great info and great video - thanks! Nobody will care but me -- but I worked on the Canadian location shooting for the first SUPERMAN. We did all the Super Baby, Superboy Smallville stuff as well as the missile convoy and the beginning of Lois in the desert earthquake. We shot for over 6 weeks and never did a scene with Superman! I was there when the baby lifted the truck. Donner was great - making little Aaron feel like he was really lifting it! Aaron became an actor and stuntman and still goes to Superman conventions. Richard Donner was a wonderfully gifted guy. Too bad the producers screwed him over. The stuff racing beside and in front of the train was very difficult for Jeff East - hanging off the side of a truck going 40MPH miming running in the air! No CGI in those days! Such fun.
@@FameFocus I don’t know about the, “THE“ part! Yes, MacGyver was great fun as well my past keeps catching up with me! Thanks for your reply. You never know when you comment on something if anyone ever looks at this stuff. I was very lucky… Just out of high school at the time working as a production assistant. Fun fact… If you remember the scene where young Clark kicks the football practically into orbit? I kept that football for over 30 years! It was made of wood and fired from air cannon just on the other side of his foot when he made the kicking gesture. I sold it along with some other minor memorabilia at a prop auction in England a few years ago and got over $10,000! The lesson is keep everything you think it’s cool you just never know if someone else may want it someday 😏
@@MrRezRising Yes beautiful country - I grew up there. You may want to check out “Days of Heaven” - another film I worked on just before Superman. It won an Oscar for the beautiful cinematography. It really captures house stunning the light is there.
I still choose Reeve’s Superman movies over any other. Just because I was a kid when they came out and it takes me back to my childhood every time I watch them. Reeve is to me the best Superman of all. R.I.P. 🙏🏼❤️
I remember, I lived in Malta at the time I was working in some 3 star hotel and I was reading in some tabloid magazine that Christopher Reeves had fallen off a horse and broke his neck. Then the poor guy lived for 9 more years completely paralyzed from the neck down and had high hopes in the research in nerve healing and he personally invested money in it and it never paned out. Eventually he died from bed sores. The guy was amazing. His face literally was exactly a copy of the ideal comic version. You can never capture the comic fantasy onto film 100% but he was as close as we ever got. As an example, I have to admit, as a 7 year old kid I did not find him as masculine as I imagined Superman to be but still, it was an incredible experience watching him and no other Superman movie after him never got even close to having that kind of magic. Those were different times too. The US was a different country, Americans were different, Hollywood was different, people were more earnest, naive. I mean just compare the music that was coming out back then to what we have today. Something is lost. I can't explain what that thing is but it's definitely gone. Its gone from the US, and UK too and perhaps other parts of the world too. Whether computers and technology is to blame, politics, greed, maybe all of it together but whatever it is, its gone. Collectively, we valued life a lot more back then and we spent a lot more time in the company of others and we had to entertain each other. Granted things were not as easy and accessible at the whim of a swipe on the phone but maybe we ate from the tree of knowledge and now we are doomed.
Why do we have to make everything a contest? Saying who's best is subjective. Best to you may not be best to me. I like Reeve and I like Cavill for different reasons. I think they both did a great job.
If this movie had flopped there would be no Batman '89. The entire superhero movie franchise we enjoy today was made possible because of Superman the Movie. The historic importance this film has is monumental. RIP Richard Donner Christohper Reeve Margot Kidder and all those who worked on this film we have lost over the years.
Another reason the movie did well was because it was fun. As a 10 year old, I was screaming and cheering in the theater and got a little dust in my eye when Pa Kent and later Lois died. Back when going to movies was a joy. I guess today this Superman would be consider "weak" or not badass enough. I thought he was awesome.
Superman the Movie is still the best superhero film. Nostalgia plays a big part, but it’s done so exceedingly well. Plus the acting by Christopher Reeve and that EPIC score. It’s iconic.
Absolutely! Great movie, and incredible, moving music. I love John Williams' music. Superman is my favorite of his works (followed *very* closely by Star Wars '77).
CGI also requires the development of new techniques and tech. You think you could just take a copy of RenderMan from 1995, install it on a modern render farm and start churning out modern digital effects? Computers aren't the easy, magical boxes you think they are.
@@fireaza I just feel like it's a foregone conclusion that CGI can do anything because in essence, it's drawing. There's no limit to what can be drawn, the only question is whether it will end up looking realistic or like a video game. Most of the time, it looks like a video game that cost $200,000,000 to make. Half the time I don't think they're even trying to convince us that CGI characters and objects are real solid matter and animate it all in ways that calls attention to the unreality of it.
@@axebomber2108 As usual, it comes down to cost. You can easily get crap cgi in your film if you won't cough up the bucks for a great production house. Cgi is great for some things, not so great with others. The Thing Prequel would be a great example of how cgi won't fix a broken story, or make your movie scarier. Maybe next time DON'T show the monster...
Same. It conjures so much emotion which modern day super hero films fail to do. Then it was about superman the person. Now-a-days it's more about how spectacular the effects are.
Me to i think if it wasn't for this film and superman 2 ever been made i would of liked the man of steel but as it happens i don't think the christopher reeve version will ever be over throne. However as we're now getting the man of steel 2 cavill did say he going to make his take a lot different to the way of the first film and by what he was saying sounded more like the reeves version. i do hope so we need that bit of humour and charm for superman and fingers cross maybe the original classic iconic theme to go with it and not just for the credit or end film but throughout the film i just didn't like the Hans Zimmer score
I was 10 years old when Superman: The Movie was released and remember seeing it in the theaters. What a perfect age I was for Star Wars, Superman and almost all the great pop culture, movies, TV and music of the 1970s and 80s.
Zoran Perisic was the Godfather of the flying process for the Christopher Reeves Superman movies. He won an academy award for his visual effects on Superman and was the inventor of the mirror/gimble contraption that made flying it possible. I had the privilege of working for him as an apprentice in the early 90's, and our credits (while I was employed with him) were Cliffhanger, and Batman Returns. Great guy and teacher.
The Zoptic Camera System. If you listen to the older guys on the film, like Roy Field, they want to take credit for the entire picture and give Perisic bupkiss.
@@dalethelander3781 That's the nature of the business. Some industry people won't hesitate to take recognition for someone else's work if they know that the inventor isn't around to speak up for themselves... and people are gullible enough to believe those claims because they're too lazy to research it themselves.
