superman christopher reeve - Question.com Home › How many times did Christopher Reeve play Superman? How many times did Christopher Reeve play Superman? The movie Superman was so successful, a sequel (Superman II) was made, followed by two more sequels (Superman III and Superman IV), all in the 1980s, and Reeve played the part of Superman in all three. The first Superman movie also starred Marlon Brando as Lex Luthor, Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, and Terence Stamp as General Zod. (Marlon Brando was paid $4 million for under eight minutes of screen time, a remarkably high sum at the time.) John Williams wrote the score for the film, whose theme song won a Grammy award. Before playing Superman, Christopher Reeve acted onstage and on a television soap opera. His later screen credits include The Bostonians and Somewhere in Time, now a cult classic. In May 1995, Christopher Reeve was paralyzed from the neck down after falling from his horse in a riding competition. He had largely retired from film production since then, instead devoting his time to rehabilitation therapy.

With his wife Dana, he opened the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center in Short Hills, New Jersey, a center devoted to teaching paralyzed people to live more independently. In 2003 and early 2004, Reeve made two well-received appearances on the television Superman prequel series, Smallville, playing Dr Swann, who gives the young Clark Kent clues to his origins. Christopher Reeve died on 10 October, 2004. Sign In Superman (1978) Follow DL on Superman (1978) It's currently available on On-Demand and I just finished watching (probably my fourth or 5th time seeing it). On the plus side, it was the 151 minute director's cut; on the minus side, except for the opening and closing credits, it's pan-and-scan. Still, it holds up marvelously, even if the FX look obvious. It's the story, directing and acting that make it work. Something which too many modern blockbusters have forgotten. Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder are truly dazzling. I remember going to see it when I was 9 with my dad.

I had such a sense of awe from beginning to end; it's truly an epic film. I still felt that tonight, watching it, something which I've never experienced at any subsequent comic book films (the closest was probably Spider-Man 2). by Anonymous Sorry, OP, you lost me at "pan-and-scan." by Anonymous reply 1 05/18/2010 Love it and the first sequel. Just hearing the music gives me the same thrill I had seeing it as a kid. On the downside, AMC showed Superman 3 over the weekend and I watched part of it for the first time in probably 25 years. Even worse than I remembered. How could they kill off such a great series with that mess? (Though Annette O'Toole as Lana Lang was cute.) by Anonymous 05/18/2010 I try to pretend that Superman 3 never happened. Agreed that much of what makes Superman 1 work is the story. I like that the director and producers took the material seriously. Not seriously as in "this is great drama" but seriously as in "here is what people would do in a situation like this." It's a good film.

by Anonymous 05/18/2010 I love this movie and its first sequel so much I can barely watch them. I was in love with both Reeves and Kidder back in the day, and seeing them when they were young, healthy, and brilliant... hurts. by Anonymous WORST WIGS IN THE HISTORY POF CINEMA! by Anonymous reply 15 05/19/2010 [quote]Reeve is terrific in the movie, especially as Clark. He really makes the whole thing work. Except for the time-reverse ending, of course, which is ludicrous... Superman II is even better. Ludicrous? You mean as opposed to a man who could fly and comes from another planet? It's a fantasy, nothing can be ludicrous. I loved the first one as a kid. By the time the second came out, I was working as an usher in a theatre and was thrilled we were getting "Superman II". I was crushed I didn't like it. And I admit it, I know I am apparently the only person to not to like it. It's not horrible, but for me, it didn't have the epic scope of the first one.

I'll still watch it whenever it's on and I saw the Donner Director's cut, but my heart will always be with the first. One goof to look for, since the first two were shot in England, in part II, when the villians come into town, listen for the kid to yell. "Don't hurt my Daddy", clearly the kid has an English accent. Got to meet Christopher Reeve right after Part II opened and he was an amazingly warm and funny guy. Treated my family as if he knew them all his life. Made him all the more beautiful. by Anonymous I loved the movie and I also loved the Mad Magazine parody of it. Lois: “Who would believe a man could fly?” Superman, to himself, “The same morons who would believe a $125 a week reporter could live in a Taj Mahal apartment like this!” by Anonymous reply 19 05/19/2010 Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder were absolutely perfect, and had great chemistry. No other actors could have played Superman and Lois Lane better than those two did.

by Anonymous reply 20 05/19/2010 The DVD has a bunch of footage of various actresses testing for Lois. Despite the fact that Kidder isn't the best actress they saw, she's clearly the best Lois. They have Stockard Channing playing her as a totally unlikable bitch, and Lesley Ann Warren playing her as a complete airhead who seems like she'd have too much trouble understanding that the sun hasn't gone away forever at night to make a credible girl reporter. by Anonymous reply 21 05/19/2010 Here are the auditions. Reeve was in a temp costume before the producer insisted he wear a cup to smooth things out. by Anonymous reply 22 05/19/2010 I saw this when I was 12 in a big old movie palace in downtown Kansas City. It was a wonderful experience. The special effects really freaked one guy out. He stood up and started shouting "THAT'S FAKE, MAN!!! THAT'S FAKE!!!

