Superman
3 Oscar Nominations·National Film Registry
Rent/Purchase
Mild-mannered Clark Kent works as a reporter at the Daily Planet alongside his crush, Lois Lane. Clark must summon his superhero alter-ego when the nefarious Lex Luthor launches a plan to take over the world.
What critics thought
Broadly celebrated on release and still warmly regarded today, the film earns most of its goodwill from Christopher Reeve's casting, which even detractors found hard to argue with. Where critics diverged was on everything surrounding him — the Krypton prologue struck some as leaden, Hackman's Lex Luthor divided opinion sharply, and a handful felt the whole enterprise tilted too far toward lightweight comedy at the expense of real substance.
“Superman is a pure delight, a wondrous combination of all the old-fashioned things we never really get tired of: adventure and romance, heroes and villains, earthshaking special effects, and – you know what else? Wit”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“a delightful mess. Good performances. Sloppy editing. Cheap nonflying special effects. Funny dialog. In sum, Superman is the kind of picture critics tear apart, but still say, 'You ought to see it.”
Gene Siskel·Chicago Tribune
“The Superman comic strip has been carefully, elaborately, sometimes wittily blown up for the big-theater screen, which, though busy, often seems sort of empty.”
Vincent Canby·The New York Times
“Despite a lull here and a lapse there, this superproduction turns out to be prodigiously inventive and enjoyable, doubly blessed by sophisticated illusionists behind the cameras and a brilliant new stellar personality in front of the cameras—Christopher Reeve, a young actor at once handsome and astute enough to rationalize the preposterous fancy of a comic-book superhero in the flesh.”
Gary Arnold·The Washington Post
Genres
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Cast & Crew
DirectorRichard Donner
StarringChristopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, Ned Beatty
ComposerJohn Williams
Superman
3 Oscar Nominations·National Film Registry
Mild-mannered Clark Kent works as a reporter at the Daily Planet alongside his crush, Lois Lane. Clark must summon his superhero alter-ego when the nefarious Lex Luthor launches a plan to take over the world.
What critics thought
Broadly celebrated on release and still warmly regarded today, the film earns most of its goodwill from Christopher Reeve's casting, which even detractors found hard to argue with. Where critics diverged was on everything surrounding him — the Krypton prologue struck some as leaden, Hackman's Lex Luthor divided opinion sharply, and a handful felt the whole enterprise tilted too far toward lightweight comedy at the expense of real substance.
“Superman is a pure delight, a wondrous combination of all the old-fashioned things we never really get tired of: adventure and romance, heroes and villains, earthshaking special effects, and – you know what else? Wit”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“a delightful mess. Good performances. Sloppy editing. Cheap nonflying special effects. Funny dialog. In sum, Superman is the kind of picture critics tear apart, but still say, 'You ought to see it.”
Gene Siskel·Chicago Tribune
“The Superman comic strip has been carefully, elaborately, sometimes wittily blown up for the big-theater screen, which, though busy, often seems sort of empty.”
Vincent Canby·The New York Times
“Despite a lull here and a lapse there, this superproduction turns out to be prodigiously inventive and enjoyable, doubly blessed by sophisticated illusionists behind the cameras and a brilliant new stellar personality in front of the cameras—Christopher Reeve, a young actor at once handsome and astute enough to rationalize the preposterous fancy of a comic-book superhero in the flesh.”
Gary Arnold·The Washington Post
Genres
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Cast & Crew
DirectorRichard Donner
StarringChristopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, Ned Beatty
ComposerJohn Williams
Rent/Purchase