"You'll Believe a Man Can Fly" Revisiting an American Classic
When you think of the quintessential American Superhero, there’s really only one name that comes to mind: Superman. Action Comics #1 released on June 12th, 1939 introduced the world to the very first superhero and since then Superman has dominated the Comicbook Industry as one of its most prominent and influential characters. However, the point of this essay isn’t to gush about the man of steel’s comic history, this is a review of a film that could only have been made for Superman. Just as he defined the American superhero in comics back in 1939, he defined it again in film in 1978 with the release of the ever-iconic Richard Donner film: Superman: The Movie (1978).
The narrative of Superman: The Movie (1978) is solid, however, it’s flawed. The biggest problem lies in the first act. It’s a bit slow and things really don’t start to pick up till Clark is shown as Superman for the first time. This poses a bit of a problem as we don’t get to that part of the film until after 41 minutes of screentime has passed. I couldn’t help but feel like the opening 20 minutes of the movie, which I felt were mainly there to placate the legendary Marlon Brando (Jor-El), were almost unnecessary. Once the film departs from the first act, it’s everything you could have wanted from a Superman movie and this is a direct result of the fact that Superman and Clark Kent are the heart of the film. The narrative is set in a way that makes you care for and identify with a character whose greatest critique from his detractors is how unrelatable he is. While this is certainly a result of the film’s great writing, a script can only go as far as the actors’ performance, and while there is a lot of great performances of this film, one towers above all.
There is a lot of great talent in this film, however great all those performances were, none could come close to what we got from Christopher Reeve as Superman. It wasn’t enough that Reeve looked the part, or even that he played it well, it was that he made it look so natural. The scene where Clark opens the seltzer water after Lois shakes it and it sprays everywhere, making a fool of himself, he then responds with boyish charm as he bumbles along: “Of course not Lois, why would anyone want to make a total stranger look like a fool?” It’s the first time these characters meet and it has electricity, and what’s crazy about it is that Christopher Reeve pulls off this first meeting dynamic not once but twice! This time as Superman. Lois is hanging from a helicopter, dangling over the side of the Daily Planet. Her fingers slip and she begins to fall, but she’s caught by Superman. She’s terrified, he smiles “Easy miss, I got you.” Completely in disbelief, she replies “You got me?! Who’s got you.” It’s so utterly perfect. Few performances have left audiences unable to distinguish the actor from the character, but this one is probably the best example.
In order to tell a good story, and have the actors play their parts you need good direction, cinematography, and editing. Luckily the film had all 3 in spades. Richard Donner clearly knew the talent he was working with and how best to use them to cohesively tell the film’s story and convey its plot. The cinematography aids the director in this by adding the elements of diverse shots to tell the pieces of the story between the lines, and the process of editing touches up on the minor details to allow the experience to be unique and expressive. While normally these are things that I could judge individually, this film provides an experience that showcases the talent of all three, and it can be seen where Superman flies with Lois after their interview. The tagline of promotion for this film was “You’ll believe a man can fly!” and through great direction, cinematography, and editing, they accomplished just that. What’s even more impressive is that even after 40 years, it still looks fantastic. However, what would scenes like that be without the proper score to amplify them?
If I were to use one word to describe the score of Superman: The Movie, it would be iconic. The main theme of the film is Superman. It’s instantly recognizable and despite different approaches for a Superman theme by composers, none have come close to touching this John Williams classic. It was everything the character should be: upbeat, grandiose, bold and in a way it’s what people needed at the time.
It’s important to realize the Superman: The Movie came out in 1978 on the heels of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. Faith in the system was broken, and so people had shifted their faith to the press to keep them informed. Superman is a defender of Truth, Justice, and the American way, and it seemed that there was no better time to remind the American people of what exactly that was supposed to mean. Because of this film, Superman became an icon that made people proud to be American again, and the success of this movie would result in 3 sequels. However, more importantly, it opened the industry to bringing heroes to the big screen in a way that represented what the characters stood for in their stories. This was massively important because in a little over 10 years, a movie would be released that would open the flood gates to the Superhero genre as Tim Burton released Batman in 1989. A film that would create yet another iconic interpretation of a pillar character of the comic book industry, but without Superman: The Movie I doubt we would have seen Tim Burton’s Batman come to fruition.
