Kevin's Watch

I just don't have high expectations for Superman Returns.


[F&F Edit: This is my first attempt at splitting a thread. Hope it works! ]

dlbpharmd wrote:I just don't have high expectations for Superman Returns.

I can't help but feel the same way but I'm sold on Bryan Singer based on what he's done with the X-men series. I think he gets what is supposed to be on screen and in that regard I don't think it will disappoint. But I just have an uncertainty about the film based on what I've read and the pictures I've seen. I guess all I can do is wait and hope for the best.

I saw the teaser for Superman Returns on a movie preview show a couple of weeks ago. It got me pumped; I also got goosebumps when I heard John Williams's music from the Chris Reeve-era films being played in the teaser. It's a nice gesture. I guess they (Singer?) wanted to connect with fans of the Reeve films like myself.

Well I'll definitely be there opening night to see it.

A related story to Superman Returns:

'Superman' Torch Is Passed

Guy Scott Bowles, USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES (March 16) — Midway through the filming of Superman Returns, star Brandon Routh received an envelope in the mail. It contained two pendants and a letter. The pendants, each emblazoned with a red S, said simply, "Go Forward."

The note from Dana Reeve, the widow of Superman Christopher Reeve, said much the same thing.

"She said she thought I'd be a good Superman," says Routh, 26, best known for a guest role on Gilmore Girls. "She wished me luck. I can't tell you what that was like to get her blessing. I was nervous, because I had never heard from the family, and it's frightening trying to fill Christopher Reeve's shoes."

But Routh will attempt just that as Superman swoops into theaters June 30 with more than just a $180 million budget on its shoulders.

The film, which is enjoying one of the most pronounced marketing campaigns at the ShoWest convention of theater owners in Las Vegas, carries the hope of a lucrative summer at the box office — and expectations that people will get excited about going to the movies again.

For Routh and director Bryan Singer, there's also a personal stake in the film doing well.

"From comic books to radio to TV to the movies, everyone knows this character," says Singer, who also is doing a documentary on the history of Superman. "And they have an idea of who he should be. Those can be big expectations."

Routh realized just how awesome when he received the Superman tags from the Christopher Reeve Foundation, an organization that promotes research on paralysis.

Christopher Reeve was paralyzed in a horseback-riding accident in 1995 and died in 2004. His widow, Dana, died of lung cancer last week.

"I wrote her back but never got to speak with her," Routh says. "Still, it was such an honor. And it made me realize how important it is to respect not just the characters in this movie, but the people who were a part of it."

Indeed, the new Superman abounds with legacies.

Singer says he plans to use the late Marlon Brando in the new film. Brando, who played Superman's father, Jor-El, in the 1978 Superman and died in 2004, will return in the same role.

Singer says he found stock footage of Brando shot by director Richard Donner in 1978, which will provide Brando's voice. Special-effects crews will digitally re-create Brando's image, Singer says.

The new film will revisit the origins of the Man of Steel. Singer is well aware he's treading on hallowed ground.

"This isn't just any comic book character. Superman is America. He's as iconic as it gets. That's a pretty awesome responsibility."

I just think it's too soon........

Would anyone agree with me when I say that the Reeve's Superman movies were just OK?
I never really thought too much of them.
And I'm old enough to say that I saw them as they were released so I'm not watching Superman for the first time after seeing the Matrix.
They were good but not anything special.
Lois hurt my eyes to look at and her voice pained me as well.
The music was great though.
Lex Luther was just dumb.
And I know it was supposed to be a light hearted kids movie.
Maybe I need to watch them again with my kids this time.

I agree, HLT - the Superman movies we saw as kids are not really that good. I remember being mad as hell over the inaccuracies (since when does Superman have telekinetic powers, as demonstrated in S-II? And they couldn't find a red-headed actor to play Jimmy Olsen? Please.) Don't get me started on how bad the choice was to let Margo Kidder anywhere near these movies.

High Lord Tolkien wrote:Would anyone agree with me when I say that the Reeve's Superman movies were just OK?

Superman II was atrocious. Three war criminals get super powers and what do they do when reach Earth? Walk around causing trouble like three drunks. "Oh no! Zod lifts a car!" "Oh no! they are burning things!". Disappointing.

Loremaster wrote:Three war criminals get super powers and what do they do when reach Earth? Walk around causing trouble like three drunks. "Oh no! Zod lifts a car!" "Oh no! they are burning things!". Disappointing.

So, what's on your list of things to do if you ever get super powers, huh?

Wayfriend wrote:

Loremaster wrote:Three war criminals get super powers and what do they do when reach Earth? Walk around causing trouble like three drunks. "Oh no! Zod lifts a car!" "Oh no! they are burning things!". Disappointing.

So, what's on your list of things to do if you ever get super powers, huh?

Cleanse Mallorys

Herewith, my 2nd attempt at a post here. My first try got lost in transit (maybe sent to the Phantom Zone or something).

I try not to trash my childhood movie memories, but looking back, I more or less agree with HLT.