HOW HE GONNA BE FLYING LIKE THAT - THAT'S FAKE!!!" by Anonymous 05/19/2010 I always end up thinking the real star is John Williams' wonderful score. He may have won Oscars for his other scores, but to me, Superman is his best work. by Anonymous any indications of how big Chris Reeve was? by Anonymous reply 25 05/19/2010 Well, MPC would unstatisfied, but the verificatia of his junk in the little red panties from the test reels indicate sizemeat. by Anonymous reply 26 05/19/2010 [quote]I always end up thinking the real star is John Williams' wonderful score... He may have won Oscars for his other scores, but to me, Superman is his best work. Agree and still the best credits ever on the big widescreen with stereo sound. Those whoooshs came from all over the theater. So cool. Best Score Oscar went to "Midnight Express"and Best Sound to "The Deer Hunter" WTF? by Anonymous Christopher Reeve was so damn handsome.

by Anonymous reply 28 05/19/2010 The credits only happened because the crew put together a teaser trailer to raise flagging spirits onset. It didn't contain any actual footage, just the cast's names whooshing past in front of video of clouds filmed from a plane or helicopter. Everyone liked it so much, they decided to use the same format for the final picture. Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz kvell over the credits on their commentary track. They also don't really pull any punches when talking about their distaste for Alexander and Ilya Salkind, though they stay pretty polite. by Anonymous reply 29 05/19/2010 Hello! I'm 47, live at home, collect comic books and Star Trek memorabilia, and have a well-groomed goatee. I used to work as a barista at Starbucks, but then they closed the store in the airport and I got fired. You sound like my kind of people. by Anonymous 05/19/2010 I love this film, too. Brando and Susannah York were sublime.

Holy Crap, York is a good-looking woman, not a beauty, just flat out good-looking. When Jor-El talks how about how humans "wish to be good," I kinda tear up. Hackman, Hagman, what's the blonde's name again? I hate it that I can't remember because she's very good in this- "Why can't I ever get it on with the good guys?" Darn, now I wanna re-watch Superman. by Anonymous Eve Tessmacher, played by Valerie Perrine. by Anonymous reply 32 05/19/2010 God, the Singer version was such a mess. I don't even remember what it was about. Kate Bosworth is a wet noodle at best and Kevin Spacey is dreadful. The 1978 version is great, love it. And Superman II is the "gay one" to me because Ursa is so damn fierce and its a little campier.

by Anonymous reply 33 05/19/2010 [quote]And Superman II is the "gay one" to me because Ursa is so damn fierce and its a little campier And yet it's the one that's ignored since WB allowed Richard Donner to re-cut the movie using his footage. Once they released it on DVD, it's the only one that's been made available for HD. Even half-formed, and considering that a tick less than a fifth of the movie is still Richard Lester's material (unlike Lester's cut, which is about a quarter Donner's), it's still the better version. by Anonymous R22 in this clip it appears that Ms Spacey auditioned for the lead by Anonymous reply 35 05/19/2010 I loved "Supergirl". I wish they'd release the 150 minute version on DVD. Or at least re-release the director's cut. Singer's movie made 2 huge mistakes. Superman abandoning Lois (who, it turns out, was pregnant). And Bosworth. He went to such lengths to find an actor like Reeve- then ditched Kidder, and went for a glam girl.

Horrible. Kidder was perfect as Lois- irreplaceable. by Anonymous reply 36 05/19/2010 [quote]Ludicrous? You mean as opposed to a man who could fly and comes from another planet? It's a fantasy, nothing can be ludicrous. You don't understand the basic rules of fantasy writing. People will believe in impossible things so long as they have the air of plausibility about them. IF a being from another planet could come here, he MIGHT possibly have powers unlike our own. That idea has a quasi-logical feel to it that we can all accept. But to assert that a man flying in super-fast rings around the earth will not only cause the planet to rotate backwards but that everything on the planet will also move backwards while time itself reverses is just plain silly. It's also a cheap solution to simply hit the "reset" button on the plot after showing cataclysmic events happen as if to say, "never mind." A gimmick like that can only work on you the first time you see it. On repeat viewings there's no suspense whatever because you know that everything bad is going to be made to un-happen.

by Anonymous reply 37 05/19/2010 You think too much, reply 37. You sound like Sheldon from "The Big Bang Theory". 99% of the world thought it was cool. by Anonymous The chemistry that Margot and Christopher had just doesn't exist anymore in film. by Anonymous reply 39 05/19/2010 [quote]One goof to look for, since the first two were shot in England, in part II, when the villians come into town, listen for the kid to yell. "Don't hurt my Daddy", clearly the kid has an English accent. Except that particular scene was shot in Alberta, Canada, which makes one wonder why they didn't just hire a local actor for a one-line role. [quote]Singer's movie made 2 huge mistakes. Superman abandoning Lois (who, it turns out, was pregnant). And Bosworth. He went to such lengths to find an actor like Reeve- then ditched Kidder, and went for a glam girl. Horrible. Agreed on both counts.

