Film of the Day: 20
Superman: The Movie (1978)
Today in the DC Comics' Action Comics Series, the first and one of the most iconic superheroes of all time first appeared in 1938... The Man of Steel himself, Superman. He has also become a symbol of America, a legend in comic history. Thanks to the creation of Superman, we have had many more great superheroes such as Green Arrow, The Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and my personal favourite Batman. The creators were Jerry Siegel from Ohio and Joe Shuster from Toronto, both of Jewish descent and if you think about it, you can see their Jewish descent in the comics.
An early influence on the Superman comic was the great depression as Superman would fight the crooked businessmen and bring them to justice, but we can mainly see that the character Superman is basically Moses. Left as a baby from the planet Krypton, a middle aged couple finds him and takes him in and raise him as their own child. He also happens to be the chosen one, to free the people of Metropolis from its crime and corruption. Superman/Clark Kent can also be seen as a Jewish immigrant in America, who is doing the best he can to fit in and try his best to be a true American citizen. And there is also Superman's real name "Kal-El", this resembles the Hebrew words קל-אל which mean "Voice of God".
The film was directed by Richard Donner who is responsible for such films such as The Omen, The Lethal Weapon franchise and The Goonies. The late Christopher Reeve (who at the time was unknown) however was not the first choice to play Superman; there were over 200 unknowns who auditioned for the role along with a few well known actors such as James Caan, James Brolin, Christopher Walken, Nick Nolte, Jon Voight, Kris Kristofferson and Charles Bronson. Even Neil Diamond and Arnold Schwarzenegger wanted the role but were ignored, thankfully. They later chose Reeve as it was more believable to see an unknown actor play Superman rather than an actor we all know, not to mention Reeve even slightly resembled the comic character from DC. All I can say to that choice is, when I first saw Christopher Reeve, it was as Superman and I believed he could fly. It truly made a mark in the comic book film genre and to this day is still one of the greatest comic book adaptations into film.
The film itself later went on to make three sequels, of which only the first sequel is actually worth watching, and the first time Superman ever appeared on screen was in 1941, Dave Fleischer's animated short film Superman. X-Men director Bryan Singer later directed Superman Returns which wasn't exactly the return we were all waiting for in 2006, however Watchmen director Zack Snyder is currently working on a new Superman movie titled Man of Steel. This is set to be released in the summer of 2012 and has promised the film to be much darker and faithful to the comic. I have to say I am really looking forward to that.
Click here for the trailer
An early influence on the Superman comic was the great depression as Superman would fight the crooked businessmen and bring them to justice, but we can mainly see that the character Superman is basically Moses. Left as a baby from the planet Krypton, a middle aged couple finds him and takes him in and raise him as their own child. He also happens to be the chosen one, to free the people of Metropolis from its crime and corruption. Superman/Clark Kent can also be seen as a Jewish immigrant in America, who is doing the best he can to fit in and try his best to be a true American citizen. And there is also Superman's real name "Kal-El", this resembles the Hebrew words קל-אל which mean "Voice of God".
The film was directed by Richard Donner who is responsible for such films such as The Omen, The Lethal Weapon franchise and The Goonies. The late Christopher Reeve (who at the time was unknown) however was not the first choice to play Superman; there were over 200 unknowns who auditioned for the role along with a few well known actors such as James Caan, James Brolin, Christopher Walken, Nick Nolte, Jon Voight, Kris Kristofferson and Charles Bronson. Even Neil Diamond and Arnold Schwarzenegger wanted the role but were ignored, thankfully. They later chose Reeve as it was more believable to see an unknown actor play Superman rather than an actor we all know, not to mention Reeve even slightly resembled the comic character from DC. All I can say to that choice is, when I first saw Christopher Reeve, it was as Superman and I believed he could fly. It truly made a mark in the comic book film genre and to this day is still one of the greatest comic book adaptations into film.
 |
| Superman's debut in Action Comics #1 |
The film itself later went on to make three sequels, of which only the first sequel is actually worth watching, and the first time Superman ever appeared on screen was in 1941, Dave Fleischer's animated short film Superman. X-Men director Bryan Singer later directed Superman Returns which wasn't exactly the return we were all waiting for in 2006, however Watchmen director Zack Snyder is currently working on a new Superman movie titled Man of Steel. This is set to be released in the summer of 2012 and has promised the film to be much darker and faithful to the comic. I have to say I am really looking forward to that.
Click here for the trailer
Comments
Post a Comment