Time to get drunk and take the train home.
He explains to his Wife that he needs a good Play and a hit...and he has something that will be both.

Deathtrap.

The problem- he didn't write it.  Reeve- as a Former Student from a Symposium- did.
His plan- kill the guy and steal it.
Despite his Wife's attempts to stop him, he chokes Reeve to death and the pair get rid of his body.

She's not happy.
Earlier, she mentioned a Psychic living next door.  Said Psychic shows up after the (off-screen, since this was a Play) burial to make everyone nervous.

See you in Act 3.
Reeve attacks them that night, revealing that he's not dead!

During his attack, he corners the Wife and she dies of a heart attack.
Now here's the twist- it was all a trick!

Since this is early '80s, the duo are secretly (and completely-off-screen) Gay and planned to kill her for the money.

Now that they've committed murder together, nothing can stop their implied love.
…except that now Reeve (who actually is a Playwright-to-be) wants to adapt THEIR PLAN into a play.  The Title...

Deathtrap (duh).

Caine does not want that, leading to some tension and both sides secretly plotting against each other.
Act 3 has the pair trading control and advantage in their game.

Caine has a gun...but it has no bullets.
Reeve has him locked up...but Caine escapes.

Showing nimbleness that you wouldn't expect for a 49-year old Caine, he sneaks out of the House and back in to shoot Reeve in the back.
In the aftermath, the Psychic appears one more time (having scared Reeve earlier and then Caine)...to be targeted by Caine.  He's attacked by a not-quite-dead-yet Reeve...

...when we cut to a Play.  Deathtrap did become a Play...by the Psychic.  

To add another layer of META, they used the set from THE PLAY 'Deathtrap' (the real one this is based on) for the fake Play...in the Movie based on the Play.  

My head hurts.  The End.
A fun, complex tale of revenge and murder.  It's complicated.  It's biting.  It's funny.  It's intense.

Regardless of how I might feel about Ira Levin's star power, he did write a good Story.  The Acting helps.  Even Dyan Cannon- who was apparently up for a Razzie for this!- is good in small doses.  She's clearly in over her head (the character, to be clear) and can't keep up.  It works in contrast to the cool confidence of Caine and, eventually, that of Reeve.

The twists and turns are what makes this one work.  They feel set up.  They feel established.  They feel 'real.'  All of the build-up is paid off.  There's even fun, META stuff with set-up/pay-off as well.  For instance, Reeve says that he would 'have the Psychic come back in Act 3.'  She does show up again.

If you can find yourself drawn into this mostly-one-location Play-turned-Film, it's a winner.  They have some nice furniture too.

B

He meets up with Denison and a new Officer- Judd Hirsch, finally showing up in this thing!- to investigate who killed the POWs.
They run into some conflict as some Nazi Officers are dead, while others are protected by military brass.  Not that they like them- they just have intel they can use.

This is the next hour, so...enjoy.
There is some intrigue as some of the former Officers try to hide, while others try to manipulate some benefits out of their talking.
There's eventually some real action on the back-end as they find some remaining Soldiers protecting an Officer and ultimately Reeve directly fights the man behind the Kill Order.
The day is saved, the Nazis are dead and a very specific rule for the future is established.  The End.
A decent continuation, but I'm not sure how prolonged this needed to be.  The first part is the setup, the actual Escape and then the aftermath.  There's alot there, even if the big moment is from the original Film.  This one is all new and...isn't all that exciting.  There's lots of talking.  There's lots of meetings.  Winston Churchill shows up.  There's more meetings.  They eventually get to a more interesting place, but it takes awhile.  The actual Story is fine, but not that interesting by comparison.  It's not bad.  If you want to see Judd Hirsch played like he's an Action Star, however, this is your Film!  The idea that he's some intimidating Military Officer doesn't quite work here, as much as they try.  Reeve brings some real passion here, showing yet again how typecasting him as Superman was a real disservice.  If you want to see it for that, I'd recommend it.  As a whole, the Mini-Series is fine, but not able to quite live up to the name attached to it.  You might also be surprised to learn that there's more than one The Great Escape 2 (though it's actually Season 2 of a Show)...

Next time, a Scientist with good intentions 'plays God.'  Will this be the one time that it actually works out?  Stay tuned...