The worst part about the Bosworth casting, aside from her limited acting ability, was simply the incredibility of a 23-year-old actress playing a 35-year-old character. What they SHOULD have done, as I said on threads when the movie came out, is have Parker Posey play Lois instead of Lex's latest Miss Tessmacher. Btw I agree with R37: there are limits to fantasy in film-writing, and the only thing more ridiculous than Superman reversing the world's axis is that doing so reversed time in the process. This breaks nearly every basic rule of physics. by Anonymous reply 40 05/19/2010 [quote]in part II, when the villians come into town, listen for the kid to yell. "Don't hurt my Daddy", clearly the kid has an English accent. Further trivia: that kid is actor Marcus D'Amico - Mouse from the original "Tales of the City" miniseries. by Anonymous reply 41 05/19/2010 I remember the buzz surrounding the making of this film and, then, the promotion of it. As a young teenager discovering his sexuality, I couldn't wait to see t.

Christopher Reeves and Margot kidder were fantastic. i also loves the scenes earlier in the movie, when Clark is a young high school student. Whoever played him was a handsome actor, who got the mixture of naivete and sensitivity just right It was a well made film. by Anonymous reply 42 05/19/2010 [quote]Whoever played him was a handsome actor, who got the mixture of naivete and sensitivity just right The actor's name is Jeff East, but his dialogue is actually overdubbed by Chris Reeve. by Anonymous reply 43 05/19/2010 Totally agree with r40 that Parker Posey should've played Lois in Superman Returns; but, then, they would've needed to hire an older actor to play Superman. It was a fine idea to have Superman Returns be a sequel to the first two films, thus ignoring the horrible 3rd and 4th films; that said, repeating much of the dialogue from I and II in Superman Returns, while initially welcome, grew tiresome after awhile.

by Anonymous reply 44 05/19/2010 [quote]in part II, when the villians come into town, listen for the kid to yell. "Don't hurt my Daddy", clearly the kid has an English accent.[/quote] And to add insult to injury, wasn't that scene supposed to be in Texas? by Anonymous reply 45 05/19/2010 I never got the sense that Superman was turning the Earth around and making it rotate backwards. in the comics, Superman is able to ravel through time by exceeding the speed of light. i think that he was traveling so quickly that it started to appear that the earth was traveling backwards- but that it was superman who was actually traveling back in time. by Anonymous reply 46 05/19/2010 There's an even longer version that runs almost three and a half hours. It ran in syndication a lot in the nineties, and it always aired on two consecutive nights. ABC also aired this version when the movie had its television premiere.

by Anonymous reply 47 05/19/2010 "Totally agree with [R40] that Parker Posey should've played Lois in Superman Returns; but, then, they would've needed to hire an older actor to play Superman." Yeah, that was totally going to happen. We're talking Brian Singer - if you're over 21 you may as well be dead. by Anonymous reply 48 05/19/2010 [quote] There's an even longer version that runs almost three and a half hours. It ran in syndication a lot in the nineties, and it always aired on two consecutive nights. That's part of the reason that the Donner Cut exists by Anonymous reply 49 05/19/2010 The Donner cut only adds a few minutes. There is another twenty five to thirty minutes that is not on any DVD edition. by Anonymous 05/19/2010 [quote]they would've needed to hire an older actor to play Superman. Isn't Superman supposed to stop aging at some point after reaching adulthood? If so he'd be the same age as he was when he left Earth.

I also don't think Brandon Routh-rhymes-with-South is too young to play against Parker, who looks quite good for her age. R50, are you sure the full cut isn't available on the four-disc set that came out a few years ago? See link. by Anonymous 05/19/2010 Voice, tell me something about the Donner's Cut. I recorded it last night, not knowing anything about it but all excited since I hadn't seen Superman II in years. Huh? Didn't the original Superman II start out with a sequence in the Eiffel Tower? Or have I lost it? by Anonymous reply 54 05/19/2010 Margot Kidder was stunning until they cut her hair and gave her BANGS. That crappy eighties hair-do wouldn't have looked good on Archer either. Kidder had a sweetness that just came through. And she was very pretty, despite the hair and clothes they gave her. by Anonymous [quote]Didn't the original Superman II start out with a sequence in the Eiffel Tower Yes. Okay, the story here is extremely complicated, but let's see if I can stick to the basics.

The Salkinds were notoriously cheap producers, and so they planned to film both movies simultaneously. As a result, when Tom Mankiewicz was brought in to salvage the script (despite the credits, which are a result of some arcane WGA rule, it's his script, not any of the credited writers, though a lot of the milieu came from Mario Puzo), he structured the story as having two acts. Originally, the first movie was more of a cliffhanger, and didn't end with Superman turning back time (that was left for the second movie), and the missile ended up tearing Zod, Ursa, and Non from the Phantom Zone. Okay, so the Salkinds and Donner HATED each other, to the point that they brought in Richard Lester to be their intermediary. The Salkinds wanted Donner to make the film campier, which horried him, he in turn started spending too much money. With about 80% of the second film in the can, Donner halted production to focus on editing the first movie. He had expected to resume production afterward, but after a long silence, he eventually got a telegram from Ilya Salkind telling him his services were no longer needed.

