Podcast 193: Superman: The Movie

Up, up, and away! Join us as we soar into Superman: The Movie—the film that made us believe a man could fly! From Christopher Reeve’s iconic performance to John Williams' legendary score, we’ll dive into what makes this 1978 classic the gold standard of superhero cinema. Don’t miss this super review!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, man, it's me, Kevin Smith,the annoying voice of podcasting.
And you're listening to the non-annoying Three Guys in a Flick.
Ladies and gentlemen, please takeyour seats.
The show is about to begin.
They can be a great people, Kal

(00:38):
-El.
They wish to be.
They only lack the light to showthe way.
For this reason above all, theircapacity for good, I have sent
them you, my only son.
It's all I own.
I always know.

(01:00):
Three guys and a flick with Don,
Ken and Jon.
Dive into the movies while after
the dawn.
From the good to the bad to the
wildly absurd.
They give a fuck about movies.
Their voices are heard.

(01:20):
Welcome back.
You are listening to Three Guys ina Flick.
This is where we review the good,the bad, and the absurd.
Tonight's episode, Superman theMovie.
Beware spoilers.
Coming to you from the offices of
the Daily Planet, my name is Don.

(01:42):
And to my right, we have the comic
book guy, Jon.
Hidey -ho.
And to my left, we have theprofessor, Ken.
Hello, everybody.
Hey, happy newborn, guys.
Happy newborn?Yeah, well, it's the first thing
that popped out of my mouth,apparently.
I was going to say happy comicbook day.
Happy comic book day works aswell.
So does happy new year.

(02:02):
So yeah, this is our first show of
2025.
How are you guys feeling?
Feeling pretty good.
I'm geeking out.
We're starting out strong.
Yes.
Yes, we are.
And we thought we would start off
2025 with what I think is probablythe best comic book movie ever
made.
Don, you picked this one out of
the helmet this week, and you'vesaid just now it's one of your

(02:27):
favorite movies.
Why this movie?
This movie holds a lot of meaningfor me growing up.
This was, I remember seeing thisin the Lin four, you remember the
Lin four?And, uh, I remember this was one
of my grandpa's favorites and hehad the VHS.
He had recorded it from adifferent source or he might've

(02:49):
even been the three hour TVversion.
But every time we would go toDenver, I would always watch
Superman.
So Superman always resonates with
me, uh, with my, with mygrandparents.
out of all the superheroes ever mynumber one is superman and
wolverine so i mean so basicallywhat you're saying is if we shit

(03:10):
all over this movie it's basicallywe're shitting on your memories
and shitting on your grandpa noi'm saying that if you're shitting
on this movie your taste is inquestion but hey opinions are like
assholes and everyone has thembasically what you're saying is if
we shit all over this movie it'sbasically we're shitting on your

(03:32):
memories and shitting on yourgrandpa no i'm saying that if
you're shitting on this movie yourtaste is in question but hey
opinions are like assholes andeveryone has them And everyone
stinks.
And actually, this movie was
submitted to us by the Fire Chief.
My lovely wife.
So thank you, Fire Chief, so muchfor throwing this into the Bronco
helmet.
I, for one, cannot wait to get
into this.
Thanks, love.
This is my favorite comic bookmovie of all time, and it's my
favorite Superman movie of alltime.
What about you, John?I wouldn't say that this is my
favorite comic book or Supermanmovie.
but it definitely does pull at theheartstrings and the nostalgia of,

(03:54):
I remember going to see this withmy dad.
And I think everyone kind of hasthat memory and just, you know,
you see your father as Supermanand going to see the movie.
Just anytime I think about it, Ithink of dad.
So it's just, again, it's one ofthose movies that you're
absolutely right, professor.
It's just the nostalgia of it

(04:15):
takes you back to that moment,that time and that feeling.
What about you?about you?
What do you remember about seeingthis?
I just remember being gobsmackedwhen I was a kid watching it.
And we were one of the firsthouseholds that had a VCR, and Dad
purchased two movies.
One was The In -Laws, and the
other was Superman.
So I got to watch Superman a lot
when I was a kid.
And so pretty much watching it for

(04:39):
this pod, it's like...
Man, it was just like, it
immediately took me back to, ohman, I remember all of this.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's one of those movies.
Released on December 15th, 1978,
Superman the movie was directed byRichard Donner.
Screenplay by Mario Puzo, DavidNewman, Leslie Newman, and Robert

(05:00):
Benton.
Based on Superman by Jerry Siegel
and Joe Schuster.
Music by John Williams.
John motherfucking Williams.
John motherfucking Williams.
And it stars Marlon Brando, GeneHackman, Christopher Reeve, Ned
Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Glenn Ford,Trevor Howard, Margot Kidder,
Valerie Perrine, Maria Schell,Terrence Stamp, Phyllis Thaxter,
Susanna York, and a bunch of othercomic book characters.

(05:22):
How'd this movie do, Don?This movie was made for $55
million.
in 1978 and brought in 300 million
dollars at the time i believe thiswas the most expensive movie made

(05:48):
i think it was at the time yeah ithad a very ambitious uh production
cost to it and i i really thinkthat it really shows when you
watch the movie the uh the boxoffice that it did in uh 1978 the

(06:10):
time i believe this was the mostexpensive movie made i think it
was at the time yeah it had a veryambitious uh production cost to it
and i i really think that itreally shows when you watch the
movie the uh the box office thatit did in uh 1978 Since it was in

(06:32):
December, it only pulled in $40million, but it ended up becoming
the number one box office in 1979because it brought in another $93
million.
And so altogether in its box
office run initially $133 million,which was pretty damn good.
When we watch comic book moviestoday, when you listen to the
filmmakers, a lot of them, withthe exception of Tim Burton, will
say that this was one of theinspirations.
This is one of the ones thatstarted it all.
And I agree with that.
And I think that's why it is my
favorite comic book movie.
Being that this is a comic book
movie and our first comic bookmovie of the year gives me a

(06:57):
chance to geek out.
So I thought I'd share a little
history of Superman in the comicbooks.
You got wood right now, don't you?Do you feel the table lifting,
bud?I'm just saying.
I call it super wood.
Well, I'm glad somebody does.
And Don's my kryptonite.
Yeah, boy.
So Superman actually debuted inAction Comics number one in 1938.
He was created by Jerry Siegel,who was the writer at the time,

(07:17):
and Joe Schuster, who was theartist.
Did you know what their originalplan for Superman was?
What?He was originally a villain, he
was bald, and he had telekineticpowers.
That failed miserably.
So they went back to the drawing
board and recreated the idea ofthe Superman sent from another
world.
It was actually, and this is what

(07:38):
surprised me when I did myresearch.
I always saw Superman as a JesusChrist type character.
In fact, the movie, that's howthey portray him.
It's actually an allegory toJesus's story.
But in the original idea that theycame up with, he's more of an
allegory to Moses.
And that's who they were modeling
him after.

(07:58):
But they ended up selling the
rights to national alliedpublications who eventually became
DC Comics for $130 is what theysold the rights to Superman for.
Wow.
Any idea when that was?
That was back in...
Like the 40s or something?
It was around then.
They had shopped it around for a
while, for a few years, andfinally got, you know... allied

(08:19):
comics or allied publications tobuy it and then after that for
years because it became a billiondollar industry superman They
fought to get some of the rightsand some more compensation back
from it.
It wasn't until the 1970s that
finally DC Comics gave them creditand set up compensation for them,

(08:42):
for these characters.
Wait, so once they sold the
rights, then their names weredropped?
Their names were dropped.
They were not credited as the
creators of Superman.
Just like the Bill Finger thing.
Yeah.
So it actually set up, because of
the lawsuits and everything else,and DC finally making the
agreements with them.
They lost all these lawsuits with
DC, but all the comic book writersgot together, all the comic book

(09:05):
artists got together and said theyneed credit.
It set it up so that how comicbook artists nowadays get their
credit and get their compensationsbecause of this big, long, drawn
-out legal battle.
The other thing I found
interesting is the Superman thatwe know today was not the Superman
back then.
When he originally was designed in
1938, He could only leap an eighthof a mile.

(09:27):
He could lift heavy objects, andhe had bulletproof skin.
That was all of his powers.
It wasn't until the 1940s that
they made it so he could fly, andit wasn't until many years after
that that he got heat vision, x-ray vision, super hearing, and
everything else.
He was much different in the
beginning.
And I do believe they captured
some of that in this movie in thatbefore he goes to the fortress,

(09:49):
notice he has a lot less powers, alot less abilities.
He doesn't fly, things like that.
So I like how they kind of had
that in this movie.
Yeah, as far as comic book heroes
go, where does Superman land onyour list, comic book guy?
I'm pretty sure we all feelconfident saying that Batman is
your number one, but go ahead.

(10:11):
Secretly, Superman is actually my
number one.
Why is it secretly?
Because I always tell peopleBatman is my number one because I
just love... I love, I think, theBatman movies more than I've loved
the Superman movies.
Sure.
And as a comic book... collector,follower, things like that.
I was always more into the Batmancomics, but the idea of Superman
is so iconic.
The character is so iconic and

(10:31):
what they've done with him overthe years of evolving him.
I've always had a thing forSuperman.
Yeah.
So you are secretly in love with
Superman.
I'm a closet Superman fan.
a closet Superman fan.
Okay.
Well, it is 2025.
And so you are more than welcome
to come out of that Supermancloset and join the rest of us.

(10:53):
When you are ready.
When I am ready.
What about you there, Guy?Where on the scale of superheroes
does Superman fall for you?He's definitely in the top five.
When I was a kid, I really gotinto Batman.
I really enjoyed Spider -Man aswell.
And it's during this time thatJustice League is a cartoon that I

(11:16):
am embellishing in.
And so he's definitely in there.
But, you know, you also haveAquaman and Wonder Woman.
And so, yeah, he's certainly upthere in the top.
So I don't know if I would put himat number three or number two.
Batman's number one for sure.
Okay.
I have another question for youguys.
Out of all of the superheromovies, you have Superman, Batman,
and then we'll call Marvel,Marvel, right?

(11:36):
Because there's so many of them.
Where does Superman the movie?
land in your top 10 or does itland in your top 10 of comic book
movies of all time would you basethat off of what is your favorite
or what do you see as the mosticonic superhero movie made i
don't know what the difference isum semantics what i'm saying is

(11:59):
does super with all of the movieswe've gotten does superman the
movie still fall within your top10 or top five i would say for me
this is in my top five you basethat off of what is your favorite
or what do you see as the mosticonic superhero movie made i
don't know what the difference isum semantics what i'm saying is
does super with all of the movieswe've gotten does superman the

(12:23):
movie still fall within your top10 or top five i would say for me
this is in my top five okay thisis that's a bold statement i want
you to i'm gonna fucking hold youto that you know i will the reason
is is uh you've told me this manytimes don you've said this it has

(12:46):
inspired so many other movies it'sbecome the cookie cutter of what
other movies are made based off ofcomic book movies comic book
movies yes and so for me i don'tthink we would have had a lot of
my other favorite movies withoutthis movie being created all right
all right what about you sir abold statement i want you to i'm
gonna fucking hold you to that youknow i will the know i will the
reason is is uh you've told methis many times don you've said
this it has inspired so many othermovies it's become the cookie
cutter of what other movies aremade based off of comic book
movies comic book movies yes andso for me i don't think we would
have had a lot of my otherfavorite movies without this movie
being created all about you sirIt's going to be in the 6 through

(13:10):
10, probably closer to 10.
Okay, there you go.
Yeah, because I got a bunch ofMarvel in there.
How can you not, can you not,right?
Yeah, and then the first twoBatman movies, they're the top for
me.
Returns?
Or are you talking about begins indark night?
Yes.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
I'm like the returns with fuckingDanny DeVito.
How about you?When they turned him into a
fucking penguin.
It's in my top five.
It's in your top five.
you talking you?
When they turned in your top five.
Easy.
Easy.
Okay.
Let me throw this back at you.
Okay.
Easy.
Of actors who've played Superman
in, in Superman movies, where doesChristopher, Christopher Reeve
fall?Number one.
one.
He's number one.
Number one.
And I'll tell you why the scene
where, uh, him and Lois go flying.
And then he comes back and he
comes back to her apartment asClark Kent.
There's a bit where she goes toget her purse and he takes off his

(13:33):
glasses and all he does is standup or straighten up.
But you can see the physicalchange between Clark Kent and
Superman.
And Christopher Reeve nails it,
that he will always be Supermanfor me.
The other actors have gone theother way.
We learn.
about Superman first, and then
Clark Kent is the persona he picksafterwards.

