This is a great superhero movie, the first movie that attempted to show superman in a serious light, and it definitely worked. The slogan was "You will believe a man can fly" and that's exactly what Richard Donner wanted audiences to do. He wanted them to believe that Christopher Reeve actually could fly, and I definitely did.
The casting for this film is simply terrific. Not only is Christopher Reeve perfect as Superman, Gene Hackman is perfect as Lex Luthor. Accolades also go out to Marlon Brando as Jor-El and Margot Kidder as Lois Lane. They did well too, but Christopher Reeve triumphs over them all. All in all, a great cast for a great film
Now in the recent remake Superman Returns, which I have also reviewed, I liked how faithful it was to this, and I liked the new superman and Lois Lane, I just think they're a bit too young. But I think they cast Brandon Routh as the new Superman because he looks like he could be Christopher Reeve's son. And that he does, but Reeve is and always will be the superior Superman.
The story is well told, but it is definitely brought up by Superman and Luthor. I loved the beginning part of the movie where it showed Clark's young life and Marlon Brando's speech to baby Clark. I thought that was wonderful and it almost made me shed a tear. The humour, action, and heart blended together very well and kept me cheering until the very end.
For special effects of the seventies, these were revolutionary. For special effects of now, they're still pretty damn cool. Sure, they're a little outdated by our standards now, but lovers of Superman and comic book movies in general love it. Like I said, we were meant to believe a man can fly, and that's exactly what I did.
I absolutely love Superman. He's one of my top three favourite superheroes (the other two being Batman and Wolverine). As for the comics, I read them obsessively and I still do. When I first saw this, I was fairly young and I loved it. I saw this just today again and I loved it even more.
If you haven't seen this movie, you should definitely check it out. A great movie by all means, and definitely up there in the list of the best comic book movies of all time. It certainly won't be forgotten anytime soon. Great cast, great story, great effects, just overall greatness.