The biggest immediate effect was that it broke continuity between the two movies. Lester was brought in (and the rumor onset had always been that he was really there so that he could replace Donner) and under DGA rules, he had to direct at least 51% of the final film in order to receive credit, so he shot new footage and ordered a reshoot of a lot of the existing material. Gene Hackman refused to film with him, which resulted in Luthor's role being cut substantially and resulted in the use of a body double for some scenes. Brando was excised from the film entirely and all of his scenes were reshot with Susannah York, although some of the plot elements were changed. Lester through in a lot more broad humor, plus added in that business about the terrorists with an H-bomb in Paris. This resulted in really noticeable jumps in appearance, especially for Reeve and Kidder. He'd gotten a lot bulkier over the course of filming the two movies, and so there's a mismatch in his body, and Kidder's hair and makeup were completely different, to the point of being distracting.

ANYWAY, the ABC broadcast version, in order to pad the length, threw in a lot of Donner's footage. Some very enterprising fans taped this. As a result, maybe ten years ago, they started agitating that they were going to re-edit the second film to restore Donner's footage. This raised the hackles of the friendly Warner Bros legal department, but did provide an opening for Donner to come in, restore a lot of his original materials, and make the film resemble what he'd originally intended. It's not perfect, because no matter what, some of the stuff is just lost because he never filmed it (there are certain scenes where they're using screen-test footage), but a number of people, including significantly Margot Kidder, think it's the better version. by Anonymous Voice if you're still around, thanks for this! GREAT stuff. Peace. reply 58 05/27/2010 I remember what a big fucking deal it was that Marlon Brando was being paid $4 million for just a few days' work (and a few minutes of screen time) for the first film. Now, of course, that wouldn't be much of anything.

I always thought Susannah York looked stunning as Lara. Such a lovely woman. by Anonymous reply 59 05/27/2010 Still quite stunning. Don't know if she's had any work done, but, regardless, I hope I look as good as York when I'm her age. by Anonymous Just watched the opening credits again. Still fucking awesome. Thanks, R27. reply 62 05/27/2010 [quote]I remember what a big fucking deal it was that Marlon Brando was being paid $4 million for just a few days' work (and a few minutes of screen time) for the first film. Now, of course, that wouldn't be much of anything. The bigger issue, and the reason that the Salkinds were so eager to get rid of him, was that he was contracted to receive a fairly sizable chunk of the films' grosses. By cutting him from the second film, they sidestepped that. And I'm not much more than a geek with a mind like a steel trap for trivia.

by Anonymous reply 63 05/27/2010 R60, your picture shows the face of a woman who's had everything done, short of a total face transplant. by Anonymous "Best superhero movie ever, bar none!!!" Damn skippy! Why has DC lost the knack of making entertaining movies? "Superman" and "Superman II" were so much fun, the adventure seasoned with just the right amount of humor and a genuine sparkling romance, and now? DC movies are grim and dull. "Man of Steel" is already forgotten, and we're still talking about "Superman". by Anonymous reply 73 08/07/2014 [quote]I remember what a big fucking deal it was that Marlon Brando was being paid $4 million for just a few days' work (and a few minutes of screen time) for the first film. Now, of course, that wouldn't be much of anything Why don't people take inflation into account? Or rise of cost of living? Yes, $4 million doesn't seem like a lot by modern standards, but it was a lot then because everything cost less.

Today, $20 million is a lot, but in 30 years it could be considered chump change. by Anonymous 08/07/2014 Minnie Driver would've been a far better Lois in Singer's "Returns" than Bosworth. "Superman IV" was schlock, only made to advance Reeves' anti-nukes politics. Cannon films, Jesus. John Cryer, Jesus. by Anonymous reply 75 08/07/2014 I'm pretty young (18) and I just saw Superman & Superman II (Both the Theatrical Cut & Donner Cut - I preferred the Theatrical) this weekend. All three were awesome. I never was much of a Superman fan. I had only seen Smallville, Superman Returns & Man of Steel (I was not impressed), and preferred Batman. Now after seeing Superman I & II, I am changing my tune. I found the DVD's cheap and now I am ordering the Blu-Rays. Reeve, Hackman, and Kidder were amazing. by Anonymous R78, In HIS thirties. Not THE 1930s.

by Anonymous reply 82 08/11/2014 Before my time, but that Reeve dude was hot. I gotta finally break down and watch those first two flicks. by Anonymous reply 83 08/11/2014 "There are limits to fantasy in film-writing, and the only thing more ridiculous than Superman reversing the world's axis is that doing so reversed time in the process. This breaks nearly every basic rule of physics." Not only that, but even if you suspend disbelief far enough to accept that Superman somehow reversed time, the sequence still doesn't make any sense whatsoever -- because if he reversed time to before Lois was killed in the earthquake, then he also reversed it to before he repaired the San Andreas fault. In the film as it stands, somehow the earthquake just never happens after Superman reverses time. It's an amazingly huge error in the internal logic of the film, which is why the whole sequence is ridiculous. I just watched the whole movie (the first one) for the first time since I saw it in a theater during its initial release.