(13:55):
So in my opinion, I thinkChristopher Reeve does it best
just because I bought both ClarkKent and Superman.
That's a great point.
I agree with you on the idea of he
does play both dualitiesexcellently, that you could see a
physical difference between themboth, and you could see how
someone might not realize This guyis Superman.
And my second favorite is HenryCavill.
And my third favorite was BrandonRouth.
For me, I would have to reverse ita little bit.

(14:17):
Henry Cavill, for me, has justalways been kind of my favorite
Superman.
But I love the point that you
bring up.
He didn't do, I think, a great job
of Clark Kent because we don't getto see him much as Clark Kent.
Right.
He barely is Clark Kent in those
movies.
So I feel like he played the best

(14:39):
Superman.
But I have to agree, Christopher
Reeve played the best Clark Kent.
Brandon Routh did okay, and we can
talk about that film in anothertime, but yeah.
What about you out of those three?You've seen all three, right?
I'm pretty sure you saw Man ofSteel together.

(15:01):
I don't think I've seen BrandonRouth's Superman.
Really?Yeah.
That's Returns?Yeah.
No, I haven't seen it.
I was so excited for that movie.
It disappointed me.
disappointed me.
I didn't like it.
All it was was a rehash of this of
78.
It was a land deal.
Who directed?Bryan Singer.
Oh. At the time we, we weren'tprivy to the fact that he was an

(15:24):
asshole.
So I had high hopes fucking just
did the X -Men usual suspects.
Now he's doing a fucking Superman
movie.
Are you fucking kidding me?
Yeah.
It was really, I was really let
down by it.
Although when he's does save the
plane is probably the best scene,but anyways.
So I'm going to say that you wouldsay it's Christopher Reeve.
Yeah, absolutely.
And, and it's brought out what
we've been talking about for thelast few moments that we have.

(15:44):
First, an introduction of ClarkKent as Clark Kent.
And there's a little tease ofSuperman when he leaves the
Fortress of Solitude and he fliestowards us for the first time.
After that, now we are with ClarkKent.
And he does such a wonderful,bumbling Clark Kent.
The octave of his voice is alittle bit higher.
The stutterings that he has andthe idiosyncrasies and the

(16:05):
awkwardness that the... characterClark portrays is done
delightfully and it's not until weget the big reveal of Superman and
I don't think that we get to seesuch a strong performance of Clark
and Superman in the same movie theway that we get it in Superman.
Just a little tidbit ofdifferences between the comic book
and the movie.
In the comic book, Clark Kent was
never portrayed as a bumbling kindof character.

(16:26):
He was always just portrayed as amild -mannered reporter.
Right.
So that's something that was
created for this movie, and itmakes sense because they had to
make the two characters differentenough.
Right.
So that's Yeah, absolutely.
Superman is directed by...
Richard Donner.
Donner.
One of our faves.
And he is... I am so intriguedthat he is given this project
because...
He has not established himself

(16:47):
necessarily as a big director tohelm this mega, mega project.
I think the movie he does beforethis is The Omen.
The Omen.
But that's it.
Which is a horror flick.
Yes.
That's what got him this job.
They were actually looking at
Spielberg and I think one otherdirector.
Oh, they were looking at a couple.

(17:08):
They were looking at Spielberg,
Lucas, and... at Spielberg,Someone else who was big at the
time.
Is it your favorite Richard Donner
movie, or do you have anotherfavorite Richard Donner movie?
Ouch, you motherfucker.
I knew, I knew.
And I have a feeling I know whatthe answer is, but I wanted to

(17:28):
hear you say it.
You're going to call me out in
front of everybody, aren't you?I am.
Now I want to know.
It's got to be.
It's got to be Lethal Weapon.
Lethal Weapon 2 or 1 are my
favorite Richard Donner movies,followed closely by this and
Goonies.
You son of a bitch.
Ken, do you have a favoriteRichard Donner?
I think I got to go with LethalWeapon.
Goonies for me.

(17:48):
Yeah.
Well, shocker.
You obviously didn't get Lethal
Weapon.
So go back and listen to the
podcast, folks.
The screenplay is done by Mario
Puzo.
Trivia question.
The Godfather.
Answer goes to Ken.
Yeah, he wrote The Godfather.
So you're thinking, interesting.
So he was one of thescreenwriters.

(18:08):
And ironically enough, they getThe Godfather to play Jor -El.
Yeah.
Funny.
Yeah.
What'd you guys think of Marlon
Brando?I thought he did a phenomenal job,
but reading the background of himon this movie and working with
Richard Donner, he was a pain inthe ass.
I know.
know.
He didn't read the script.
No. He comes in and he pretty much
has cue cards on the baby'sdiaper.
And that's what he's reading forthe first time.

(18:29):
Those are first time readings thathe's doing it.
And God bless him.
He sounds like fucking Jor -El.
When I think of Jor -El, I thinkof A, how cool Marlon Brando
looks, and B, how cool he sounds.
Well, he even told Richard Donner
to record all of their practicetakes and everything because maybe
they'd have something good.
It's just because he was lazy and
was hoping that they'd findsomething good and he wouldn't
have to keep going.
Yeah, and Marlon Brando, he's

(18:51):
pretty much at the top of themountain.
He is probably one of the mostsought -after actors at the time
this movie comes out.
Yep.
Agreed.
Let's talk about Gene Hackman.
Easily my favorite Lex Luthor inall of the Superman lore that we
have today.
Yeah.
It was tough to get him for thisrole.

(19:13):
Yeah.
He didn't want to do it.
And he definitely did not want toshave his head.
definitely did not want to shavehis head.
He didn't want to shave hismustache.
He didn't want to shave his head.
So that's why they had all the
wigs.
Richard Donner said, all right,
tell you what.
I'll shave my mustache if you
shave your mustache.
But what was funny was Richard

(19:34):
Donner didn't have a mustache.
He was wearing a fake mustache.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So whatever it takes to make theactors happy, right?
And I think that Gene Hackman, hegot like three million bucks or
something like that for this role.
Oh, did he?
Yeah.
He was another big number actor.
And going back and watching itlast night, he's really not in
this a whole lot either.
And he's pretty much on top of his

(19:58):
game here too.
He is a well -established.
A -list actor that is commanding,as I said, big money, but he's
also a very prominent actor at thetime that this movie comes out.
Yes.
Christopher Reeve.
Who almost did not get this part.
Yeah, he almost didn't.
They wanted, at first, they wantedthe big names, but luckily for us,
the big names all said no. Andthen I was watching something and

(20:20):
Ilya Salkind, one of the producerssays, Superman would work better
if you had an unknown.
And I still think to this day, I
think that works.
Yeah.
I guess originally Robert Redforddeclined.
Burt Reynolds also passed.
Sylvester Stallone really wanted
the part, but they weren't thatinterested in him.
They offered Paul Newman to takeany of the main roles and he
declined.
I can't imagine anyone else being
Superman.
being Superman.
Yeah.
No. He was chosen from, I guess,
200 other people who tried out forit.

(20:41):
He was Christopher Reeve, for bothmovies, got paid $250 ,000.
That's crazy.
I know.
I know.
But look what it did for him.
look what it did for him.
What did you think of Margot
Kidder as Lois Lane?She was fine.
I liked her fine.
I always thought that she was a
fun Lois Lane, but going back justto the night when I was watching

(21:01):
it, I didn't feel a huge amount ofchemistry between the two of them.
And she looks a little bit olderthan Christopher Reeve.
So I didn't feel like there wasmuch to them.
I don't know if they were a greatpairing, but I thought she did a
good job.
I couldn't disagree more.
I thought that she was wonderfulas Lois Lane.

(21:24):
I think the way she flirts withSuperman and kind of dismisses
Clark Kent.
Uh, but then when she wants a
story, she's driven and nothing'sgoing to stop her.
I mean, that's Lois Lane.
She's easily my favorite rendition
of Lois Lane to date.
But did you feel there was a
strong chemistry between the twoof them?
Absolutely.
And when they were flying, uh,

(21:44):
when they were flying, uh, duringthe, can you read my mind bit?
I think there was very strongchemistry there.
So Superman is scored by the oneand only.
Fucking John Williams.
Don't we know him from some other
movies?we know him from some other
movies?He sounds vaguely familiar.
What did you guys think of thescore?

(22:05):
Holy shit, man.
The first two -thirds of the
movie, it is so carried by themusical scores.
And I think that this movie hasprobably one of the most indelible
marks when I think of moviesthat... music that accompanies a
movie, what you get in Star Wars,what you get in Raiders, but there
are so many musical cues inSuperman through the first two
-thirds of the movie.

(22:26):
It's like, oh, yes.
Definitely one of the best.
Yeah, if you were a kid and you
were going to play Superman, thatwas the music you were hearing in
the background.
Hey, Don.
You got any super trivia for usthis week?
trivia for us this week?I might have a question or two.
Welcome to another edition ofMaster Movie Trivia.
I am your reigning champ.
You may call me the champ.

(22:48):
I have compiled five questions andfive questions only of the movie
we are reviewing.
Question number one.
When Superman and Lois weremeeting on her rooftop, what color
was Lois's underwear?Pink.
Correct.
Question number two.
What is the location of thekryptonite meteor that Lex Luthor
obtains to defeat Superman?Aldous Abba.

(23:08):
Aldous Abba.
Who said Addis Abba?
I said Abbie Dabbie.
Oh, no, it's not Abbie Dabbie.
I said Aldous Abba.
Oh, Aldous Abba.
Addis Abba.
Addis Abba.
Question number three.
How does Lex Luthor first contact
Superman?Super hearing frequency that dogs
can hear.
hearing frequency that dogs can
hear.
Correct.
His super hearing.
Question number four.
Finish this quote.
All those things I can do.
All those powers.

(23:28):
And I couldn't even save his life.
I couldn't even save him.
There you go.
Look at you boys.
Very good.
And question number five.
Where does Miss Tess Mocker's
mother live?Hoboken, New Jersey.
Negative.
It's in New Jersey.
But I don't remember where.

(23:49):
It's not Hoboken?
not Hoboken?Nope.
Oh, wait.
It is Hackensack, New Jersey.
That's right.
Lex, my mom lives in Hackensack.
And then his little subtle lookof, no, she doesn't.
So good.
So good.
Congratulations, boys.
We are going to begin this year
with a tie.