Weird.
Later, a young Officer- future The Closer Star Tony Denison- is captured and proves to be useful to the other Prisoners as they plan their escape.
Reeve takes his punishment well and helps plan a big escape.  I wish I could think of another adjective better than 'big' here, but it escapes me.  Great job, dummy!
The gang makes big on their plans- after some hijinks, of course- and escape.

There's like 2 hours left in this one (between both Parts), so what happens next?
The Escape doesn't exactly go well all around, with the majority being recaptured and killed.

Enough make it out, however, for Part 2.
A decent addition that treads some pretty familiar territory.  On the plus side, the first Part tells a good Story.  On the negative side, it tells a story that we already know quite well.  The Great Escape is a pretty damn famous Movie, after all!  So did they improve things?  Not really.  Do they mess them up?  Not really.  Thankfully, the latter portion is new and 'untold' stuff.  As a fun reminder, part of this tale is based on the real exploits of Barry Mahon, the Director of Santa Claus & The Ice Cream Bunny, as well as Nudist Camp Horror Films and Errol Flynn's love-letter to Fidel Castro.  Reeve does a good job, as part of his sadly-unsuccessful attempt to be seen as anything other than 'the guy who played Superman.'  McShane shines in a fairly-small role, adding some nice gravitas.  Denison, for his part, is good too.  We also get Donald Pleasance as an evil SS Officer, which is notable since he was one of the Escapees in the original Film!  There's nothing bad here and it is a good, enjoyable time.  Even so, it doesn't feel wholly-unique, which is a problem when the Film you're like is an American Movie Classic.  Let's see how Part 2 goes...

Next time, Part 2 brings us more of the Untold Story.  Will it add enough to make you care?  Stay tuned...

On the plus side, it might have almost been worth it.  Today's Film is Street Smart, a 1987 Film from Cannon Films.  As mentioned in the previous Review, Reeve wanted to do this Film and leveraged a Superman Sequel to get it made.  That Superman Film is infamously-bad and did irreparable damage to his career.  It would all be worth it if he finally got his Oscar.  Well, he got someone an Oscar...nomination.    It's a third degree victory, I guess.  The Film tells the tale of a Journalist who does the worst thing he can do to get a Story- make it up.  Years before the idea of 'Fake News' or famous cases of Journalists caught in their lies, this one was doing it.  Unfortunately for him, his Story is used by a devious Pimp and his Attorney to try and get away with murder.  Can he admit the truth?  Can he save himself?  Can he save those around him?  To find out how Reeve did his best to shed the Superman veneer, read on...
Reeve is a Journalist trying to get more attention and respect.  He goes all in on a Story...that he has no chance of getting.
Morgan Freeman (no, really) is a Pimp.  He's doing well...until a 'John' dies with him in the room.
After none of his sources pan out and a desperate gambit fails, he does something bad- he makes up the story entirely.
Freeman's Lawyer comes up with the idea of trying to use Reeve's Story as cover- giving him a fake alibi- and the pair meet up.  Reeve gets to see the guy be a bit scary.
As the Story gets Reeve more success and attention, he also ends up getting a bit too close to the other side...
When Reeve refuses to turn over his notes (which don't exist), he is sent to Jail for contempt.  Was it worth it?
Back on the Streets, Freeman pushes for Reeve to provide his 'notes' and his alibi.  He's not playing around!
In the bit that clearly got Freeman is first Oscar nod, he pushes his Prostitute to not turn him on.  Then she does.

Good, but also a bit pointless.
When things get more personal- as his girlfriend is attacked-, Reeve does the dirty double feature- helping Freeman get off the hook and then setting him up to be killed.

