it skyward on a ‘harmless’ trajectory into space (or so we think…see: “Superman II”).  He then looks down from space to see the second missile impacting the San Andreas fault line… as Lois is stranded on a desert road, and Jimmy is taking photos at Hoover Dam. The resultant earthquake from the missile impact causes catastrophic damage, including the rupture of the dam, and the collapse of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.  Flying down to save whomever he can, create a new damn using giant rocks, and repair all geologic damage to the historically unstable fault line (as you do), a horrified Superman then realizes he is too late to save Lois Lane, whose car was pulled into a widening fissure in the road, where she was smothered in soil and asphyxiated. 

Note: I’m not crying, you’re crying…

Superman pulls Lois from the wreckage of her rented car and gently lays her corpse on the ground. Enraged at having to keep his promise at the cost of Lois’ life, Superman screams skyward and shoots off into clouds, seeking to do the unthinkable—turn back time itself.  Before he can proceed, he hears the long-dead Jor-El’s dire warnings about interfering in the course of human events.  Ignoring the warnings of his Kryptonian father, Superman accelerates himself into a retrograde orbit around the Earth…physically spinning the entire planet backwards, until time itself begins to reverse…

Note: I know, I know…that’s not how time travel works, because time travel doesn’t work. Einstein saw to that.  Even at age 12, I found myself squirming in my seat at the audaciously bad science of Superman’s ‘solution,’ until I realized I was watching a movie about an alien who looks like Christopher Reeve and who propels himself into space only his arms and legs. After that, any subsequent arguments regarding ‘the right way’ to do time travel seemed pretty ridiculous.  As the theme song of Mystery Science Theater 3000 reminds us: “Repeat to yourself it’s just a show; I should really just relax…”

By reversing time, the nuclear calamity in California is undone in somewhat broad strokes, while Superman is able to rescue Jimmy from the crumbling Hoover dam, and save Lois Lane’s life.  He even manages to nab Lex and Otis, whom he returns to Metropolis Prison (were they convicted first…?).  As he’s thanked by the prison warden, Superman tells him, “No sir, don’t thank me, we’re all part of the same team. Good night!” before flying off to do a victory lap in Earth orbit, even breaking the fourth wall by beaming a big smile back to the audience…

The End.

Note: We don’t quite see how far back in time Superman went, nor are the mechanics of exactly what he did made clear; were there two Supermen working in tandem, one in the present and the other from the past?  All we see from our perspective is that Superman reversing time magically fixes everything somehow.  All the same, it doesn’t matter.  Just like “JAWS,” when Chief Brody makes that impossible final shot that causes the ravenous shark to explode as though it were made of C-4, Superman’s time-travel is a fantasy gimmick that’s meant to rouse audiences into cheers—not to scratch their heads and rush to a dry erase board.  This is classic movie mythology. If you can swallow a man flying around at supersonic speeds in his Underoos?  The rest is a cinch.

Turning Back Time

Directed to near-perfection by Richard Donner (“Goonies,” the “Lethal Weapon” movies), the screenplay is credited to Mario Puzo, as well as Robert Benton and the married writing team of David and Leslie Newman.  However, uncredited writer Tom Mankiewicz is generally acknowledged with overhauling the script during the project’s long and arduous production, at which time it was conceived as the simultaneous production of two films—both directed by Donner—before a falling out with the infamous father-son producing team of Ilya and Alexander Salkind led to Donner’s firing midway through production of “Superman II.”  Uncertain if the first film might be the only film, the original time-travel ending of “Superman II” was then tacked onto “Superman: the Movie.”  

Director Richard Lester (“A Hard Day’s Night”) was then brought onboard by the Salkinds to complete “Superman II,” and he allegedly instructed the writers to a lot of cheeky, slapstick, almost Benny Hill-style humor to the sequel that severely undercut the epic earnestness of Donner’s original.  Using deleted scenes and even mismatching audition footage, Richard Donner later got the chance to complete his own cut of the sequel in 2006. I got the chance to hear much of this story in person at San Diego Comic Con 2006, when Richard Donner arrived at a Superman panel to preview roughly 15 minutes of then-unseen footage from his cut of “Superman II.”  More on that in my column for “Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut.”

Summing It Up

“Superman: The Movie” was another 1970s game changer, right up there with “The Exorcist,” “JAWS,” and “Star Wars.” And I was the right age at the right time to realize that.  “Superman” was the prototype of what later evolved into today’s superhero movie/TV subgenre.  Unlike its cheesier, sillier TV contemporaries (1966’s Batman and 1975’s Wonder Woman), “Superman” was epic—soaring into the sky with utmost sincerity, until camp creeps into its final acts.  The first two acts of the movie are mythical, while the rest of it feels a bit more like nuts-and-bolts storytelling. “Superman” is not a perfect movie, but it was a profound achievement in what later became a new subgenre of action films. Every current DC and Marvel live-action property (cinematic and streaming) owes some debt to Richard Donner’s groundbreaking 1978 opus.