(24:10):
Congratulations.
Neither of you are closer to movieimmortality.
On Krypton, Jor -El, a HighCouncil member, sentences the
criminals General Zod, Non, andUrsa to the Phantom Zone.
He warns the Council thatKrypton's exploding red sun will
destroy the planet, but hiswarnings are ignored.
Before Krypton's destruction, Jor-El and his wife Lara sends their
infant son Kal -El to Earth, wherehis physiology grants him
extraordinary abilities.
Kal -El's spaceship lands in

(24:31):
Smallville, Kansas, where Jonathanand Martha Kent find him.
Amazed by his strength, after helifts their truck, they adopt him
and name him Clark.
As Clark grows, he conceals his
powers, with Jonathan believing hewas sent to Earth for a greater
purpose.
After Jonathan's fatal heart
attack, a glowing green crystalfrom Clark's spaceship calls to

(24:54):
him.
Following its guidance, Clark
travels to the Arctic where afortress of solitude resembling
Krypton's architecture emergesfrom the ice.
Inside, Jor -El's hologramexplains Clark's heritage and
trains him for 12 years, donning ablue and red suit with the House
of El Crest.
Clark is warned not to interfere

(25:14):
with human history.
I really like how this movie
starts.
We get this narration of this
little kid who's reading the comicbook.
but they don't say anything aboutsuperman it just gives us a
overview of what really what thedaily planet is and then it zooms

(25:35):
down and we get the live shot ofthe globe and then that fucking
music the opening with the creditswhat'd you think of those credits
the style i i loved them iactually even tried to reproduce
them once and then uh we are shownkrypton you think of those credits

(25:58):
the style i style i i loved them iactually even tried to reproduce
them once and then uh we are shownkrypton What did you guys think of

(26:29):
this whole opening bit withKrypton, Jor -El, the criminals?
Well, first of all, it's anotherexample of the difference between
the comic books and the movies.
This is the first time that
Krypton has been shown as a frozentype planet with crystals and
everything else.
Usually it's just shown as a

(26:50):
futuristic high -tech greenplanet.
So it's interesting that theydecided to go this route.
And I thought they did a great jobcreating this.
alien -like culture, and I lovethe glowing clothes.
I just love the music.
I just, you know, every time I
hear that music, it's like, ohyeah, we're on Krypton.

(27:10):
And it's like Krypton has its owntheme.
And yeah, the white, snowy look.
uh it's kind of sterile and and
kind of i don't want to say plainbut the intricacy that the set
department went in to create thisthe practicals because it's 1978
right i mean we do have some rearprojection and blue screen work

(27:32):
that we'll talk about when we talkabout the flying but 98 of this
movie is practical they actuallysewed i guess glass beads or
something that little glass beadsinto those white suits practicals
because it's 1978 right i mean wedo have some rear projection and
blue screen work that we'll talkabout when we talk about the

(27:53):
flying but 98 of this movie ispractical they actually sewed i
guess glass beads or somethingthat little glass beads into those
white suits And that's whatcreated that glowing look.
And to the point where if you eventouched them and got any human oil
on them, they wouldn't glow.
So they had to be perfect for
every shot.

(28:13):
We are introduced to our three
criminals.
are introduced to our three
criminals.
Which I thought was just such an
interesting way to start becausehere you're given this idea of,
okay, well, this is maybe thedirection this movie's going is
with these three criminals.
But all that is is a setup for the
sequel.
And so when I first saw the movie,
I was really... you know torn ofwhat happened to these three guys
like why are we not focusing onthem anymore yeah it starts with

(28:35):
us meeting jor -el and kryptonalready established and live in
life right and i think even in thethree hour cut it shows the
criminals getting caught non comesin and kills one of the soldiers
and then right right yeah and sowe get this uh visual of these big
faces who obviously are thecouncil and they're all declaring

(28:55):
these guys guilty guilty it startswith us meeting jor -el and
krypton already established andlive in life right and i think
even in the three hour cut itshows the criminals getting caught
non comes in and kills one of thesoldiers and then right right yeah
and so we get this uh visual ofthese big faces who obviously are

(29:18):
the council and they're alldeclaring these guys guilty guilty
uh non ursa and zod and then itcomes down to one vote which is
jorrell's and i like how zod saysthe vote must be unanimous jorrell
it is your voice that will nowcondemn us and it is you i will
hold responsible for it well ilike how he says to him join us
and you know you will be you knowyou will help me lead but only be
second to me right and soldiersand then right right yeah and is
your voice that will now condemnus and it is you i will hold
responsible for it well i like howhe says to him join us and you

(29:39):
know you will be you know you willhelp me lead but only be second to
me right and The look Jor -Elgives him after he's going through
all this is like, you know, I'mgoing to hold you responsible.
Jor -El just kind of holds up thatcrystal and it glows and his face
is saying, I don't give a fuck.
And so he sentences him and the
big dome opens up and this is ourfirst glimpse into the Phantom

(30:01):
Zone, which is just a plane ofglass.
But the visuals and just the wayit worked, I thought it was great.
I always saw that plane of glassas a window.
always saw that plane of glass asa window.
Into the Phantom Zone.
Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
And I thought it was also
interesting.
I thought it was also interesting.
One of the takes I always get fromthis movie is by finding them
guilty, he really just saved theirlives.

(30:23):
Oh, yes.
Absolutely he did.
But he didn't know that.
Well, he might have because he
knows Krypton's going to bedestroyed.
Yeah, he knows it's going to blowup.
But I think at the time he's justdoing what's expected of him.
And actually, let me change that.
I think at the time he is doing
what he thinks is best forKrypton.
And it's getting rid of thosethree and sending them to the
Phantom Zone.
The interesting thing in this.
interesting thing in this.
scene in this issue when he then
finishes sentencing them andsending them off.
He's talking to the council aboutdestruction and he agrees that him
and his wife will not leave theplanet.
I love this bit where everyone'slike, love this bit where

(30:45):
everyone's like, Jor -El, you'reout of your fucking mind.
And he's very calm and verylogical about it.
He goes, uh, that lady's like, I'mtelling you, Krypton is just
shifting its orbit.
And he could have been like,
bitch, I'm the smartest guy here.
And I'm telling you it's not, but
he doesn't.
He goes, he says, okay, dumb
shits.
You can believe whatever you want.
He had the best hair of all ofthem.
had the best hair of all of them.
Oh, absolutely.
And he says, all right, we won'tleave.
My wife, Laura and I will stay andwe will, you know, die with the
rest of you fucks.
Speaking of hair.
of hair.
One of the things that I kind of
love the tie in in this movie isthat he had the Superman curl.

(31:06):
Yeah.
That Superman eventually hasn't.
So kind of connects them together.
I. Definitely bought him being
Christopher Reeves' father.
All right, but we need to talk
about one other thing.
Fire away.
How cool were those spinning hulahoops, right?
They're like a little force field.
Again, practical.
Love it.
Now Krypton is going to explode.
We see the red sun getting closer.
They start to have earthquakes.

(31:26):
I mean, talk about good timing onJor -El's part.
right he puts the baby in thespaceship i like the bit with him
and his wife going back and forthhow she's so scared you know he'll
be odd he won't fit in he'll bealone and and jorrell is giving us
the audience kind of an uh anexplanation precisely yeah like uh
yeah he will be different buthe'll be super fucking fast nearly
fucking indestructible but myfavorite one is and makes the most
sense is he'll look like one ofthem And so they'll have no choice

(31:47):
but to think that he is one ofthem.
I thought it was kind of a prickmaneuver that he uploaded
everything about himself into thatcrystal so that he would have
basically be able to guide Clarkor Kal -El later on.
He didn't upload anything aboutmom.
You have to think about the timeand it's a different planet and a
different society.
And because Marlon Brando is such
a dick, mom gets her due on two.
she talks to him at the fortress

(32:08):
so uh would you guys think of thebit with uh krypton exploding well
i thought that the special effectsi loved how when they go back to
the council and you could see ontheir faces like oh fuck he was
right yeah as they're falling totheir doom and everybody's
screaming and falling and ofcourse it's a sign of the time
with the people falling and youcan kind of see the the shadows

(32:29):
around them and i thought that thespecial effects i loved how when
they go back to the council andyou could see on their faces like
oh fuck he was right yeah asthey're falling to their doom and
everybody's screaming and fallingand of course it's a sign of the
time with the people falling andyou can kind of see the the
shadows around them and The onething that caught me and always
kind of takes me a little bit outof the movie is when the little

(32:54):
spaceship is lifting off with Kal-El and it gets the glass and it
breaks the glass.
You could almost see the rope on
it as it swings.
Did you catch that?
The little ship kind of swingslike it's on a rope?
No, I missed that.
What gets me is, well, first of

(33:14):
all, the scene you're talkingabout when the ship hits the glass
and we go into the Superman march,fucking chills.
And my hair stand up because it'sso fucking good.
But what gets me is when Kryptonexplodes, you can see the floor.
Oh, really?Yeah.
You can see the black mat floorwhere they're blowing up the
model.
Oh, right on.
Yeah.
So I laugh.
And then we get a brilliant JohnWilliams tune.

(33:36):
The spaceship is hurling throughgalaxies and flying really fast.
And we cut inside of the pod wherewe can see young Kal -El growing
up a little bit.
But we hear Jor -El teaching him
about human history and who he is.
And like he told Lara, really?
Yeah.
he told Lara, he'll never be
alone, right?So at least he had his dad's voice

(33:58):
for this long trip.
This was where another big mistake
was made in the movie.
Did you catch the mistake?
No, there are no mistakes in thismovie.
So I'm curious to know what you'retalking about.
When Jor -El's talking to him andkind of educating him, Jor -El's
talking to him and kind ofeducating him, he's going through

(34:18):
different theories.
And he mentions a theory about
Albert Einstein.
I wondered about that.
And the theory of relativity andall that.
He goes through that.
But later on, when he's training
Kal -El in the Fortress ofSolitude, he says to him, by the
time you hear this, by the timeyou see this, I will have been
dead many thousands of years.
How would he know who Albert
Einstein is if he was dead athousand years before Albert
Einstein lived?I don't know.
I didn't think about it.
I was thinking that, you know,
with the little baby inside thatcapsule for three years, wouldn't
there be a lot of stuff floatingaround in there?
I think there was an ejectionport.
think there was an ejection port.
For the waste, the superhuman
waste.
That's what I think.
Okay.
I think the baby Kal -El took a
dump and the AI in the ship said,oh, that stinks.

(34:39):
Automatic flush.
I got two words for you.
Go ahead.
Super diapers.
super absorbent diapers by thattheir technology he would have
shit and it would just beendisintegrated right in the diaper
maybe they never have to changediapers that's that's problem
that's that's not a bad theory tooalthough when he does crash land
on the planet and comes out alittle capsule he's butt -ass
naked showing off his super dongyeah he is did you have a problem

(35:00):
with that not a bad theory tooalthough when he does crash land
on the planet and comes out alittle capsule he's butt -ass
naked showing off his super dongyeah he is did you have a problem
with that No, I'm just saying he'snot wearing a diaper at that
point.
So what happened to the diaper?
He took it off because it fuckingweighed a ton with all the super

(35:23):
shit and he couldn't fucking moveno matter how strong that
motherfucker is.
He took it off because it fucking
weighed a ton with all the supershit and he couldn't fucking move
no matter how strong thatmotherfucker is.
Maybe you're right.
Maybe they just dropped it in a
black hole.
Yeah, see?
And so he gets to Earth and hecrashes and we meet the Kents.
What did you guys think of the bitwith the Kents finding him?

(35:45):
It was good.
It was very reminiscent of the
comic book.
comic book.
Yeah.
One thing that I really
appreciated is if you're familiar,are you familiar with the look of
action comic books, the firstappearance of Superman?
Yeah.
With the iconic shot of him
lifting a truck.
Yeah.
That was what was called out whenthe jack breaks and little young
Kal -El lifts up the thing.
That was a callback to that action
comic book.
Yeah, absolutely.
You know, the Kents don't freakout, which is kind of weird, but.