This movie here is what made me a life long Superman fan. R.I.P Christopher Reeves, Margot Kidder, Marlon Brando and everyone else that helped bring this movie to life. Thank you all for making a kid very happy when times were so bad for me.
You’re so right. Only those of us who were kids back then, know that magical feeling we felt while watching Reeve’s Superman. It’s hard to explain but it was a wonderful feeling.
Yes, there are flaws like the cape in space and you can tell by every scene that he is not really flying.. But they look honest, are made with so much love and just makes you feel good. Not one of all the CGI-overloaded Superhero-Movies with super duper choreography in fights etc. can give me that feeling I have with the movies from that time. They just feel good.
yes he was a lovely guy and it still sends a chill through me when i hear that great superman fanfare !! it was so tragic what happened to him in that accident but heartwarming to hear so many lovely comments about him from fans who will never forget him. have a nice day from the caped crusader.
"[They] truly wanted to believe in the story they were trying to tell. And THAT means we all did too" WOW! BRAVO! ENCORE! GOOSEBUMPS! Dang man, go write a novel. I'll read it!
The creativity back during the practical in-camera effects era' really was inspiring. That and the amazing dedicated actors & crew who really loved & cared about the material. Always a classic! Glad I showed my kids this before they got hooked into Marvel Avengers. As good as those movies are, there's something magical about the Chris Reeves Superman movies that never fades.
He is the best Superman ever. Just a simple man , with great passion to the costume he wore. I wish his son had the same passion to carry on his legacy.
Yes because they didn't have what we have today so they had to use the old fashion method of creative thinking and making things impossible to possible rather than relay on CGI and computers not saying its a bad thing but go's to show how much hard work went into the movie without it of course they had some help with green screens method and computers but wasn't so sophisticated
@@M.H312 Like it's hard? A rocket, a nav computer, no problem. And if we hadn't gone, Russia would've called us out on it. Both Project Artemis and SpaceX are going back. Hell, Elon's setting up a Mars colony.
THE definitive Superman still today. No one compares to Reeve. And having worked in animation and compositing I have utmost respect for the effects methods used during this era (original Star Wars too).
Christopher Reeve will always be the best Superman. I've always wanted to know how they did the flying effects. Really cool. Have to give them so much credit for being made back in 1978 and having great special effects.
The real trick to playing Superman is convincing the audience that everyone wouldn't instantly recognize Clark Kent as Superman, and that Reeves did really well.
And it remains the best Superman movie 44 years later. Part 2 was also great and now the Donner cut is on DVD so you can see how brilliant he was it was crazy to fire him but the Salkinds were lunatics their giant egos hated how Donner got all the credit he deserved.
7:25 That scene of young Superman running was always more than a little wonky. Even as a kid, it was pretty obvious to me that he was hooked up to a rig.
Yeah. It’s because running faster, you’d still take the same amount of steps relatively. You’d just do it faster & the acceleration between steps would be much quicker. Here, just looks like he’s leaping funnily.
@@shanechannel7066 In 1976, Superman I & II were still in pre-production while the Salkinds waited for Cubby Broccoli to wrap The Spy Who Loved Me and vacate the 007 Soundstage at Pinewood Studios.
The ABC’s Version of Superman was incredible. I loved it so much that I could not sleep after watching it. I kept thinking I wish I could see it again. Lois Lane’s death did it for me and how Superman wept because he could not get to her in time. Superman then decided to turn back time and his Father appeared before and telling him that he cannot altered human events. This movie was deep for a Superhero movie. Let’s not forget that he also saved Eve Teschmacher from the lion’s den after Alex Luthor threw her in there. This was the best Superman Movie bar none.
I was around ten when Superman came out and it was a magical time for a kid. Star Wars was a couple of years old, Superman came out, Black Hole came out, Space 1999 was on TV and Battle Star Galactica was not far behind. Then came out Indiana Jones, then ET, even Poltergeist... Amazing for a kid to grow up in...
I've seen enough of these behind the scenes things to know that if a film is heavy on VFX, as this is, it takes a lot of skill and hard work to make what we see on screen happen. Back when I was a kid there was a documentary on TV featuring ILM during the production of Return of the Jedi and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (it might even be on here). Fascinating stuff.
Now we have references of how to do all this stuff. But in them days they had nothing. All this was made from scratch. This is genius. Improvisation at its very best. Genius
Good news! Henry Cavill is on record saying that he wants Superman to be an icon of humanity, someone who represents the best in all of us - and they're working on a script for the next movie! It's most likely going to be done with a modern context rather than a throwback to 70's corniness, but it sounds like going to have heart like Christopher Reeve's original.
@@J-Wall I agree! Today's movie version of Henry Cavil Superman is Gothic @ best! Waaaaay too dark for what Superman stands for! Gothic and darkness works for Batman but Superman is supposed to be the polar opposite! Part of Superman's appeal to fans and audiences is that he's a Superhero of hope and inspiration. Someone to be admired. Henry Canvil recent versions DON'T CONVEY THAT!
As a kid watching this back in the days, of course we believe a man could fly. This was about the movie and superman saving people, nothing else mattered! RIP Christopher Reeves
It's strange that they made so much effort and were so ingenious, and missed really basic things like his cape position in the burglar scene and the fluttering in space. I always wondered why his costume looked green in some shots, now I know! Thanks! The biggest compliment you can pay to these films is that 45 years later, they're still by far the best Superman films.
The only real problem is the miniature work during the third Act. Most other F/X shots were amazing! Superman remains one of my all time favorite films.
Yes the greatness of the orginal 1&2 (and maybe 3) movies was a combination of factors, but wouldn't have been nearly as good without the masterful music
I think music in general is not mentioned often enough when it comes to some of the most successful movies and franchises ever. A great score can really complete the identity of a film, and when I remember the film many years later, it's often the score that comes with it. When I was a kid, I hummed the Superman theme every day!
You have to remember that Christopher Reeve was able to hold his body straight to and could do so for a long time, they covered a good deal of it in some of the documentaries they had done.
