A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

© Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Superman, the Superman logo and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © DC Comics On May 15, 2012, just as director Zach Snyder's Man of Steel reboot was entering its post-production phase, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. re-released three of the earlier films in the Superman franchise, all of which were connected with director Richard Donner in some way.in a Triple Feature  Blu-ray bundle. This collection consists of Superman: The Movie (1978), the 2006 reconstruction of Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, and director Bryan Singer's "soft reboot" Superman Returns, which is set in the same "universe" depicted by Donner and ignores the misbegotten Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.  As is often the case in the home media distribution business, this Triple Feature bundle is only a good deal for consumers who had not previously bought the three Superman films' individual  Blu-r...

Pros:  Gene Hackman's reliable acting Cons:  Everything else, from cheesy effects to bad acting and a lousy script. After the lackluster box-office performance of 1983's misbegotten Superman III and the less-than-warm-welcome for their failed franchise expansion, Supergirl , Alexander and Ilya Salkind decided that enough was enough and stopped making films based on Jerry Schuster and Joel Siegel's Man of Steel. The franchise, which had started out strong with Richard Donner's 1978 Superman: The Movie , began a qualitative decline as soon as director Richard Lester moved away from the "verisimilitude" ethos Donner had adopted for the first two films before the Salkinds fired him in the middle of shooting the second chapter in the series. Instead of a "realistic" approach, Lester emphasized lightweight comic elements that bordered on self-p...

(C) 1978 Warner Bros. and DC Comics Superman: The Movie (1978) Directed by Richard Donner Written by Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman, Robert Benton, and Tom Mankiewicz (uncredited) Story by Mario Puzo Based on the DC Comics character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster Starring: Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Valerie Perrine, Marc McClure, Terence Stamp Superman: I'm here to fight for truth, and justice, and the American way.   Lois Lane: [laughs] You're gonna end up fighting every elected official in this country! Starring Oscar-winning actors Gene Hackman and Marlon Brando as Lex Luthor and Jor-El, and co-starring Christopher Reeve in the dual role of Superman and his alter ego Clark Kent, Superman is a witty, exciting action-adventure based on the DC Comics character created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. You’ll Believe a Man Can Fly Gen...