(36:06):
Well, she prayed for a baby.
she prayed for a baby.
Well, yeah.
And Ma Kent instantly loves Kal
-El.
And Kal -El instantly loves Ma
Kent.
I like how Pa Kent says, Martha
Clark Kent, what are you thinkingabout?
And she's like, we could just saythat he's my cousin's baby who
just, you know, his mom recentlydeparted and he's become orphaned.
And he's like, God damn it.
it. Well, I love how he keeps

(36:26):
saying, no, we're going to have tofind his parents.
We're going to have to do this.
And then the baby lifts the truck
and he's like, okay.
Yeah, no, that changes your tune
real quick.
And I love the little smile, the
little call.
He's like a happy puppy who just
did something really good, right?Look at me.
And he's holding up the fuckingtruck.
And then as per like right on cue,we get the John Williams beat.

(36:49):
And it just enhances it so much.
And so the Kents decide to keep
baby Kal -El and we fast forwardin time.
To high school.
school.
Now we see Clark in high school.
And we get the Smallville lore,
right?Did you guys ever watch the show
Smallville?I used to love it.
That's probably my favoriteSuperman show.
Never watched it.
Check it out.
I got a debate with the latestLois and Clark series.
Check it out.
I got a debate with the latest
Lois and Clark series.
I used to love Smallville as my
favorite.
That one has slowly become my
favorite.
I think the new one.
Yeah, and I think that the new oneis like part two.
Very reminiscent of the showSmallville.
So listeners, if you like Supermanand all that kind of stuff, check

(37:12):
out Superman and Lois andSmallville.
We, the audience, are introducedto a couple of his capabilities
during this brief time.
I love the punting of the
football.
Did you know how they did the
football scene?Yeah.
They put an air cannon in theground and then they shot it out.
It was a wooden football.
a wooden football.
Yeah.
Fucking practicals, man.
Practicals.
But now we are introduced to super
speed.
What do you guys think of the bit
with him racing the train home?Yeah.
Well, do you catch that that wasyoung Lois on the train?
They don't say that.
don't say that.
You know where they say that?They say that in the extended cut.

(37:36):
Well, she also, doesn't she saysomething about, oh, stop Lois or
something like that?In the extended cut, In the
extended cut, not in that version.
Because, yeah, I've known for a
long time that that's little LoisLane.
And her mom was the actress whoplayed Lois Lane in the George
Reeves TV show.
And then the dude, her dad, in the
movie played Jimmy Olsen, I think.

(37:57):
in that version.
No, he was the original firstSuperman in the first TV show.
Oh, was he?Yeah, I just read that.
I did not know that.
Oh, what did you guys think of the
bit?i thought it was great it was fun
because he's faster than alocomotive and practical so they

(38:18):
hung him from a crane and hekicked his feet and they drove and
it made him look like he had superspeed which is pretty cool and so
he makes it home and then the kidthe car of kids drive by and
they're like how the fuck did youget here and so he gets home and
uh pa kent's like you fuckeryou've been showing off haven't
you and then we get this great bithow they hung him from a crane and

(38:39):
he kicked his feet and they droveand it made him look like he had
super speed which is pretty cooland so he makes it home and then
the kid the car of kids drive byand they're like how the fuck did
you get here and so he gets homeand uh pa kent's like you fucker

(39:00):
you've been showing off haven'tyou and then we get this great bit
how Jonathan Kent says, you know,you're going to feel like this
sometimes, but you kind of have towait to show people who you are.
But all these things you can do,all these special powers you have,
you were sent here for a reason.
I don't know what that reason is,
but it wasn't to score touchdowns.
Because Clark's a kid, right?
And he wants to play football andhe wants to fit in.

(39:24):
And I think that, you know, as afather, you have to.
There's a fine line there,especially with Kal -El, because
does he really have to listen toanybody?
Have you ever seen Brightburn?Exactly, exactly my point.
Produced by James Gunn, by theway.
And then Pa Kent has a heartattack, and he dies.
And like you said, John, this wasfor the movie.
This wasn't out of the comic book,at least not until years later.
And I still think Jonathan Kent'sstill alive, isn't he?

(39:48):
I still think Jonathan Kent'sstill alive, isn't he?
Yeah, it kind of is foreshadowedwhen...
They first find him in hisspaceship and he lifts the truck.
Did you catch that Ma quicklysaid, hey, remember your heart
problem?Yeah.
This is a good bit.
And it's really propelled by the
score.
And what John Williams does here,
they go to the cemetery.
And the line that breaks my heart
is when he says, he's talking tohis mom.
They just buried his dad.

(40:08):
And he says, all these powers, all
these things I can do.
what John Williams does here, they
go to the cemetery.
And I couldn't even save him.
It's just heartbreaking.
Well, again, it's another
foreshadow for later where he saysthat, you know, I couldn't save
him.
But, you know, he accepts his
father's death.
But later on, he is not going to
accept Lois's death.
Yeah.

(40:28):
No, it definitely comes back toplay.
And he's going to use his powersto save her.
Yeah.
comes back to play.
And then we cut to that night.
Yeah, but I got a question.
Oh, fire away guy.
I am curious to know between both
of you, am curious to know betweenboth of you, whose paw death do
you prefer?you prefer?
Man of Steel?Or Superman?
This one, because the one in Manof Steel is dumb.
I was so pissed off.

(40:49):
I would agree with that.
I mean, I don't prefer either oftheir deaths.
I never understood killing off PawKent.
It didn't seem necessary to me.
But the whole Kevin Costner death
seemed so avoidable to me that itjust didn't make sense.
I feel like it was too.
feel like it was too.
But there is a bit when KevinCostner sees Clark and Clark's
going to go after him and he says,stop.
Yeah.
It gives him that little hand
wave.
And then Henry Cavill's reaction
to that's pretty heartbreakingtoo.
Actually, I take it back.
I think Kevin Costner's is worse.
I think it's more sad because it'sfrustrating because it could have
been fucking avoided.
And then we cut to that night and
the green crystal is calling toClark.
and he goes and he finds it andthen we cut to the morning and
he's standing out in the field tome this is you know you talked

(41:12):
about the the whole heartbreakingscene at the funeral to me this is
more heartbreaking when hebasically tells ma i know you just
lost pa but i gotta leave you tooyeah well she says we knew this
day was coming yeah because he'snot just some ordinary high school
kid and you're right this one thisone tugs at your hearts too again

(41:32):
me this is you know you talkedabout the the whole heartbreaking
scene at the funeral to me this ismore heartbreaking when he
basically tells ma i know you justlost pa but i gotta leave you too
yeah well she says we knew thisday was coming yeah because he's
not just some ordinary high schoolkid and you're right this one this
one tugs at your hearts too againthe fucking score thank you mr
williams it elevates it and thebit where they're after they hug

(41:55):
and say goodbye he's holding hisma the camera pans up and then
kind of out and we see the therest of the epic landscape i like
i like the previous shot just asmuch when uh mom she's walking out
to him and you have you have clarkin left frame landscape i like i
like the previous shot just asmuch when uh mom she's walking out

(42:15):
to him and you have you have clarkin left frame And you have Ma
walking up and then you have thefarm in right frame.
And then Ma, when she's talking tohim, she's just left of center
frame.
It's just so beautifully shot in
conjunction with the music and themoment that we have Clark saying
that he has to go.
Right.
And mom says, where are you going?And Clark says, I got to go north.
And so a quick little montage ofClark walking.

(42:37):
To the.
Up north.
To the North Pole.
the North Pole.
And what does he do?He hurls the green crystal off
into the distance.
And I muse.
What if it didn't do anything?He's just like, ah, damn it.
He'd have to go find it.
Yes.
But it creates the Fortress ofSolitude.
creates the Fortress of Solitude.
And he walks in and we get another
Marlon Brando bit.
What'd you guys think of this
conversation between father andson that spans 12 years?

(42:59):
He took it pretty well.
All this new news that he didn't
know.
At this point, did he even know he
was an alien?No, I don't think so.
Uh, I liked the bit where, uh,Clark sitting there and Marlon
Brando saying, I'm Jor -El, I'myour dad.
You come from Krypton, blah, blah,blah.
And he says, well, who am I?You know?

(43:20):
And then we get his name, Kal -El.
And he says, come with me.
Let's take a fucking trip.
And, uh, I felt very Willy Wonka
at that point.
felt very Willy Wonka at that
point.
Yeah.
A little psychedelic.
Yeah.
But again, John Williams scorecarries us through this whole
thing.
A little psychedelic.
And the bit that sells it is hesays, uh, Brando says they can be

(43:44):
a great people if they wish to be,they only need the light to lead
them the way or whatever he says.
And then the ice sculpture of
Brando turns around and we gothrough his eye.
And we see Superman in the red andblue standing on the fucking cliff
and that fucking tune, right?And he starts flying towards us.
Clark moves to Metropolis where hebecomes a reporter at the Daily
Planet.
to Metropolis where he becomes a

(44:05):
reporter at the Daily Planet.
He develops a connection with Lois
Lane and saves her from ahelicopter incident, revealing his
powers to the public.
His heroic act earns him the name
Superman.
And Daily Planet editor Perry
White seeks to uncover more aboutthis mysterious caped wonder.
During a flight with Lois, Clarkinspires her to coin his superhero
name.
Meanwhile...
Criminal mastermind Lex Luthorlearns of a military missile test
and devises a plan to trigger anearthquake along the San Andreas
Fault by reprogramming missiles.
His goal is to sink the western
United States and turn his desertland into valuable coastline.
Luthor discovers a Kryptonianmeteorite, kryptonite, which is
deadly to Superman.
After obtaining it with the help
of his bumbling assistant Otis andgirlfriend Eve Tesmacher, Luther
uses kryptonite to weaken Supermanand reveal his plan, including a

(44:26):
second missile targetingHackensack, New Jersey.
So after Christopher Reeve fliesand we cut to the metropolis, we
get Clark Kent's first day.
And this is where he's introduced
to Perry White, Lois Lane, JimmyOlsen.
And this is where we really get tosee Christopher Reeve's acting
chops.
Because he does play a bumbling
Clark Kent very well.
Very believable.
And very naive, if you will.
Looks like he came straight from a
farm.
And to the contrast of Lois Lane,
who was fast talking, fast acting.
I mean, she's the reporter.

(44:47):
She's the shit, right?What did you guys think of this
whole introduction to these guys?Well, I kind of liked.
Didn't we start off by lookingthrough Jimmy's camera?
I thought that was kind of a nicetransition to kind of go into the
busy heart of the Daily Planet.

(45:07):
Do they get mugged first and then
we meet Otis?So they, well, they head outside.
And it's really fun to watch ClarkKent, you know, the whole bit at
the elevator where a couple peopleget off the elevator and he says,
you know, hey, you know, to them,but they completely ignore him.
And then he, and then he, oh,here's the elevator.

(45:27):
No, it's going up.
Yeah, sorry.
And then finally he's leftstanding there awkwardly and he
finally pushes the down button.
Yep.
Well, that and when he goes toleave with Lois, he gets kind of
stuck in the revolving door.
Kind of that bumbling, bumbling
-ness of him.
And so they're walking down the
street and then they get held upat gunpoint.
And Clark tries to talk his wayout of it, which I thought was

(45:50):
funny.
And even the criminal was like,
yeah, that's a really good fuckingidea.
After I rip off this lady's purse.
And then Lois Lane, being the
troublemaker she is.
Drops the person on purpose.
And I like, uh, how Clark says,uh, Lois, what are you doing?
And then, uh, she kicks him.
He fires the gun.
He catches the bullet because he'sfucking Superman.
And he guesses, uh, or any faints,but Lois thinks he shot.

(46:10):
And then when she finds out hefainted, she's like, oh, for
fuck's sakes.
Right.
So what'd you guys think of thatwhole bit?
Fun, right?Very fun.
Yeah.
It was, it was a nice, uh, comical
way to get an introduction to themand to see clark use his powers
one of the first times right rightand then we cut to otis walking
down the street and we are nowgoing to be introduced to lex

(46:46):
luther well he's being tailed ofcourse uh by the metropolis pd and
they follow him down into thesubway station what did you guys
think of this whole bit of otisgetting down to the subway station
up into the point where weactually meet then we cut to otis
walking down the street and we arenow going to be introduced to lex
luther well he's being tailed ofcourse uh by the metropolis pd and

(47:09):
they follow him down into thesubway station what did you guys
think of this whole bit of otisgetting down to the subway station
up into the point where weactually meet Lex Luthor.
I love how he tries to, what ishe, steal a newspaper or something
like that, and the dog barks athim?