In the aftermath, he reports on the Story and...did he learn a lesson?  The End.
It's actually pretty damn good.  To be fair, it probably wasn't going to be bad.  Morgan Freeman is, you know, Morgan Freeman and Reeve was always underrated as an Actor.  He just had this natural ability to be interesting and charming- even in the last two terrible Superman Sequels.  Hell, I actually liked him in Village of the Damned- just nothing else in that Film.  This Movie had nowhere to go but down.  To their credit, it doesn't really.  There are some cheats here and there- like one undated photo somehow disproving the truth- and bits that weren't really necessary.  Is there a pay-off to Reeve sleeping with the Prostitute?  Did we need the Lawyer trying to recruit said Prostitute in an extended Scene just for her to say 'no?'  Did we need Morgan Freeman threatening people with sharp instruments as many times as he does?  Petty little stuff like that aside, Street Smart shows what Reeve could do what people let him not be Superman.  He's sneaky, lying and mostly in it for himself.  He learns a lesson, but he never really becomes 'good' by the end.  If he was good, he would have found a way to get Freeman put away without helping him?  Instead, he does a multi-part plan to get him killed and then benefit from his death.  You were Nightcrawler before it was cool, man!  The Film is actually really good, thankfully not too-dated and Freeman definitely deserved that Oscar nom.  Looking at who Reeve would have been against to get a nomination for himself- Jack Nicholson, Robin Williams, William Hurt, Michael Douglas and Marcello Mastroianni-, he didn't have much of a shot.  Should Freeman have won over Sean Connery though- maybe.  1988 was a weird year for the Oscars- Dirty Dancing, The Princess Bride, Beverly Hills Cop II and Mannequin were all up for Best Song!- so who knows.  Was it worth it?  Maybe not, all things considering, but at least the Film was good.  Then again...
Next time, I finally go back and review a Cult Classic that I somehow skipped.  With a bad Director but great features, it is going to...be interesting.  Stay tuned...

Was it worth it, Mr. Reeve?  Today's Film is Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, a 1987 anti-classic that lives up its reputation.  To set the stage, Canon Films was losing money.  Since you got to spend money to make money, they bought the Superman License from the Salkinds.  To convince Reeve to sign on, he got two things- a Story Credit and funding for a second Film (that isn't Superman).  To see how the latter Film turned out, see the next Review.  For the first one, he was inspired to have Superman deal with real world issues.  It absolutely could have worked.  Due to Budget Cuts and a silly Script, however, it is all a bit of a joke.  Superman wants to stop the potential Nuclear War- so he tosses our Nukes into the Sun.  Lex Luthor is back- complete with terrible Nephew- and his plan to kill Superman- of course.  It's all a bit ridiculous and I kind of love it.  I also hate it, so let's just fly right in...
To give a little Backstory, the Film was cut at the last minute to reach 90 minutes, so that it could play more times in the day.

With that said, they still found time for both Superman saves singing Cosmonaut AND Superman saves train with Lois.
They also find time for this Superman/Clark won't sell the family farm unless it is too a Farmer Scene.  Yea.

The only thing that matters- a soft retcon of his space ship and a new Deus Ex Machina for later.
To deal with a few of the Films forty or so Plot Points, let me sum it up...

1) A Tabloid Guy buys the Daily Planet.
2) A kid writes an essay to Superman to get rid of our nukes.
3) He debates with two Kryptonian Elders (since the 3rd Actor was busy) over it.
4) The Daily Planet is an asshole.
To help him decide, Superman reveals himself to Lois, flies her around the World and...then wipes her memory of this.  What a Super Asshole.
He gets *all* of the Nations to give up their Nukes to be tossed into the Sun.  However, there's one left, so Lex Luthor makes a weird clone thing and hides it on the missile.  Nuclear Man is born!

Side-note: one bit cut was the ORIGINAL Nuclear Man (presumably born from the first batch)- who was a goof.  Various Edits of it are online, like so.
Superman has an epic(ally silly) fight with Nuclear Man where most of the silly stuff you know comes from.  While holding the Statue of Liberty in a way that defies Science, he's cut by Nuclear Man's Revlon nails.

The sickness overwhelms him until, guess what, Deus Ex Machina.
The pair battle again- including a bit where Nuclear Man flies Lucy into Space and nothing bad happens- and Superman outsmarts him by...moving the Moon to create a Lunar Eclipse, weakening the Villain.

Sorry about the Tsunamis.
In the aftermath, he dumps Luthor back in jail- promising to see him 20- and drops Luthor's Nephew off at...a Foster Farm?

I'm sorry, but did you even check to see if he has non-imprisoned relatives?  Dick.
After all of this, Superman gives one last speech about how we'll get peace when we truly want it and will ask our leaders for it.

