Post by AllenSmithee on Aug 2, 2011 8:19:27 GMT -5
People told me for all my life that Superman (1978) was rife with cheesy special effects.
And yet, Star Wars is not cheesy?
Especially on the Krypton scenes, where they could load it up with foke and smog, it worked well because they just burned magnesium or however and it all was great.
I am normally not a big fan of John William's disgusting overscoring, but hear I was totally into it.
There are some bits I took issues with, in regards to Clark's dishonesty by acting as "Clark Kent" and really being Kal-El -- this is something I never really felt in my interpretation of the character, I always thought of Kal-El as a foreign bit of heritage that, while important, will never override the influence of Ma & Pa Kent and the fair teachings of The American Way.
I did really enjoy Clark's acceptance of Ms. Tessmacher's offer even at the jeopardizing of Lois' health. Definitely sensing some great drama in the second part, what with the loose ends regarding those zany guys stuck in The Phantom Zone.
I have great disdain for Lex Luthor's character in this, however -- he's just a stock villain, played for laughs and doesn't reach that level of camp offered by, say, Caesar Romero's Joker and falls flat with his gang of dorks. He just doesn't really make any sense to me and to my idea of how I'd write Lex. It is simply the devaluing that I dislike most, as I'm fine with character interpretations not in line with my own, just so long as they are presented nicely.
I will say though that the actress playing Lois is fab. She really reminds me of Zooey Deschanel, actually, hahaha. She has that level of crude city-gal that hides the nearly ethereal beauty that should be Lois Lane. The reason I think this is necessary is, well, she ain't got time for that shit and so she devalues much of her femininity, and I think that they hit it with the actress, the make up, the costumes, and so forth.
On the subject of costumes, Reeves looks great in the Superman outfit. I couldn't get over how well the cape draped the entire time, and it absolutely captured the stoicism necessary. I say it, time and time again, to my friends who like comics that the super-hero costumes we see in cinema today are too textured and overdone. The costume here was perfect and entirely believable.
Perhaps that was due in part with Reeves' spectacular performance as the man himself, Clark Kent. Golly, although I'm not entirely happy with the character interpretation, Reeves' pulls it off with charm and is endearing the whole way through. That honest smile is wonderful, and yet we see the God-like power he holds when he rages at the death of Lois Lane -- and, reminded of his inability to save Pa Kent, does the physically impossible but absolutely comic-book cool race around the world backwards, heaving time in the opposite flow.
Now here's where I give the writers much respect: He could have diverted the entire thing. No missile misfiring mishaps, and therefore no earthquakes and so on. But the writers hit the nail square on the head by having Clark fix it to only save the one he cares for most. Two things here are important. First of all, it shows that he is aware of how far he will go in abuse of his powers. He knows for a fact that Jor-El's warning is important, but we can see his response to Lois' demise as being driven by Pa Kent's greater advise -- and Clark's greater purpose. He's Clark Kent, from Smallville, Kansas, and he's got a greater purpose on this earth than kicking homeruns. And yes, the death of his father figure drives his guilt at being unable to save one person and now with the ability to save another he feels he has to, but really, here's the second point that makes it great:
Clark Kent is a human. And he grants himself this small abuse of the blessing of being born Kal-El, son of Jor-El and Lara to give himself this very human wish. The guilt that this must stir inside of him, the question of having an ability far greater than any man should is the crux of Clark's character and why I love Superman so.
He left many dead but he granted himself the secret of keeping her alive. In a way, he murdered the rest. He COULD have saved them too, but as per his birth father's request, he is not to affect the paths of history. This respect of his heritage is an important part of Clark as an adopted son.
Anyway, the great this about Clark Kent is that he is not Beyond Good & Evil. He is fully capable of Good or Evil and he tries to do the right thing. He is effectively God Incarnate and yet he remains human, for he is Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas.
Also of note is that Lois' perils were very perilous and regardless of knowing the outcome (saved by ol' Supes), I was at the edge of my seat the entire time.
TLDR I just watched the 1978 Superman film, loved it, and wrote a bunch of stuff y'all have probably thought up anyway.
EDIT: I was just thinking about a certain scene more deeply and it is really unsettling for who the character is (to me) but with, as always in this movie, a glimmer of hope.