(47:31):
Dog's not having it.
Yeah, and the whole music that
accompanies it.
Immediately, we are not to take
this character seriously.
Which, yeah, it's like the Otis
theme.
But we are introduced to what kind
of maniacal villain Lex Luthor is.
Well, we get our first taste of a

(47:53):
hidden villain lair.
get our first taste of a hidden
villain lair.
The cop is following Otis.
The other cop goes to get backup.
So it's just Otis and this one
cop, and he keeps following him.
Otis goes through this door, and
then the cop trails him, but thedoor won't open.

(48:17):
And as a matter of fact, it startspushing.
And it's pushing while a train iscoming.
And it shows Lex moving the littlelever to show that he is a
murderer.
He will kill people.
Oh, absolutely.
Well, my question was, why does he
need the key to unlock thismechanism?
I don't know.
Maybe because it's going in a

(48:37):
different direction, past thelittle platform.
Maybe.
But yeah, it is a curiosity that
there's a key that's necessary forit.
Very James Bond villain -esque.
There you go.
Another thing that I don't think Ihad caught in the first times I'd
seen this movie in the previoustimes was all the little hints
about what Lex was doing.
was like in a newspaper article,
was in a news story, kept saying amysterious man buying up worthless
land.

(48:57):
They even talk about the rockets.
talk about the rockets.
They talk about the rockets as
Otis is walking to the newspaperstand on the TV.
The next 101.
Yeah, it's all telling us the
story.
Is that the newspaper I requested?
Yeah.
They talk about the rockets as
Otis Then why am I not holding it?What did you guys think of Gene
Hackman as Lex Luthor?He was good.
He was really good.
I thought he did a great job.

(49:20):
But again, With a little bit ofseriousness, working off of Warren
Beatty's Otis, I thought it was agreat job.
Ned Beatty?Actually, working off of Ned
Beatty, I thought it was a greatjob.
Can you imagine Warren Beattybeing Otis?
you imagine Warren Beatty beingOtis?
Warren Beatty was originally upfor Superman.
Beatty was originally up forSuperman.
Yeah, yeah.
I hear tell he was a dick to work

(49:40):
with, too.
But I also think that part of what
also works with it is the writingthat we have for Lex Luthor.
Oh, I couldn't agree more.
He shows his intelligence.
And he shows his arrogance.
Absolutely.
One thing I had a hard time withwas feeling like he was a scary
villain.
But then I don't think it ever

(50:00):
clicked with me how many people hemurders in this movie or doesn't
care about murdering, making himreally kind of an asshole.
Oh, he's terrifying because hedoesn't give a fuck.
Yeah.
he doesn't But he plays it like he
could be your friend.
Mm -hmm.
And then we cut back to the DailyPlanet and we have learned.
You know, that Lois is the topreporter.

(50:21):
Perry White is the chief.
Jimmy Olsen is the photographer.
And Clark is going to ask Lois ifshe wants to go get something to
eat.
Well, something we also learn is
that Clark will take over one ofLois's beats, one of her things.
And the reason that Perry gives isthat, well, he shows me the proper
respect.
Well, not only that, but he's
tough.
In all the years I've been doing
this.
doing this he is the fastest typer
i've ever seen there's wonderfulcamera work that happens here when
we are moving through thisbustling office the camera i feel
moves effortlessly through the thethe mayhem that is happening in
this office as we shuffle our waythrough it's just one continuing
camera shot yeah and so clark sayshey let's go get something to eat
and lois says i would love tohowever wonderful camera work that

(50:44):
happens here when we are movingthrough this bustling office the
camera i feel moves effortlesslythrough the the the mayhem that is
happening in this office as weshuffle our way through it's just
one continuing camera shot yeahand so clark says hey let's go get
something to eat and lois says iwould love to however Air Force
One is coming in and I've got aninterview with the big guy.

(51:06):
And so she goes to change.
And this was another bumbling bit
with Clark.
His jacket gets stuck in the
women's restroom.
And now we cut to the helicopter.
This scene is probably one of themost recognizable scenes of this
film.
Maybe the most recognizable scene.
I read it took six months to filmthis.
That doesn't surprise me at all.
Again, practical all of this

(51:28):
really fucking happened in one wayor another it was the longest
scene to for them to film rightand so uh lois is getting into the
chopper i don't know why she hasto change her clothes but whatever
she's getting in the chopper andthen we cut to one of the cables
rattling yeah it's it's comingloose dun dun dun yeah like we

(51:51):
don't know what's going to happenand uh it takes off another it was
the longest scene to for them tofilm right and so uh lois is
getting into the chopper i don'tknow why she has to change her
clothes but whatever she's gettingin the chopper and then we cut to
one of the cables rattling yeahit's it's coming loose dun dun dun
yeah like we don't know what'sgoing to happen and uh it takes

(52:11):
off And it fucks up and it'sstarting to, you know, do little
spins and it finally kind ofcrashes and rests.
And at the same moment, ClarkKent's walking outside and he
looks down and he sees, uh, Lois'shat.
And, uh, cause the door opened andher hat fell out and he looks up
and he sees that it's, uh, Loisand the hop to copter dangling.
And a lot of people probably won'tget this bit now.
But when Clark runs and looks fora telephone booth.

(52:33):
Yeah, he gets the half one.
Oh, yeah.
The first time you see it, youlaugh your head off.
Absolutely.
Because comic lore is Superman
changes in a telephone booth.
And what's funny is today, there
are no telephone booths, right?But anyway, they use the half
telephone booth as a gag and youfucking laugh.
So what does he do?He uses a turnstile.

(52:54):
Well, we have an iconic shotthat's used on a lot of posters
and pictures and paintings fromthis movie of him ripping his
shirt open and showing the iconicS. Along with John Williams' score
and that buildup.
And then, yeah, you're absolutely
right.
And then from there, he goes into
this turnstile, turns intoSuperman and comes out.
I love what the dude says.
Say, Jim.
That's a bad outfit.

(53:14):
So good.
And Superman's just like, excuseme.
I want to know why everybody up ontop of the building isn't coming
to the aid of the helicopter pilotor Lois.
Probably because they thought itwas about to blow up.
up. Or they're scared.
I don't know.
But that is a really goodquestion, Professor.
And in the meantime, Lois fallsout of the hopticopter, and she's

(53:36):
holding on to the fuckingseatbelt, screaming.
Margot Kidder has such a greatscream as Lois Lane, a very damsel
and distress -y type of, but hey,what do I always say?
You play dumb games, you win dumbprizes.
So that's what you get, Lois, forgetting in a hop -to -copter.
And so she slips and falls, andSuperman flies up.
flies up.
And the music.
I know, right?And then the famous line.

(53:59):
It's very iconic.
And like I said, it's one of my
dad's favorite lines of the entiremovie.
It's so perfect.
It's such a Lois Lane line.
I've got you.
You got me.
Who's got you?And if you notice real subtly,
Christopher Reeve looks at her andsmiles like it's funny.
And then he goes up.
And then the hop -to -copter
falls.
Coming right at him.
and he fucking catches it and thenwe get the score and the march and
he comes up and he puts down thehelicopter and my favorite bit
which they replicated in supermanreturns which i was very happy
about is when uh he saves the dayhe's talking to lois and he says
are you okay and she says yeah andhe says you know statistically
speaking air travel is still oneof the safest ways to fly i hope

(54:24):
this hasn't turned you off toflying yeah hope this hasn't
turned you off to flying yeah andthen uh she can't come up with the
words and she's looking at him andall she can get out is who are you
and when he turns and he says afriend and that john williams

(54:45):
music i feel you buddy i fuckingfeel you uh it's just uh and then
he says he takes off and againchristopher reeve turns or does
something it just looks so naturalwhen he flies and then we have
this like montage of him then wehave this like montage of him
stopping crimes and saving thecat.
I love the moment when he capturesthe helicopter and you have the

(55:05):
entire city street below cheering.
the moment when he captures the
helicopter and you have the entirecity street below cheering.
They're like, yeah!And even the reporter, oh my God,
he caught her.
I don't know how he did it, but he
caught her, right?And everyone's just going nuts.
And what wraps it up and puts iton a nice little bow on it is
fucking John Williams.
Because that's what makes this
movie fly.
Well, that in conjunction with...
The way we get Christopher Reevedoing his flying.
Yes, absolutely.
And this is a fun bit of the movie
for me.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's his first big night.
He has revealed himself.
And the first thing that we get,
the world being introduced toSuperman is after he saves her,
then we have the cat burglar.
Such a great, such a great bit

(55:28):
because we, he's climbing up andthen all of a sudden we see the
boots, the fucking score.
And.
Superman looks down and says,something wrong with the elevator?
And the cat burglar falls off.
Superman flies down, going down,
makes a joke, turns around,catches him.
Confession is good for the soul.
Oh, so good.
I'd listen to this man.
He's so nice to the police

(55:50):
officer.
I'd listen to this man.
He's so nice to the policeofficer.
He's so darn polite.
He's so darn polite.
And that's the other thing that'sreally fun about this Superman.
The way he's so polite.
Yeah.
Well, he's known, and this is oneof the movie, I think, is where he
really got this reputation as thebig blue Boy Scout.
Oh, yeah.

(56:11):
I really appreciated that here,
you know, this whole thing withthe cop, and then later on, a few
scenes later, we have the cop atthe priesting trying to explain
how he caught this criminal.
Before that happens, we have the
police and a getaway car.
They're all firing guns at each
other, barreling through the city.
Boy.

(56:31):
Could that ever happen today whereyou have to please pow, pow, pow,
pow out the window like that?Only in a comic book movie, my
man.
But it set up so nicely.
And then they get away on theboat, and there he is up on the
bow.
And just his pose, and he's so
Superman, and the dude comes outand hits him with the crowbar, and

(56:52):
he looks at him, bad vibrations.
And he drops off the boat.
And then we have the little kittyand he takes the cat from the
tree.
And this one's my favorite.
this one's my favorite.
Do you know why this is my
favorite?I wanted to see the cat go all
Cujo, all Cujo, but.
Oh, no. Fuck cats.

(57:13):
But he saves the cat.
Really polite to the little girl.
Oh, yes.
But I love the fact.
Oh, my God.
She goes inside and then gets the
shit beaten out of her.
my God.
She shit beaten out of her.
I wouldn't go that far, but she
does get smacked, which I thoughtwas hilarious.
So the sign of the times.
Sign of the times.

(57:33):
Do you think that mom felt guiltylater?
After Superman was revealed?Yeah.
Probably.
She'd be like, oh shit, my bad.
Well, don't fucking lie andsmacked her again.
And so the last big deal for thenight, Air Force One is coming in
and they lose their engine.
And this is a fun bit as well
because I like the guy, the pilot.
As soon as it levels out, we get

(57:53):
to - What happened?Do we get our engine back?
Fly.
Just fly.
Did you notice that whenSuperman's holding the engine, he
looks over at the dude and hesalutes him and then the pilot
salutes him back and then wavesand looks at his head like, what
the fuck am I doing?head like, what Yeah, so good.
Now it's the next day and we haveLex Luthor.
He is looking through thenewspaper wanting to know what the

(58:13):
hell is this guy doing?He's going to mess things up for
me if he's a do -gooder.
I love when he says, love when he
says, If it's true, then he's notfrom this world.
Because if anyone was going topull off the biggest hoax ever, it
would have been me.
And yeah, he knows now that
Superman is a threat.
There's a lot of reasons in the

(58:36):
comic books of different LexLuthor's and why they've hated
Superman.
a lot of reasons in the comic
books of different Lex Luthor'sand why they've hated Superman.
Most cases, it's because Lex hasnever felt challenged.
And here's the first challengethat he's ever faced.
So that's why he's always beenagainst.
Superman.
Now we have Perry White, and he
wants to know who this guy is.
And he starts asking all of his
reporters all these questions.
And what's your favorite little
moment?What's his favorite baseball team?

