Lurker 5 Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Superman - The Movie was released to theaters 26 years ago today on December 15, 1978. This year we have lost both Superman and his father, but this great movie will always be remembered for the wonderful acting, fun script, amazing visual effects and of course it's perfect score by John Williams, one of the finest he has ever composed.Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Mark 3,631 Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 What I remember of my theatrical vieving is that the Main Title music was so loud it made your ears bleed.ah,those were the days when Williams music was mixed right.K.M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendal_Ozzel 36 Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 I sure wish I could've been there that day to see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Mark 3,631 Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 But I must say the underscore didn't leave as much an impression on me as Star Wars,CE3K,Empire,Raiders and E.T. did at the time.I liked the MainTitle March mostly.I never got the score on cassette or LP,and waited untill 1992 or so to purchase the c.d.,well after I started collecting the other available Williams titles.K.M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin 2 Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Curse the rubbish version found on DVD.Hurrah for the original!Justin - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QMM 4 Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 That is one of the best movie posters of all timeMax- Gojira from Godzilla - David Arnold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam 1 Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 As good as his dominant themes are in this score, its some of the smaller themes and momentsthat give the score so much extra value for me, whether it be the Krypton fanfare, the father theme or those moments like the underscore for Brando?s farewell speech. Great movie and score. Didn't know it was a winter release. Was The Fury a summer release? Jaws 2 come first? Just curious.- Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker 5 Posted December 16, 2004 Author Share Posted December 16, 2004 Williams in 1978 went like this:The Fury (March 10, 1978)Jaws 2 (June 16, 1978 - The number one film that weekend? The reissue of Star Wars )Superman - The Movie (December 15, 1978)Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,949 Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Wonderful film, wonderful music, in my alltime top 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Crichton 4 Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 I watched the movie for the first time in years a few months ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. A triumph for sure. And this was my first non-Star Wars Williams score on CD and will always have a special place for me.And I have to say that complaints about the movie itself on the DVD aside, the documentaries on the disc were among the best I've ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,949 Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Superman was not a perfect film, but it was perfect entertainment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hlao-roo 389 Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Superman - The Movie did not do much for me, but, then, I confess that my taste in movies departs greatly from what a lot of folks tend to get excited about at this board.As for the score, it's never been one of my favorites, but I do like a lot of "quieter" moments in the soundtrack, particularly on the first disc of the double album. The "Jonathan Kent" theme or whatever it's called is a beautiful variation on that theme from Conrack, and not a bit inferior to its '90s update in JFK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam 1 Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Good point. A very close relative is also in The Cowbows, with the John Wayne character theme. All of those themes score the same type of subject - the noble, looked-up-to father figure, with variations specific to the movie (like the bluesy elements in the Conrack theme). I never really thought of the connection to JFK before, though its pretty obvious now that you mention it. But I do think the similarity in that case is, relatively speaking, more superficial since the orchestrations in the JFK theme are so different, whether it be in the quite piano version, the snare-drum trumpet version, the grand orchestral version, etc. An even more distant cousin. and I stress distant, is the Star Wars main theme, where again, JW writes his melody around that 5th interval jump to conjure up nobility and grandeur.- Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewdog1 50 Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Superman - The Movie did not do much for me, but, then, I confess that my taste in movies departs greatly from what a lot of folks tend to get excited about at this board. You're not one of those unrealistic movie haters, are you?Anywhoo, that has to be one of the best movie posters ever produced, if not THE best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin 2 Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 I'm sure at least two here would claim that TMP has a better poster. But let's not open that can o' worms.Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker 5 Posted December 16, 2004 Author Share Posted December 16, 2004 I'm sure at least two here would claim that TMP has a better poster. But let's not open that can o' worms.I can't imagine who on Earth those two people you refer to would be, but I'll simply point out that the artwork created for Superman - The Movie and Star Trek - The Motion Picture were the work of Bob Peak.Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trumpeteer 302 Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Happy birthday, Superman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,949 Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 I saw Superman 26 years ago today, I was a freshman in college and didn't get home until the 16th, which was a Saturday. My mom and sister already had tickets for the 7 something show. Needless to say I fell in love with the film that night and saw it something like 20 times in the theatre alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris ChrusherComix 46 Posted December 18, 2004 Share Posted December 18, 2004 A good, but flawed film. I don't consider it as good until it is watched with Superman II. And the music editing. Atrocious in parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eplicon 53 Posted December 18, 2004 Share Posted December 18, 2004 Superman is one of several films I wish I could see for the very first time without knowing what to expect. I only saw it once during its first theatrical run. Seeing it on a 70mm screen in one of those old fashioned movie house was such an great experience for the main title credit sequence alone. It felt like I was soaring through the credits, not unlike the experience when I saw Star Wars and being in an X-Wing during the trench run.I always felt the bad music editing was largely due to the rushed post production. The movie was continually edited towards the deadline and didn't give much opportunity/time to do clean music edits in the process. Several parts of the movie you can hear music appear and disappear or get clumsily connected. That's my gripe about the Superman DVD. If they took so much pains to do a new 5.1 mix for the effects track, I wish they had rounded off the music edits better too. But the guy who was the music editor for the DVD opted to recreate the original cuts, with some minor variations. I still think the Krypton music works much better when played through its entirety. But again, since several scenes were shortened, it probably would have made the music edits sound worse than if it hadn't been simply dialed out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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