In the scene after "Superman" amazes Lois, Clark is supposed to go on a date with her. He is almost going to admit he is Superman -- I hadn't noticed until this point how much he differentiates his voice; Kevin Conroy was the first to alternate the voice of Bruce Wayne and Batman -- and this matters because Batman can be a liar. Bruce Wayne is just a platform for Batman to exist properly. Batman uses Bruce Wayne's identity for all sorts of things, but one thing that should always be kept in mind is that at the end of the day, Bruce Wayne sheds his False Smile and Vapid Charms to return to the Cape, Cowl, and Gotham @ Night.
See how this bothers me? Now, I fully understand Clark putting on a different air when he bears the S-Emblem -- but I don't think it is an intentional bravado or gusto, and if it is then it certainly isn't the tone he'd use to talk to Lois. The movie implies here that Kal-El is always there and he acts a buffoon in order to lead the feeble earthlings astray in the guessing game of "Who is Superman? Who is the Man of Steel?"
Of course the saving grace here is that he does revert back to Clark, clearly due to nerves and lack of decisiveness, which is a very bumbling Clark-like attitude.
It is pretty clear that Clark might be more comfortable as Superman. He doesn't have to hide his talents -- which also describes another feasible interpretation for part of Clark Kent's mumbling clumsiness: He's focusing so much on NOT crushing that pencil and NOT floating up those stairs (after all, nobody is looking), how can you expect him to be 100% aware of all that's happening around him.
Yes, I do like that, and am surprised I never thought of it before.
I think the other reason Clark is more confident as Superman aside from scare tactics against his foes, and on top of focusing less on control of his strength and powers is that idea of being in a costume -- when I wear a mask or an outfit I get crazy. Crazier than normal, anyhow! And it is easy to do because you can put on a character, and be The Guy.
This actually creates a nice identity struggle for Superman, but I think, when he comes home at the end of the die, flies into his quaint flat and sits down on his favourite chair reflecting on the day, or the past, or whatever else, he isn't thinking in out-there abstract alien concepts. He's thinking of the great times with his dad, Jonathan Kent, and he's thinking of what he's gonna write for The Planet, and he's thinking of how he's gonna impress Lois.
He's a Man. The Super is part-time stuff.
And yet, Star Wars is not cheesy?
Especially on the Krypton scenes, where they could load it up with foke and smog, it worked well because they just burned magnesium or however and it all was great.
I am normally not a big fan of John William's disgusting overscoring, but hear I was totally into it.
There are some bits I took issues with, in regards to Clark's dishonesty by acting as "Clark Kent" and really being Kal-El -- this is something I never really felt in my interpretation of the character, I always thought of Kal-El as a foreign bit of heritage that, while important, will never override the influence of Ma & Pa Kent and the fair teachings of The American Way.
I did really enjoy Clark's acceptance of Ms. Tessmacher's offer even at the jeopardizing of Lois' health. Definitely sensing some great drama in the second part, what with the loose ends regarding those zany guys stuck in The Phantom Zone.
I have great disdain for Lex Luthor's character in this, however -- he's just a stock villain, played for laughs and doesn't reach that level of camp offered by, say, Caesar Romero's Joker and falls flat with his gang of dorks. He just doesn't really make any sense to me and to my idea of how I'd write Lex. It is simply the devaluing that I dislike most, as I'm fine with character interpretations not in line with my own, just so long as they are presented nicely.
I will say though that the actress playing Lois is fab. She really reminds me of Zooey Deschanel, actually, hahaha. She has that level of crude city-gal that hides the nearly ethereal beauty that should be Lois Lane. The reason I think this is necessary is, well, she ain't got time for that shit and so she devalues much of her femininity, and I think that they hit it with the actress, the make up, the costumes, and so forth.
On the subject of costumes, Reeves looks great in the Superman outfit. I couldn't get over how well the cape draped the entire time, and it absolutely captured the stoicism necessary. I say it, time and time again, to my friends who like comics that the super-hero costumes we see in cinema today are too textured and overdone. The costume here was perfect and entirely believable.