(58:57):
his favorite baseball team?Oh, fuck off.
Clark opens up his mouth.
And he walks on.
I like when he goes up to Lois andsays, does he have a girlfriend?
And Lois is like, ooh, I don'tknow.
Lois gets the note.
It says, tonight your place.
A friend.
And then.
Uh, Clark looks over to see thatshe reads it and he gives this

(59:18):
little smirk and he'll give thissmirk a couple of times moving
forward as well, but it's just sonice.
And then we cut to, uh, Lois'sapartment and she's on the roof
waiting for a Superman and likeeight Oh five.
He's not coming.
So what does she do?
Same thing I would do.
Go over and light a cigarette.

(59:39):
And then Superman comes in.
You shouldn't smoke, Miss Lane.
It's bad for you.
Why?
Let me guess.
Lung cancer?
He uses super peepers?Not yet.
Thank God.
What did you guys think of this
whole interview bit?I thought it was funny.
And I don't know if, again, thisis something I never caught
before.
But the comment that she makes
that sexual innuendo.
All of it is.
I love how she says, how big areyou?
I mean, how tall are you?oh yeah no we we knew what she was
getting at and superman digs itbecause he says uh she says do you

(01:00:02):
have a girlfriend and he says nobut if i did lois you'd be the
first to know about it and if youand then he goes and starts doing
this with his his finger to hismouth yeah he's kind of really
cool yeah yeah and she's lookingat him like oh fuck yeah right
he's like what color is myunderwear totally and i like it

(01:00:22):
was you go oh no did i embarrassyou he's kind of really cool yeah
yeah right he's like what color ismy underwear totally and i like it
was you go oh no did i embarrassyou And he's like, no, you didn't
embarrass me.
You're standing in front of a lead
container.
I have trouble seeing through
lead.
And I'm thinking, don't print that
because now his enemies are goingto know.
Right.
But neither of them were thinking
about that at the time.

(01:00:43):
And so she asks him a bunch of
questions and he answers and theyflirt, they go back and forth.
And I love how she says, why areyou here?
And he says, I'm here to fight fortruth, justice, and the American
way.
And her first instinct is to laugh
and say, well, you're going to endup fighting every elected
politician in the world.
And he says, surely you don't mean
that, right?And this is the bit where he says,

(01:01:04):
and I don't lie, except about whoI am.
I thought I'd get there before youdid.
Except about what I'm doing rightnow and who I am.
Yeah, yeah.
That's what I just said.
And then she's like, how fast doyou fly?
And he's like, I don't know.
I never timed myself.
Hey, let's go for a flight.
What'd you guys think of this

(01:01:24):
flight bit?The flight bit was a lot of fun
with the exception of, I don'tlike listening to the dialogue
that she gives inside of her head.
Can you read my mind?
Can you read my mind?You know what it is that you do to
me?I don't know who you are.
Those are the lyrics of the song.
Yeah, she was supposed to sing it
at first time.
I think the voiceover works so
much better than, because she'stalking to him.

(01:01:46):
Is that the song, that the song,the word to the music that was
playing?Because it seemed to fit the
music.
Yeah, no, that song is titled Can
You Read My Mind?And I dug it.
I can understand why it feels likeit goes on just a little bit too
long.
I have a theory about this scene.
Do you know why she can fly aswell as he does when he's just

(01:02:07):
holding her hand and she's notflailing around?
No. Why?In the comic books originally,
there was this thing aboutSuperman's suit and why it was
bulletproof when it was just himthat was bulletproof.
There is this idea that he has asuper aura and anything within his
aura becomes invulnerable andgains some of his abilities.
So the idea of him holding herhand while they're flying, she is
covered by his aura and allowed tofly like he does.

(01:02:28):
I figured it had to be somethinglike that because I had that
question.
figured it had to be something
like that because I had thatquestion.
since the very first time i'veseen it yeah it's right when he's
holding her out i'm like why isshe not fucking falling because if
if she if he was really holdingher up by your wrist he would have
snapped her fucking arm off wellnotice like her fingers start to

(01:02:49):
you know it's right when he'sholding well notice like her
fingers start to you know that getlooser and looser until they're
almost just holding by fingertipshe was holding her by fingertips
and you play dumb games you windumb prizes and what happens she
falls the moment she lets go yeahand then i thought oh no he did
that on purpose so he scares theshit out of her comes in and

(01:03:15):
swoops in and and you notice fromthat moment they're hugging and
they're spinning in the air andthe way they look at each other
it's fucking beautiful i fuckinglove it i love everything about it
even the cheesy notice like her byfingertips and you play dumb games
you win dumb prizes and whathappens she falls the moment she
lets moment she lets go yeah andthen i thought oh no he did that
on purpose so he scares the shitout of her comes in and swoops in

(01:03:39):
and and you notice from thatmoment they're hugging and they're
spinning in the air and the waythey look at each other it's
fucking beautiful i fucking loveit i love everything about it even
he scares the cheesy song the onlything that i kept thinking of and
even while back was that oxygenwould be so thin up there how is
she breathing i have another andshe'd be freezing well no i think

(01:04:00):
his heat radiates her they alludeto that he radiates her um yeah
and so after the flight which ithought was a beautiful moment
maybe a week long maybe they landand uh she's on cloud nine and he
takes off only thing that i keptthinking of and even while back
was that oxygen would be so thinup there how is she breathing i
have another and she'd be freezingwell no i think his heat radiates
her they allude to that heradiates her um so after the
flight which i thought was abeautiful moment maybe a week long
maybe they land and uh she's oncloud nine and he takes off and

(01:04:23):
then instantly clark kent comes topick her up for a hamburger was
smooth yeah and but this isanother bit where christopher
reeves gives this little coy smileuh because he comes in he starts
talking to her i'm really excitedabout our date this that and the
other and she's fucking on cloudnine right she has no
comprehension what's going on shejust knows that she just almost

(01:04:45):
you know with fucking supermanhe's digging the fact that he had
that effect on her totally becauseshe says uh digging the fact that
he had that effect on her totallybecause she says uh Oh, that's
Clark.
Nice.
And walks out.
And that's where Christopher
Reeves gives the look like, yeah,boy.
So. So when we have Superman takeoff from her balcony, we watch

(01:05:06):
Superman fly off and he goes frameleft.
And then we follow Lois into herapartment.
And as the camera swings and shewalks past us into her apartment,
there's Clark knocking on thedoor.
And this shot takes almost twominutes.
And then she goes up to the door.
She unlocks the four latches.
He comes in.
And then they start talking.
And then she goes off.
He takes his glasses off.

(01:05:27):
And then she comes back out.
And then the door closes.
Almost two minutes.
It's a continuous camera shot.
And so now we have the articlefrom the newspaper, I spent the
night with Superman.
Well, she basically, there's the
big line, another one of theclassic iconic lines.
She goes, what a Superman.

(01:05:47):
Oh, yeah.
This is where she names him.
And she goes.
Superman.
Yeah.
she goes.
Yeah.
And then Clark comes in.
And then we cut to the newspaper
and Lex is reading it.
And it said, I spent the night
with Superman.
And what's Lex doing?
He's gathering all the informationhe needs to find a weakness for
Superman.
He's putting his.
evil genius brain to work.
He knows he can't see through
lead.
He knows he came from a planet way

(01:06:09):
long time ago.
And it's reasonable to think that
meteorites or something came withhim in this ship, which could be
radioactive and deadly to him.
And so he does his research and he
finds out that there is akryptonite meteorite in Addis
Ababa.
One thing that I, again, I don't
think I caught until this viewingwas later on they talk about,

(01:06:31):
there's an article or somethingabout the meteorite being stolen
and like two people being killed.
Yeah.
Loser doesn't care who he fuckingkills.
But it's subtle and it's offscreen, but it's told to us.
So now we see the missile convoyis being, they're transporting a
missile.
And it turns out that this is
going to be the target.
for Lex Luthor.
He's going to fuck with themissile.
I love this bit.
This is such a good bit because,
uh, you have this car that's radioor remote controlled, which shows
it.
Lex Luthor is rich and a genius,
right?He blows it.
So the convoy has to stop.
And then he puts miss test marker

(01:06:52):
out there and Larry Hagman.
Yep.
Is the general.
And listeners don't know who Larry
Hagman is, but he played J .R.
on Dallas, a TV show back in the
80s for many, many years.
So him being in this movie, you're
kind of like, oh, look, it's LarryHagman.
And it's just a bit part.
I love the fact that he insists
he's going to do the chestcompressions.
Mouth to mouth.
And then mouth to mouth.
And it makes all the soldiers turnaround.

(01:07:13):
Dan Hut is a nice little bit.
Mouth to Dan Hut is a nice little
bit.
I cannot believe that they don't
have a more stringent security.
protocol happening around the
missile i hear you they did saythat the road was closed and that
was the only vehicle that wassupposed to be on that road yeah
but i mean the fact that everybodycame forward to see what happened
and no one stayed with the missilethat's why otis is able to get
under there and he's so proud ofhimself when he's done oh i did it
mr luther i did it i cannotbelieve that luther hear you they
did say that the road was closedand that was the only vehicle that
was supposed to be on that roadyeah but i mean the fact that
everybody came forward to see whathappened and no one stayed with
the missile that's why otis isable to get under there and he's

(01:07:35):
so proud of himself when he's doneoh i did it mr luther i did it i
cannot believe that luther trustedotis to get it done that's my
first question and i love howluther says you know it's not that
i don't trust you otis but yeah idon't trust you what did you do
and it turns out he only put inthree of the codes and not four
and so he attacks otis and misstest marker has to take the wheel
of the ambulance blah blah blahand like you said earlier the next
time because they got to do itagain the next time we see otis he
has this huge black eye here's myquestion uh luther basically takes
control of two missiles it donethat's my first question and i
love how luther says you know it'snot that i don't trust you otis

(01:07:59):
but yeah i don't trust you whatdid you do and it turns out he
only put in three of the codes andnot four and so he attacks otis
and miss test marker has to takethe wheel of the ambulance blah
blah blah and like you saidearlier the next time because they
got to do it again the next timewe see otis he has this huge black
eye here's my question uh lutherbasically takes control of two
missiles But do we only see theminteract with one of the missiles?

(01:08:21):
Yes.
And so Miss Tessmacher has to fix
the snafu, and she does.
Now we cut back to the Daily
Planet, and Clark's coming in forwork, and he's like, hey, where's
Lois?And we get a little line drop of,
oh, she's investigating a landfraud deal out in the desert.
California, and we see Jimmy Olsenat the dam.

(01:08:42):
and we see Jimmy Olsen at the dam.
Yep.
And I even sent young Jimmy Olsenon his first assignment.
I think is the line that we getfrom Perry White.
And he says, come here, Kent.
I want to talk to you for a
minute.
And he starts talking to him.
And then we get this high pitchringing.
And we see all the dogs barking.

(01:09:03):
we see all the dogs barking.
we see all the dogs barking.
And so we get Lex Luthor's voice.
And he says, only you and poorlegged animals have the, if you
can hear this frequency, then.
Yeah.
And he says, I've put a. poisonousgas, nerve gas, something pellet
in the sewer system.
And it's going to go off in five
minutes.
I mildly hokey.
mildly hokey.
Why?

