Post by Tim on Aug 30, 2016 11:23:17 GMT -5
For me, it all started in 1978, when I saw the first Superman movie. Christopher Reeve was perfect in the role, and, as the taglines said, you could believe a man could fly.
In 1981, I enjoyed Superman II as well.
Superman III, that's when it started going off track, IMO, Richard Prior had no place there.
Superman IV: The Quest For Peace....
Anyway, there is quite a story here. The first and second Superman movies were actually made at the same time. However, halfway through production of Superman II, the director, Richard Donner, had a fight with Alexander and Ilya Salkland, who were the producers. Donner was fired and replace by Richard Lester. It was Lester that brought in more the goofy elements of SII, like the comedy bits that seemed to come out of nowhere.
A few years ago, Richard Donner released his own cut of SII. It's pretty good, however, a lot of the footage comes from rehearsals and screen tests, so you have to get used to thing suddenly changing (in one scene, Clark's hair and glasses constantly change). Still, it shows us the movie Mr. Donner wanted to make.
Superman III was the movie that was all Richard Lester. He tried to turn it into a comedy slapstick by bringing in Richard Pryor. It was clear that Mr. Lester had no idea what made Superman work.
One of the good things about Superman III was Lana Lang, played by Annette O'Toole. Mr. O'Toole would, of course, play Martha Kent on Smallville.
After Superman III, Chris Reeve said he was done with Superman. So the Salkland's tried to branch out and made the Supergirl movie in 1984. It didn't go well. There is a thread about that film here.
Anyway, after that, the Salkland's ending up selling the rights to Superman to Cannon Films. It was this company that wooed Chris Reeve back by promising him Creative Control on what became Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. However, Mr. Reeve had no idea what he was in for. Cannon slashed the budget in half, so they basically ran out of money and ended up releasing an unfinished film.
To make matters worse, so much was edited out that often the movie didn't make sense. And what the heck was that with Superman rebuilding the Great Wall Of China by just looking at it!?
Needless to say, Superman IV was savaged by critics and was a box office flop. Cannon Films would go bankrupt at the end of the 1980's.
This would be the last time Chris Reeve played Superman, as his 1995 accident would paralyze him from the neck down for the rest of his life (that didn't stop him from continuing to act and direct, though).
As for Superman, although he would do well on television with Lois & Clark and Smallville, it would be nearly twenty years before he'd appear on movie screens again.
To Be Continued...
In 1981, I enjoyed Superman II as well.
Superman III, that's when it started going off track, IMO, Richard Prior had no place there.
Superman IV: The Quest For Peace....
Anyway, there is quite a story here. The first and second Superman movies were actually made at the same time. However, halfway through production of Superman II, the director, Richard Donner, had a fight with Alexander and Ilya Salkland, who were the producers. Donner was fired and replace by Richard Lester. It was Lester that brought in more the goofy elements of SII, like the comedy bits that seemed to come out of nowhere.
A few years ago, Richard Donner released his own cut of SII. It's pretty good, however, a lot of the footage comes from rehearsals and screen tests, so you have to get used to thing suddenly changing (in one scene, Clark's hair and glasses constantly change). Still, it shows us the movie Mr. Donner wanted to make.
Superman III was the movie that was all Richard Lester. He tried to turn it into a comedy slapstick by bringing in Richard Pryor. It was clear that Mr. Lester had no idea what made Superman work.
One of the good things about Superman III was Lana Lang, played by Annette O'Toole. Mr. O'Toole would, of course, play Martha Kent on Smallville.
After Superman III, Chris Reeve said he was done with Superman. So the Salkland's tried to branch out and made the Supergirl movie in 1984. It didn't go well. There is a thread about that film here.
Anyway, after that, the Salkland's ending up selling the rights to Superman to Cannon Films. It was this company that wooed Chris Reeve back by promising him Creative Control on what became Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. However, Mr. Reeve had no idea what he was in for. Cannon slashed the budget in half, so they basically ran out of money and ended up releasing an unfinished film.
To make matters worse, so much was edited out that often the movie didn't make sense. And what the heck was that with Superman rebuilding the Great Wall Of China by just looking at it!?
Needless to say, Superman IV was savaged by critics and was a box office flop. Cannon Films would go bankrupt at the end of the 1980's.
This would be the last time Chris Reeve played Superman, as his 1995 accident would paralyze him from the neck down for the rest of his life (that didn't stop him from continuing to act and direct, though).
As for Superman, although he would do well on television with Lois & Clark and Smallville, it would be nearly twenty years before he'd appear on movie screens again.
To Be Continued...