I'd say Superman: The Movie was easily the best, with each sequel becoming worse. However, I can't be too harsh on Superman II, since it was one of those perfect summer movies for me as a kid. I admit it had gaping holes in logic and plot that you could, well, fly through. I suppose almost any superhero film (or any fantasy) would crumble once you apply any rigorous logic to it. My major beef was the "resolution" to the story, with Clark inducing amnesia on Lois with a magic kiss. That was a total cop-out. Like that infamous Dallas episode with Bobby Ewing in the shower: "Honey, it was all just a dream..."

I actually thought Gene Hackman was brilliant, witty and refreshing as Lex Luthor. He was one of the best things about the Superman movies (I think I said that before).

We've all complained about Margot Kidder in other threads, so I feel a little guilty picking on her all the time. No, she's not a Jessica Alba or whatever other current sex kitten you care to name, but Kidder had her time, and I respect that.

I don't think I've ever posted about Superman III, so...I thought this sequel brought a nice sweet touch with Clark's return to Smallville and his brief reunion with high school flame Lana Lang. I liked Richard Pryor as down-on-his-luck but decent guy Gus. And I thought the junkyard scene with "good" Clark battling "evil" Supes was well done, not to mention pretty intense and scary for me at the time. Unfortunately, these elements did not gel together to make a really good story, and what we were left with was an awkward mess of a movie. It tried to be a darker Superman than the other films, while at the same time trying bizarrely to be a comedy with its visual gags. It was pointless. The movie had a split personality disorder...which actually makes sense in a weird sort of way, given that was what Superman suffered in the story.

Superman IV was BAD beyond belief. I remember that day at the theatre, when we were all subjected to this horrible excuse for a movie. We knew then we were watching the death throes of a movie franchise.

With this "rebirth" of the franchise, I wish Brandon Routh the best. The not-so-great looking special effects of the Christopher Reeve-era films was a big reason why I wanted an updated Superman. Now I have my wish. The problem is that Chris Reeve IS Superman in my mind. Brandon Routh will have some big boots to fill, but at least he seems like a level-headed guy, as Reeve was.

Loremaster, in order to cleanse Mallory's, I think you need more than mere super powers: you need to be friggin' Galactus, or some other similarly prodigiously puissant cosmic being...

Firstly: I am not a Superman fan in any format.
done. out of the way.

Now. MM echos my sentiment about all the Superman movies. I will always remember that junk yard scene where the good and bad Superman fight. That moment when bad Supes is stalking towards the good one and yells at him to get up. Reeve's does a great job here. It always sends chills down my spine at his intensity. (anyone else think he could have played a good villian-type character?... check out 'Deathtrap' too...)

I have no desire to see the newest movie (however I occassionally get curious knowing hat Singer is directing). I wil wait patiently for X-Men 3 and Spiderman 3...

MM summed it up perfectly. I too have no real interest in this remake (a CGI Brando? Why not just use a CGI Reeves, then?), but I am interested in seeing the documentary.

I'm a fan of the first two Supes movies. When viewed as a near-total retelling of the mythos, as we had to do when going from Earth 2 to Earth 1 to post-Crisis, etc, the inaccuracies aren't a problem.

Lex was awesome! Brilliant and arrogant, but surrounding himself with idiots.

Lex: "Costa Del Lex. Luthorville. Marina del Lex. Otisburg... Otisburg?"
Otis: "Miss Tessmacher, she's got her own place."
Lex: "Otisburg?"
Otis: "It's a little bitty place."
Lex: "Otisburg!?!"

Miss Tessmacher: "Lex? My mother lives in Hackensack."
Lex looks at his watch, looks at Miss Tessmacher, and sadly shakes his head No.

My favorite part of the movie is the conversation with his father, after he's "showing off." "Is a bird showing off when it flies?" His father was cool and wise, as he is in every incarnation I can think of.


And in S2, after Zod & crew took over the United States, gotta love-
Supes: "General Zod, would you care to step outside?"
Lex: "Superman! Thank God. *gets look from Zod* I mean, Get him!"
And parts of that fight were great. Nice action. Especially considering the year it was made.

And Luthor's best line of all: "There's a lot of good in me, Superman. I haven't used any of it yet."

Lois (Not crazy about Kidder either, but what the hey.) punching out the de-powered Krypton-bitch was pretty satisfying.

And John Williams did a nice job.

I'm not a big fan of superhero movies.

But Chris Reeves is Superman to me. Yeah, the movies ended up cheesey, but to have someone else playing Superman is like having someone new star in Smokey and the Bandit. It just ain't right.

Smokey and the Bandit - legendary.

Loremaster wrote:Smokey and the Bandit - legendary.

Exactly. Who could imagine, or want, Luke wilson as The Snowman and Ben Stiller as The Bandit? You just shouldn't screw with classics, and Chris Reeves (to me, at least) is Superman, just as Jerry Reed will always be The Snowman.

I'll probably still see the damned movie, but it'll bug the crap out of me.

Ben Stiller will always be Derek Zoolander to me. And Mr. Furious. And Greg Focker. And White Goodman. And Reuben Feffer. And the Orderly in Nursing Home in Happy Gilmore......