(01:09:23):
Because he's in his suit.
And then all of a sudden he's in
the Superman suit.
Just bing.
Where'd the, where'd the clothesgo?
Inside his other, inside the supersuit.
He's got a little pocket for it.
Got a pocket universe.
Yeah.
Little black hole.
Where is my super suit?So you're saying he put it in his

(01:09:43):
black hole.
Maybe, maybe.
And it could be a pretty big blackhole.
uh why are we questioning this andso he flies down i love how he
gets to the bottom the drill butthen after he did it i thought to
myself well what a dick what ifsomeone falls through that i was
just thinking that and so uh he'son his way to meet lex luther and

(01:10:06):
uh and he gets there and i lovehow otis says oh i think he's
coming mr luther and then the doorstarts bulbing out and the
superman opens the door and bottomthe what a dick what if someone
falls through that i was just wasjust thinking that and so uh he's
on his way to meet lex luther anduh and he gets there and i love

(01:10:28):
how otis says oh i think he'scoming mr luther and then the door
starts bulbing out and thesuperman opens the door and Lex
being Lex, it's open.
Come on in.
My attorney will be contacting youabout damages to the door.
I like how he tells Otis, whydon't you go ahead and take his
cape?And the look that Christopher
Reeve gives Otis.
I don't think he wants me to take
his cape, Mr. Luther.

(01:10:49):
Get the fuck back is what he's
saying.
And just the dialogue here.
I mean, I think this is one ofthe, this is the first time that
they interact together and it'spretty, it's pretty monumental,
right?And then Superman gets there and
he says, all right, Luther,where's the gas pillet?
And Luther laughs and says, I wasjust kidding.
There is no bomb.
How else was I going to meet you?
I was thinking about it.

(01:11:10):
Yeah.
And then he says, is that how awarped mind like you gets its
kicks by planning the death ofmillions?
And Luther says, no, I get it bycausing.
The death of millions.
millions.
That's another iconic line.
line.
Yeah.
line.
Yeah.
And you just, you're just like,
fuck Lex Luthor.
Just don't give a fuck.
Right.
In the meantime, we do also get to
see that these missiles, that themissiles are being prepped for

(01:11:31):
launch.
Exactly.
So two things going on at once.
two things going on at once.
Let me ask you this question.
By the way.
Could be a tough one.
Go ahead.
Which version of Lex Luthor do youlike better?
The one from this movie or the onefrom number two?
Which do you think Gene Hackmandid a better job at?
the way.
Oh, this one.
I thought he was better in numbertwo.
Go back and watch it and we'llhave this conversation again.
And so now Luther starts, I lovethis bit when he starts explaining
his evil plan.
plan.
My favorite bit.
Monologuing.
Yes, absolutely.
And my favorite bit is when he
says, and it occurred to me that a500 megaton blast right here
would, and then Superman's likedrop the West coast and the ocean
and all of that land.
which was worthless, is now worth
the fortune, and owned by, andOtis Lex Luthor Incorporated.
And then they put the overlaydown, and Superman's laughing,

(01:11:52):
like, you're fucking out of yourmind.
This is dumb, right?But my favorite bit, I think you
know where I'm going with this.
Otis Berg?
Otis Berg?Well, Ms. Tessmacher got her own
place.
Otis Berg.
Did you notice that he gets downand starts wiping it off?
Yeah, off?Yeah, he starts taking it off.
Otis Berg.
Yeah, so good.
He says, you know, those missilesare already on their way and
there's two of them.
Superman goes to, and he goes, and
it's revealed to us that therockets are no longer in control
by the military.
Right.
And they're like, what the fuck'sgoing on?
the fuck's going on?And, uh, he says, one's going to
the San Andreas fault.
And I sent the other one to hack
and sack New Jersey.
Cause I knew you couldn't save
both at the same time, no matterhow fast you are, which tells me
Lex Luthor's fucking smart.
Right.
But we knew this.
He's the greatest mass criminal
mastermind ever.
But why Hackensack, New Jersey?

(01:12:14):
Which ultimately is his downfallbecause he says, you know, you
can't stop him, but I can with oneclick of this button on this
remote I have.
And Superman's like, all right,
I'm going to fucking find theremote.
And I like this version of the x-ray, right?
Because do you notice when helooks at the desk, you can see
inside the desk and this, that,and the other.
And Alex Luther is so cheesysitting on the lead box.

(01:12:34):
I love the line, although it'sfutile, but I love the line.
Shit, I'll mold this box into yourprison bars, motherfucker.
And he opens it up, and the laughand the smile Gene Hackman gives,
like, it's a kryptonite, akryptonite, you dumbass.
You don't want to do that.
Yes, you dumbass.
You don't want to do that.
Yes, he warns him.
He gives him fair warning, right?But you're Superman.
What the fuck are you afraid of?Well, it turns out to be his

(01:12:58):
fucking kryptonite.
And so, smartly, Lex Luthor puts
it on a chain.
puts it around his neck.
his neck.
So Superman gets dumped down into
the water and it's presumed thatthings are perilous and he is
going to die.
Fearing for her mother in
Hackensack, Tessmacher betraysLuther and frees Superman, urging
him to save the East Coast Missilefirst.
Superman diverts it into space butfails to stop the West Coast
Missile, which causes devastatingearthquakes in California,

(01:13:19):
threatening landmarks like theGolden Gate Bridge and Hoover Dam.
Superman mitigates the destructionby repairing the font line and
rescuing those in danger.
However...
Lois suffocates in her car duringan aftershock, leaving Superman
devastated by his inability tosave her.
Overcome with grief, Supermandefies Jor -El's warning and turns
back time by reversing Earth'srotation, preventing Lois's death
and the missile's destruction.
After saving the West Coast, he
captures Luther and Otis and fliesoff into the sunrise.

(01:13:40):
Roll credits.
And so Superman's in the water.
And Ms. Tussmacher says, you gotto save my mom first.
He says, okay.
She jumps in.
But before she takes off thekryptonite, she kisses him.
I always thought that wasinteresting.
And he says, well, why'd you kissme?
And she says, because I didn'tthink you would let me after I
took this off you.
Because she's still a bad guy,
right?Technically.
I would have let her kiss me.
Oh, shit.
I would have too.
But that's not the point.
She takes the kryptonite andthrows it away.
Falls down a drain.
I love how he says, stand aside
now.
and he fucking takes off and he
goes through the ceiling and ilike the attention to detail that

(01:14:02):
they showed all the ceiling dropinto the water and uh it cuts back
to lex he's watching the monitorit cuts back to superman he's
chasing down the fucking missileand lex luther's watching it and
he sees the missile go up up andhe gets out of his chair and i
love how he's all this does mockbecause he knows He knows that she
let Superman go.

(01:14:22):
And so he saves Atkinson, New
Jersey.
And while he's in space getting
rid of that missile, he looks downand he sees the other missile.
It reaches its target and it goesoff and he can see it from space.
And so I like the bit where heflies down and he's flying through
the Earth's crust and he picks upthe fault line and he's fixing it.

(01:14:44):
I thought that was a brilliantmove.
But the damage is done, andCalifornia is suffering a major
earthquake.
What did you guys think of this
whole bit?Or we got to see Superman be
Superman.
We see several instances where
people's life is in peril.
Yep.
Like he fixes the water from thedam and saves Jimmy.
The school bus kid's full of...
The school bus full of kids.
Right.
He's taking care of business.
I like the bit with the dam andhim saving the town.

(01:15:06):
That's all miniatures.
Yes, it is.
And you can kind of tell.
And you can kind of tell.
Yes, you can.
Yes, you can.
But it still looks good.
it still looks good.
It still looks good.
Back then, it was good for what it
was.
It's good for what it is now.
good for what it is now.
Yeah.
I think so.
It looks a little fakey to me now.

(01:15:26):
You're just too critical.
That's what it is.
You've been jaded.
We see Lois that she's running out
of gas and she gets to a gasstation, but nobody's there.
And then the earthquake hits andthen she decides she's got to get
out of there.
The gas station blows up.

(01:15:46):
All the telephone poles startfalling down.
She's in peril.
In the meantime, Jimmy Olsen, he's
now at the dam and his life is indanger as well.
And he's dangling.
And so Superman cleans up
everybody's mess, saves Jimmy.
And as he.
After he saves Jimmy, he saves thetown from the dam breaking, and
he's kind of proud of himself, andthen he listens, and he can hear

(01:16:08):
Lois in trouble, and he's fuckinggone.
These are some of the scenes thatstarted to kind of turn me off to
the movie, like the fault line,the little crack that's following
Lois's car gets to her car andthen stops right where her car is.
That seemed a little too obviousto me, a little too exact.
i like this bit because he can'tsave lois and the bit where she's
getting buried alive that's got tobe fucking traumatic well i

(01:16:30):
thought that was probably one ofthe most horrible death scenes i
think i've seen in some moviesyeah that she basically was either
crushed or suffocated yeah i tookit as she suffocates to death yeah
and uh that one shot where you getto see uh the the darkness envelop
bit because he can't save lois andthe bit where she's getting buried
alive that's got to be fuckingtraumatic well i thought that was

(01:16:52):
probably one of the most horribledeath scenes i think i've seen in
some movies yeah that shebasically was either crushed or
suffocated yeah i took it as shesuffocates to death yeah and uh
that one shot where you get to seeuh the the darkness envelop From
above.
And you can't see her eye sockets,
but you can see the top of herhead and you can see her nose.
Yeah.
And it goes to darkness.

(01:17:14):
And all I kept thinking was allthat dirt and debris kind of
coming in on her would havestopped her from breathing.
So not only is she justsuffocating, like I said, she's
almost being crushed to death thatshe cannot breathe.
And so she dies and Superman getsthere.
He's too late.
He lifts the car out and he's just
devastated.
And Christopher Reeve does such a
good job at pulling this off.
And what's a subtle bit, but

(01:17:34):
breaks my heart is as he's layingher down, her head kind of falls a
little bit faster and he's so.
He whimpers.
Yeah.
He's so protective of it.
Like, oh shit.
Right.
Like he's, he's trying to takecare of laying her down, but she's

(01:18:22):
already fucking dead.
Right.
And then his, you know.
You get like four different camera
angles showing a passage of time.
Yeah.
And he just, he starts shaking hishead and he's, he's super scream.
He's battling within himself.
Like I couldn't save my dad.
And now I love Lois and I can'tsave her.
And this isn't fucking fair.

(01:18:42):
And you know what?
God damn it.
I am fucking Superman and I can
fucking save her.
I thought I'm going to, I thought
one of his first thoughts was, Iwas almost in there.
thought I'm going to, I Yeah,dude.
That's had it.
That's what he thought.
All that work.

(01:19:03):
I know.
Uh, but then he lets off the superscream, which still to this day,
it gives me chills.
All that work.
and with the music and he's havinga crisis of conscience and he
fucking takes off and he's flyingthrough the clouds and we hear jor
-el's voice it is forbidden foryou to interfere with human

(01:19:24):
history even though jor -el did itand then uh well the parents do do
as i say not as i do there's yourfucking reason um and then even
jonathan kent all i know is youwere sent here for a reason right
so this is what i would say ishe's flying through the clouds and
we hear jor -el's voice it isforbidden for you to interfere
with human history even though jor-el did it and then uh well the
parents do do as i say not as i dothere's your fucking reason um and

(01:19:49):
then even jonathan kent all i knowis you were sent here for a reason
right so is what i would say isThe only reason why I can't give
this movie a five is I thoughtthis ending was so hokey of by
turning Earth backwards, time goesbackwards, and I couldn't buy into
it.
I thought if he actually stopped

(01:20:10):
the rotation of Earth and startedgoing backwards, it would have
thrown everybody on Earth off theplanet.
It would have been better if hehad just, like the Flash, gone so
fast that he pierced time and wentback in time rather than have
Earth spin backwards.
I just...
Really couldn't get behind it.
Well, there you go.
What about you?It still bugs me.
I think that the third act is theweakest part of the movie.

