The Movies That Moved Me: Richard Donner’s SUPERMAN
I’m a week late with this entry as I don’t typically follow comic book culture and I’m all but deaf when it comes to these kinds of anniversaries.
Apparently last week was Superman Day in honor of the 1938 Action Comics debut publication of Superman, the brainchild of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Alas, I’m paying tribute now while I can seeing as we’re still some time off from the release of the newest big screen treatment from director James Gunn for DC Studios.
I didn’t read the comics, but I was familiar with the lore in name and in image only. My fascination grew with Richard Donner’s 1978 adaptation of the superhero IP starring the iconic Christopher Reeve whose performance as the dueling Earthbound Kryptonian transplant in Kanasa, U.S.A. forever remains the most memorable and charismatic in history.
Of course, some will say different. Nowadays, you’ll find a plethora of uber geeks waging campaigns in their rooms to assert their dominance as the harbingers and protectors of all things Snyderverse, so as to make sure that Henry Cavill’s Man Of Steel portrayal doesn’t somehow fall by the wayside in screen history, while still demanding that Zack Snyder take the reigns once more. It probably isn’t going to happen, but that’s just my view, particularly considering DC Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures have alreadys set an agenda going forward, and with a new actor donning the Kryptonian “symbol of hope”.
For this, I’m looking forward to the new Superman whenever I can see it. I’m probably the most annoyingly open-minded when it comes to filmic revamps and remakes of nearly any kind, but that is my disposition for good reason. I’m an indie journalist and critic, opinions notwithstanding.
Nonetheless, much like Cavill’s take or any of the actors who’ve come before or after him on the big and small screen, nothing will take away from the enjoyment of Donner’s classic. It’s a mainstay in movie history, and with a cast that breathes pure life into the IP that carries on to this day – something worth considering given that we have a whole documentary about the actor whose legacy with the character rings as loudly as it does as John Williams’s stellar orchestral assembly.
Cue that brass!
