CBM Classic is a new weekly series where I’ll discuss a film and whether it is one of the greatest all time comic book movies, or if it’s overrated. I’ll lay out my thoughts on the film and then ask all of you what you think. So comment in the comments section with whether you think that the film belongs in CBM Classics!
This is the first week of
CBM Classic and when it came time to think of the first film I’d look at, it would make sense to look at the first blockbuster Superhero film,
Superman (1978). There were other adaptions of comic books before this, but
Superman really did take the character and bring him into the (then) modern era.
Back when the film came out, it was unheard of to have big name talent attached to such a project. Sci-fi and superhero fare had been all but relegated to B-movie fare. So with a budget of $55 million, the film begun it’s production.
Richard Donner wasn’t the first choice to direct. Steven Spielberg was looked at to direct, but producers were unsure of his success (this was before
Jaws after all!) Donner was hired and scrapped the then cheesy script to revamp it as there was nothing he found useful in the original script.
I won’t go too much into the behind the scenes of the film, as I’m evaluating whether this film is a classic; however it’s interesting that the script was redone to reduce on the camp found in the original script. While I think the film is a product of it’s time, it does still have a timeless sense to it, something that was lost as the series went on.
That timelessness is hard to ignore. The iconic score, the iconic visuals, and of course the many lines that many of us can spurt on memory. This movie has so many iconic moments that in my eyes it’s hard to weigh down the dated visuals or other elements that haven’t aged so well.
So is
Superman (1978) a CBM Classic? I think so!