Kristhoper reew con la tecnologia che hanno usato in man of steel, cavill gli avrebbe solo potuto allaciargli gli stivali a kristhoper reew!!!!!!, (Il mito assoluto!!, Il suo Superman era una cosa inarrivabile!, eleganza portamento espressività carisma!🔝🔝🔝🔝🔝🔝🔝🔝🔝🔝❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️✌️💪💪💪💪💪
When I was a kid, I loved Howard the Duck. And as an adult, I love it even more because I get the sarcasm. It still brings a smile to my face. I think it is a really funny movie.
Back in 1998, my wife and I were in a collector's shop in Las Vegas. They had an original black and gray tunic from the 50's Superman show, and a Chris Reeve "flying suit". It had slits in the back and the cape I assumed for wires. The place was filled with incredible things, but everyone stopped and drooled at the "Super Suits". There is a complete Chris suit on display at Warner Bros. It stands between a Lynda Carter Wonder Woman outfit and a restored 89 Bat suit.
This film was Epic - I cannot express the levels attained by this movie which in my view can never be met again. I really enjoyed the production secrets you revealed. Thank you, RIP Mr Reeves
I'll tell you this - having been a Superman freak since the mid-fifties, when I saw this Superman movie, at Mann's Chinese Theater on opening night, I was never more excited! Dwarfed by today's computer-generated effects, this was still a far cry for George Reeves in the tv version of Superman! Worked for me!!
These movies were part of my childhood and, in my opinion, are still wonderful movies. It was less about bombastic effects and more about the human condition. The irony isn't lost on me. LOL
The blue screen green suit was recoloured digitally for the DVD release. Prior to that in the theatrical and home versions the suit looked very green in these shots.
I remember reading about that and noticing the suit appearing slightly turquoise. I don't think you can even find the original unaltered footage on UA-cam now.
@@axebomber2108 If you look at the theatrical cut bluray, the shot of him flying at screen while he's listening to Luthor's message, the suit is pretty green, it's corrected to blue in the directors cut.
The late 70s was a great time to be a kid. In the span of a few years we got Star Wars, Superman, Star Trek TMP, ESB and Raiders. Going to the movies back then was a joyful experience, even though I had to ride the bus 45 minutes each way, it was totally worth it!
The intelligence and creativity of these people to figure out a viable solution for every situation encountered is astounding! Oh, to have a brain that thinks like that.
Just a note: they didn't color correct the turquoise suite until many years later. I remember watching Superman The Movie back in the 80s on HBO in the scene where he's stopping the flooding after the hoover dam collappsed and the suit was turquois.
It's hard to put into words just how important this film was to me as a kid in the early 80's, I was obsessed. The film score still raises goosebumps on my arms to this day and I remember how it made me feel then, it's like a time machine.
This reminds me of how George Lucas did the original Star Wars movies, starting with what was later named Episode IV. If you watch documentaries about how the special effects were made, you will find out that they had such complicated scenes for the space fights that the team had to develop new cameras almost from scratch to be used exclusively to record the sequences. This is how George Lucas had no choice but to create multiple companies for the lighting, audio and video. It was the craziest risk ever taken in Hollywood back in those days, and it was win it all or crash and burn down. Lucky for him and all of us... it was a success and billions of dollars later, Star Wars is the biggest space related franchise followed only by Star Trek, and somehow, Battlestar Galactica both the original series and the remained which was a big success. Cheers
Very cool. I loved Superman movies as a kid, but never saw any behind-the-scenes stuff about them! I watched several shows about making special effects, but never saw even brief clips about Superman.
I saw Superman the movie when it came out. I was so hyped after I saw it (I was about 11 years old) I ran around the outside of the theater pretending I was flying. Understand that nobody had ever seen any thing close to the flying effects in Superman the movie up until then. WHOOO HOOOOOOO! It was amazing at the time. a few years later Starwars came out and I flipped. Thus the course of my life was permanently changed. George Lucas has most of my money but what a great part of growing up in the seventies.
Christopher Reeve was and still is the Superman who made our kidhood amazing. we could tie our mothers' wrapping materials known as Chitenge around our necks and jump trying to fly.
Awesome vid! I love coming across random movie effects vids like these. Being a huge comic, movie & super-hero fan this was right up my alley, lol. I remember watching the Reeve Superman films when I was little and they were indeed magical. Always cool to see how they did what they did without the modern CGI availability.
I have to say that, despite some of the VFX aging badly, I really prefer this version of Superman to the modern ones. This seems more "real", where as in recent films you get CGI characters jumping around looking like something out of a computer game.
There can be Only One SUPERMAN -- Christopher Reeve. He was, is, and forever will be, THE BEST of any Superman wanna-be's. He really embodied much of the best of Kal'El's characteristics, and so his performance rang so true for so many. How wonderful that we got to enjoy seeing him again before he passed, with his cameo appearances in Smallville.
"There can be Only One SUPERMAN -- Christopher Reeve." That's not only an insult to everyone who came before him and everyone who followed him, but even he was against the notion that Superman belonged to any one actor. He ALWAYS maintained that he was the temporary custodian of the role for his tenure, and to assert otherwise is a disrespect to Reeve himself.
I remember when this arrived in cinemas, it was an EVENT! It was that rare thing - a superhero being being treated seriously. Nowadays of course, superhero movies are a dime a dozen... some are good, some are bad. Some are "Howard the Duck". But the whole "event" aspect is impossible to recapture, so I feel lucky to have been around when "Superman - the Movie" came out!
I was about 10 years old at the time I watched it in the theathers... I dreamed I was superman, flying everywhere for many day... perfect time to be a child..!
I’m not gonna lie I had no idea that much technology and that many techniques were used to make these movies back in the day it’s actually quite amazing!
@@Jim26D yeah I was born in the late 80s so I am from the era where they still used a lot of mechanical and physical props and slowly started going towards CGI, I love technology but I do think CGI is way over used and a lot of times not properly to where it still looks really fake, I know it’s mostly used because it saves a lot of time not so sure about money but definitely time, oh the good old film days those are long gone now mostly.
It's amazing seeing the journey from idea to innovation in movie making. I was a kid in the age of watching movies on TV where fins glued to lizards to make them into dinosaurs.😂 Great for an 8 year old in the 60's but it probably wouldn't even pass muster with today's 4 year olds. If you haven't seen the Donner cut of Superman, check it out, they removed some of Lester's silly gags that Donner didn't want and there are some deleted scenes too.
