 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I think Williams would have wisely backed out of III and IV, as he backed out of other crappy movies. Likewise Donner unless there were completely new scripts with nothing resembling the originals.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
So, the STAR WARS saga managed, for all its attendant overhype, a grand total of two genuinely acceptable and compelling movies? And that with the creative team intact.
The Salkind SUPERMAN productions were what kept many of the Elstree/Shepperton crowd in bangers & mash while waiting around for another Bond or Star Wars flick. I don't think the kind of high-budget, b-string Superman stuff would ever have produced anything of entertainment significance, even if Puzo had stuck around.
And I don't forsee any lasting value in the current generic cheesebag superhero franchise slates, either. Man, the Nolan stuff has left a bad aftertaste, as good as it was.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Oct 31, 2014 - 12:12 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Morricone
(Member)
|
I never got it. Which is why I've never been a big Donner fan. After waiting in long lines on opening day I was impressed with the gravitas Brando, Stamp, Howard, etc. bring to the Krypton sequence. And then even more impressed with Glen Ford and the grand Americana of the Smallville sequences. But that is where the film ended for me. Once he gets to Metropolis everything is a joke. References to "mild mannered reporter" and "Truth, justice and the American way" and phonebooths and everything we connected to Superman in the past were used as running gags. The acting became over the top (even compared to the old TV series) and most of his derring-do has no weight and no suspense involved. Only Chris Reeve is given any room to regain the seriousness but he didn't achieve that against so much camp thrown at you.
To be fair to Donner I can only assume the producers, the Salkinds, whose only previous hit THE THREE MUSKETEERS (which started out serious but by hiring Richard Lester was made into a successful tough-in-cheek version) encouraged the comedy heartily. Producers tend to see everything based on what has worked before. But these guys never got too far, amongst other reasons because they attempted to make 2 films at once on both MUSKETEERS and SUPERMAN without telling a sizable amount of the cast and crew. Legal entanglements did ensue.
For awhile I thought I was part of the minority on this but seeing that this film, after so many years of hype, can't get past a 7.3 rating on IMDB (with 464 users and 155 critics chiming in) I am definitely not alone.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
