Brian Capecci

OK, it's official, I'm into blue tights these days. No, it's not some gay porn thing, I'm talking about www.bluetights.net, the Superman website. So before, it was Star Wars I was looking forward to, now it's Superman Returns. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy Star Wars and thought episode 3 had some fun action despite being a failure as a film. Also, the fact that we're going to have to wait a few years for any new Star Wars content left an opening for the man of steel. Yep, I know how that sounds ;) To my surprise, my roomate Brian got me the Superman Collection on DVD for Christmas which really started this new obsession. Sure, I'd seen the movies before, but never had the chance to analyze them that presents itself with the DVD format. It's a decent enough DVD set. They restored Superman I and even added a few additional scenes, some of which even include the departed Marlon Brando. There's also a few featurettes and screentests, amoung the most amusing, the Superman flight tests where they catapulted dummies through the air. Also, having watched the provided auditions, I still can't for the life of me figure out why they cast raspy voiced Margot Kidder instead of some hottie..

Unfortunately, the rest of the discs are pretty dry. They have decent transfers, but have no commentary or extra features of any kind. This of course, caused me to scour the internet for all the super-information I could find. Hey, you gotta get your fix right? The abbreviated story is that it's a miracle that Superman I was made, and even more of a miracle that Superman II makes any sense at all, as it was shot by Richard Donner then completed by Richard Lester. The bottom line is that the Salkinds wanted success and profit at any cost, and had a vision of Superman that matched Schumaker's vision of Batman and Robin! Even by the time of Superman IV, when the Salkinds were no longer involved, Canon killed the franchise by dropping the budget from $40 million to $19 halfway through production and cutting 45 minutes from the film, hoping to use a large battle sequence that cost $8 to produce in Superman V, which was never made! Poor Supes, he just can't catch a break. This epic adventure, nearly as interesting as the films themselves, is chronicled in detail at http://www.supermancinema.co.uk/

Some super-thoughts on the films...

Say Jim, That's a bad outfit!

Most people don't remember, but the first person who actually sees Superman is a pimp sitting with a couple of his ladies. He of course thinks that Superman's costume is fly ... pun intended. Superman, being ultra polite, excuses himself before taking off to save the dangling Lois Lane and helicopter. Fortunately for Superman, his stalling to converse with the pimp doesn't cost any lives as he still makes it in time. One wonders if he later comes back and busts him but I doubt it. It's rare to find another man that doesn't make fun of you for wearing tights.

That Superbuild!

When Christopher Reeve was cast as Superman, his build was by no means super. During the screen tests, he claims his weight to be 175. During the movie in the same scene, he says 225. Well, he's not quite 225 during that scene but does eventually get there. You see, Reeve was hired but didn't begin his bulking up until everyone was cast for the film. Once he arrived in England, he trained with David Prowse, the body builder who played Darth Vader in the Original Star Wars Trilogy. Due to the schedule, both Superman I and II were shot simultaneously over a two year period, with Brando's scenes being filmed first due to the actor's availability. Also shot early were the first city crane shots (rescuing the cat, bringing the cat burgular down to the Irish cop ... yeah, clever I know) and it really shows. When he meets Lois Lane he's somewhere in the middle, as he also is in most of Superman II. It is much less noticeable in Superman II because he isn't in the costume quite so much, and had a year break in filming to hit his target weight and loose some of his extreme bulk. The last footage shot for Superman I was in CA for the entire earthquake sequence. There, Reeve was at his full 225 lb glory. Can you tell the difference? Click the image to get a better look. I should also note that they tried to do the blue screen flying shots early in production to get a head start but had to redo them since he bulked up so much. It is expected that Brandon Routh (pronounced like South) will appear much more consistent in the new film as he had sufficient prep time, and his costume is less of a leotard, actually having padding to enhance his muscles.

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Cellophane and Champagne

These questions have plagued Superman films since the release of Superman II. OK, shooting the white beams was pretty strange, as were his disapearing and cloning tricks but most people tend to go along with them. However, this celophane S thing is ridiculous. Where did this S come from? Was it always on Superman's costume waiting for his need to momentarily disarm someone? What happens when it gets wet? This oddity has been thrust into pop culture with the Family Guy parody. Although, I must admit that in the Family Guy parody, funny as it is, Non does speak, which is quite out of the ordinary for a mute! Perhaps Family Guy should have done their Super homework!

So Superman jets all over the world to find the best food and drink for him and Lois. However, he finds something truly astounding ... a champagne bottle that can be opened with one hand! I know he's Superman, but how the heck did he pop the top? And no, I do not wish to comment on the imagery of this pic ;)

Let's Straighten this one out...

Now it has been suggested that Superman III recycled a few scenes meant for Superman II. Whether or not this is true has been questioned, but since they did not appear in the final cut of Superman II nobody really knows. We may find out however, when the Donner Cut of Superman II hits later this year. What people are referring to, is Superman restoring the Leaning Tower of Pisa after his evil self straightened it and also repairing the oil liner. The reason this has caused discussion is due to the script of Superman II. In the film, the three super villans destory Mount Rushmore in a flyby. In the script, they go all over the world trashing different things, then Supes has to go fix them. Supposedly, Donner shot variations of these sequences.