Thanks for this great video. Even though they had some bad shots, I still think overall what they did looks better than the modern CG superhero films. Just like the work on the original Star Wars trilogy looks better than most of the new ones. These guys were masters of their craft. Aside from effects, I think The Greatest American Hero remains the best superhero because he was just a real man trying to deal with the great responsiblity he was given. And the TV series Incredible Hulk was probably #2 due to the similar humanity. Both shows were limited by budget but still great, which is something the new films mostly lack
I think TGAH used some of the same techniques as the Superman movies for the flying scenes, they just tended to look goofier because Ralph Hinkley didn't know how to fly properly and was a klutz.
@@axebomber2108 Thanks for sharing. Yes TGAH did use a lot of the same techniques and also had to look goofier as you said. They also shot shot flying shots on video instead of 35mm film so there is a noticeable quality difference in the show between the effects shots and the rest of the show. The exception to that was when they did stunt man landings or reverse film launches off a building into a air pad, or trampoline launches or him on top of a vehicle going down the street or the one time they actually used skydivers with concealed parachutes. I really wish that show had gone on another season. Cannell said it cost a million dollars to make Reeve fly which was most of their 1.5M pilot budget but they found a company called Magicam that was able to do it cheap enough. He said he knew budget would always be an issue and the viewer had already seen Superman so he hoped it they really sold the first flight hopefully the viewer would "forgive" them when some of the rest didn't look so good. I think they did a good job considering. Basically looked better than Lois and Clark 12 years later.
@@axebomber2108 Yep. By 1982 Zoran Perisic had a Zoptic Front Projection system set up in Hollywood which TGAH used in the third season. Also, see the flying motor cycle bit in Megaforce.
I saw this at the theatre in 78 and I remember being blown away. All I could think about was the movie for weeks. Was crazy. Back during a time when everybody would be talking about one or two things.
To think, Jim Cameron had to wait 10 years for technology to catch up before he could film Avatar, and George Lucas had to build his own cameras for attacking the Death Star. Superman 1978 was the first Superhero Movie I saw in the theater. I was 6 years old.
Same here...I was 6 when my class had a field trip to the theater to go see this in 1978. It was epic but I didn't understand the Lex Luthor or Ned Beatty scenes.
There was alot of hard work and effort people did back then into making seemingly impossible stunts possible to get the movie to work. Back when Hollywood used to take big risks.
My fav Superman of all time no question. However, one of the things I always thought looked off with the flying (including back then when I was a young kid) was the cape. It's way too stuck to his body no matter what he is doing.
'Superman the Movie' was an astounding cinematic achievement for 1977 motion picture effects and technology. I was 14 when it was released and it made me "Believe A Man Can Fly". You have to consider the fact that 1970's audiences had NEVER seen anything like it before.
great info and great video - thanks!
Nobody will care but me -- but I worked on the Canadian location shooting for the first SUPERMAN. We did all the Super Baby, Superboy Smallville stuff as well as the missile convoy and the beginning of Lois in the desert earthquake. We shot for over 6 weeks and never did a scene with Superman!
I was there when the baby lifted the truck. Donner was great - making little Aaron feel like he was really lifting it! Aaron became an actor and stuntman and still goes to Superman conventions.
Richard Donner was a wonderfully gifted guy. Too bad the producers screwed him over. The stuff racing beside and in front of the train was very difficult for Jeff East - hanging off the side of a truck going 40MPH miming running in the air! No CGI in those days! Such fun.
Wow, THE Rick Drew!? I care! Thank you so much for your comment, what an amazing experience you must have had!
P.S, BIG MacGyver fan here!
Those shots of Canada - esp the wheat fields - were amazing. Really beautiful country.
@@FameFocus
I don’t know about the, “THE“ part! Yes, MacGyver was great fun as well my past keeps catching up with me!
Thanks for your reply. You never know when you comment on something if anyone ever looks at this stuff. I was very lucky… Just out of high school at the time working as a production assistant.
Fun fact… If you remember the scene where young Clark kicks the football practically into orbit? I kept that football for over 30 years! It was made of wood and fired from air cannon just on the other side of his foot when he made the kicking gesture. I sold it along with some other minor memorabilia at a prop auction in England a few years ago and got over $10,000! The lesson is keep everything you think it’s cool you just never know if someone else may want it someday 😏
@@MrRezRising Yes beautiful country - I grew up there. You may want to check out “Days of Heaven” - another film I worked on just before Superman. It won an Oscar for the beautiful cinematography. It really captures house stunning the light is there.
Didn't know that was all Canada. Totally fooled me.
I love this movie. Brings back childhood memories. R.I.P. Christopher Reeve.
I still choose Reeve’s Superman movies over any other. Just because I was a kid when they came out and it takes me back to my childhood every time I watch them. Reeve is to me the best Superman of all. R.I.P. 🙏🏼❤️
Too bad he spent the last 9 or 10 years of his life in a wheelchair
Yes, Reeve was and still is the best Superman/Clark Kent.
The latest by Henry Cavill exhudes a dark aura.
I remember, I lived in Malta at the time I was working in some 3 star hotel and I was reading in some tabloid magazine that Christopher Reeves had fallen off a horse and broke his neck. Then the poor guy lived for 9 more years completely paralyzed from the neck down and had high hopes in the research in nerve healing and he personally invested money in it and it never paned out. Eventually he died from bed sores. The guy was amazing. His face literally was exactly a copy of the ideal comic version. You can never capture the comic fantasy onto film 100% but he was as close as we ever got. As an example, I have to admit, as a 7 year old kid I did not find him as masculine as I imagined Superman to be but still, it was an incredible experience watching him and no other Superman movie after him never got even close to having that kind of magic. Those were different times too. The US was a different country, Americans were different, Hollywood was different, people were more earnest, naive. I mean just compare the music that was coming out back then to what we have today. Something is lost. I can't explain what that thing is but it's definitely gone. Its gone from the US, and UK too and perhaps other parts of the world too. Whether computers and technology is to blame, politics, greed, maybe all of it together but whatever it is, its gone. Collectively, we valued life a lot more back then and we spent a lot more time in the company of others and we had to entertain each other. Granted things were not as easy and accessible at the whim of a swipe on the phone but maybe we ate from the tree of knowledge and now we are doomed.
Why do we have to make everything a contest? Saying who's best is subjective. Best to you may not be best to me. I like Reeve and I like Cavill for different reasons. I think they both did a great job.
