Happy 30th birthday, Superman!!!

Yeah, but those movies were more enjoyable. They didn’t need all the computer graphics and bells and whistles todays movies need.

No. The movie starts with curtains opening on a short little 4x3 black & white sequence showing the comic book pages and then moves into a shot of the Daily Planet building. Then as the camera moves into space, the screen widens and the music comes up loud for the very long title sequence. For another 45 minutes or so, we’ve got a great movie. Then Clark Kent comes to Metropolis and we end up with a silly farce. ;)

Hey,Michael! Was “Superman” ever in 70mm at the GCC(now AMC/Magic Johnson Theatres)Northline Mall? My mind seems to remember that it was but i’m not sure. Thanks.

Rich37…
I’m not sure. I only have a partial list of where the “Superman” 70mm prints were booked.

Belleville, IL â€" BAC CINEMA
Bloomington, MN â€" SOUTHTOWN
Boston, MA â€" CINEMA 57
Chicago, IL â€" ESQUIRE
Costa Mesa, CA â€" SOUTH COAST PLAZA
Los Angeles, CA â€" CHINESE
Los Angeles, CA â€" NATIONAL
Los Angeles, CA â€" WARNER CENTER
New York, NY â€" ASTOR PLAZA
New York, NY â€" MURRAY HILL
New York, NY â€" ORPHEUM
Northbrook, IL â€" EDENS
Oak Brook, IL â€" OAKBROOK
San Diego, CA â€" CINEMA 21
San Francisco, CA â€" NORTHPOINT
San Jose, CA â€" TOWN & COUNTRY
Schaumburg, IL â€" WOODFIELD
Washington, DC â€" EMBASSY CIRCLE

My brother and I saw “Superman” at the Loew’s Astor Plaza on Saturday of its opening weekend. I remember the audience roaring with laughter when Lois interviewed Superman, and later when she said, “That’s Clark, Nice”. I was so impressed by John Williams' score that I immediately went across the street after the movie to the nearest music store, only to be told the record hadn’t been released yet. These days, most soundtracks come out well before the movies' opening day.

OK, sorry I misunderstood. When I saw it opening night at the Route 4 Paramus in NJ, there was nothing on the screen except the massive curtain.

I saw both Superman I and Superman II at the (now-closed) Circle Cinema, in Brookline, MA, when they first came out. They were both cool films. From what I heard, though, Superman III and Superman IV weren’t so hot.

Anyway, happy 30th Birthday to Superman.

I also have fond memories of “Superman” and in particular of seeing it for the first time on its opening weekend on a suitably big screen (in 35mm) at the Cinema 23 in Cedar Grove, NJ (now a carved-up fiveplex). Or maybe I should say fond memories of hearing it there: the surround channels at Cinema 23 tended to be too loud relative to the center channel, but for this movie that imbalance worked very well, especially in the opening credits sequence where the very loud “whoosh”-ing effects and the fanfare-laden music really benefited from enveloping the theatre. Of course, the rest of the movie was pretty good too! If I look back on it from a vantage point of 30 years, I see a mish-mash of acting styles and shifts in tone from respectful seriousness to ‘70s campiness, but recalling how I enjoyed it as a college freshman I’m inclined to put aside my more jaded “adult” perspective. Speaking of the scenes that were added to the DVD—I wish there was the option of watching the movie on DVD without the"adult" perspective. Speaking of the scenes that were added to the DVD—I wish there was the option of watching the movie on DVD without the addiitons. They’re interesting to see once, but then they serve only to clutter up a movie that already runs nearly two-and-a-half hours.

I first saw this when I was eleven or twelve when I rented it from Blockbuster. I remember reading that it was one of the best superhero movies and I wasn’t disappointed in the least bit. Soon I rented the others and saw Superman Returns in theatres when it opened in 2006.

In order (best to worst): I, II, Returns, IV, Supergirl, III.

Prior to the release of the first SUPERMAN movie, I had the privilege of meeting Noel Neill, the best-remembered Losi Lane, in person. She was at my old college and brought an original script from the tv series and students took part and read the script. She joked that Mario Puzo got involved because he was the one who could Lois and Superman in bed together. In SUPERMAN 2, that’s what happened. I find it sad that we treat our heroes this way-instead of the all-American symbol he once was, Superman was brought down to a lower level. When Superman was on tv, the producers went to great lengths to preserve his image as a moral hero. They even cut Lois out of the breakfast food commercials, as they felt it was indecent to have a woman with two men (Clark and Jimmy) in an apartment in the morning. Whole episodes were scrapped when they felt there was violent or immoral content. By the time the newest SUPERMAN came around, Lois is living single with a child. Why can’t we preserve some decency and morality in our heroes? Perhaps that is one reason why America has had such flawed leaders in recent times.

