We give a long-overdue visit to 1978′s Superman: The Movie, appreciate the film’s cinematic quality and inspiring John Williams soundtrack; discuss the permeating Christian allegory of the story; and cheer for Margot Kidder’s funny and feminine-but-not-treacly Lois Lane. Plus, we run down the Week in Geek, squee over the mysterious and dangerous-looking Benedict Cumberbatch in the latest Trek trailer, wonder whether Johnny Depp’s Tonto in the upcoming Lone Ranger movie constitutes 15/16 of a blackface performance, and take a very early look at The Prototype, a movie in production that will feature robots, military super-soldiers, and an alien takeover of Earth (I’m in!). Other hot guys discussed in this ‘cast: Karl Urban, Christopher Reeve, and Henry Cavill. Come join the fun!
Nice discussion of Superman. I haven’t watched that movie in a long time, but I’ve watched some of the newer stuff.
I think his main weaknesses are more mental than physical. When he’s Clark Kent (or even a bit when he’s Superman), he has to keep himself under very tight control to avoid hurting people. If he gets angry and punches a wall, the whole wall is gone. Plus like you guys said, he can only be one place at a time.
This one gets a bit into the omniscience discussion too (starting at about 1:20)
My favorite Lex is Michael Rosenbaum. It might be because we see his journey toward becoming evil, not just the end result, but he seems a lot less one-note than the movie versions of Lex. He is a bit in this clip, but he was split into “good Lex” and “evil Lex” during this episode.
Finally got to the Superman cast, never knew about the whole ‘Jesus’ complex surrounding the storyline; that really took me back. I guess I was too young and naive to have seen that when viewing the movie. This came out when I was in High School, and mostly what I remember was the scope of the cinematics. Spending this amount of money on a superhero movie was simply unheard of at the time, it broke a lot of rules in its age. And people were outraged at how much money Brando managed to extort for his brief appearance in the film. And though the effects may look a little rough around the edges now, they were jaw dropping for their time.
What I and a friend of mine really got such a kick out of were the two cameos in the film, they were both aboard the train that Clark races past. One was Kirk Alyn, he was the first Superman to appear in film; one movie serial in 48 and another in 1950. I have a place in my heart for Kirk Alyn but I will spare you the story… The other cameo was by Noel Neill who played Lois Lane in the 50’s TV series.
Reeve’s paralyzation prompted the Urban Myth that actors who play Superman are cursed, it did not help that his name was so similar to that of George Reeves (Superman from 52-58) who had committed suicide.
fakintalos metioned Kirk on the GWC 363 Live Podcast thread today which reminded me that I wanted to post a differing opinion with Chuck on Kirk in this podcast.
Chuck mentions in this cast that Kirk learns from screwing up. I disagree. I think that Kirk learns from everything. He learns so fast, in fact, that he is able to function at a higher level than others given the same education, training and experience level because he is able to directly apply everything he learns into the next situation(s). Yes, Kirk learns from screwing up but he also learns from academics, training and experience. He’s a fly by the seat of his pants sort of guy that assembles all the information available to him and is able to think a few steps ahead of his opponents. Yes he still makes mistakes but he is able to survive those mistakes, directly apply what he has learned and move on to the next round. That is the magic of Kirk the Tactician and Kirk the Strategist. What endears us to Kirk, however, is Kirk the Loyalist and Kirk the Friend. We know he will sacrifice everything to help his friends and the causes he believes in. Something he learned from his father I suspect.
Anyway, that’s my 2 cents Chuck. Anyone is welcome to let me know if I’m off base.
~Shooter Out
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