Christopher Reeve
Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman
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Superman (also marketed as Superman: The Movie) is a 1978 superhero film based on the DC Comics superhero Superman, played by Christopher Reeve. It is the first of four installments in the Superman film series starring Reeve as Superman.
- Superman in film
1978-1987 film series Superman: December 15, 1978 () Richard...
- 1978 Film Series Character
Superman (1978 film series character) Superman ( Kal-El) or...
- Superman in film
Dec 15, 1978 · Superman: Directed by Richard Donner. With Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Ned Beatty. An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.
- (184K)
- Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
- Richard Donner
- 1978-12-15
- Overview
- Synopsis for "Superman (1978 Movie)"
- Appearing in "Superman (1978 Movie)"
- Cast
- Notes
- Trivia
- See Also
, also known as Superman: The Movie, is a 1978 superhero film directed by Richard Donner from a story by Mario Puzo. It is the first movie starring Christopher Reeve as Superman, showing his origins and first battle with Lex Luthor.
Thirty years ago on the planet Krypton, leading scientist Jor-El tries to warn the Council about the impending doom of Krypton's destruction, but the members of the Council fear that Jor-El is inciting sedition with his doomsday forecast. Earlier on Jor-El had to deal with General Zod, who along with two other dangerous criminals Ursa and Non were inciting sedition against Krypton's government; they were punished and sentenced to eternal imprisonment in the Phantom Zone. Realizing that his warnings are falling on deaf ears, Jor-El returns home to his wife Lara, saying that now is the time to put their young son Kal-El into the star ship which he intends to launch and send to the planet called Earth. Lara sees the Earth as being primitive and that Kal-El will be a stranger among them, but Jor-El assures her that his son shall never be alone. As they watch the star ship rise into the sky and depart from Krypton, the ground crumbles underneath their feet and everyone else's until both Krypton and its sun explodes.
The star ship carrying Kal-El, however, survives and travels through space, causing the child to age a few years while also educating him. It burns up as it enters the Earth's atmosphere and crash-lands in a nearby Smallville field, causing Jonathan and Martha Kent to pull over and investigate. They see a young three-year-old child emerge from the wreckage unharmed. The Kents discuss what they wish to do with the child when the truck falls off the jack, almost crushing Jonathan who was working underneath it to change a flat tire. Kal-El easily lifts up the truck, making the Kents wonder if the child really came from outer space somewhere.
At age 18, Kal-El, who is now Clark Kent, is busy putting away equipment for the Smallville High's football team when his friend Lana Lang invites him over to listen to records. Clark accepts the offer, but realizes that he has so much work to do and so watches Lana drive off with her friends. Frustrated, Clark kicks a football high into the air and then races back home at super-speed, amazingly outracing an approaching locomotive. His adoptive father Jonathan Kent tells him that he was brought here to Earth with the powers he has for a purpose, and it wasn't for showing off in front of his friends. As Clark tries to get his father to race him to the house, Jonathan suffers a fatal stroke and dies, making Clark feel ashamed that with all his powers, he couldn't save his father.
Sometime following the funeral, Clark Kent is called into the barn, where he uncovers the wrecked star ship and finds the very thing that has called him: a glowing green crystal. He says goodbye to his mother Martha and then sets out toward the North Pole, where he flings the green crystal into the frozen Arctic Sea. From where it lands, it creates a structure made of slanted long white crystals into which Clark enters. By inserting a crystal into a tube, he causes the image of his real father Jor-El appear before him, to instruct him on what he needs to know about himself and about the powers he possesses, learning that his real name is Kal-El. He spends 12 years in the Fortress with the image of Jor-El teaching him, and then later at the end of the teaching, as Jor-El's image departs, Clark Kent now stands in the uniform of a superhero and soon takes off to his destiny.
Arriving in Metropolis, Clark Kent is hired on as a reporter for the Daily Planet by its editor Perry White, who immediately assigns him to work alongside his best reporter Lois Lane. As Lois shows Clark around the city and the Planet, a man in a suit named Otis makes his way through the underground subway tunnels until he enters a secret passageway that leads him to the palatial residence of Lex Luthor, the greatest criminal mastermind. Lex takes the paper Otis delivers him and notices that the U.S. military is planning to do some nuclear missile tests soon, which he hopes to use for his latest scheme of owning what would eventually become valuable real estate.
That night, as Lois attempts to take off on an assignment in a Daily Planet helicopter, the helicopter track snags on cable, causing it spin out of control and crash, knocking out the pilot and sending Lois dangling precariously, with almost nothing separating her from the ground. With the chopper teetering dangerously on the edge of the roof, Lois screams for help as she hangs on for dear life, slowly losing her grip as the Helicopter. Clark hears her call and quickly changes into his uniform, and rescues both Lois and the helicopter just as they both slide off the roof. After landing safely back on the helipad, Lois asks who he is, and all he could say is, "a friend", before he takes off, causing her to faint.
Featured Characters:
•Superman (Clark Kent) (Origin)
Supporting Characters:
•House of El
•Jor-El •Lara •Kent Family
•Martha Kent •Jonathan Kent •Lois Lane (First appearance; dies) •Jimmy Olsen •Perry White
•Christopher Reeve as Superman/Clark Kent
•Jeff East as young Clark Kent
•Lee Quigley as Baby Kal-El
•Aaron Smolinsky as Baby Clark Kent
•Marlon Brando as Jor-El
•Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor
•Superman: The Movie and Superman II were filmed simultaneously.
•While the film was distributed by Warner Brothers, it was independently produced.
•Perry White's famous "Don't call me Chief" line to Jimmy Olsen ends up becoming "Don't call me Sugar" after he asks Jimmy to get him a coffee black with no sugar.
•As a humorous jab to the tradition of Clark Kent ducking into a telephone booth to transform into Superman, Clark Kent pauses as he notices that a nearby telephone booth is too small and not secluded enough for him to change.
•Though Lynda Carter was busy acting as Wonder Woman in a television series of the same name, she attended this film's premiere.
•Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill make uncredited cameo appearances as Lois Lane's father and mother. The two actors are the first to portray Superman and Lois Lane in live-action films. They starred in the 1948 theatrical serial Superman and its 1950 sequel Atom Man vs. Superman. Neill subsequently portrayed Lois Lane on the 1950s television series Adventures of Superman beginning in its second season. Neill would later make a cameo appearance in Superman Returns. In the original theatrical release, Neill and Alyn's cameo was silent, but in the extended edition aired on TV, Neill has a line of dialogue that reveals the fact they're Lois' parents.
•Characters from Superman (1978 Movie)
•Other things related to Superman (1978 Movie)
•Movie Gallery: Superman (1978 Movie)
1.Bordwell, David & Thompson, Kristin. Film History, New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2010, P. 487
2.Thau, Michael (2001). Taking Flight: The Development of Superman (Documentary). DC Comics; Warner Home Video.
3.
Superman is a 1978 superhero film based on the DC Comics superhero Superman, played by Christopher Reeve. It is the first of four installments in the Superman film series starring Reeve as Superman. The film was directed by Richard Donner based on a screenplay by Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman, and Robert Benton.
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Summaries. An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero. Just before the destruction of the planet Krypton, scientist Jor-El sends his infant son Kal-El on a spaceship to Earth.