@Richardz Agreed. My main point though was why does everything have to be a competition? Especially for things that can't be measured.
If this movie had flopped there would be no Batman '89. The entire superhero movie franchise we enjoy today was made possible because of Superman the Movie. The historic importance this film has is monumental.
RIP
Richard Donner
Christohper Reeve
Margot Kidder
and all those who worked on this film we have lost over the years.
Couldn't have said it better myself
Look it’s a bird, it’s a plane,. It’s a photo projected screen. 😂
and the first comic superhero too
The modern Superhero movie genre died in 2019.
@@armaggon5920 They have to use the technology they have, doofus.
Another reason the movie did well was because it was fun. As a 10 year old, I was screaming and cheering in the theater and got a little dust in my eye when Pa Kent and later Lois died. Back when going to movies was a joy. I guess today this Superman would be consider "weak" or not badass enough. I thought he was awesome.
Superman the Movie is still the best superhero film. Nostalgia plays a big part, but it’s done so exceedingly well. Plus the acting by Christopher Reeve and that EPIC score. It’s iconic.
Absolutely! Great movie, and incredible, moving music. I love John Williams' music. Superman is my favorite of his works (followed *very* closely by Star Wars '77).
I don’t know man! Man of Steel was the Superman movie i always wanted. Grew up on the Reeves Superman movies but I look at it now and it seems corny.
The Incredibles was even better.
yeah, they only screwed it at the end.. ;P
@@khunt1947 member lois lane's internal monologue while flying with superman? sheesh! gag me with a spoon!!!
This deserves much respect as they had to invent many shot techniques rather than just generating everything on a computer.
CGI also requires the development of new techniques and tech. You think you could just take a copy of RenderMan from 1995, install it on a modern render farm and start churning out modern digital effects? Computers aren't the easy, magical boxes you think they are.
@@fireaza They are now
CGI has its own challenges, and when pulled off, they give us some jaw dropping scenes.
@@fireaza I just feel like it's a foregone conclusion that CGI can do anything because in essence, it's drawing. There's no limit to what can be drawn, the only question is whether it will end up looking realistic or like a video game. Most of the time, it looks like a video game that cost $200,000,000 to make. Half the time I don't think they're even trying to convince us that CGI characters and objects are real solid matter and animate it all in ways that calls attention to the unreality of it.
@@axebomber2108 As usual, it comes down to cost. You can easily get crap cgi in your film if you won't cough up the bucks for a great production house.
Cgi is great for some things, not so great with others.
The Thing Prequel would be a great example of how cgi won't fix a broken story, or make your movie scarier.
Maybe next time DON'T show the monster...
Still my favorite superhero movie of all time.
Same here. It’s perfect in every way.
Same here
Same. It conjures so much emotion which modern day super hero films fail to do. Then it was about superman the person. Now-a-days it's more about how spectacular the effects are.
SAME HERE ! "SUPERMAN: The Movie" started it all for me 😊 !
Me to i think if it wasn't for this film and superman 2 ever been made i would of liked the man of steel but as it happens i don't think the christopher reeve version will ever be over throne. However as we're now getting the man of steel 2 cavill did say he going to make his take a lot different to the way of the first film and by what he was saying sounded more like the reeves version. i do hope so we need that bit of humour and charm for superman and fingers cross maybe the original classic iconic theme to go with it and not just for the credit or end film but throughout the film i just didn't like the Hans Zimmer score
I was 10 years old when Superman: The Movie was released and remember seeing it in the theaters. What a perfect age I was for Star Wars, Superman and almost all the great pop culture, movies, TV and music of the 1970s and 80s.
Yup. I was nine, and you are so right. Cheers!
I’m jealous that I’m not old enough to have seen Superman, Alien or the Star Wars trilogy in theaters.
Zoran Perisic was the Godfather of the flying process for the Christopher Reeves Superman movies. He won an academy award for his visual effects on Superman and was the inventor of the mirror/gimble contraption that made flying it possible. I had the privilege of working for him as an apprentice in the early 90's, and our credits (while I was employed with him) were Cliffhanger, and Batman Returns. Great guy and teacher.
wow amazing experience
The Zoptic Camera System. If you listen to the older guys on the film, like Roy Field, they want to take credit for the entire picture and give Perisic bupkiss.
@@dalethelander3781 That's the nature of the business. Some industry people won't hesitate to take recognition for someone else's work if they know that the inventor isn't around to speak up for themselves... and people are gullible enough to believe those claims because they're too lazy to research it themselves.
*Reeve
This movie here is what made me a life long Superman fan.
R.I.P Christopher Reeves, Margot Kidder, Marlon Brando and everyone else that helped bring this movie to life. Thank you all for making a kid very happy when times were so bad for me.
You’re so right. Only those of us who were kids back then, know that magical feeling we felt while watching Reeve’s Superman. It’s hard to explain but it was a wonderful feeling.
Agreed. But let's not forget John Williams' rousing score.
I prefer it to Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, etc.
Don't forget the director Richard Donner and John Williams!
*Reeve
Same here
Yes, there are flaws like the cape in space and you can tell by every scene that he is not really flying.. But they look honest, are made with so much love and just makes you feel good. Not one of all the CGI-overloaded Superhero-Movies with super duper choreography in fights etc. can give me that feeling I have with the movies from that time. They just feel good.
Christopher Reeve will always remain my favorite superman. He was my childhood crush. Hope he rests in peace
yes he was a lovely guy and it still sends a chill through me when i hear that great superman fanfare !! it was so tragic what happened to him in that accident but
heartwarming to hear so many lovely comments about him from fans who will never forget him. have a nice day from the caped crusader.
"[They] truly wanted to believe in the story they were trying to tell. And THAT means we all did too"
WOW! BRAVO! ENCORE! GOOSEBUMPS!
Dang man, go write a novel. I'll read it!
The creativity back during the practical in-camera effects era' really was inspiring. That and the amazing dedicated actors & crew who really loved & cared about the material. Always a classic! Glad I showed my kids this before they got hooked into Marvel Avengers. As good as those movies are, there's something magical about the Chris Reeves Superman movies that never fades.
He is the best Superman ever.
Just a simple man , with great passion to the costume he wore.
