SUPERMAN: The Commentary

You probably know the drill by now.  Here's a bonus episode of Out Now with Aaron & Abe doing a feature length commentary for 1978's Superman: The Movie.  In addition to Aaron & Abe, I am reteamed with Scott Mendelson for this one as well as Jordan Grout.  It was a lot of fun and conversation was not limited to just the first Superman film.

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Superman: The Retrospective-Part V: Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987)

Superman IV: The Quest For Peace

1987

Director: Sidney J. Furie

Starring: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Mariel Hemingway, Jon Cryer, Marc McClure, Jackie Cooper, Mark Pillow

Rated: PG

The Dude of Steel! Boy are you gonna get it!

                        ~Lenny

With the Salkinds removed from the equation, as rights were transferred to Canon Films, it was a much easier task to get everyone back for Superman IV.  Christopher Reeve, who claimed he was hanging up the cape after III, was allowed to help create the story.  With him fully on board other players like Hackman and Kidder (in full capacity this time) were easy to coax back.  I’m guessing they wanted to wash away memories of III or possibly too many cooks in the kitchen with Superman’s love interests being the reason Lana Lang is nowhere to be found.

SUPERMAN: The Retrospective - Part IV: SUPERGIRL (1984)

Supergirl
1984
Director: Jeannot Szwarc
Starring: Faye Dunaway, Helen Slater, Peter O'Toole, Hart Bochner, Mia Farrow, Peter Cook, Marc McClure, Maureen Teefy
Rated: PG-13

What the hell did I just watch?
              ~Brandon Peters

What an absolutely bizarre film.  Supergirl is the ill-attempted spin off from the Superman franchise to hopefully continue successes and keep films going since Christopher Reeve said Superman III was his last.  This attempt proves how bug nuts and clueless the Salkind's are when it comes to making a movie.  Supergirl is completely off the rails as a film.  Completely, unlike the previous film that manages to have some sort of narrative and serious approach to its danger.  However, Supergirl has plenty of moments of "is this really happening right now?" making it a fun kind of stupid in the end.

Christopher Nolan Resurrects JASON VOORHEES!

JASON LIVES!

Fantastic news came yesterday in the revealing some of the assets Warner Bros gave up to Paramount in order to share the wealth on Christopher Nolan's next film, the sci-fi thriller Interstellar (starring Matthew McConaughey & Anne Hathaway).  One of those items was giving Paramount a 5 year window to have full rights to the character Jason Voorhees and the Friday the 13th series.  And one thinks that if they were willing to give up half of what is sure to a box office success, then they obviously plan to put SOMETHING out regarding a Jason Voorhees adventure.

SUPERMAN:The Retrospective-PartIII:SUPERMAN III (1983)

Superman III
1983
Director: Richard Lester
Starring: Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Annette O'Toole, Marc McClure, Robert Vaughn, Pamela Stephenson
Rated: PG

Never underestimate the power of computers
           ~Ross Webster


To start off, this shouldn't be called Superman III.  A more appropriate title would be Gus Gorman with tag line "You Will Believe A Computer Can Do Anything".  This is a Richard Pryor movie with special guest, Superman.  Pryor easily clocks in the most screen time and the plot really revolves around every move he makes.  He's not even the main villain or some sort of hero.  At best I can see, he's the bumbling henchman of the criminal mastermind.  So, if we ever wanted a movie told from that angle, here you have it.  It's a Superman movie, but Superman is pretty much shoehorned in and only swoops in to save the day.

SUPERMAN:The Restrospective-Part II:SUPERMAN II (1980)

Superman II 
1980

Director: Richard Lester

Starring: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Terrence Stamp, Margot Kidder, Sarah Douglas, Jackie Cooper, Jack O’Halloran

Rated: PG

So this is planet Houston.

            ~General Zod

Before we get started- I WILL indeed be covering the Richard Donner cut of Superman II.  It won’t be discussed until later, as I’m doing everything in release order.  Today, we are solely focusing on the Richard Lester interpretation and officially released and official cannon Superman II.

SUPERMAN: The Retrospective - Part I: SUPERMAN (1978)

Superman
1978
Director: Richard Donner
Starring: Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Ned Beatty
Rated: PG

They can be a great people, Kal-El, they wish to be.  They only lack the light to show the way.
                        ~Jor-El


With a quote like that, you just kind of know the greatness and legend that comes with Superman.  A movie that kept the big, epic movie fantasy precedent of going to the theater alive after Star Wars the year prior.  Superman is a movie with some historic production troubles that are a fascinating point of research for any film fan and can be almost as entertaining as the film itself.  I'm not here to give you a detailed rundown of it all, but I highly recommend taking the time to watch a documentary or read about it.