Even though it's about eight million times better than the one with Henry Cavill (I didn't see the Brandon Routh movie), it's a huge mess in many ways. Here are some notes: 1) The tone shifts wildly throughout, to the point where it seem like at least two different movies -- very earnest for the whole first section, then broadly comic, then back to earnest and sentimental, then back to cartoonishly comic, and so on and so on. 2) Whopping continuity errors. Lex Luthor's hair style and color keeps changing; yes, in his last scene, he rips off a wig to reveal he's bald underneath, but since we don't know that's going to happen from the beginning, it's distracting to see his hair change so obviously, at least three or four times. Even less justified is the change in Jimmy Olsen's haircut -- longish in the first scenes, much shorter at the end in the scenes just before and during the earthquake. 3) I realize the first two movies were basically filmed at once, and there was always a plan for at least one sequel.

Still, to introduce the three Kryptonian villains at the beginning of the first film and then never let us see them again after they're sent off into the void, without even so much as a "to be continued" at the end of the film, is weird. 4) The billing of the actors in that great main title sequence is very odd. Sure, I can understand why Brando comes first; but then Christopher Reeve is something like the fifth or sixth name to be listed, without even "and Christopher Reeve as Superman" or anything like that to make his name stand out. He's listed as if he's just a member of the supporting cast. Very odd, even accounting for agents' contract negotiations. 5) I think Kidder's performance is too aggressively quirky and has not aged well.

6) Some of the rear projection in the flying sequences is awful not only awful by today's standards, but also when compared to some other, older movies that did pretty much the same thing, like "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." 7) There are some "laughs" in the movie that aren't remotely funny any more and would probably not be included in a movie made today, like when we hear that little girl being slapped by her mother for "lying" about a man having flown down from the sky to rescue her cat from a tree. by Anonymous reply 84 08/11/2014 "There are some "laughs" in the movie that aren't remotely funny any more and would probably not be included in a movie made today, like when we hear that little girl being slapped by her mother for "lying" about a man having flown down from the sky to rescue her cat from a tree." Seriously? We love it when little girls are slapped. by Anonymous Superman (1978) - IMDb IMDb 18 December 2016 5:41 PM, UTC NEWS There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property.

Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero. Director: a list of 35 titles created 21 Feb 2011 a list of 48 titles created 03 Jun 2013 a list of 28 titles created 08 Aug 2013 a list of 23 images created 14 Jan 2015 a list of 26 titles created 29 Apr 2015 Search for " Superman " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 15 wins & 17 nominations. See more awards » Videos Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.

Directors: Richard Lester, Richard Donner Stars: Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder Synthetic kryptonite laced with tobacco tar splits Superman in two: good Clark Kent and bad Man of Steel. Director: Richard Lester Superman reappears after a long absence, but is challenged by an old foe who uses Kryptonian technology for world domination. Director: Bryan Singer The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being the clownishly homicidal Joker. Director: Tim Burton When a corrupt businessman and the grotesque Penguin plot to take control of Gotham City, only Batman can stop them, while the Catwoman has her own agenda. Director: Tim Burton Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth. Directors: Richard Donner, Richard Lester Stars: Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando Batman must battle Two-Face and The Riddler with help from an amorous psychologist and a young circus acrobat who becomes his sidekick, Robin.

Director: Joel Schumacher A boy inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town. Director: Joe Dante The Gremlins are back, and this time, they've taken total control over the building of a media mogul. Director: Joe Dante In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories. Director: Paul Verhoeven Three former parapsychology professors set up shop as a unique ghost removal service. Director: Ivan Reitman The discovery of a massive river of ectoplasm and a resurgence of spectral activity allows the staff of Ghostbusters to revive the business. Director: Ivan Reitman Edit Storyline Just before the destruction of the planet Krypton, scientist Jor-El sends his infant son Kal-El on a spaceship to Earth. Raised by kindly farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent, young Clark discovers the source of his superhuman powers and moves to Metropolis to fight evil.

As Superman, he battles the villainous Lex Luthor, while, as novice reporter Clark Kent, he attempts to woo co-worker Lois Lane Written by Jwelch5742 The movie that makes a legend come to life. See more » Genres: Rated PG for peril, some mild sensuality and language | See all certifications » Parents Guide: 15 December 1978 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Superman: The Movie See more » Filming Locations: 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)| Dolby (35 mm prints)| Mono Color: Did You Know? Trivia George Lucas turned down the chance to direct in favour of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). See more » Goofs The fire trail along which Kalel's ship had traveled when he landed on earth as a boy would have been much longer and would have burned and smoked longer than it did. See more » Quotes [first lines] Boy: In the decade of the 1930s, even the great city of Metropolis was not spared the ravages of the worldwide depression.