The late, great Christopher Reeve (1952-2004) was a truly inspired casting choice. The then-unknown actor looks born to play the part.  It’s as though he’d leaped straight from the comic book pages. Reeve actually plays two distinct roles—that of bumbling, nerdy Clark Kent, and the confident, earnest Superman. You see an almost werewolf-like transformation when Superman changes back into Clark and vise versa; the actor slumps his shoulders, pitches his voice into a nasally whine, and somehow makes all of his movements seem awkward and graceless. He becomes the very antithesis of Superman, who moves like an elemental force of nature.  When Superman flies, Reeve actually banks his body like an aircraft in flight.  It’s one of the most remarkable physical performances I’ve ever seen in a blockbuster action movie. Tragically, an equestrian accident in 1995 left Reeve a quadriplegic who later succumbed to heart failure in 2004.  He is deeply missed.

The late Margot Kidder (1948-2018) was an equally inspired choice as Lois Lane, playing her with exactly the right combination of spunk, wit and joie de vivre.  Her slightly raspy voice and older sister vibe to Clark gave her an earthy charm that makes her more accessible than most.  Like Reeve, once I saw her in the role, there was no other.  To this day, I still think she was the perfect Lois, just as Reeve makes for a perfect Superman.  Their real-life sibling chemistry elegantly translates into on-screen devotion.  Having met Kidder in person at San Diego Comic Con in 2009, she seemed like a real earth mother-type, and we instantly clicked.  I also admired how open she was about her longtime struggles with mental illness. Her passing from an overdose in 2018 left me very saddened. 

Note: A reminder to any readers struggling with suicidal thoughts or feelings, help is out there; call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.

Other actors in the film are similarly well-cast, such as Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen, Glenn Ford as Jonathan Kent, and Phyllis Thaxter as Martha Kent.  Others seem a bit too much for their roles, such as the famously expensive Marlon Brando as Jor-El, who gives the role gravitas, though he’s not irreplaceable. Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor comes dangerously close to 1960s Batman-camp in his villainy. As much as I loved Hackman in other roles, he’s not exactly my favorite incarnation of the character. In fact, my personal favorite Lex Luthor is actor Jon Cryer, who played the character on the CW’s underrated “Supergirl” TV series. Cryer first played bumbling sidekick “Lenny Luthor” in 1987’s execrable “Superman IV: the Quest for Peace.” 

In addition to Richard Donner’s guileless direction, soundtrack maestro-legend John Williams (“JAWS,” “Star Wars” and countless others) also makes an irreplaceable contribution.  Williams’ music makes the movie work much better than it might otherwise, giving each of its major acts distinctive feels.  Krypton’s music is epic, but solemn; a requiem for a dying realm of demigods.  Smallville is sweeping, nostalgic and homespun; an ode to an Americana that perhaps exists mainly in collective rural fantasies and Norman Rockwell paintings. Metropolis is scored as one would imagine life to be like in a big city; lots of danger and chaos, stirred with energy and excitement.  The final act in California and Nevada intertwines most of the prior themes in a frantic, mad-dash to the finish line.  Williams’ brash, heroic main title track for “Superman” is one of my favorite themes from his long career.

Despite running a bit long at times (exact running times vary, depending on which of several available versions you see), “Superman: The Movie” remains my personal favorite superhero film, despite the tremendous advances in filmmaking technology that have come since.  The late Christopher Reeve—buoyed by John Williams’ majestic soundtrack—brings to life the perfect cinematic incarnation of a superhero. 

These days, I’m pretty much done with most superhero movies, as the genre has grown overly complex, increasingly artificial and mind-numbingly repetitive.  However, that first “Superman” film still holds a special place in my heart. There is a sincerity, an earnestness to entertain, and a genuine belief in the material that overrides any cynicism one might feel at seeing a guy in tights stopping a nuclear missile with his bare hands.  “You will believe a man can fly,” that one-sheet poster famously said…and as a 12-year old kid in 1978, you bet I did.  

Where To Watch

“Superman: The Movie” can be streamed on Tubi for free, on Max (aka HBOMax) with a subscription, or rented/purchased digitally via PrimeVideo, iTunes and YouTube (prices vary).  The movie, in various cuts and with the other Superman films in the series, can also be found on physical media (DVD/BluRay) via Amazon (be careful of region coding if you don’t have a multi-region player).