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Superman The Movie: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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n the distant planet Krypton, the scientist Jor-El (Brando) recognizes his world's impending destruction and builds a spaceship to carry his infant son Kal-El to safety. The escape capsule makes its way to Earth and lands in Smallville, in the heartland of America, where the Kents (Glenn Ford and Phyllis Thaxter) discover the infant and take him in. The Kents raise "Clark" as the son they never had, filling him with middle-American virtues. Clark Kent grows up in Smallville, aware of his gifts but unaware of his true origin. As he reaches adulthood, though, something inside him draws him to the arctic, where he discovers the "fortress of solitude," a fragment of Kryptonian technology where the stored personality of Jor-El instructs him in his history and destiny on Earth. Finally, "Superman" (Reeve) flies forth into modern day Metropolis to fight for truth, justice, and the American way.
After Star Wars, Superman is possibly the best-loved genre spectacular of its day. Now it's gotten a lush homage in this special edition with scenes cut from the theatrical release. These are restored to the film, and can also be viewed separately. The DVD offers a commentary track with director Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz (who was credited as "Creative Consultant" due to arcane Hollywood rules, but who in effect wrote the final version of the script).
Flipping the disc reveals a series of documentaries on the production process, including early test footage of the flying effects and a series of screen tests, recently rediscovered in a film vault in England. The tests show Reeve testing as Superman, and detail the enormous range of actresses who auditioned for Lois Lane. The disc also offers the usual range of trailers, cast and crew bios, as well as alternate versions of several portions of John Williams' score. There are also a couple of scenes cut from the theatrical release and not put back in the special edition--including one in which Lex Luthor (Hackman) plays piano and sings!A lengthy list of Lois Lanes
By now, almost everybody has seen Superman, even if years ago, and many viewers have fond memories of it. Truth be told, though, Superman is a very big movie, and for everything that works wonderfully, there's something else that just doesn't.
Superman is really three separate movies. There are the bombastic and obnoxious Krypton scenes, which suggest nothing so much as a bad night at Studio 54. Then there's the much-more-successful Smallville sequence in which Glenn Ford brings a wonderful gravity to his all-too-brief role as Pa Kent, providing the human half of Superman's moral center. When Reeve appears as the adult Superman in Metropolis, his brilliant performance, alongside Kidder's Lois Lane, is what makes the film possible, but so much of the world around them just doesn't work. It's more a case of an actor perfectly inhabiting a role than a great movie.
The additional footage was clearly clipped to shorten running time rather than to alter the feel of the film. The added scenes simply add more flesh to what's already there, and this Superman is still the movie viewers remember. The plentiful extras are a mixed bag. The commentary track by Donner and Mankiewicz is adequate, but the pair waste too much time yukking it up. To be fair, they also figure heavily in the production documentaries where they offer more of the inside stories fans want to hear.
Two features on the flip side are worth the price of admission themselves. These include the special-effects documentary, with test footage of numerous failed attempts to make Superman believably fly, and the screen tests. These are mostly of the penthouse interview between Superman and Lois and a scene, planned for Superman II but ultimately cut, in which Lois exposes Clark as Superman by shooting him. Casting Director Lynn Stalmaster explains that practically every actress in Hollywood tested for Lois Lane. Among those appearing as Lois are Holly Palance, Deborah Raffin and Lesley Ann Warren, as well as Stockard Channing, who very nearly got the part. Although the piece snips together small bits of each test, the effect is a fascinating glimpse at what might have been. Between this footage and its other goodies, the overall package is a treat for fans of the movie.
My personal favorite of the restored scenes is a sweet nod to Superman's past. As Clark Kent is racing a passenger train in the Smallville sequence, the one little girl on the train who notices him is revealed to be none other than the young Lois Lane. Her parents, who of course don't believe a word of her story, are uncredited cameo appearances by Kirk Alyn, who played Superman in the 1948 film serial, and Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane opposite George Reeves in the 1950's The Adventures of Superman TV series. It's a nice touch on the part of the filmmakers. -- John
Also in this issue: Evolution and Atlantis: The Lost Empire
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