In times of fear and confusion, the job of informing the public was the responsibility of the Daily Planet, a great metropolitan newspaper whose reputation for clarity and truth had become the symbol for hope in the city of Metropolis... Cheerios by General Mills See more » Connections (The Penumbra) – See all my reviews I had only ever seen the TV version of the original Superman movie until I bought the HD-DVD. So, as you can imagine, on TV it was in hideous pan and scan and with several scenes missing. In reality, I have never seen the 'full' movie until now. And I have to admit, it's far, far superior to Bryan Singer's self-indulgent mess of Superman Returns. It actually takes quite a while to get going, but there's so much going on that the running time certainly doesn't seem two and a half hours. Richard Donner shot it back to back with Superman II, so there's an extended opening act that establishes the plot of the sequel at the same time. Anyone who doesn't know the story of Superman must be from another galaxy, but for those people I will give you a quick soundbite. Kal El is the orphan of the planet Krypton, which has recently blown up.

He comes to Earth as a baby and lands in Smallville where he is quickly adopted by a farmer and his wife and renamed Clark Kent. His dense molecular structure and his ability to defy Earth's gravity give him advantages over humans and ultimately he becomes...SUPERMAN! But who doesn't already know that? Clark Kent assumes an exaggerated, clumsy, meek newspaper reporter persona to distance himself from the Superman guise. Somehow everybody, including secret love Lois Lane, falls for it even though the glasses and the hair are all that is different. Hypervillain Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) doesn't take well to the man of steel as he might interfere with his plans for Real Estate Domination (the modern term for World Domination). But does he really think he can win? Hypervillains never know when to be humble. Just about everything that was terrible about Superman Returns is completely right about this one. The cinematography, the music, the editing, the pacing. I won't call the SFX fake, since it doesn't ever take you out of the film, so I'll just call them 'quaint'.

For 1978 they're good and even though they are all done optically it's still better than the CGI crapfest of Singer's interpretation. Christopher Reeve's ultimate fate does kind of upset me, so it's good to see him in his prime and being made immortal in a way. The cast of this film does have a lot of big names. Along with the huge scope and spectacle, such a large cast adds to the epic feel of it. Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty, Margot Kidder, Terence Stamp and Glenn Ford just seem like a far more dynamic bunch of actors than Kate Bosworth and Kal Penn. Don't you think? It's been 29 years since this film was released and people still make a big fuss over it today. In 29 years, will be still be talking about Superman Returns? Outside of ridicule, I think not. 20 of 26 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Actors Who Have Played Superman Actors Who Have Played Superman Have you ever wondered about men behind Superman's famous red cape? This video from About.com has an overview of the actors who have played the role over the years.

Show transcript Hide transcript Transcript: Actors Who Have Played Superman Hey, I'm Lauren Zima for about.com and today we're taking a look at some of the actors who have played the role of the "Man of Steel" -- Superman. The Original Superman George Reeves was perhaps the first enduring figure of Superman on the big screen. Others had played the role, but after his 1951 debut in Superman and the Mole Men, Reeves went on to an extended run with Superman on the small screen in the TV series The Adventures of Superman. He appeared in more than 100 episodes, and after had difficulty getting cast in other roles. Reeves struggled with depression, and reportedly committed suicide in 1959. His death is one of many considered to be a curse on the character role. Christopher Reeve as Superman The next actor to make a significant impact on the role of Superman was Christopher Reeve, who starred as the caped wonder in the Superman film series, including the 1978 release of Superman: The Movie; Superman II, released in 1980; Superman III, released in 1983 and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, released in 1987.

Like Reeves, Reeve had difficulty finding other work once he played the role of Clark Kent. And like Reeves, the curse of Superman struck again, as Christopher Reeve suffered a horseback riding injury in 1995. He was paralyzed from the neck down as the result of his fall, and while he lived another decade as an advocate for spinal injury, Reeve died of heart failure in 2004, complications stemming from the injury. Dean Cain as Superman The other most notable Superman of recent memory was television actor Dean Cain. Cain found fame in the mid-1990's as the star of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. After his role as Clark Kent, Cain was able to find other roles on television series such as Frasier and Law & Order, but nothing that has propelled him to the same level of fame as he achieved during the television series. Other Actors Who Played Superman Other actors have played the role -- Ray Middleton, Bud Collyer, Lee Quigley, Kirk Alyn, Brandon Routh and Bob Holliday, and Tom Welling, in Smallville -- though none gained the fame nor consistency in the role of the previous three.

A new movie, Man of Steel is set for release in June of 2013, with the leading role played by Henry Cavill. And that's a short look at the men who have played Superman. For more information, be sure to check out About.com. Christopher Reeve - Superman on screen - Pictures - CBS News Superman on screen Kirk Alyn Kirk Alyn as "Superman" in the 1948 serial, "Superman." Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, the superhero character - who escaped the destruction of his home planet Krypton, to wage battle against the forces of injustice - first appeared in the pages of Action Comics in 1938. Superman also became a popular figure in radio and cartoons, before leaping into live action movies and TV shows. By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan Credit: Columbia Pictures Kirk Alyn played Superman (the "Mighty Man of Tomorrow") opposite Noel Neill as Lois Lane. Credit: Columbia Pictures Kirk Alyn Alyn played the character in two serials, including 1950's "Atom Man vs. Superman," in which Lex Luthor is up to no good.

