Superman: The Movie is great until we get to Metropolis. At that point, it starts to suck...real bad. Luthor is a crappy villain in that movie. Margot Kidder's Lois Lane is irritating as hell. Reeves somehow manages to keep the movie alive until the ridiculous scene where he turns back time. When I picked this up on DVD years ago, it was about 30 minutes in and I just switched to the isolated score track. It's a much more pleasant experience than watching the film.

JW's Superman: The Movie score > Superman: The Movie.

Plus she is one of the ugliest bitches to ever walk on to a movie set. You should see her in the new "Look, Up in the Sky" documentary on the history of Superman. Fugly. When she ask Superman if he likes her pink underwear, Superman should vomit acid bile on her. Boom, she's dead. Movie solved.

Oh, yeah...

That's down there with Superman's film-transition-dependent costume change.

Or in Superman II when Supes searches the world for ingredients to make Lois the perfect dinner, then dines in his uniform. This laughable scene is followed up by yet another embarassing display of filmmaking in which Superman has sex with Lois Lane in a waterbed in the fortress of solitude. I mean, how can any normal human being think this was a good movie or anything resembling one? It's like a parody of a superhero fick.

The only real element that made Donner's film successful - except JW's brilliant music - was living up to the billing that the audience would believe in Superman's powers through what was then regarded as unbelieveable visual effects.

Well, if you feel that way about Donner's Superman, I'd stay away from Superman Returns because Singer loves the Donner movies. Loves them.

And...
[spoil]the kid is definitely Superman's son. So that laughable scene (as you put it) is most likely when that child was conceived as this film is supposed to be Superman III.[/spoil]

Also, this film actually pulls several lines of dialogue right from the original including the "flying is still the safest way to travel" one, and the "You know, you really shouldn't smoke Miss Lane" blurb.

I've heard that there are many nods to Donner in this thing. Even the opening title is reported to be the same a S:TM and SII. It could almost be called an homage.

I accept the fact that this film is a continuation of the first two films, and that's fine. I'll even love the homages - there are references to bad movies all the time in films I enjoy, it doesn't distract from the movie being well done or not. Basically, just because a film pays tribute to a film that I find overrated or even uses it as canon to tell its own story doesn't mean I won't like the film itself.

There are very good aspects of SM:TM as I have mentioned, I just think that anyone who hails it as 'THE' Superhero movie needs to re-watch it without their nostalgia goggles on.

[align=center]Rhino Records is now streaming the entire Superman Returns Score

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Rhino Press Release:

The thrilling and dramatic score from Superman Returns, the highly anticipated film featuring the Man of Steel's latest heroic adventure, arrives in stores June 27, with nearly an hour of music from award-winning composer John Ottman (Fantastic Four, X2). The score album will be enhanced with an exclusive video interview with the film's director, Bryan Singer (X2: X-Men United, X-Men, The Usual Suspects), a featurette on the making of the score and two trailers for the film.

Recorded with a 97-piece orchestra led by conductor Damon Intrabartolo, SUPERMAN RETURNS: ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SCORE features Ottman's epic score including his unique twists on themes that John Williams composed for the original 1978 film, such as the classic main theme, "Superman March." Superman Returns stars newcomer Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Parker Posey and Kevin Spacey. Released by Warner Bros. Pictures, the film will open nationwide on June 28.

SUPERMAN RETURNS: ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SCORE (Rhino) will be available June 27 at all retail outlets and at www.rhino.com for a suggested retail price of $18.98.

The score album also includes liner notes penned by Ottman, who writes about his admiration for the 1978 original and its Williams score. "When Bryan (Singer) called informing me we were going to be making this film, I could actually feel my neck and shoulders tightening up. I mean, this is the Man of Steel. This is THE superhero. Why are we fooling with this!? Soon thereafter I swear I could see an apparition of John Williams, like Obi Wan Kenobi, waving his fingers, mouthing, 'Don't screw this up." It wasn't as much the weight of also editing the picture, but foremost, the musical behemoth and responsibility ahead."

SUPERMAN RETURNS: ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SCORE follows the release of Sound Of Superman, a collection of rising stars paying musical tribute to the red-caped American icon, which was released by Rhino on June 13.

I cant wait for this movie, think im gonna go watch superman II now heh.

Speaking of Superman II, I just bought it at Circuit City. I figured I'd better grab the old version now because we're getting the new SII in the fall.

Don't wanna take the chance of not finding this one around. Besides, I hate searching through those bins of old DVDs.

I found this over on the bluetights.net boards. Pretty cool and lots of new footage.

HBO First Look - Superman Returns. 320x240, WMV:
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=0125C57E69B10518

Jor-El speaks! What Did Rhythm & Hues Do To Marlon Brando To Make Him Speak In SUPERMAN RETURNS?

