Superman: The Movie

***Superman***, often promoted as ***Superman: The Movie***, is a 1978 American superhero film directed by Richard Donner. The film explores the origins of Superman's life and features Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman with Christopher Reeve as Superman. It was released on December 15, 1978 and became a box office success. The film received an Oscar for Best Visual Effects at the 51st Annual Academy Awards and was nominated for Best Music, Best Sound, Original Score, and Best Film Editing.

### Plot

The film begins with a young boy reading a June 1938 issue of *Action Comics*. In a courtroom on the planet Krypton, General Zod (Terence Stamp) and his emissaries, Ursa and Non, are being charged with treason against the planet. The Kryptonian Council finds them guilty and the judge, Jor-El (Marlon Brando), makes the final vote needed to send the outlaws to the Phantom Zone, an eternal punishment of his own design. Before being put in the Phantom Zone, Zod vows to one day have Jor-El or his heir bow down before Zod. Later, Jor-El, is critical of some of his fellow scientists who do not agree that they need to leave the planet to avoid some unspecified disaster. After this, Jor-El is advised by a council not to leave Krypton or to spread his disaster theory, to which he obeys that neither he or his wife will evacuate the planet. However, Jor-El places his infant son, Kal-El, in a ship. He blesses his son and places a green crystal into the ship. Eventually, the planet begins to destruct and Jor-El activates the ship to take off as he and his wife Lara remain behind and perish along with Krypton.

Three years later, Kal-El lands in a cornfield in Smallville, Kansas. His ship landing is witnessed by Martha Kent (Phyllis Thaxter) and her husband Jonathan Kent (Glenn Ford). The ship's landing causes Jonathan to pop a tire on his truck. When they get out to look at their vehicle, they see Kal-El's ship. Martha shows great joy in taking care of the young child inside the ship and has hope of keeping the boy, saying she had prayed for such a miracle for years. During this conversation, the truck slips from the jack, and Jonathan tries to get out of the way. Before anything happens, though, the two discover that Kal-El caught the truck and is supporting it all on his own. They decide to name him "Clark" after Martha's maiden name and claim that he is an orphan from Martha's cousin in North Dakota.

Years later, Clark (Jeff East) is the equipment manager for the Smallville High School football team and seems to be enamored with one student in particular, Lana Lang. He doesn't use any of his powers when his classmates are around, and it is evident that this is likely the reason he does not fit in with other students. Lana invites Clark over to another student's house to listen to some records, but Lana's boyfriend, Brad, makes Clark stay behind to clean up the football gear. Clark then uses his super speed to catch up with them and in the process passes a train (which boards a young Lois Lane who witnesses Clark running by featured in the extended cut of the film).

Clark returns home to which his father believes he was showing off. Jonathan tells Clark that even though with all the things he can do he was sent to Earth for "a reason." Moments later, Jonathan dies of a heart attack. Clark is devastated by his death believing that with all the power he has, he couldn't save his life.

On morning of his eighteenth birthday, Clark feels drawn to the barn. Clark searches under the floor boards and discovers the space ship he arrived in as a baby along with the glowing green crystal. By sunrise, Martha calls Clark for breakfast, but he does not arrive. Instead, she finds Clark standing alone in a the fields. He tells Martha he is leaving and heading north. Martha tells Clark that she knew this day would come and reminds him to always remember her. At the North Pole, he throws the green crystal into the ocean and it grows into build the Fortress of Solitude. There, Clark meets Jor-El and over the next twelve years learns about his origins, his powers of flight, and gets his suit.

In Metropolis, Clark (Christopher Reeve) takes a job as a reporter at the *Daily Planet*. He meets reporter Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) photographer Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure), and chief editor Perry White (Jackie Cooper). Lois thinks Clark is sweet at first after he tells Mr. White to send half of Clark's salary to his mother, but begins to have different thoughts after learning he is bumbling and uses the word "swell." Later, while Clark and Lois are walking together after work, a mugger corners them both in an alley and demands for Lois' purse. Clark tries to set the mugger straight, which fails. Instead, Lois drops her purse and as the mugger bends down to receive it, she kicks him in the face causing his gun to fire at them and he runs away. Lois, unharmed, sees Clark slouched against the building, but he awakes telling her that he fainted when in reality he caught the bullet in his hand.

The following night, Clark reveals himself to the world as Superman to save Lois' life from a helicopter accident. He later stops a jewelry-store burglar and takes him to the police, and rounds up a gang by tying them up and leaving their ship in the middle of the street, rescues a cat from a tree, and brings Air Force One to a safe landing. The next morning, Mr. White puts all his staff on an assignment to get an interview with Superman. That evening, Superman arranges an initial interview with Lois and states his mission: to fight for truth, justice, and the American way. The interview ends with Superman taking Lois flying with him. Lois publishes the interview as “I Spent the Night with Superman”.

Meanwhile, Lex Luthor, criminal mastermind living underground in Metropolis, becomes aware of Superman. Lex is assisted by his two henchmen, Otis and Eve Tessmacher, for his scheme for "land". Lex plans to steal two XK-101 rockets from the US military and to deploy one of the rockets to fault lines California in an attempt to create a new shoreline of property that he has purchased. The other missile will be launched to Hackensack, New Jersey, in the opposite direction making it harder for Superman to stop both at the same time. To ensure that Superman doesn't interfere, Lex summons him to his underground lair by stating he has a gas mine ready to destroy Metropolis. Superman arrives to find out Lex had lied and explains his real plan to Superman. Lex explains that the only way to stop the rockets is from a detonator hidden in a lead chest, but when Superman opens only to discover kryptonite. Lex knew that Superman couldn't see through lead because it was disclosed in his first interview with Lois.

Miss Tessmacher, after discovering that Lex has the second missile heading towards her mother's hometown of Hackensack, rescues Superman from Lex's swimming pool that he recently pushed him in to drown with the kryptonite necklace, but before she frees him of the necklace, she kisses him first. She later tells him that she only kissed him because she feared he wouldn't let her later. Superman promises to save Miss Tessmacher's mother first, and does so before heading west to stop the rocket heading towards the San Andreas fault-line.

By the time he makes it to California, the rocket has already struck and he must stop the effects of the explosion. Lois, who had been in California doing a story about the land scheme, becomes trapped in her car during the earthquake and suffocates to death. Superman is heartbroken by her death and in anger flies into the sky to set things right, but is instead stopped by Jor-El telling him not to change human events. Superman also then comes to remember the last words Jonathan Kent told him: "You are here for a reason." In making his final choice, Superman flies around the world, making time go in reverse, and erases Lois death from happening (although the earthquake still took place as because Lois remembers it). Superman arrives back at Lois' car glad to see her alive and finally attempts to kiss her, but is interrupted by the presence of Jimmy running towards them. Superman tells them both goodbye and flies away. Jimmy wishes that Clark was here to witness everything and Lois ponders to think that Clark might be Superman, but then quickly doubts it. The film closes with Superman taking Lex Luthor and Otis being taken to prison. Lex finally removes his wig, revealing himself to be bald, and vows that the prison walls will not hold him for long.

### Notes

* Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder and Marc McClue appear in the TV Series Smallville, as Virgil Swann, Bridgette Crosby and Dax-Ur respectivley.
* While the film was distributed by Warner Brothers, it was independently produced.
* Though Lynda Carter was busy acting as Wonder Woman in a television series of the same name, she attended this film's premiere.
* As a humorous jab to the tradition of Clark Kent ducking into a telephone booth to transform into Superman, Clark Kent pauses as he notices that a nearby telephone booth is too small and not secluded enough for him to change.