mikwalen

SUPERMAN is a perfect translation of the classic comic book story to the big screen. The cinematography, direction, costuming, casting, musical scoring - all flawless. As far as special effects go, I'd much rather watch the effects in SUPERMAN, 70's style, than today's quickly-whipped-up CG effects.

Starting with baby Kal-El's (later Superman/Clark) escape from the dying planet Krypton, the film follows Clark as he grows into a teen and then an adult, realizes his true identity, and moves to Metropolis to fight evil. And evil he does find, in the person of insane Lex Luthor.

Chris Reeve - what a find for Supie! He plays the role absolutely straight, without a trace of comic-book campiness. In his hands, Superman/Clark is a real person, not a comic book caricature. He shows a very kind, caring soul as Supie, but pulls no punches when dealing with the baddies. He is tenderness and justice personified. His Clark is the total opposite - bumbling, ill at ease, gawky. Reeve should have been Oscar-nominated - seriously. Lois Lane was played perfectly by Margot Kidder - sassy, funny, highly energetic, strong, yet with a certain sweetness. Interestingly enough, Lesley Ann Warren, Susan Blakely, Stockard Channing, and Anne Archer were also considered. You can see their screen tests on the DVD. Lex was played with relish by Gene Hackman - a villain worthy of Jame Bond. In the best comic book tradition, he also had comic-relief sidekicks Ned Beatty and Valerie Perrine to abuse. Marlon Brando is a compassionate Jor-El (Supie's biological father), and Glenn Ford and Phyllis Thaxter are the warm, loving Kents that adopt the alien baby and give him strong morals and values.

An excellent film all around. Watch the DVD if at all possible!

I loved this show so much when I was a kid in the mid-late seventies, and I still do! I must admit that I really treasured the World War II episodes over the present-day (meaning the late 70's) episodes. When the show moved to the 1977 era and CBS, I felt that it lost its fairy-tale-ish charm and innocence, and became a bit hardened - almost like a "Starsky and Hutch" type of attitude. However, it will always have a special place in my heart. My favorite tricks were "bullets and bracelets", in which WW would deflect the baddies' bullets off of her special "Feminum" bracelets, and the costume change trick, in which Diana would whirl around and in a flash of light, become WW. Lynda Carter did a wonderful job in the role, playing the role with an Pollyanna-ish innocent sweetness in the WWII episodes and a cooler, more "wary" edge in the 1977-79 episodes - an interesting transition, as though her outlook changed once she was living in the cynical 70's as opposed to the relatively innocent 40's. It's to her credit that she imbued the comic book character with a full range of emotions - I mean, Wonder Woman is not exactly Lady Macbeth - and she was completely credible in a way that few others might have been.