Superman (1978)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Superman (1978) – R. Donner

Right off the bat, the kids started complaining that the title credits and theme music were ripped off from Star Wars (1977) – later we discovered that the latter was also composed by John Williams (so okay?). The film held Amon’s attention the most, as he has recently been reading some Superman comics from the library (including Superman vs. the KKK!) and knew the characters. Nevertheless, we agreed that the opening sequence starring Marlon Brando as Jor-El (Superman’s dad) on Krypton in its final moments dragged (I did not remember that this sequence links directly to Superman II, as Terence Stamp is locked away in a prison prism in the first few minutes). After some pre-Christopher Reeve scenes of Superman as a youth, showing off to his midwestern high school friends (and Glenn Ford!), we finally arrive in Metropolis where Reeve shows up as Clark Kent, the mild-mannered klutzy reporter who clearly has a thing for colleague Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). Not long after, he is in blue spandex rescuing her and performing heroic acts around the city. Ayako remarked on how dated the special-effects look now (done with wires, we are sure), but there is something endearing about the old school methods methinks – and Reeve certainly knew how to work with the sometimes hokey material, turning it more charming. On the evil side, we have Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty, and Valerie Perinne, who discover Superman’s weakness and use it against him while also directing stolen nuclear missiles at two opposite parts of the US (but hoping to knock half of California into the ocean via an earthquake). Of course, it all ends well and although it felt too long to me, Amon was rapt.