The current superhero movie trend can be traced back to the continuous releases of Blade, X-Men, and Spider-Man in the late 1990s and early 2000s that established the Marvel cinematic brand. But even earlier than that, Tim Burton broke new ground for comic book movies with 1989’s Batman. And even earlier than that, Richard Donner brought the Man of Steel to the big screen in 1978’s Superman.
This was the movie that first proved superheroes were capable of mining box office gold. Although there have been countless superhero movies since that have copied its formula, Superman is the standard-bearer that still holds up today.
10 Covering Superman’s Backstory In Depth
A lot of modern comic book movies can’t wait to dive into the superheroics, but Richard Donner made his first Superman movie as a Superman biopic, covering the character’s entire backstory with airtight story structure.
Donner takes his time exploring the destruction of Krypton and Kal-El’s childhood in Smallville and his relationship with the Kents before sending him to Metropolis with a pair of glasses and a cape.
9 The Groundbreaking Special Effects
The poster tagline for Superman read, “You’ll believe a man can fly.” It didn’t quite go that far, but contemporary audiences were blown away by the movie’s groundbreaking special effects.
Today’s audiences won’t be as impressed, but they can still enjoy the spectacle of Superman taking flight. Obviously, Superman’s effects don’t quite stack up next to modern CGI, but the technological breakthroughs are still pretty mind-blowing.
8 Superman & Lois’ Chemistry
While his relationship with the Kents is significant and his relationship with humanity at large is where all the themes come from, the emotional core of Superman’s stories is his relationship with Lois Lane.
In Richard Donner’s movie, Superman and Lois share impeccable chemistry, thanks to the perfectly matched Christopher Reeve, who perfectly embodies the last son of Krypton, and Margot Kidder, who’s a hilarious comic foil. Kidder was one of several actresses up for the role of Lois and her performance is still considered the definitive portrayal of the character.
7 John Williams’ Iconic Theme
It’s impossible to name just one John Williams theme as the best because he composed so many iconic movie themes: Jaws, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter. But one of his scores that pairs perfectly with its subject matter is his Superman theme.
Just as Danny Elfman’s theme from Tim Burton’s Batman movies captured the Caped Crusader’s brooding darkness, Williams’ sweeping Superman theme captures the bubbly, unwaveringly positive outlook of the Man of Steel. While not one of John Williams' underrated scores, his Superman music is the ideal sonic embodiment of three central tenets of the Man of Steel's character: truth, justice, and the American way.
6 The Script’s Sharp Dialogue
Since superhero stories are driven by action, comic book movies rarely have compelling dialogue. The dialogue is there to set up predictable romantic arcs and provide important exposition and that’s about it.
So, it’s refreshing to go back to Richard Donner’s original Superman movie and enjoy its sharp dialogue. Superman and Lois’ back-and-forth is straight out of a Howard Hawks screwball comedy.
5 The Gorgeous Design Of Krypton
There have been a bunch of on-screen depictions of Superman’s destroyed homeworld of Krypton over the years in various movies and TV shows, but the gorgeous designs from Richard Donner’s 1978 movie still hold up as one of the greatest depictions of the planet.
Since the planet is destroyed when Supes is a baby, Krypton only appears briefly at the beginning of the movie, but it effectively establishes the science fiction tone of the film.
4 Depicting Superman As A Christ Figure
As a superhuman who arrives from above to bring salvation to humanity, Superman has always been read as a Christ figure, and Richard Donner’s movie leaned into those parallels.
The movie has a bunch of Biblical allusions. Kal-El’s ship looks like the Star of Bethlehem, while Jor-El banishing Zod from Krypton is similar to God banishing Satan from Heaven. Plus, Martha Kent saying, “We’ve prayed and prayed that the good Lord would see fit to give us a child,” is an overt reference to the Virgin Mary.
3 The Offbeat Humor
The prevalence of humor in superhero movies, and modern blockbusters in general, has been attributed to the MCU formula. But long before Tony Stark exchanged wisecracks with Happy Hogan, Richard Donner brought plenty of offbeat humor to the superhero movie that started it all.
Superman has a lot of fish-out-of-water gags involving Clark Kent being an alien trying to pass as a human. For instance, Clark's introduction to the Daily Planet's newsroom is hilarious because of the juxtaposition of the world's most powerful hero struggling to keep up with his journalist peers, who freely smoke and consume unhealthy amounts of calories. This lightweight humor has been missing from a majority of DC Extended Universe films, particularly Zack Snyder’s cynical, humorless Superman movies, and it still holds up when fans re-watch Donner's film.
2 The Time-Reversing Finale
When a widespread natural disaster that Superman is failing to stop buries Lois alive, he’s so furious that he flies into space, flies a few laps around the Earth so it’ll spin in the opposite direction and reverse time, and uses that second chance to save the day.
Although the idea that reversing the rotation of the Earth would reverse the flow of time is completely ridiculous, this illogical plot device sets the stage for one of Superman's best cinematic climaxes. This moment pays off Jor-El’s earlier request not to alter human history as Superman breaks his father’s sacred rules for the only reason that matters: because he loves Lois.
1 Christopher Reeve’s Spot-On Portrayal Of Superman
Playing Superman isn’t as simple as playing a Boy Scout in a cape. An actor playing the Man of Steel has to play Clark Kent as a timid nerd and Superman as a fearless hero and find a middle ground between the two that connects them as the same person. As proven by Brandon Routh in Superman Returns, it’s not easy to pull off.
In this regard, Christopher Reeve couldn’t have been more perfectly cast. Richard Donner’s Superman wouldn’t work nearly as well without Reeve’s spot-on portrayal of the title character.
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