Years upon years ago, when I heard there was going to be a live screen adaptation of the cartoon script character, Superman, I have to admit that I was a bit leery about the quality of the film. However, since the first time I saw Superman on the big screen, I immediately fell in love along with Christopher Reeve as well.

Superman, The Movie is a masterpiece of special effects and imagination. I sat in awe as I observed the planet Krypton with its spectacular advanced society. And I pondered that through all their technology that still they were not able to save themselves. Only by the desperation of a child’s parents’ love was he sent to Earth to be saved from destruction.

Through his journey, the fact that this infant was able to survive with just the voice crystals activating within the ship takes a lot of imagination and faith. Most children would not survive even being away from their parents for a few days much less years as he traveled across the galaxies to his new home.

There it seems as though all of his life was preordained -- the finding of the space ship by the Kents and adoption of Clark into their home, Clark’s high school years leading up to the death of his Earth father, and Clark’s eventual journey into his fortress of solitude where he becomes Superman – all of these things seem to be so time sensitive and precise it makes one wonder if his father had some conception of what the future would be for his son before sending him to Earth.

After his youth and training, Clark becomes a rather mild-mannered man, creating a persona that is totally opposite of his Superman character. However, there’s one thing he can not hide and that is his open affection for his coworker and friend, Lois Lane.

Of course, there has to be some kind of crisis in this story and this comes with Lex Luthor, an arch villain, who has an evil plan to ignite the San Andreas Fault with a military missile and cause California to fall into the sea. This would give him priceless beachfront property, which is now currently worthless desert.

Unaware that he has inadvertently given out his secrets for his strength and weaknesses through an interview with Lois Lane, Lex plans out a terrible demise for our super hero. He finds a Kryptonite meteorite and plans a way to trap Superman, to cause him to die when exposed to this substance.

Eventually, it appears that all is lost. Not only has Lex ignited a missile to cause California to fall into the sea, but also he has caused another missile to go to the East Coast of the USA. As Superman becomes weaker and appears to be dying, is there anyone who can save all of the people in danger?

Well, of course, there is, but you’ll have to watch the movie to find out that solution!

As I have mentioned, I’ve always loved the Superman series because of Christopher Reeve. In my personal opinion, he IS Superman, not only on the screen but in his battles to overcome his personal injuries in life as well. I have never seen anyone with such faith, guts, and determination as he has shown throughout his life, and he is ideally cast for this role.

Margot Kidder though as Lois Lane has much more to be desired in my personal opinion. I really believe that there should have been a bit more attractive character for Clark’s / Superman’s counterpart and I feel that Margot is a bit too plain for this role.

Overall though, I truly believe that Superman – The Movie is a marvelous introduction to children for a more mature view of the Superman character rather than that portrayed on the Super Friends cartoon series.

My youngest son was totally entranced with Superman – The Movie last night and literally begged me to let him stay up to watch it. Because he had never seen it before, he had lots of questions about things that I had taken for granted but overall, he was thoroughly thrilled with the action and rescue scenes and those of Superman doing all these amazing things.

Therefore, I have to say that if you have a youngster who has never been exposed to the live action movie series of Superman that Superman – The Movie will be a great thrill for them. Comparing it to other action movies, Superman – The Movie has much less violence and sexual connotation and I believe is an excellent movie for children between the ages of 7 to adult to enjoy.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12