Now I have no doubt that portions of these sequences may have been worked on but it is unlikely that they were ever completed for Superman II. That makes them fair game as far as I'm concerned for reusing the elements in Superman III. The whole evil Superman plot thread does seem a stretch however, as it arises and is resolved in about 15 minutes, when surely it could have been the plot of the entire movie. Let's not get confused though, this movie is about Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) not Superman ;) Anyway, back to the point at hand. It is clear that this footage, even if the backgrounds were prepped for SII, was completed for Superman III. Being an aspiring filmmaker, I have a certain attention to detail that a lot of these punks who post on internet message boards lack. So, to settle this dispute that I'm sure has been keeping many of you up at night, I present the answer; the fx shots were completed for Superman III, not Superman II, which is evidenced by the combing of Superman's hair. In Superman III, the hair on the sides of his head is slicked back tight (with visible comb marks) while in the others it hangs looser. Yeah, I know it's totally geeky that I know this, but ... THEORY DEBUNKED.

Here we go again...

Feeling that Superman IV lacked the romantic subplot of Superman I, Christopher Reeve had the filmmakers add a sequence where Superman yet again goes flying with Lois. This has become a bit of a motif, as it is expected to happen again in Superman Returns. However, the treatment of it in Superman IV is truly bizarre.

The first oddity, is the portrayal of Superman in this sequence. Quite frankly, he comes across as a super jerk! First, he tosses Lois Lane off of a building, giving her the scare of her life, only to save her with his glasses still on ... thus revealing his identity. Later, as they fly together Superman says "Ready" doesn't wait for a response and then says "Here you go!" and flips Lois Lane forward. Lois flails around and screams wildly. Superman, clearly amused, cackles mischeviously. He really comes across as an abusive boyfriend. Later this is covered by one line of dialog where Superman asks how she liked going solo, and she replies that she loved it. Finally in a cop-out matching only the end of Superman II, Supes plants one on Lois and she forgets the whole thing. Probably for the best.

The second strange thing is the construction of the sequence in general. Fortunately, this time we are not tortured by Lois' inner monologue as in Superman I (thank God, what were they thinking?)! Instead, we are treated to a series of jump cuts and nonsensical editing. First, based on screen space, the cuts just don't work. The shots are too similar and it's almost as if they're just changing the background. It is super choppy and even cuts while Superman is in mid-sentence effectively cutting him off. Secondly, Superman tries to point something out "Look at that" he says, and points. The reverse shot shows that nothing is there. It's simply a shot of San Francisco. Maybe he was talking about the harbor, the bridge, the buildings? Thanks to the filmmakers we will never know.

Unlike the first film, this sequence has a much larger scope. In Superman I, they flew around New York city. In this encounter, they make it all the way to the west coast. Now, I don't mean to nitpick, but if we are to assume that Supes and Lois fly to San Francisco and back within say, one hour (it's probably more like thirty minutes) then Superman has to be flying at super speeds. I don't know the exact math, but we're talking 6000 mph, which translates into rougly 7.8 times the speed of sound. Now, I have no doubt that Superman can do this, but what about Lois? It seems that the windsheer alone of traveling at that speed would probably rip her body to pieces. But hey, this is Superman IV, the same film whoose climax features Lacy Warbuck getting dragged into space, the whole time screaming with decompression being the least of her worries. Supe's voice is also apparently unaffected by the vacuum of space, as he converses with Russian cosmonauts earlier in the film. Either way, it seems that physics are taking a backseat in this super adventure.

A new suit, a new Supes

After the dibocle of Superman IV under the Canon Film group and five abandoned Superman Films, Superman is finally set to Return this summer! This time around, Superman is handled by fan favorite Bryan Singer, director of the X-Men films and The Usual Suspects. The plot of the film is closely guarded, but we know it centers on Superman returning after an unexplained absense of approximately five years. He has apparently traveled home to Krypton without telling anyone. Lois is now married and has a kid (unknown whether its her bilogical kid) and Lex Luthor has been plotting to kill Supes the whole time. Very little footage has been released so far. Just a vague teaser featuring Brando's voice from Superman I (and it is confirmed that he will be in Superman Returns via reconstructed digital effects) and the comicon footage and Bryan Singer's video blogs.

Various publicity photos have been released, revealing Routh in the Super-suit. Oddly enough, the color scheme of the suit seems to more closely match that of the evil Superman in Superman III. The red is more of a burgandy, and the S has been removed from the cape. However, an extra S has been added to the belt so things are even. The neckline of the suit has also been raised. As for the suit itself, it is now thicker than a leotard, with a pattern worked over the material (much like Spiderman's outfit). The costume also has more of a home-made feel for the first time featuring carefully placed seams that supposedly asseuntuate Routh's musculature. Finally, the S, reduced in size is raised slightly off the costume to gain promidence. Much talk had supposedly gone on regarding whether Brandon's cod piece was super enough. According to insiders, some executives favored padding the area and even a prosthetic was developed. In the end however, they decided to keep Supes in proportion. It seems Routh has enough to worry about, as he already has the world on his shoulders ;)