FireBlade DVD Review: Superman: The Movie

Review by Jerry Stratton,

One of the most incredible movies of my youth, I’ve watched it on VHS for decades, and my VHS copy is pretty much dead.

This was an amazing superhero movie, focusing as it did on the character’s growth as a hero and not on flashy villains. Of course, Gene Hackman was great as the quirky genius Lex Luthor.

Alternately available as part of “The Complete Superman Collection”, but I can’t recommend either III or IV.

I know. I like some of the added scenes I’ve seen so far (about 90 minutes into the movie), but one involving some weirdo in a fifties-style glowing space suit looked like a subplot that just got tossed before they finished filming the scenes. It did nothing for me. What was the point of including this scene? Maybe this was Boba Fett in disguise, and now he’s tracking the El clan to the ends of the universe. This seems to be the Blues Brothers style of special edition--find everything we have left and splice it in.

But it’s a great movie!

The comic-book scenes with Superman entering Lex’s underground lair also could have been left out. The machine gun, the fire, and the ice. The fire and especially the ice didn't fit with the movie. I don't remember them in the original, although I could be wrong, as it’s been a while now.

Recommendation: On Order
Alternative: The Complete Superman Collection

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Jerry