1978’s Superman began to the era of the superhero film. It would still be another decade before they would become a summer rite of passage at the box office, but Superman helped usher them from small screen, low budget affairs to big splashy tent poles with classy casts. Its first and only watchable sequel, Superman II, has had a fascinating history. It was already in production while the first film was being made and its director was fired halfway through, replaced by journeyman Richard Lester. Superman II may be the last of the quality “comic” comic book films, before the much darker Batman would change the landscape.

A SUPER MOVIE WITH AN EXTRA SUPER 8 MINUTES ADDED!

MEANWHILE IN A LIVING ROOM...
I must say that I have never been much of a Superman fan. Into Batman. Superman, not so much. However, after stumbling into a friend’s living room screening of Superman: The Movie (Director's Cut) one Saturday afternoon I can definitely appreciate the super guy more than I ever have, for several reasons.

My friend has a new HD television [lucky!]. The version of Superman we were watching was on Blu-Ray Disc. It was the Director’s Cut with an added 8 minutes of footage. I had never seen the entire movie from beginning to end. It’s really one of the best superhero movies made, as far as I can tell. And Christopher Reeve is pretty darn handsome!

TALES FROM THE KRYPTON
The film opens with Superman's biological father Jor-El (Marlon Brando) banishing criminals (watch Superman II) and informing a council of his beloved planet Krypton's impending demise. So he does the only thing any decent father would do:  he loads up a spiky space pod with all the things his son will need, including the son, and jettisons him out into space for safe-keeping.