I wish his son had the same passion to carry on his legacy.
this is super interesting, amazing what they were able to achieve in the 70's
Right. A lot of hard work and creative solutions went into that movie.
Yes because they didn't have what we have today so they had to use the old fashion method of creative thinking and making things impossible to possible rather than relay on CGI and computers not saying its a bad thing but go's to show how much hard work went into the movie without it of course they had some help with green screens method and computers but wasn't so sophisticated
If they landed on the moon in 1969 I think they can fake a man flying.
@@tomc8157 That's why I don't believe they've ever been there.
@@M.H312 Like it's hard? A rocket, a nav computer, no problem. And if we hadn't gone, Russia would've called us out on it. Both Project Artemis and SpaceX are going back. Hell, Elon's setting up a Mars colony.
THE definitive Superman still today. No one compares to Reeve. And having worked in animation and compositing I have utmost respect for the effects methods used during this era (original Star Wars too).
Christopher Reeve will always be the best Superman. I've always wanted to know how they did the flying effects. Really cool. Have to give them so much credit for being made back in 1978 and having great special effects.
Hell yeah dude. And I agree with you Christopher Reeve will always be the best Superman no matter what. No one can take his spot!
Christopher Reeve, the real man of steel..
@@TheSonnyramelan hell yeah he is
The real trick to playing Superman is convincing the audience that everyone wouldn't instantly recognize Clark Kent as Superman, and that Reeves did really well.
And it remains the best Superman movie 44 years later. Part 2 was also great and now the Donner cut is on DVD so you can see how brilliant he was it was crazy to fire him but the Salkinds were lunatics their giant egos hated how Donner got all the credit he deserved.
I haven’t watched the theatrical version since the Donner Cut was released.
7:25 That scene of young Superman running was always more than a little wonky. Even as a kid, it was pretty obvious to me that he was hooked up to a rig.
Yeah. When I saw it in '78, the audience was laughing.
Yeah. It’s because running faster, you’d still take the same amount of steps relatively. You’d just do it faster & the acceleration between steps would be much quicker.
Here, just looks like he’s leaping funnily.
Bravo Christopher Reeve. You made us all believe in heroes again. Love you!!!
And this god damned video has shattered my belief that Christopher Reeves could fly. Thanks, UA-cam.
Superman '76 still lives to this day as one of the best superhero movies of all time. Better than most movies today.
78*
@@patkmulderig My mistake
@@shanechannel7066 In 1976, Superman I & II were still in pre-production while the Salkinds waited for Cubby Broccoli to wrap The Spy Who Loved Me and vacate the 007 Soundstage at Pinewood Studios.
It still looks good today. Love these movies.
The ABC’s Version of Superman was incredible. I loved it so much that I could not sleep after watching it. I kept thinking I wish I could see it again. Lois Lane’s death did it for me and how Superman wept because he could not get to her in time. Superman then decided to turn back time and his Father appeared before and telling him that he cannot altered human events. This movie was deep for a Superhero movie. Let’s not forget that he also saved Eve Teschmacher from the lion’s den after Alex Luthor threw her in there. This was the best Superman Movie bar none.
this first superman movie is where i fell in love with the character and superman became my fave superhero!
I was around ten when Superman came out and it was a magical time for a kid. Star Wars was a couple of years old, Superman came out, Black Hole came out, Space 1999 was on TV and Battle Star Galactica was not far behind. Then came out Indiana Jones, then ET, even Poltergeist... Amazing for a kid to grow up in...
No one asked you to list old movies my dear.
Impressive, didn't realize so much work went into these effects.
I've seen enough of these behind the scenes things to know that if a film is heavy on VFX, as this is, it takes a lot of skill and hard work to make what we see on screen happen. Back when I was a kid there was a documentary on TV featuring ILM during the production of Return of the Jedi and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (it might even be on here). Fascinating stuff.
Plot twist: Christopher Reeves didn't use special effects. He was flying.
Christopher Reeves will always be our Superman.
*Reeve
...And he is flying in heaven for reals now
George was the Reeves, Christopher was the Reeve.
I saw this for my birthday in 1978 at the Cine Capri in Phoenix.
Yo...
You believed a man could fly.
It was AWESOME.
Now we have references of how to do all this stuff. But in them days they had nothing. All this was made from scratch. This is genius. Improvisation at its very best. Genius
It’s corny, it’s patriotic, it’s funny, and it has lots of heart. We need another Superman movie like this.
They need to show boy scout Superman more often. Instead of Superman being dark. Superman should only be dark sometimes.
Good news! Henry Cavill is on record saying that he wants Superman to be an icon of humanity, someone who represents the best in all of us - and they're working on a script for the next movie! It's most likely going to be done with a modern context rather than a throwback to 70's corniness, but it sounds like going to have heart like Christopher Reeve's original.
Ugh we do not need this corniness ever again on the big screen lol
@@J-Wall I agree! Today's movie version of Henry Cavil Superman is Gothic @ best! Waaaaay too dark for what Superman stands for! Gothic and darkness works for Batman but Superman is supposed to be the polar opposite! Part of Superman's appeal to fans and audiences is that he's a Superhero of hope and inspiration. Someone to be admired. Henry Canvil recent versions DON'T CONVEY THAT!
If they make one, get Gene Hackman out of the retirement home and back to work.
As a kid watching this back in the days, of course we believe a man could fly. This was about the movie and superman saving people, nothing else mattered! RIP Christopher Reeves
*Reeve
A beautiful movie. The actors and the way it naturally played out.
Christopher Reeve is the best Superman ever in my books 🤘🏾👍🏾🙏🏽💪
Prime example of how those generations where super creative compared to now.
It's strange that they made so much effort and were so ingenious, and missed really basic things like his cape position in the burglar scene and the fluttering in space. I always wondered why his costume looked green in some shots, now I know! Thanks! The biggest compliment you can pay to these films is that 45 years later, they're still by far the best Superman films.
Great achievement with manual special effects. This shows how genius brain was working😊
A lot better than CGI overused of today.
The only real problem is the miniature work during the third Act. Most other F/X shots were amazing! Superman remains one of my all time favorite films.
That was because they lost deric meddling he had to work on the spy who loved me
The burglar was played by DAVID BAXT. DAVID BAXT was also playing Thomas Wayne in Batman (1989).