Naturally, bullets have no effect on Superman, but then there's the matter of that synthetic Kryptonite! Credit: Columbia Pictures Kirk Alyn Kirk Alyn as "Superman" (1948). Alyn would later make a cameo appearance in the 1978 film "Superman," and also had a role in a parody film, playing "Pa Cant" in "Superbman." Credit: Columbia Pictures George Reeves In 1951 Lippert Pictures shot the first theatrical feature based on the character, "Superman and the Mole Men," starring George Reeves as Clark Kent/Superman and Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane. The film served as a jumping-off point for the long-running TV series, "The Adventures of Superman" (1952-58), and in fact was re-cut into a two-part episode for the show.

Credit: Lippert Pictures George Reeves Though George Reeves had appeared in numerous films since 1939, including "Gone With the Wind," "Blood and Sand," "Border Patrol" and "Samson and Delilah," the success of "The Adventures of Superman" meant he was inextricably tied to the character in the public imagination - and in the eyes of Hollywood. (He even appeared in character on an episode of "I Love Lucy.") Credit: ABC George Reeves George Reeves in a scene from "Superman in Exile" (1954), a film compiled from three episodes of the TV series. Credit: ABC George Reeves Quite a grip you've got there: George Reeves with a friend on the set of "The Adventures of Superman." Credit: ABC Christopher Reeve The Superman character appeared on TV cartoons and on the Broadway stage (in the 1966 musical "It's a Bird ... It's a Plane ... It's Superman!" which later aired on ABC).

But he was given true flesh and blood by then-unknown Christopher Reeve in the epic 1978 film, "Superman," which featured an all-star cast, including Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, and Margot Kidder as Lois Lane. Credit: Warner Brothers Christopher Reeve "Superman," directed by Richard Donner, won an Academy Award for its special effects and sports an iconic score by John Williams. But the real star was Christopher Reeve, who deftly played the comic book hero as a gallant crusader for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. Credit: Warner Brothers Margot Kidder, as Lois Lane, gets a flying lesson from Christopher Reeve in "Superman" (1978). Credit: Warner Brothers Superman (Christopher Reeve) raises a car from an earthquake-induced crevasse in "Superman" (1978). Credit: Warner Brothers Christopher Reeve Much of the sequel, "Superman II" (1980), was filmed during production of "Superman," though the original director, Richard Donner, left the project in a dispute with the producers, and new footage was shot by Richard Lester.

Here, Superman (Christopher Reeve) rescues a boy who plunged over the edge of Niagra Falls, leading reporter Lois Lane to surmise, "Hey, Superman and Clark Kent are never in the same place at the same time! " Credit: Warner Brothers Those eyes sure can melt steel, in "Superman III." Credit: Warner Brothers Christopher Reeve Christopher Reeve suited up for a fourth go as the character in "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace" (1987), in which he does battle on the Moon with Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow). And yeah, that's an American flag on the lunar surface, 'cause Nuclear Man don't have no respect. Reeve was credited as a co-writer of the film's story, about the Man of Steel's effort to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Credit: Cannon FIlms John Newton & Gerard Christopher Left: John Newton (who also starred in "Melrose Place") played Clark Kent, a mild-mannered journalism student, in the TV series, "Superboy," which debuted in 1988.

Cast changes in the show meant the "boy of steel" was played in the second and third seasons by Gerard Christopher (right), who was already 30 when he took on the cape. Credit: CBS Dean Cain "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" (193-97) was a "chick lit" version of Metropolis and its super characters, focusing on the romance of Lois Lane (Teri Hatcher) and Clark Kent/Superman (Dean Cain). It was inspired by DC Comics' revamping of the superhero character by comics writer John Byrne. Credit: ABC Dean Cain Dean Cain as Superman in "Lois & Clark." A former child actor, Cain also appeared in "Beverly Hills, 90210" before donning the cape. Credit: ABC Tom Welling The syndicated drama "Smallville" (2001-11) was an attempt to retrace the origins of Superman by focusing on the youth of Clark Kent and the events that would later shape his superhero character. Tom Welling played Kent, whose superhuman abilities are only added to the normal woes of adolescence. Christopher Reeve also made guest appearances on the show.

Credit: Warner Brothers Television Tom Welling Tom Welling as Clark Kent in "Smallville." Although the iconic Superman outfit did not come into play in the series, the color scheme did. Credit: Warner Brothers Television Brandon Routh Nearly two decades after the last of the Christopher Reeve films, Warner Brothers rebooted the franchise with the 2006 film, "Superman Returns," starring Brandon Routh, and directed by Bryan Singer (who'd already directed two "X Men" films). Credit: Warner Brothers Brandon Routh Brandon Routh as the Man of Steel in "Superman Returns" (2006). Prior to playing Superman, Routh was a regular on "One Life to Live" and appeared on "Gilmore Girls." Credit: Warner Brothers Brandon Routh Although "Superman Returns" performed well at the box office, it did not excite the studio enough to launch a sequel. Credit: Warner Brothers Green-screen filming of flying scenes from "Superman Returns." Credit: Warner Brothers Helen Slater Helen Slater starred in the 1984 film featuring the superheroine "Supergirl." The character - another survivor of the destruction of Krypton - first appeared in comic books in 1959.

