Superman Movie Minute #6 – I Ran

SUPERMAN MOVIE MINUTE #6 - I Ran

Fire and Water Network All-Stars Chris Franklin and Rob Kelly bring you SUPERMAN MOVIE MINUTE, where they analyze, scrutinize, and you'll-believe-a-man-can-fly-ize the classic 1978 film starring Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, and Marlon Brando, five minutes at a time!

In minutes 26:00 - 30:00, The Kents discover baby Kal-El, Clark becomes a teenager, and we meet Lana Lang.

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6 responses to “Superman Movie Minute #6 – I Ran

  1. This is a very solid five minutes. And yes, I certainly was the Clark at that field, pining for the popular girl who may have seen something in me, but being semi-bullied by the jock. Yeesh …

    I also found it weird to think that girl was Lois because it puts about 10 years between Clark and Lois age-wise. Margot Kidder looks older than Reeve, not younger!

    As for Rob. I don’t think I would cook Brad. But I do think I would score a bazillion touchdowns and earn my glory differently. I also might ‘Steve Lombard’ Brad a ton, making him be the buffoon and the butt of jokes. Hopefully a Pa Kent would be out there to teach me better life lessons.

    Lastly, it is my head canon that Pa and Ma here (with Glenn Ford as Pa) are actually Johnny and Gilda from Gilda, hiding out from their past by running a farm. And, of course, Gilda would never have a kid. Only later would she regret it and adopt Kal. That’s my story!

  2. I loved that you both keyed on the fact that the idea of pulling in performers from past adaptations started with this movie. To be fair there were only three live action adaptations before Superman The Movie but this was the first big budget version and the fact that they pulled in the first Superman and Lois was great. Chris mentioned all of the Smallville stunt castings and Rob mentioned Noel Neil appearing in Superman Returns. Both Noel Neil and Jack Larson were in an excellent episode of the Superboy series and Lois and Clark featured both Jack Larson (as an aged Jimmy Olsen) and Phyllis Coates (as Lois Lane’s mother at the end of season one before they recast the part) were on Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. You have to go a little deeper with Superman The Animated Series but Sherman Howard (Lex from seasons 2-4 of Superboy), Tony Jay (from Lois and Clark) and Sarah Douglas playing another evil Kryptonian were there. This was the opposite of the reaction The Lone Ranger would produce a few years after Superman The Movie and even though Adam West is celebrated today there was a little capelash when the first Burton movie came out. I’d like to think this speaks to Superman as a character that his adaptations are so inclusive with past adaptations.

    If I am remembering correctly Marc McClure was the one that broke the news to Jeff East about the dubbing and apparently East and Reeve had a conversation about it. East seems more okay with it these days and has a, “that’s the business” attitude. But yeah…that had to hurt. You put time and energy into a very underrated performance and apparently your voice wasn’t good enough. I feel for the guy.

    Two funny things about your commentary that involve my wife. Rachel had a serious issue with Brad grabbing Lana the way he did. It was a very visceral reaction actually. She was extremely mad at Clark for not doing anything actually. Her annoyance with Clark continued with his game with the train. She had a very similar reaction that Rob did.

  3. Bravo on another excellent commentary gents! Thanks for highlighting Noel Neill in your discussion. I got the chance to get her autograph a couple of times over the years. She was a very warm and personable lady and could not have been nicer to all the fans lining up to meet her. They now have a statue of her as Lois in Metropolis, IL too.

  4. Nice one, fellas! I, too, hate that the Academy didn’t recognize this film for all the great performances. And I wonder if Chris’ father and mine went to the same Dad School – I, too, was called “Boy” by both my pop and my grandpa. Maybe they just didn’t bother learning my name…

    Looking forward to next episode – AKA, David gets kicks in the balls emotionally for the first time in his movie-going life.

  5. I can’t praise S:TM enough for how it portrays young Clark Kent. He has a wholesome if less than ideal upbringing, with his own frustrations, but his decency shines through. MoS was more contrived with C.K. being the tormented recluse who’s “goodness” is simply him not doing to the bully what he does to the metal fence or the logging truck.

    I also look at the Maguire and Garfield Peter Parkers who blatantly smack down their school bullies yet somehow remain outcast or undiscovered. In S:TM, Clark’s supreme moment is him mysteriously outracing Brad’s fancy car. The irony is that you have more modesty from the superhero whose strength dwarfs Spider-Man’s.

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