Superman: The Extended Edition (1978 Movie)

The last time I saw this movie must have been back in the 90’s in highschool when I borrowed a vhs tape from the library.  Whoooo, it’s been a while.

I wanted something to watch that had some hope, some decency, something that lacked the darkness that a lot of more modern movies seem to exude.

This was an origin story and this extended edition was 3hours long. I have very vague memories so I couldn’t really pin down what was added to the movie and if that was good or bad. I think the opening with the destruction of Krypton went on longer.  Marlon Brando was very distinctive and it made my enjoyment of the animated movie Megamind even greater as the main character in that pretends to be the villain’s “space dad” and chooses the appearance of a clownish Jor-El. Just thinking about it makes me laugh.

 

There was a long sequence of Clarke Kent as a teenager, played by some actor other than Christopher Reeve. It was actually rather tedious.  Then we move on to Metropolis and Lex Luthor is revealed. Gene Hackman plays a very campy Luthor but he’s still smart. It is really weird seeing a super villain portrayed thusly.  He’s nutso enough to send a nuke to drop California into the ocean so all the property he bought in Nevada will become Lexland but he employs a drunk idiot as a henchman and is more concerned about his wig fitting and feeding his mistress to the lions than in actually being cut throat.  It is just weird 🙂

Reeve made a fantastic Superman and it isn’t any wonder that he came to represent the face of Superman himself for decades. Tall, muscular, black haired, clear eyed, with a charming smile. He was everything that Superman was in the comics. It was great to see Reeve switch between Superman and Kent. His voice subtly changed, his posture and even his facial expressions. He really was 2 different people.

I mentioned at the beginning the desire for a lack of darkness. I definitely got that in this movie. Superman isn’t soul searching, wracked with angst and inner turmoil. He’s been told that he has a purpose, from a young age. From both his human father, Jonathan Kent and his Space Dad (hahahahahaa) Jor-El, he has been assured that his life matters in a greater scheme of things. Neither father can tell him WHAT that purpose is, but that gives him something to strive for. It made me realize how hopeless our world has become in the last 40 years.  A whole generation, or two, has grown up being indoctrinated that they are nothing but a speck of dust, that they are an accident, that they not only aren’t significant but that they are insignificant and that their very existence is pointless. It is no wonder suicide rates are increasing, not in number alone but in percentages.  That darkness of the soul is missing from this movie. It was refreshing and really nice to just hear someone tell another person that they have meaning. Our world needs more of that.

The Superman franchise went on to spawn 3 more movies.  I watched up to III back in highschool and I’m seriously thinking about watching all 4 over the next couple of months. I really have no idea what the quality of the sequels will turn out to be. Wish me luck.