Credit: Tri-Star Pictures Helen Slater as Kara Zor-El, better known to Earthlings as "Supergirl" (1984). Credit: Tri-Star Pictures Cooper Timberline Cooper Timberline as nine-year-old Clark Kent finds there are better uses for laundry, in 2013's "Man of Steel." The latest reboot of the comic book hero is an origin story, directed by Zack Snyder ("300") and co-produced by Christopher Nolan ("The Dark Knight" trilogy), that explores the search by Clark Kent for his purpose on Earth - which, he discovers, is to protect it from a fiendishly destructive alien. Credit: Warner Brothers Henry Cavill Henry Cavill as Superman in "Man of Steel" (2013). The British actor's previous credits include "The Count of Monte Cristo," "Immortals," and the TV series "The Tudors." Credit: Warner Brothers Henry Cavill as Superman and Amy Adams as Lois Lane in "Man of Steel." Credit: Warner Brothers Henry Cavill "The importance and weight of the role wasn't lost on me," Cavill told CBSNews.com's Ken Lombardi.

"But I didn't dwell on that external pressure in stepping into the big red boots, Because if I did, it would probably negatively affect my performance more than anything else. So I decided to focus on the pressure I put upon myself for every role - that normally positively affects my performance." Left: Henry Cavill as Superman in "Man of Steel." More: How Fast Would SUPERMAN Have to Fly to Reverse the Earth’s Spin? | Nerdist How Fast Would SUPERMAN Have to Fly to Reverse the Earth’s Spin? Posted by Sarah Keartes on December 5, 2015 Share: Television If you’re a “Man of Steel” fan, chances are you’ve read some creative explanations for how Christopher Reeve managed to reverse the Earth’s spin back in 1978. The concept has sparked heavy debate over the years, but in a move that warms the cockles of our nerdy hearts, a group of physics students from the University of Leicester have calculated how fast Superman would have had to fly to make it happen. Now, before we get into the good stuff, there are a few things to note. First, Superman wasn’t reversing the Earth’s spin, he was flying fast enough to go backwards in time.

Second, stopping the Earth from spinning (let alone reversing its spin) would have catastrophic results. Most notably, a lot of this: And probably some of this: OK, fine. Not that, but it would be very, very bad . But if Superman did spin the Earth backwards, he would need some mechanism to transfer inertia to the planet. For the purposes of this explainer we’re going to assume he has one (comic book physics, and all that jazz). Through their calculations, the University of Leicester team concluded that Kal-El would have had to fly at an angular velocity of 46.296 radians per second, or 660,000,000 miles per hour — 98% the speed of light (!) — to reverse the spin of the Pale Blue Dot. But that’s not all: compared to the Earth, Superman is a very small blob. In order to have a measurable effect on the massive celestial body then, he would also have to increase his own mass 13.7 million times over. So, that seals the deal – the act is impossible. Mass, is mass, right? Actually, no.

The secret to Superman’s ability to become more massive is hiding in Einstein’s famous equation E=mc², which explains the the relationship between energy and mass. By this equation, energy (E) is equal to mass times the speed of light (c) squared. When we humans talk about “mass,” what we’re usually referring to is “rest mass,” that is, the mass of an object is weighed in a stationary frame of reference (not moving relative to the scale used to measure its weight). “Rest mass doesn’t change, as it is independent of speed by definition,” explains Caltech applied mathematician Dr. Spyridon Michalakis. “Still, there is another ‘mass,’ known as ‘relativistic mass,’ which refers to the mass of an object that is moving very, very fast.” By rearranging uncle Albert’s equation E=mc² as m=E/c², we see how a huge boost of energy on the right side of the equation, say the amount needed to move at near-lightspeed, would make the mass on the left side of the equation bigger as well. This new, larger mass is the relativistic mass.

“It’s larger than the ‘rest mass’ because of the extra kinetic energy in the system,” says Michalakis. The speed of light is approximately 669,600,000 mph, which is very close to the calculated flight-speed necessary for Superman’s Earth-bending maneuver. By hitting this velocity, he would wrack up an immense amount of energy, which in turn, would produce an equally large relativistic mass. If the now-massive Kent could transfer his inertia to Earth, it would act like a brake. But there is one problem: with mass, comes gravity. This brings us back to the impending doom our outside-underwearing friend would unleash on the planet, should he succeed in stopping it. “Whilst there is no danger of the moon being significantly affected by Superman, the act would would have set near-Earth objects such as asteroids on a course for Earth,” write the authors. Not to mention the resulting changes in atmospheric pressure and wind speeds would likely cause the extinction of the human race, and every other land-going species on the planet. So, in the end, Lois is toast – but on the plus side, Lex’s antics wouldn’t really matter anymore. —

Question: How many films had Christopher Reeve made before Superman in 1978?
Answer: One