Behold!



That Brando thing is pretty cool.

IGN and Yahoo have a bunch of clips up.

IGN: http://media.filmforce.ign.com/media/033/033915/vids_1.html
Yahoo: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1807839024/trailer

iTunes Store has a 2:30 clip. You have to have iTunes though (sorry for the Microsoft enthusiast) Pretty cool clip though of Clark becoming Superman when Lois is in trouble (I believe this is late in the movie and he has decided not to be Superman before doing this).

I like how he notices the earthquake coming to Metropolis and he has to make a decision whether to save Metropolis or keep flying to Lois' aid. Great scene.

Lex Luthor has taken over the official site!

http://supermanreturns.warnerbros.com/

It's pretty funny.

When it loads, you hear the classic Williams theme start up, but suddenly Luthor yells WRONG! Across the S shield, red spray paint states: Lex Luthor was here.

There's a link to a Luthor page on MySpace and if you go into the official site's Wallpapers section, you'll see that Lex has changed the pictures.

Check it out soon because I doubt it will stay up.

Superman Returns Prequel #03 was released today.

Downloading.

Here's a sample of one of the "Luthor altered" pics.

Awesome stuff.

Visually, this flick looks incredible here's hoping the story follows suit.

Lex Luthor's takeover of the official site has come to an end.

Supes now has a MySpace page as well.

http://www.myspace.com/supermanreturns

Reviews for Superman Returns have been universally estactic, however Roger Ebert rips the movie's ass wide open

[align=center]rogerebert.suntimes.com[/align]

★ ★ Superman Returns (PG-13)

Atlas yawned.

It's no fun being Superman. Your life is a lie, there's nobody you can confide in, you're in love but can't express it, and you're on call 24 hours a day. But it can be fun being in a Superman movie. The original "Superman" (1978) was an exuberance of action and humor, because Christopher Reeve could play the character straight and let us know he was kidding.

Superman Returns

BY ROGER EBERT / June 27, 2006

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film directed by Bryan Singer. Written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris. Based on the story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris. Running time: 140 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for some intense action violence). Opening Wednesday, with midnight screenings tonight at select theaters.

It's no fun being Superman. Your life is a lie, there's nobody you can confide in, you're in love but can't express it, and you're on call 24 hours a day. But it can be fun being in a Superman movie. The original "Superman" (1978) was an exuberance of action and humor, because Christopher Reeve could play the character straight and let us know he was kidding.

"Superman II" (1980) was just about as good, but "Superman III" (1983) was a disappointment. "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace," with Reeve, bombed in 1987, and then the series was quiet for 19 years. Now the Man of Steel is back in Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns," which, like its hero, spends a lot of time dead in the water.

This is a glum, lackluster movie in which even the big effects sequences seem dutiful instead of exhilarating. The newsroom of the Daily Planet, filled with eccentricity and life in the earlier movies, now seems populated by corporate drones. Jimmy Olsen, the copy boy, such a brash kid, seems tamed and clueless. Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) has lost her dash and pizzazz, and her fiance, Richard White (James Marsden), regards her like a deer caught in the headlights. Even the editor, Perry White (Frank Langella), comes across less like a curmudgeon, more like an efficient manager.

One problem is with the casting. Brandon Routh lacks charisma as Superman, and I suppose as Clark Kent, he isn't supposed to have any. Routh may have been cast because he looks a little like Reeve, but there are times when he looks more like an action figure; were effects used to make him seem built from synthetics? We remember the chemistry between Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder (Lois Lane) in the original "Superman" movie, and then observe how their counterparts are tongue-tied in this one. If they had a real romance (and they did), has it left them with nothing more than wistful looks and awkward small talk?

It's strange how little dialogue the title character has in the movie. Clark Kent is monosyllabic, and Superman is microsyllabic. We learn Superman was away for five years on a mission to the remains of his home planet, Krypton. In the meantime, Lois got herself a boyfriend and a little son, played by Tristan Lake Leabu, who mostly stares at people like a beta version of Damien, the kid from "The Omen." Now Superman and (coincidentally) Clark have returned, Clark gets his old job, and Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) is out of prison and plotting to rule the earth.

Lex's plan: use crystals from kryptonite to raise up a new continent in the mid-Atlantic and flood most of the surface of the populated world. Then he'll own all the real estate. Location, location, location. Alas, the craggy landscape he produces couldn't be loved by a mountain goat and won't be habitable for a million years, but never mind. Spacey plays Luthor as sour and sadistic; he has no fun with the role, nor do we.

As for Superman, he's a one-trick pony. To paraphrase Archimedes: "Give me a lever and a place to stand, and I will move the universe." Superman doesn't need the lever or the place to stand, but as he positions himself in flight, straining to lift an airplane or a vast chunk or rock, we reflect that these activities aren't nearly as cinematic as what Batman and Spider-Man get up to. Watching Superman straining to hold a giant airliner, I'm wondering: Why does he strain? Does he have his limits? Would that new Airbus be too much for him? What about if he could stand somewhere?