I’m afraid Superman 1 was a happy accident and it took two more decades before superheroes in the movies got some respect. You can hear the whole story in the director’s commentaries of Superman 1 and the restored version of Superman 2. Basically, the producers of the movie were French and everyone laughed when they paid DC Comics $20 million for the movie rights to Superman for 20 years. But because they were French, they really had little idea of who Superman was, but they knew they wanted to make an American-style movie and break into the American movie business. Hiring Mario Puzo was a stunt to get publicity and to capitalize on The Godfather craze of the mid-‘70s. Ditto for hiring Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman. The real shooting script was written by David & Leslie Newman and Robert Benton, which was done in a comedic tone, much like the old Batman TV series. The producers went down the list of directors who directed movies that made more than $100 million, starting with Coppola and Lucas, and ended up with Richard Donner who had just directed The Omen. Donner, quite shrewdly, took over the entire production, having writing partner Tom Mankiewicz redo the script and pushing the producers out of the way. Warner Bros. officially took over the film about 2/3 through when the production ran out of money. The producers repaid Donner by locking him out of the second movie, even though he had shot about 2/3 of the second movie simultaneously with the first. Comedy director Richard Lester was brought in to finish things up. Superman 3 was developed from scratch reflecting the comedic atmosphere the producers originally wanted, as Superman had to fight Robert Vaughan and Richard Pryor! Christopher Reeve agreed to do Superman 4 only if he could direct, and although 4 is much truer to the Superman comic in form and substance, its low budget cheapened the series. Superman Returns is basically a hideous remake of the first Superman movie, destroying the character of Superman in an attempt to modernize him. The rumor is Warner Bros. is considering rebooting the reboot by ignoring Superman Returns.

Superman 1 certainly helped change the perception that the only way a comic book movie could work was to make it like the Batman TV show. But it did take quite a bit of time for Hollywood to discover how to make GOOD comic book movies.

I always liked Superman IV. At least it was fun to watch. It may not have been as good as I and II but it was a vast improvement over III, which was no fun at all.

This was probably the second movie I ever experienced in a movie theater as I was very young at the time. My oldest brother, who had his driver’s license kidnapped me ( or so I felt at the time because i didn’t want to go) to see Superman at the now closed NTI Landover 6, in Landover , MD. There was no stereo and the auditoriums were all literal shoebox theaters that felt like you were in a tunnel that went deep into the ground. If memory serves me correctly, they did have curtains. I’m thinking they rose and dropped vertically.

My first impression was that the movie took forever to get anywhere. The opening credits were scary because the volume was loud mono and there was a lot of whoooshing and swooshing going around with the blurred lettering. Although, I thought the Superman logo’s depiction was cool. During the Krypton sequence, I feel asleep, only to be elbowed and awakened during the part where Superman rescues the Lois Lane from the helicopter atop the Daily Planet building. At the time, it felt so real with the way they edited that scene together. You had the real scenes of the people, on the street, Superman looking for a place to ‘change’ and Lois dangling over the street by a seatbelt. In spite of the weekday showing and small audience, there was a group sitting in the front (mostly girls) who’d squeal every time there was a Chris Reeve close up, or he did something heroic as Superman. So naturally, when Superman rescues Lois in his one hand and grabs the falling the helicopter with the other, there was this huge applause and hooplah that started from them, that caused a chain reaction of cheers and applause going to the back of the audience. From then on, I was wide awake until the end.

Even as a young..6th grader, I had great appreciation for the movie as I had expected a silly movie much like the old George Reeves' tv show. Having watched that show in reruns and the animated cartoons for years, it was a surprise to me that the Superman movie would be such an enthralling and engaging adventure even in mono sound. I was even on the verge of tears as Lois ‘dies’ after she gets suffocated by all that gravel. When Superman cries out over the death of Lois, the character lost its cardboard corniness and became identifiably human. For this and, of course, Richard Donner’s superb direction, John Williams score and the superb supporting cast, this movie remains my favorite comic book character film of all time.

http://tinyurl.com/3fzlkz…this link has info about all the alternate versions of Supes, from its theatrical release to the DVD extended version. Another good site to check out is http://www.capedwonder.com/, a great source for Superman info. Superman was one of the first major blockbusters to arrive on the very-new VHS, Betamax, and Laserdisc, a format which was introduced in Atlanta on the same day as the Superman movie. The laserdisc was the only version containing the full length movie, and it was in pan-and-scan!!! Luckily, the movie was re-issued in Dolby Surround on VHS and Laserdisc and also in widescreen in 1990 before the film was fully extended on DVD in 2001 and made its debut on both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray disc as well as a download on most online video stores.

That’s the one.

Superman was more than just an average movie for an upcoming star named Reeve. It made him rich and he did more than just fly in tights; he founded a non-profit organziation founded after he suffured a back injury during a horse ride. Both Christopher and Dana sadly passed away, leaving behind their three kids, one from an earlier marriage, but the foundation lives on as one to help those who have disabilities. My former workshop where i work, Employment Horizons, was supported by the Reeve foundation, and Dana was there for the grant before her death two years after Chris died.

Thanks,Mike!

My wife and I spent a rainy Xmas eve. 1978 sitting with hundreds of others in the Kings Plaza Mall waiting 2 hours for the next showing of “Superman-The Movie.” at the Kings Plaza theater. From the wonderful nostalgic black and white opening to John Williams' stirring theme, this film remains (along with Superman II) my favorite comic-book movie. I loved the Superman comic books I read as a child throughout the Silver-Age and I love this film. That evening remains a very pleasant memory