Superman defined the American superhero twice since his inception. The first time was on the pages of Action Comics #1 June 12, 1939, and he did it once more on December 15, 1978, on the silver screen in Superman: The Movie. Between a solid script by Richard Donner and Mario Puzo, fantastic performances by Reeve and his ensemble, and stellar direction, cinematography, and editing they really did make us believe a man could fly, or at least they convinced me.
The narrative of Superman: The Movie (1978) is solid, however, it’s flawed. The biggest problem lies in the first act. It’s a bit slow and things really don’t start to pick up till Clark is shown as Superman for the first time. This poses a bit of a problem as we don’t get to that part of the film until after 41 minutes of screentime has passed. I couldn’t help but feel like the opening 20 minutes of the movie, which I felt were mainly there to placate the legendary Marlon Brando (Jor-El), were almost unnecessary. Once the film departs from the first act, it’s everything you could have wanted from a Superman movie and this is a direct result of the fact that Superman and Clark Kent are the heart of the film. The narrative is set in a way that makes you care for and identify with a character whose greatest critique from his detractors is how unrelatable he is. While this is certainly a result of the film’s great writing, a script can only go as far as the actors’ performance, and while there is a lot of great performances of this film, one towers above all.
There is a lot of great talent in this film, however great all those performances were, none could come close to what we got from Christopher Reeve as Superman. It wasn’t enough that Reeve looked the part, or even that he played it well, it was that he made it look so natural. The scene where Clark opens the seltzer water after Lois shakes it and it sprays everywhere, making a fool of himself, he then responds with boyish charm as he bumbles along: “Of course not Lois, why would anyone want to make a total stranger look like a fool?” It’s the first time these characters meet and it has electricity, and what’s crazy about it is that Christopher Reeve pulls off this first meeting dynamic not once but twice! This time as Superman. Lois is hanging from a helicopter, dangling over the side of the Daily Planet. Her fingers slip and she begins to fall, but she’s caught by Superman. She’s terrified, he smiles “Easy miss, I got you.” Completely in disbelief, she replies “You got me?! Who’s got you.” It’s so utterly perfect. Few performances have left audiences unable to distinguish the actor from the character, but this one is probably the best example.
In order to tell a good story, and have the actors play their parts you need good direction, cinematography, and editing. Luckily the film had all 3 in spades. Richard Donner clearly knew the talent he was working with and how best to use them to cohesively tell the film’s story and convey its plot. The cinematography aids the director in this by adding the elements of diverse shots to tell the pieces of the story between the lines, and the process of editing touches up on the minor details to allow the experience to be unique and expressive. While normally these are things that I could judge individually, this film provides an experience that showcases the talent of all three, and it can be seen where Superman flies with Lois after their interview. The tagline of promotion for this film was “You’ll believe a man can fly!” and through great direction, cinematography, and editing, they accomplished just that. What’s even more impressive is that even after 40 years, it still looks fantastic. However, what would scenes like that be without the proper score to amplify them?
If I were to use one word to describe the score of Superman: The Movie, it would be iconic. The main theme of the film is Superman. It’s instantly recognizable and despite different approaches for a Superman theme by composers, none have come close to touching this John Williams classic. It was everything the character should be: upbeat, grandiose, bold and in a way it’s what people needed at the time.
It’s important to realize the Superman: The Movie came out in 1978 on the heels of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. Faith in the system was broken, and so people had shifted their faith to the press to keep them informed. Superman is a defender of Truth, Justice, and the American way, and it seemed that there was no better time to remind the American people of what exactly that was supposed to mean. Because of this film, Superman became an icon that made people proud to be American again, and the success of this movie would result in 3 sequels. However, more importantly, it opened the industry to bringing heroes to the big screen in a way that represented what the characters stood for in their stories. This was massively important because in a little over 10 years, a movie would be released that would open the flood gates to the Superhero genre as Tim Burton released Batman in 1989. A film that would create yet another iconic interpretation of a pillar character of the comic book industry, but without Superman: The Movie I doubt we would have seen Tim Burton’s Batman come to fruition.
Superman defined the American superhero twice since his inception. The first time was on the pages of Action Comics #1 June 12, 1939, and he did it once more on December 15, 1978, on the silver screen in Superman: The Movie. Between a solid script by Richard Donner and Mario Puzo, fantastic performances by Reeve and his ensemble, and stellar direction, cinematography, and editing they really did make us believe a man could fly, or at least they convinced me.
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