Superman is vulnerable to one, and only one, substance: kryptonite. He knows this. We know this. Lex Luthor knows this. Yet he has been disabled by kryptonite in every one of the movies. Does he think Lex Luthor would pull another stunt without a supply on hand? Why doesn't he take the most elementary precautions? How can a middle-aged bald man stab the Man of Steel with kryptonite?

Now about Lois' kid. [spoil]We know who his father is, and Lois knows, and I guess the kid knows, although he calls Richard his daddy. But why is nothing done with this character? He sends a piano flying across a room, but otherwise he just stares with big, solemn eyes, like one of those self-sufficient little brats you can't get to talk. It would have been fun to give Superman a bright, sassy child, like one of the Spy Kids, and make him a part of the plot.[/spoil]

There is I suppose a certain bottom line of competence in "Superman Returns," and superhero fans will want to see the movie just for its effects, its plot outrages and its moments of humor. But when the hero, his alter ego, his girlfriend and the villain all seem to lack any joy in being themselves, why should we feel joy at watching them?

Just caught this last night, it's a bloody AWESOME movie for about 1 1/2 hours - maybe even 2 hours...but then there's this HORRIBLE aftertaste for the last half hour where they really dropped the ball on a solid finish.

If they make a sequel, I want to see Luthor again, not coming up with some outlandish plan once more - but maybe just MAYBE they could do a "Magneto" and force Superman to work WITH Luthor to solve a bigger problem maybe? Who knows.

It's a 6 maybe 7 out of 10 and definatly no "DaVinci" code which I didn't mind all that much, but needed a bit more "pep" for sure and WAAAY better than the X-Men 3. Superman brings the entertainment - just the ending defies all logic with how drawn out it is.

it was good, it wasn't bad, it was better than x3. the acting all around was good, direction was good, music was good. this is an above average movie to me, not as good as batman but i think routh totally captured superman for me. he was a real hero.

i only saw it 2 hours ago, but i've got a good buzz about it. anyone else?

I was only kidding about the Babylon 5 Movie. I don't think anyone needs that. Brandon Routh came off quite well I thought, not nearly the trainwreck some were predicting.

I think Christopher Reeve would've been happy with his apparent heir.

Has the movie hit any torrent sites yet?

No, pay the $8 to go see it. I'm not against this, but if you want to see it so bad that you are looking for torrents 1 day after the movie appears, maybe you should pay to see it once. It keeps the studio making sequels if you like it.

You'll know when it hits torrent sites when the NFO pops up on VCDQuality.com. After viewing the HBO special and learning that the film was shot digitally, I need to see it in the theater.



Also Superman Prequel 4 is out (and up if you know where to look), this time featuring a shapely drawn Lois Lane:

Starkiller,

I was just wanted to downoad it just incase I am not able to go see it in theaters. However I am going to try and convince my dad to see if we can go to an late morning / early afternoon showing on the 3rd.

I will agree that this movie has to be seen in theaters just like with almost every other movie. There's nothing quite like watching any movie on the big screen.

DP,

Thanks for that info dude, I can be paitent and wait for it to pop up here on the MF. I was just curious at all if it had hit any torrent sites yet.

As I said hopefully I can convince my dad to go see it on the 3rd this is definitely one movie I want to see on the big screen.

Hopefully a workprint will pop up.

deadlinehollywood.com: More like "Superman Doesn't Return". Mediocre box office: $19 million opening

I’m told Warner Bros.’ Superman Returns opened Wednesday with $19 million at the U.S. box office. That’s only OK — not great, not terrible, prompting box office guru analysis that the gay whisper campaign which crescendoed into newspapers and on the Internet hurt the movie’s viability as did its star Brandon Routh’s anonymity.

Predictions are that Superman Returns could muster $100 million for the long July 4th weekend which in many American households will continue from Friday through Tuesday. But the problem is not only the film’s $200 mil-$250 mil budget, but that the movie will get swamped its second weekend out by Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean 2, which continues tracking as the biggest movie opening ever.

Major film critics have been split almost down the middle reviewing this film, although Bryan Singer’s direction is generally lauded. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. has been desperately re-tooling its marketing campaign for the movie in light of the studio’s failure to stem the gay buzz surrounding Superman Returns.

As late as this week, new TV ads transformed Routh from doe-eyed softie to macho techno-man of steel, borrowing heavily from other comic books successes like Spiderman and X-Men in its look and feel, with special effects set to pounding rap music (cue Terminator-like eyeball suck-out) and no thumpa-thumpa Gloria Gaynor within earshot. For more Hollywood summer movie madness, read my latest LA Weekly column, Super-Manly Makeovers, Slackers and

darth,

I've seen it digitally twice and it's glorious. The Genesis camera is the real deal....