Perhaps that was due in part with Reeves' spectacular performance as the man himself, Clark Kent. Golly, although I'm not entirely happy with the character interpretation, Reeves' pulls it off with charm and is endearing the whole way through. That honest smile is wonderful, and yet we see the God-like power he holds when he rages at the death of Lois Lane -- and, reminded of his inability to save Pa Kent, does the physically impossible but absolutely comic-book cool race around the world backwards, heaving time in the opposite flow.
Now here's where I give the writers much respect: He could have diverted the entire thing. No missile misfiring mishaps, and therefore no earthquakes and so on. But the writers hit the nail square on the head by having Clark fix it to only save the one he cares for most. Two things here are important. First of all, it shows that he is aware of how far he will go in abuse of his powers. He knows for a fact that Jor-El's warning is important, but we can see his response to Lois' demise as being driven by Pa Kent's greater advise -- and Clark's greater purpose. He's Clark Kent, from Smallville, Kansas, and he's got a greater purpose on this earth than kicking homeruns. And yes, the death of his father figure drives his guilt at being unable to save one person and now with the ability to save another he feels he has to, but really, here's the second point that makes it great:
Clark Kent is a human. And he grants himself this small abuse of the blessing of being born Kal-El, son of Jor-El and Lara to give himself this very human wish. The guilt that this must stir inside of him, the question of having an ability far greater than any man should is the crux of Clark's character and why I love Superman so.
He left many dead but he granted himself the secret of keeping her alive. In a way, he murdered the rest. He COULD have saved them too, but as per his birth father's request, he is not to affect the paths of history. This respect of his heritage is an important part of Clark as an adopted son.
Anyway, the great this about Clark Kent is that he is not Beyond Good & Evil. He is fully capable of Good or Evil and he tries to do the right thing. He is effectively God Incarnate and yet he remains human, for he is Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas.
Also of note is that Lois' perils were very perilous and regardless of knowing the outcome (saved by ol' Supes), I was at the edge of my seat the entire time.
TLDR I just watched the 1978 Superman film, loved it, and wrote a bunch of stuff y'all have probably thought up anyway.
EDIT: I was just thinking about a certain scene more deeply and it is really unsettling for who the character is (to me) but with, as always in this movie, a glimmer of hope.
In the scene after "Superman" amazes Lois, Clark is supposed to go on a date with her. He is almost going to admit he is Superman -- I hadn't noticed until this point how much he differentiates his voice; Kevin Conroy was the first to alternate the voice of Bruce Wayne and Batman -- and this matters because Batman can be a liar. Bruce Wayne is just a platform for Batman to exist properly. Batman uses Bruce Wayne's identity for all sorts of things, but one thing that should always be kept in mind is that at the end of the day, Bruce Wayne sheds his False Smile and Vapid Charms to return to the Cape, Cowl, and Gotham @ Night.
See how this bothers me? Now, I fully understand Clark putting on a different air when he bears the S-Emblem -- but I don't think it is an intentional bravado or gusto, and if it is then it certainly isn't the tone he'd use to talk to Lois. The movie implies here that Kal-El is always there and he acts a buffoon in order to lead the feeble earthlings astray in the guessing game of "Who is Superman? Who is the Man of Steel?"
Of course the saving grace here is that he does revert back to Clark, clearly due to nerves and lack of decisiveness, which is a very bumbling Clark-like attitude.
It is pretty clear that Clark might be more comfortable as Superman. He doesn't have to hide his talents -- which also describes another feasible interpretation for part of Clark Kent's mumbling clumsiness: He's focusing so much on NOT crushing that pencil and NOT floating up those stairs (after all, nobody is looking), how can you expect him to be 100% aware of all that's happening around him.
Yes, I do like that, and am surprised I never thought of it before.
I think the other reason Clark is more confident as Superman aside from scare tactics against his foes, and on top of focusing less on control of his strength and powers is that idea of being in a costume -- when I wear a mask or an outfit I get crazy. Crazier than normal, anyhow! And it is easy to do because you can put on a character, and be The Guy.
This actually creates a nice identity struggle for Superman, but I think, when he comes home at the end of the die, flies into his quaint flat and sits down on his favourite chair reflecting on the day, or the past, or whatever else, he isn't thinking in out-there abstract alien concepts. He's thinking of the great times with his dad, Jonathan Kent, and he's thinking of what he's gonna write for The Planet, and he's thinking of how he's gonna impress Lois.
He's a Man. The Super is part-time stuff.