(01:20:33):
I enjoy the first two acts a wholebunch more.
Having Superman go back in time,and then we have him reach Lois,
and the car has just stoppedworking.
What about the second missile?The second missile is still...
Slated to hit, but I guess maybehe took care of it and we, the
audience just didn't get to seethat, that he stopped the missile

(01:20:56):
from impacting the earth.
So therefore there was no
earthquake.
And now Lois is just stuck with an
empty gas tank.
It was a bit convenient and yeah,
I'll buy that.
It's still fun and I still buy it
or I still go along with it, but Ifelt like this was.
a bit shoehorned in but if anyonecan go around the world to make it
go backwards it's fucking supermanso okay he saves the day and then
he flies off and we get uh lutherand otis showing up and i like

(01:21:16):
this bit because this is the firsttime we see lex as a bald right he
says uh the warden says who isthat and you know uh lex luther
says it's me i'm lex luther thegreatest criminal of our the
greatest criminal mind of ourgeneration and i put and otis
showing up and i like this bitbecause this is the first time we
see lex as a bald right he says uhthe warden says who is that and

(01:21:40):
you know uh lex luther says it'sme i'm lex luther the greatest
criminal of our the greatestcriminal mind of our generation
and i put this place on notice.
And Otis is repeating them.
And I thought that was theirlittle banter back and forth.
And then the warden says, thankyou, Superman.

(01:22:01):
You've made everybody safe.
And he goes, ah, don't thank me.
We're all in this together.
We're on the same team.
same team.
And he takes off.
We have the fucking Supermanscore.
And then we have the earth and wesee the sun coming up and here
comes Superman flying at us.
And he gives us a little smile.
And that was Superman, the movie.
All right, what do you guys think?

(01:22:23):
You guys ready to rate this flick?I'm ready to rate this flick.
How about you, John?Are you ready to rate this flick?
this flick?Faster than a speeding bullet.
Sorry, Julie.
Able to overanalyze cinematic
conspiracy theories in a singlebound and more enthusiastic than a
fanboy at Comic -Con, let's soarinto the cinematic stratosphere,
shall we?All right.
Hey, Professor, how do we do ourratings?
We do our ratings on a scale ofone to five fucks.
Five fucks is a movie that wethink is cinematic gold.
A one fuck movie is a movie whereyou get done watching it and
you're thinking, I'm neverwatching this again.
And what's a zero?A zero fuck movie is where you get
done watching it, you turn to yourbuddy and you're like...
Oh, for shit's sake.
What the hell?
Why would you make me watch?I want two hours and 23 minutes of

(01:22:45):
my life back.
Or in other words, we just don't
give a fuck.
Don, this was your pick.
I believe you are going first.
Yeah, I can totally go first.
Five.
You would think that, but it's
not.
And so what I'm going to start
doing from here on out is I'mgoing to give you my rating first.
I'm giving Superman, the movie, 4.75 fucks.
And here's why.
I think it is.
personally my favorite comic bookmovie of all time because without

(01:23:07):
this you don't get the others arethere better movies comic book
movies than this movie yeah but astime has evolved filmmaking has
evolved and the visuals haveevolved but at its basic core
superman is just about perfect andthe only thing that's not perfect
about it is rewinding time like atape recorder by flying in reverse
I'll agree with you guys on that.
But everything else is fucking

(01:23:28):
cinematic gold.
So 4 .75 fucks for Superman.
And it takes me back to mychildhood.
And it makes me think of mygrandfather.
And he was my Superman.
So 4 .75 fucks.
Okay.
Would you like me to go next?
Yeah, sure.
Superman the movie is a true gem
in the superhero genre andarguably... and arguably one of
the most perfectly crafted comicbook films of all time.
Let's start with Krypton.

(01:23:48):
Donner's vision of the doomed
world is stunning.
The glowing crystalline design
feels alien yet believable, givingthe opening a grand weight to it
that sets the tone for the story,and it's both larger than life and
deeply emotional.
Christopher Reeve, he was the
perfect iconic casting for thismovie and will always be.
When you envision Superman as amovie character, his face will
always come to mind.
His suit, everything will always
be iconic.
He set the standard to which all
future Superman movies must becompared to.

(01:24:09):
Margot Kidder, her Lois Lane, waseverything it needed to be.
Fearless and charming.
The only issue I had was I just
didn't feel a strong chemistrybetween the two.
I had the Clark and Lois andSuperman and Lois chemistry, but
the two actors themselves, I justcouldn't feel much of a chemistry.
Marlon Brando.
I thought he did a fantastic job
as Jor -El without knowing all thebehind the scenes information that

(01:24:33):
we know now.
He again also will be always an
iconic.
character of Jor -El that we'll
always compare all future Jor-El's to.
Donner's genius lies in hisability to balance the whimsy of
the comic book with groundedstorytelling.
The humor is there, but it neverundermines the emotional stakes or
the epic scale.
Add in John Williams'
unforgettable score, and you havea film that soars both art and
entertainment.
It's not just a great superhero
movie.
It's the superhero movie.
And so for those reasons, I amgiving Superman the movie 4 .75
fucks.
4 .75 fucks from the comic book
guy.
You're up, Professor.
In watching Superman again, it hadbeen many years since I'd seen it.
And as I stated earlier in theshow, a lot of it came right back

(01:24:54):
to me because I had seen it somany times when I was younger.
And I think that ChristopherReeve's Superman, I think, is
probably my favorite Superman,especially in the first one.
He is such a wonderful characterbetween him and Clark Kent.
Having the Clark Kent available tous, unlike what we get in any
other Superman iteration as himbeing Superman, I think is quite

(01:25:16):
valuable to give us a strongerfeeling of emotional pride.
for who Superman attests to be, tobe good and decent and pure.
And having him be this characterworks so much better with John
Williams' score.
We went on and on about John
Williams, but it really helpedcarry and make this movie.

(01:25:36):
So we have wonderful cinematicmoments of watching Superman fly.
But we also have the musical scorethat really drives the tone and
the emotional notes of this movieright to the surface to make you
feel so impassioned, so powerfulwhen you are watching this movie.
And if you haven't seen the moviebefore, it really is worth a

(01:25:57):
watch.
However, I stated the third act, I
think it falls short for me.
And because of that third act, it
kind of sort of... I guess in away it kind of sort of leaves me
feeling a little crestfallenbecause we have a whole bunch of
rescues that Superman does, justlike we saw in the beginning.
But I don't know why, but therescues that we get in the third
act, as opposed to the rescuesthat we get when we see Superman

(01:26:19):
introduced on his big night.
The big night rescues, I don't
know.
They just felt so much more
satisfying.
The third act rescues, they were
fine.
I really liked the moment with
Superman saving the train where weget that one shot where he's
looking down the tracks and hehasn't lifted up the other
railroad tie yet and we see himlaying across it.
You know, that's one of thosemoments of the movie that, you
know, forever sticks out of mymind.
And having that rescue happen, itwas very satisfying for me.
And having the time bit, that isdefinitely leaving me feeling
crestfallen, especially becauseI'm thinking, well, what happened
to the other missile?For some reason, yeah, all that, I
guess we the audience just have tomake that astronomical jump to the

(01:26:40):
conclusion of Superman must havemade it stop, but he made the
other missile stop too?So I was disappointed the way that
that ended like that because itjust seemed a little anticlimactic
that we didn't actually get to seeSuperman pull it off.
The movie is still a really funwatch.
And like I said, I love the firsttwo acts of the movie.
It's the third act that leaves mefeeling, like I said, crestfallen.

(01:27:01):
And because of that, I'm givingthis movie 3 .75 fucks.
3 .75 fucks from The Professor.
With 4 .75 fucks from me and the
comic book bye and 3 .75 fucksfrom The Professor, that gives
Superman the movie an averageof...
4 .4 fucks, which now puts it inthe 8th position, tied with Up and

(01:27:22):
Alien.
It is slightly better than Ferris
Bueller's Day Off, Shang -Chi, TheCrow, and The Road Warrior, and
slightly worse than Snatch, JohnWick 3, Shaun of the Dead, Sin
City, The Princess Bride, andPrey.
So there you have it, boys.
All right.
That is going to wrap it up forthis episode of three guys in a
flick.
If you would like to know which
movie we're going to be reviewingnext, please check out the
website.
Speaking of which a John, where

(01:27:43):
can they find us?You can find us at three guys in a
flick .com.
can find us at three guys in a
flick .com.
You can also find us at any of
social media or any place thathosts podcasts.
And in fact, while you'relistening to us, you must be at
one of those places.
Go ahead and leave us a comment.
Leave us a like.
Go ahead and subscribe if you're

(01:28:04):
not already subscribed.
We'd love to hear from you.
And if you want to submit a movieyou'd like us to review us next,
you can do that at our website orjust by leaving a comment.
And we will put that into theBronco helmet.
I just want to wish everybody ahappy, happy new year.

(01:28:25):
I want to send a special thanks tothe Fire Chief for throwing this
into the Bronco helmet.
Thanks, love.
And I want to thank anyone wholistens and who has suggested a
movie.
If you keep listening, we'll keep
recording.
For Three Guys and a Flick, I'm
Don.
I'm John.
John.
And I'm Ken.

(01:28:47):
Thanks for listening.
Up, up, and away.
He doesn't say up, up, and away.
We got for some likes, yeah, dive
into the flicks.
We're here for the real talk in
time for the tricks.
Not as the captain steering us
right.
Kid drops knowledge, shed the eye.
John, look at comics, bring in thehigh end.

(01:29:07):
On the clip, baby, there.
Give me a stir and be breaking
down.
Make sure you're heard.
I got something on the screen.
Get invited.
Lie about movies.
You know, we always give a fuck
and then lie.
No. Was there any questions on any
of Superman?I know more lore if you want it.

(01:29:31):
No, I was waiting for you to stopflipping the paper and talking at
the same time.
Yeah, that.
Chris, go ahead.
No, no, no, go.
no, 50 fucking four Oscarnominations.
How many wins?Five.
Ooh, it's not a good average.
It is the first big one.

(01:29:52):
Yeah, you're right.
That's what she said.
Should I say Krypton?Krypton.
Thanks, dickhead.
But what are you going to tell
Marlon Brando, right?You're Richard Donner.
It's Krypton.
Yes.
Yes, director.
It's Krypton.
Oh. The way it printed out, itlooks like criminal is.
Well, you can have a pause inthere, too, if you want.

(01:30:14):
Thanks, buddy.
Amazed by his strength after he
licks.
Licks.
She holds him.
He holds her up by her finger.
Yeah, we just talked about that.
I know.
That's what we just said.
Well, it's not stupid.
It's his super.
You're stupid.
I got to find my.
No, he's not ready to rate this

(01:30:36):
flick.
Apparently not.
Don't rush me.
All right.
What do you got?I have at least three.
Okay.
Do you want to go back and forth
or do you want me to just read thethree?
Go ahead with the first one.
Super slammed the movie.
Super slam.
I like that.

(01:30:56):
I have a sexy man.
The movie.
Oh, nice.
I had super mammaries.
Super mammaries?Yeah.
Oh, that's a good one too.
I like that.
Uh, super sperm.
Super sperm.
The movie.
I had, uh, Superman handled.
handled.
Superman handled.
That's a good one too.

(01:31:17):
Uh, and then I had, uh, Superman,
the movie.
Get it?
Cause he's super, super.
Okay.
That one was dumb.
What do you got?
Nothing.
Way to start the year off strong,
Professor.
All right.
May all of your days and nights befilled with happiness.
All right.
Fuck off.
Good night.