For the release of Richard Donner's "Superman: The Movie" in 1978, an ingenious ad campaign was launched that centered around promising audiences something no movie could hope to deliver. "You'll Believe A Man Can Fly," read the tagline on the one-sheets, supplemented by a beautifully evocative painting of clouds and the "S" shield logo. As audacious as this campaign was, it nonetheless was part of the ethos surrounding the film and the depiction of the titular character. While it's true that certain visual effects techniques were developed to make the flying sequences in "Superman" try and live up to such a promise, Donner knew that the element he really had to focus on was casting the part. If audiences believed in the man, they'd believe he was flying.
As fate would have it, Donner found the perfect Superman (not to mention Clark Kent) in Christopher Reeve, a then-unknown Juilliard graduate...
As fate would have it, Donner found the perfect Superman (not to mention Clark Kent) in Christopher Reeve, a then-unknown Juilliard graduate...
- 1/26/2024
- by Bill Bria
- Slash Film
We look at famous actors as role models, tending to see their personal lives as soap opera, as projection, as aspiration. But the story of Christopher Reeve is different. His life became a parable. It began with the fact that he was Superman — and I don’t just mean that he played Superman. For millions, he fused with that role in a special way. After nearly five decades of comic-book movies, Reeve’s Man of Steel — the chiseled handsome-hawk profile, the fleet muscularity, the helmet of black hair with its forehead curl just so, the true-blue nobility of his eyes — made him the only actor I’ve ever seen play a superhero who truly seemed like a pop god who’d just stepped out of the comic books. He was so perfect that he could have been drawn by Roy Lichtenstein.
It was, in part, because Reeve’s Superman was so indelible,...
It was, in part, because Reeve’s Superman was so indelible,...
- 1/23/2024
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
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