Superman (1978) | 100 Movies Bucket List

 

With the new Superman movie out, I was really glad this was on the list so I could see it before I saw the new one. I love the character of Superman so much and I want to see as many iterations as possible!

This wasn't the first time Superman was ever on film, but this definitely feels like the blueprint behind all the more recent adaptations, as well as so many other non-Superman comic book movies.

It was nice that the film took the time to explore a few different stages of Clark's life (though I wish we got to see teenage Clark a bit more while he was still on the farm). It was also great to spend time in Krypton to get a feel for that world too.

This film actually felt like a couple of different Superman movies jammed into one space. I think this is because it was so new, but there was a bit too much going on for me. As much as I love Superman's origin, I feel like a TV show is the perfect format for that story. In a film there's always going to be too much happening if we're telling the origin story, establishing Clark as a hero and also telling another story and developing a romance and a villain at the same time.

As much as I've loved other Superman movies, I also feel like they suffer from the same thing. That's why shows like 'Smallville' work so well.

But having said that, this film is still fantastic.

The score is iconic. Even if you've never seen the movie, you know what it sounds like, and I love that. 

There are also a lot of iconic images and phrases that come directly from this movie. I loved how it was filmed, how much colour everything had!

Christopher Reeve is amazing in this role, and the chemistry between him and Margot Kidder is what makes everything work as well as it does.

Gene Hackman was also a great Lex, and while this wasn't my favourite version of the character, he still did a great job.

All in all, I really enjoyed this movie, and it's definitely made me even more excited to see the new version!