Gee, only 19 Million? for a Wednesday, when half of the ad material out there still says 'opening June 30?' I kinda liked the underpopulated theater and getting good seats five minutes before showtime. AND I plan on seeing it again this weekend. I think it'll pick up...

The film made 21 million on Wednesday.

Saw this late last night. Loved it. As someone who isn't a huge Superman fan (own very few of his comics) and not all that fond of the Donner film (Clark Kent is a clumsy idiot) I like the parts they took from that original movie that worked. Clark is no longer all that clumsy, he is just invisible. He can't really finish a sentence to anyone without them butting in that they have something else to do. I like that. I had absolutely no problem with Brandon Routh. I thought that he played two separate characters (Superman/Kent) wonderfully. Most of the CG was top notch and they made great use of Superman's powers. James Marsden was much better here than he ever was as Cyclops (although I would say Singer didn't give him much to do in the X-Men films).

My dislikes? I have a problem with Clark Kent and Superman returning on the same day and no one puts two and two together. Nevermind that Clark has never been around when Superman is to the rescue, I mean 5 years go by with neither, and then they appear on the same damn day! I guess this all goes back to Clark Kent going unnoticed, but it still irks me a little.

I think Lex Luthor gets a little too much screentime in this movie. It felt like in the first hour, 50 minutes was setting up his scheme for the audience. I mean I love Kevin Spacey in the role. He is evil, doesn't give a damn about anyone. But I was beginning to wonder why they didn't call this Luthor Returns. It even out though by the end of a movie that is a little stretched out. Especially the last 20 minutes.

Luthors goons are completely useless for this entire movie. I recognize Kal Penn. I see his name in the credits at the beginning. And didn't hear him utter a single word. If he did, it wasn't much. Neither did any other goon.

***Possible Spoiler Warning:

[spoil]

When they are killed toward the end, I thought to myself: What were they even doing in this movie!?! They did absolutely nothing! One filmed the entire continent scheme. Okay, he did something but it never materialized into anything important. Kal Penn I guess chipped off a piece of crystal. Wow, great job. And flew the helicopter, but then in the end we learn that Lex can fly a copter too. They were just pointless.

[/spoil]

But nonetheless, this movie was awesome and really was better than X3. I cringe to say that because X-Men is my favorite comic book and I love Marvel compared to DC. I'm not sure I can forgive Bryan Singer even now for not completing his X-Men saga. Oh well, time to turn my attention to Spider-Man 3, Batman 2, Wolverine and the next Superman.

Of course the henchmen were pointless. they were henchmen.

Oh, and Superman Returns is most definitely out for downloading. I havent gotten it yet, because its a damned cam, but its around.

Well what I'm really saying is that I don't think you need Kal Penn in the opening credits when he does pretty much nothing in this movie.

Overall, great movie. Saw it in digital, talk about a gorgeous image, it was flawless!

Things that were great:

Superman flying upsidedown and using heat vision to melt the falling glass!
Going up through the clouds to reach the suns rays to repower.
Faster than a hundred speeding bullets on the bank robery rooftop scene.
Parker Posey

Things that were eh:
Lois Lane
Marlon Brando redux
Lex's real estate plan

Things that sucked:
the kid subplot, creates too many problems for sequels. What, is he going to be
superboy now? no thanks.
Hospital scene at the end. unnecessary.

Saw this again in IMAX 3D...


Without a doubt, the coolest movie experience I've ever had in my life.

I cannot fucking wait for SW 3D.

See, the 3D in the New Zealand Cinema (In Auckland) was total bullshit.

Granted I had free tickets, but they ended up giving us [the company I work for] extra tickets to give away because the 3D didn't work and the sound was so poor in the IMAX theatre.

Lucky I didn't pay any money to see it, otherwise I would've been pissed.

But whats the deal? I'm hearing from 'international' people that the 3D is really kick arse, so how are they going to regulate this kinda thing internationally? 'Cause the 3D that I saw was balls.

Overall the film was great. The special effects, music, and casting were awesome. Same with the direction. The main flaw in my opinion was the pacing. Things took too long to get to the point.

If anything, Superman Returns was a great setup movie.

I can see the sequels being much more action-packed and better paced.

In order for Superman to have a broader appeal he's going to have to fight someone with superpowers...few audiences bought into Luthor's scheme even though it was typical Luthor.

I loved this movie and I'm not even a Superman fan. I think Brandon Routh (as well as the rest of the cast) did an excellent job and the special effects were awesome. Been back two or three times to see it.

Good film, sequel should be better. They can go alot of different directions with it.