Sorry about that, Superman.  The End.
Super-silly.  Super-serious.  Super-disappointing.  On the plus side, Canon cut the Film down to 90 minutes, making it less bloated than Superman III.  This came at the expense of Plot and Characters- including the kid who wrote the letter-, so it wasn't all good.  Getting Hackman back- good.  Getting Jon Cryer with him- not good.  For every good or theoretically-good thing here, there are like 6 bad things.  Superman facing real-life problems- good.  Superman doing so by tossing Nukes into the Sun- less good.  Hackman is great here and Reeve is still committed to it all.  The less said about Mark Pillow as Nuclear Man- dubbed over by Hackman- the better.  I want to like this as a serious Film- I can't.  I want to love this as a dumb Film- I can.  It feels earnest, yet so silly that you have to laugh.  Making so many filler bits of Comedy- like Clark pretending to be weak or his double date- didn't help the Film as a serious narrative.  As a Comedy, it works better than Superman III.  Yes, that was supposed to be one!  This is the kind of endearing bad Movie that you can't be too mad at overall.  Let me just end now before things get awkward....never mind.
Next time, the Film that Reeve wanted to make in order to do this.  Well, it nearly won *someone* an Oscar.  Stay tuned...

Since Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice continues to rake in the cash (in spite of us Critics), it is only fitting to match up the Man of Steel's 3 'Origin' Films.  You'll get your turn soon enough, Batman.
The Format hasn't changed yet, so let's do it the same way.  The big one first...

All 3 men play Kal El/Clark Kent/Superman.  One of them does play him older and wiser though.

Reeves embodies Superman's core values strongly in the Donner Film, while Brandon Routh does his best to be a good copycat.  Mind you, he's copying someone good, so it is only *so* big of a complaint.  Henry Cavill plays a conflicted and more brooding Superman...who's also kind of dull.

While the first 2 benefit from a big Villain, the latter needs it!  He's not bad...but he's just not that interesting, Drama Beard be damned!

The Winner: Superman- The Movie
Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor is dynamic, but still a product of his time.  Kevin Spacey's Version, in contrast, feels more universal, despicable and downright mean.  Man of Steel has no Lex Luthor- gotta wait until 2016 for that-, but its General Zod is big, bad and crazy.

No offense to Hackman- he's great-, but his Luthor is just overall outmatched here.  It comes to down big and violent with Michael Shannon or calculated and evil.  It could go either way, but I'm choosing this way...
Winner: Superman Returns
All 3 Films have a few key Supporting Cast Members, but let me make this simpler- an all Lois 3-Way Dance!

Don't Rule 34 me just yet.  Margot Kidder's Lois is strong, outstanding and maybe a tad eccentric.  Kate Bosworth's Lois is...alright, but she's not up to par.  Amy Adams' Lois is a strong contender here and I may grow on her more over the years.  As of this writing, I'm going with...
Winner: Superman- The Movie
Superman: The Movie is about Kal-El coming to Earth, adjusting to his new life and stopping Lex Luthor's land-grab via missile.  Superman Returns is about his, well, return and attempt to stop Luthor's land-grab via Fortress of Solitude crystal.  Man of Steel is about Kal El's arrival on Earth and attempt to stop Zod's land-grab via Kryptonian technology.

I see a pattern here.  It is a tough one, but I give the narrow nod to...
Winner: Man of Steel
A very important Round.  Let's see how it does...

Superman: The Movie doesn't have a big battle (that's Superman II), but it does have the big moment with Superman trying to stop the missiles, doing the time warp and saving the day.  Superman Returns has a similar issue, although its big moment does involve a Kryptonite shank and Superman lifting a giant island into space!  Man of Steel has a big, bombastic Climax involving a fight, buildings being destroyed and that infamous Zod moment.

The last one has the most Action, but how will it be remembered years from now?  For sheer longevity and memorability, I give a slight nod to...
Winner: Superman- The Movie

In the End, it breaks down like this- 3 for Superman: The Movie, 1 for Superman Returns and 1 for Man of Steel.  I thought it might be closer.

You're still the best, Donner's Film!  You may disagree...but that's why I write here and not you.

All joking aside, I stand by my picks.  Let's see if the Batman match-up will cause just as much drama...