Cant believe you didnt mention the Music by John Williams. That brought this movie to life
Yes the greatness of the orginal 1&2 (and maybe 3) movies was a combination of factors, but wouldn't have been nearly as good without the masterful music
I think music in general is not mentioned often enough when it comes to some of the most successful movies and franchises ever. A great score can really complete the identity of a film, and when I remember the film many years later, it's often the score that comes with it. When I was a kid, I hummed the Superman theme every day!
You have to remember that Christopher Reeve was able to hold his body straight to and could do so for a long time, they covered a good deal of it in some of the documentaries they had done.
And still smile.
I was thinking that, like, jeez look at that core strength! 😅
Eterno Christopher Reeve, o melhor Superman de todos.
Kristhoper reew con la tecnologia che hanno usato in man of steel, cavill gli avrebbe solo potuto allaciargli gli stivali a kristhoper reew!!!!!!, (Il mito assoluto!!, Il suo Superman era una cosa inarrivabile!, eleganza portamento espressività carisma!🔝🔝🔝🔝🔝🔝🔝🔝🔝🔝❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️✌️💪💪💪💪💪
With their skills of engineering and their mathematical ingenuity, they didn't just create a great movie, these guys made magic come true. xx
When I was a kid, I loved Howard the Duck. And as an adult, I love it even more because I get the sarcasm. It still brings a smile to my face. I think it is a really funny movie.
HAVEN'T SEEN THIS MOVIE IN YEAR'S,AND COULD WATCH IT RIGHT NOW.
Back in the day my grandmother took me to see the film when it came out and she was blown away but I thought it was just a normal film! :p
Great Job on the side effects. Best Superman movie, God Bless Christopher Reeve and all the actors, directors and team involved.
These films are a masterpiece and Christopher is my favourite superman
Back in 1998, my wife and I were in a collector's shop in Las Vegas. They had an original black and gray tunic from the 50's Superman show, and a Chris Reeve "flying suit". It had slits in the back and the cape I assumed for wires. The place was filled with incredible things, but everyone stopped and drooled at the "Super Suits". There is a complete Chris suit on display at Warner Bros. It stands between a Lynda Carter Wonder Woman outfit and a restored 89 Bat suit.
This film was Epic - I cannot express the levels attained by this movie which in my view can never be met again.
I really enjoyed the production secrets you revealed. Thank you, RIP Mr Reeves
I'll tell you this - having been a Superman freak since the mid-fifties, when I saw this Superman movie, at Mann's Chinese Theater on opening night, I was never more excited! Dwarfed by today's computer-generated effects, this was still a far cry for George Reeves in the tv version of Superman! Worked for me!!
I watched this with the kids last year and it really is a masterpiece of film making. I'm very glad i own this movie.
Five years to go before the 50th anniversary! I really hope it is re-released back to the theaters!
These movies were part of my childhood and, in my opinion, are still wonderful movies. It was less about bombastic effects and more about the human condition. The irony isn't lost on me. LOL
The effects were at their best in Superman IV. Their very best.
The blue screen green suit was recoloured digitally for the DVD release. Prior to that in the theatrical and home versions the suit looked very green in these shots.
That is true, especially with the shot they showed of him flying towards the dam.
Yeah, and as a kid watching this I couldn't understand why his suit was changing. I thought there were two Supermans or something.
I remember reading about that and noticing the suit appearing slightly turquoise. I don't think you can even find the original unaltered footage on UA-cam now.
@@axebomber2108 If you look at the theatrical cut bluray, the shot of him flying at screen while he's listening to Luthor's message, the suit is pretty green, it's corrected to blue in the directors cut.
The late 70s was a great time to be a kid. In the span of a few years we got Star Wars, Superman, Star Trek TMP, ESB and Raiders. Going to the movies back then was a joyful experience, even though I had to ride the bus 45 minutes each way, it was totally worth it!
This….is….amazing!! The intricacies of how this movie was made was magical!!
The intelligence and creativity of these people to figure out a viable solution for every situation encountered is astounding! Oh, to have a brain that thinks like that.
Just a note: they didn't color correct the turquoise suite until many years later. I remember watching Superman The Movie back in the 80s on HBO in the scene where he's stopping the flooding after the hoover dam collappsed and the suit was turquois.
Fortunately since not all the flying shots are blue screen, the suit color isn't an issue in every scene.
It's hard to put into words just how important this film was to me as a kid in the early 80's, I was obsessed. The film score still raises goosebumps on my arms to this day and I remember how it made me feel then, it's like a time machine.
This reminds me of how George Lucas did the original Star Wars movies, starting with what was later named Episode IV. If you watch documentaries about how the special effects were made, you will find out that they had such complicated scenes for the space fights that the team had to develop new cameras almost from scratch to be used exclusively to record the sequences. This is how George Lucas had no choice but to create multiple companies for the lighting, audio and video. It was the craziest risk ever taken in Hollywood back in those days, and it was win it all or crash and burn down. Lucky for him and all of us... it was a success and billions of dollars later, Star Wars is the biggest space related franchise followed only by Star Trek, and somehow, Battlestar Galactica both the original series and the remained which was a big success.
Cheers
Best superhero movie ever. Superman was at it's time, and still is, the best.
Cavil is great as Sups. But Reeves? No one will ever replace him. The most spot on character from the comics.
*Cavill *Reeve
One of my favorite movies of all time. It was the pioneer and was masterfully made during that era. Thank you for making my childhood fantasies Super!
Zorin’s technique was actually nicknamed “Zoptics”
For me, Superman was, is and will always remain the greatest superhero of all times.
Chris use to fly as a pilot as well. He was so great as an actor that he recall that background to his flying sequences.
*used
Very cool. I loved Superman movies as a kid, but never saw any behind-the-scenes stuff about them! I watched several shows about making special effects, but never saw even brief clips about Superman.
A superb anysis of an interesting part of movie history. Very professionally done and very interesting to watch!
He was very convincing! He definitely enthralled me (I was a kid when I saw his original movie).
I saw Superman the movie when it came out. I was so hyped after I saw it (I was about 11 years old) I ran around the outside of the theater pretending I was flying.
Understand that nobody had ever seen any thing close to the flying effects in Superman the movie up until then. WHOOO HOOOOOOO! It was amazing at the time. a few years later Starwars came out and I flipped. Thus the course of my life was permanently changed. George Lucas has most of my money but what a great part of growing up in the seventies.
