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Superman: The movie - Richard Donner, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman

Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

You'll believe a man can fly!

Unable to convince the ruling council of Krypton that their world will destroy itself soon, scientist Jor-El (Marlon Brando) takes drastic measures to preserve the Kryptonian race: he sends his infant son Kal-El (Lee Quigley) to Earth. There, gaining great powers under Earth's yellow sun, he will become a champion of truth and justice. Raised by Johnathan (Glenn Ford) and Martha Kent (Phyllis Thaxter), an elderly farm couple, Clark Kent (Jeff East) learns that his abilities must be used for good. The adult Clark (Christopher Reeve) travels to Metropolis, where he becomes a mild-mannered reporter for the Daily Planet... and a caped wonder whose amazing feats stun the city: Superman! Meanwhile, Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman), the world's greatest criminal mind, is plotting the greatest real estate swindle of all time. Can't even the man of steel stop this nefarious scheme?

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film superhero Clark Kent Man of Steel Superman action adventure Krypton fantasy Metropolis

Persons of interest

Marlon Brando .... Jor-El
Gene Hackman .... Lex Luthor
Christopher Reeve .... Superman/Clark Kent
Ned Beatty .... Otis
Jackie Cooper .... Perry White
Glenn Ford .... Jonathan Kent
Margot Kidder .... Lois Lane
Jack O'Halloran .... Non
Valerie Perrine .... Eve Teschmacher
Maria Schell .... Vond-Ah
Terence Stamp .... General Zod
Phyllis Thaxter .... Martha Kent
Susannah York .... Lara
Jeff East .... Young Clark Kent
Marc McClure .... Jimmy Olsen
Jerry Siegel .... Author
Joe Schuster .... Author
Mario Puzo .... Storywriter
David Newman .... Screenwriter
Mario Puzo .... Screenwriter
Leslie Newman .... Screenwriter
Robert Benton .... Screenwriter
Richard Donner .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Superman: The movie official movie sites
Awards and film festivals:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS - Oscars) 1979: Special achievement in visual effects; Nominations: Best film editing, Best original score, Best sound
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) 1979: Best newcomer (Christopher Reeve)
Grammys 1980: Best score album (John Williams)
Saturn Awards 1979: Best production design

See also Hollywoodland,Superman returns
Studios and distributors:

Warner Bros * Roadshow Films

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

At 2½ hours, Superman: The movie runs over time. Some of that is the 70s, because attention spans hadn't been whittled down to 15 second sound bites, but some of that is just an excess of grandeur - or the attempt at grandeur. A story like Kal-El's doesn't need any help in that area: just telling it would be grand enough. Unfortunately, this story fell foul of Hollywood's delusions of bigness (size does matter).

Christopher Reeve, meanwhile, steals the film in which he is the eponymous star but contract third lead. It's irksome that the actor playing the lead character in a film gets third billing behind other actors with bigger agents. It's irksome that actors are mentioned above the title, too. Their egos should subsume into the story, which is supposed to be the reason why they are there at all. When I direct I always have the title at the top and the actors and then the crew listed alphabetically. If I was to consider highlighting anyone's name (which I wouldn't) it would be because of merit and nothing else. I am a meritocrat.

Getting back to Chris, he doesn't just look like an heroic being from outer space, he has a grandeur all of his own. He is Superman. He is also Clark Kent, geek extraordinaire, and Kal-El, 18-years-old the last time he had any human interaction. The interview scene on Lois' balcony shows the virginal teenager, part man, part boy to perfection. Marlon Brando does nothing to deserve the large fee and top billing but he isn't bad, either. Same goes for Gene Hackman in spot number two. The banished Kryptonian rebel - whose name is escaping me - was a much better villain, although he was watered down for the sequel. Ah, well.

Media intelligence (DVD)

Audio: Remixed Dolby Surround 5.1 sound
Disc: Dual layer enhanced digital transfer
Picture: Widescreen 16:9
Languages: English
Subtitles: English
9 minutes of extra footage
Deleted scenes
Out-takes
Behind-the-scenes features:

The magic behind the cape - a look at the opticals, flying tests and other special effects that were created for Superman including interviews with the effects supervisor and unit director
Making Superman: filming the legend - a behind-the-scenes view of how it all came together including interviews with director Richard Dormer, Margot Kidder, Christopher Reeve and others
Taking flight: The development of Superman - the trial-and-error to make a man "fly" and other filming breakthroughs. New interviews with the stars and the film's creators are included
Screen tests - some well known faces of those that did and didn't get the part, with a commentary by the casting director

Commentary by Richard Donner and creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz
Audio out-takes including alternate scoring for eight sequences
Music only audio track in Dolby Surround 5.1 sound that showcases John Williams' magical musical score
Web-enabled DVD-ROM features that include storyboard to screen, which shows a storyboard and its corresponding scene simultaneously
Original theatrical trailers and TV spots