"No, not really."What a frakkin' awesome movie. The 1978 one, of course. It was on Cinemax tonight. Classic. Just the right amount of grandeur and wit. He flies! He turns in criminals! He saves kittens! Truth, justice, and the American way! The special effects in this movie are great, considering it's almost 30 years old.
I've never been one for tall, dark, and dashing men, but there's something about Christopher Reeve in this movie... I mean, obviously the superhero thing... but also a twinkle in his eye, just a hint of mischievous that is very attractive. And that curl!
So, I read up (because I am a geek) and learned: Margot Kidder was originally supposed to sing "Can You Read my Mind?" (while they're flying) but her singing voice was so awful the producers decided against it. Um, I think I'm glad for that. The spoken lyrics are bad enough.
At the time, it was the highest grossing Warner Brothers movie to date.
Marlon Brando (who made $4 million for his 10 minutes onscreen) wanted Jor-El be played in voice over only, with the onscreen image being a glowing, levitating green bagel. The producers formally rejected this idea. Brando then refused to memorize his lines in advance. In the scene where he puts infant Kal-El into the escape pod, he was actually reading his lines from the diaper of the baby.
Oh! and my favorite piece of trivia is that Steven Spielberg was offered the chance to direct, but the producers balked at the salary he requested, so they decided to wait and see how his "fish movie" did at the box office before they signed the contract. It was obviously a smashing success, so he went on to other projects and left Superman with Richard Donner. And speaking of Spielberg's other projects, that kid that plays Jimmy Olsen? Totally Marty McFly's older brother.
Also? Gene Hackman's clothes are awesome. And John Williams is genius. There's no way the new one is this good. "We all have our little faults. Mine's in California."
5 comments:
*sigh*
I love Superman. I am with you with not being all about the tall dark dashing guy...but there is just SOMEthing about him! He's goofy and shy, but then....mysteriously he's got it all in the palm of his hand too. yowza.
Thanks for all the Trivial Pursuit fodder. I'm sure I won't remember any of it... not my strong suit.
I agree, I just don't think they can improve on Superman. Notice no one touched it until Christopher Reeve died (maybe not until his wife died either!)...might be a clue there, ya think?
And, of course, it's now officially, "Truth, Justice...and all that stuff." The writers thought "The American Way" was just too jingoistic. Ya gotta love the peecee crowd. (And that includes wintel peecees.)
And that's the grumpy old man view.
i *heart* reeve as superman! is there ANY other? i loved watching him when i was a little girl. and still.
great behind the scenes trivia, girl! thanks for that, i'll log that away....
you have to love me. its all about the cape, ya know.
This new one is brilliant. The original will always hold a special place in my heart, and Christopher Reeve will always be THE cinematic Superman. However, Superman Returns is the movie I've been waiting for my whole life.
This is Superman as it should be. Only the effects wizardry of the modern age can accurately portray the incredible brilliance of Superman and his abilities. Routh is no Reeve, it's true, but there were a couple of moments when he spoke or moved (or pushed his glasses up on his nose) that you could swear Reeve had been reincarnated.
Just waiting to see it in IMAX 3-D now.
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