That is incredible and kudos to those innovative pioneers who made us believe.
It's a trip how much work went into this.
I like the inventiveness of zoom effects. It looked great.
Christopher Reeve was and still is the Superman who made our kidhood amazing. we could tie our mothers' wrapping materials known as Chitenge around our necks and jump trying to fly.
Awesome vid! I love coming across random movie effects vids like these. Being a huge comic, movie & super-hero fan this was right up my alley, lol. I remember watching the Reeve Superman films when I was little and they were indeed magical. Always cool to see how they did what they did without the modern CGI availability.
I have to say that, despite some of the VFX aging badly, I really prefer this version of Superman to the modern ones. This seems more "real", where as in recent films you get CGI characters jumping around looking like something out of a computer game.
There can be Only One SUPERMAN -- Christopher Reeve.
He was, is, and forever will be, THE BEST of any Superman wanna-be's.
He really embodied much of the best of Kal'El's characteristics, and so his performance rang so true for so many.
How wonderful that we got to enjoy seeing him again before he passed, with his cameo appearances in Smallville.
"There can be Only One SUPERMAN -- Christopher Reeve."
That's not only an insult to everyone who came before him and everyone who followed him, but even he was against the notion that Superman belonged to any one actor. He ALWAYS maintained that he was the temporary custodian of the role for his tenure, and to assert otherwise is a disrespect to Reeve himself.
I remember when this arrived in cinemas, it was an EVENT! It was that rare thing - a superhero being being treated seriously. Nowadays of course, superhero movies are a dime a dozen... some are good, some are bad. Some are "Howard the Duck". But the whole "event" aspect is impossible to recapture, so I feel lucky to have been around when "Superman - the Movie" came out!
I was about 10 years old at the time I watched it in the theathers... I dreamed I was superman, flying everywhere for many day... perfect time to be a child..!
Fascinating....I loved the flying in Supergirl.... quite brilliant!
Brilliant and it was brilliantly executed
Loved superman! ❤
Superman is still the greatest superhero movie that's ever been made.
I’m not gonna lie I had no idea that much technology and that many techniques were used to make these movies back in the day it’s actually quite amazing!
They didn't call it movie magic for nothing back then. Cgi has killed that magic
@@Jim26D yeah I was born in the late 80s so I am from the era where they still used a lot of mechanical and physical props and slowly started going towards CGI, I love technology but I do think CGI is way over used and a lot of times not properly to where it still looks really fake, I know it’s mostly used because it saves a lot of time not so sure about money but definitely time, oh the good old film days those are long gone now mostly.
It's amazing seeing the journey from idea to innovation in movie making. I was a kid in the age of watching movies on TV where fins glued to lizards to make them into dinosaurs.😂 Great for an 8 year old in the 60's but it probably wouldn't even pass muster with today's 4 year olds.
If you haven't seen the Donner cut of Superman, check it out, they removed some of Lester's silly gags that Donner didn't want and there are some deleted scenes too.
Thanks for this great video. Even though they had some bad shots, I still think overall what they did looks better than the modern CG superhero films. Just like the work on the original Star Wars trilogy looks better than most of the new ones. These guys were masters of their craft. Aside from effects, I think The Greatest American Hero remains the best superhero because he was just a real man trying to deal with the great responsiblity he was given. And the TV series Incredible Hulk was probably #2 due to the similar humanity. Both shows were limited by budget but still great, which is something the new films mostly lack
I think TGAH used some of the same techniques as the Superman movies for the flying scenes, they just tended to look goofier because Ralph Hinkley didn't know how to fly properly and was a klutz.
@@axebomber2108 Thanks for sharing. Yes TGAH did use a lot of the same techniques and also had to look goofier as you said. They also shot shot flying shots on video instead of 35mm film so there is a noticeable quality difference in the show between the effects shots and the rest of the show. The exception to that was when they did stunt man landings or reverse film launches off a building into a air pad, or trampoline launches or him on top of a vehicle going down the street or the one time they actually used skydivers with concealed parachutes. I really wish that show had gone on another season. Cannell said it cost a million dollars to make Reeve fly which was most of their 1.5M pilot budget but they found a company called Magicam that was able to do it cheap enough. He said he knew budget would always be an issue and the viewer had already seen Superman so he hoped it they really sold the first flight hopefully the viewer would "forgive" them when some of the rest didn't look so good. I think they did a good job considering. Basically looked better than Lois and Clark 12 years later.
@@axebomber2108 Yep. By 1982 Zoran Perisic had a Zoptic Front Projection system set up in Hollywood which TGAH used in the third season. Also, see the flying motor cycle bit in Megaforce.
I saw this at the theatre in 78 and I remember being blown away. All I could think about was the movie for weeks. Was crazy. Back during a time when everybody would be talking about one or two things.
Damn. i didnt know it was that hard to make that fly effect.
To think, Jim Cameron had to wait 10 years for technology to catch up before he could film Avatar, and George Lucas had to build his own cameras for attacking the Death Star. Superman 1978 was the first Superhero Movie I saw in the theater. I was 6 years old.
Same here...I was 6 when my class had a field trip to the theater to go see this in 1978. It was epic but I didn't understand the Lex Luthor or Ned Beatty scenes.
my grandpa worked on the set of the original superman. he used to tell my and my sister stores when we were younger.
Thank you so much for this. I have love and have watched this movie many times. This was the icing on the cake.🤩
There was alot of hard work and effort people did back then into making seemingly impossible stunts possible to get the movie to work.
Back when Hollywood used to take big risks.
My fav Superman of all time no question. However, one of the things I always thought looked off with the flying (including back then when I was a young kid) was the cape. It's way too stuck to his body no matter what he is doing.
'Superman the Movie' was an astounding cinematic achievement for 1977 motion picture effects and technology. I was 14 when it was released and it made me "Believe A Man Can Fly". You have to consider the fact that 1970's audiences had NEVER seen anything like it before.
The year was 1977/78 and IS still impressive the helicopter scene and How Superman get Lois Lane in the air. Just unbeliveble.
Still the best Super-Man movie ever made.
The technology advancements blow my mind.
I love how Frame Focus does all the heavy lifting with that green suit of his
I know, right?!
Cheesy by today's standards, but still among the very best superhero films of all time. Classic.