document_title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

question_text: what name does bastian give the empress in the neverending story

text: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: Bastian Balthazar Bux is a shy and outcast bibliophile ten-year-old, teased by bullies from school. On his way to school, he hides from the bullies in a bookstore, interrupting the grumpy bookseller, Mr. Coreander. Bastian asks about one of the books he sees, but Mr. Coreander advises against it. With his curiosity piqued, Bastian seizes the book, leaving a note promising to return it, and hides in the school's attic to read.

text: The book describes the Fantasy world of Fantasia slowly being devoured by a malevolent force called "The Nothing". Fantasia's ruler, the Childlike Empress, has fallen ill, and Atreyu is tasked to discover the cure, believing that once the Empress is well, the Nothing will no longer be a threat. Atreyu is given a medallion named the Auryn that can guide and protect him in the quest. As Atreyu sets out, the Nothing summons Gmork, a vicious and highly intelligent wolf-like creature, to kill Atreyu.

text: Atreyu's quest directs him to the advisor Morla the Ancient One in the Swamps of Sadness. Though the Auryn protects Atreyu, his beloved horse Artax is lost to the swamp, and he continues alone. Later, Atreyu is surprised by the sudden appearance of Morla, a giant turtle. Bastian, reading, is also surprised and lets out a scream, which Atreyu and Morla appear to hear. Morla does not have the answers Atreyu seeks, but directs him to the Southern Oracle, ten thousand miles distant. Atreyu succumbs to exhaustion trying to escape the Swamps but is saved by the luckdragon Falkor. Falkor takes him to the home of two gnomes that live near the entrance to the Southern Oracle. The gnomes explain that Atreyu will face various trials before reaching the Oracle. Atreyu proceeds to enter the Oracle, and is perplexed when one second trial, a mirror that shows the viewer's true self, reveals a boy which Bastian recognizes as himself. Bastian throws the book aside, but after catching his breath, continues to read. Atreyu eventually meets the Southern Oracle who tells him the only way to save the Empress is to find a human child to give her a new name, beyond the boundaries of Fantasia.

text: Atreyu and Falkor flee before the Nothing consumes the Southern Oracle. In flight, Atreyu is knocked from Falkor's back into the Sea of Possibilities, losing the Auryn in the process. He wakes on the shore of the abandoned ruins, where he meets Rock Biter, who laments the loss of his friends. Atreyu finds a series of paintings depicting his quest. Gmork reveals himself, having been lying in wait and explains that Fantasia represents humanity's imagination, and that the Nothing represents adult apathy and cynicism against it. Atreyu fends off and kills Gmork as the Nothing begins to consume the ruins. Falkor, who had managed to locate the Auryn, rescues Atreyu in time. The two find themselves in a void with only small fragments of Fantasia remaining, and fear they have failed when they spot the Empress's Ivory Tower among the fragments. Inside, Atreyu apologizes for failing the Empress, but she assures him he has succeeded in bringing to her a human child who has been following his quest: Bastian. As the Nothing begins to consume the Tower, the Empress pleads directly to Bastian to call out her new name, but in total amazement that he himself has been incorporated into the story as the child they were looking for, totally denies the events as just being a story and Atreyu dies as a result. Bastian runs to the window and calls out the name he had selected into the storm, and loses consciousness.

text: When he wakes, he finds himself in blackness with the Empress, with only a grain of sand, the last bit of Fantasia remaining. The Empress tells Bastian that he has the power to bring Fantasia back with his imagination using the power of the Auryn. Bastian re-creates Fantasia, and as he flies on Falkor's back, he sees the land and its inhabitants restored, and that Atreyu has been reunited with Artax. When Falkor asks what his next wish will be, Bastian then brings Falkor back to the real world to chase down the bullies from before. The film ends with the narration that Bastian had many more wishes and adventures, and adds: "but that's another story".

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Barret Oliver as Bastian Balthazar Bux.
Noah Hathaway as Atreyu.
Tami Stronach as The Childlike Empress, to whom Bastian gives the new name of "Moon Child".
Patricia Hayes as Urgl, Engywook's wife and a healer.
Sydney Bromley as Engywook, a gnomish scientist.
Gerald McRaney as Mr. Bux, Bastian's widowed, workaholic father.
Moses Gunn as Cairon, a servant of the Empress.
Alan Oppenheimer as the voices of Falkor, Gmork, Rock Biter, and the Narrator (the latter three are uncredited).
Thomas Hill as Mr. Coreander, a grumpy bookseller.
Deep Roy as Teeny Weeny, a messenger riding on a racing snail.
Tilo Prückner as Nighthob, a messenger riding a narcoleptic bat.
Darryl Cooksey, Drum Garrett, and Nicholas Gilbert as Ethan, Todd, and Lucas, three bullies who torment Bastian.

text: Production[edit]

text: The adaptation only covered the first half of the book. The majority of the film was shot at the Bavaria Studios in Munich, except for the street scenes and the school interior in the real world, which were shot in Vancouver, Canada (the Gastown steam clock can be seen in the bully chase scene near the beginning[6]),[7] and the beach where Atreyu falls, which was filmed at Monsul Beach in Almería (Spain). It was Germany's highest-budgeted film at the time.

text: Music[edit]

text: The film score of The NeverEnding Story was composed by Klaus Doldinger of the German jazz group Passport. The theme song of the North American release of the film was composed by Giorgio Moroder with lyrics by Keith Forsey, and performed by Christopher "Limahl" Hamill, once the lead singer of Kajagoogoo, and Beth Anderson. It was released as a single in 1984, it peaked at No. 4 on the UK singles chart, No. 6 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song has been covered by The Birthday Massacre, Creamy, Dragonland, Kenji Haga, and New Found Glory. More recent covers were done by Norwegian synthpop group Echo Image on their 2001 maxi-single Skulk and by German techno group Scooter on their 2007 album Jumping All Over the World. This Limahl song, along with other "techno-pop" treatments to the soundtrack, is not present in the German version of the film, which features Doldinger's orchestral score exclusively.

text: In 1994, Italian house music group Club House released the song "Nowhere Land," featuring Carl, which combines the melody of the tune "Bastian's Happy Flight" with original lyrics.

text: An official soundtrack album was released featuring Doldinger's score and Moroder's theme tune (Moroder also rescored several scenes for the version released outside Germany).[8] The track listing (Doldinger is responsible for everything from track 6 onwards) is as follows:

text:
[show]The NeverEnding Story (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

No.
Title
Length

1.
"The NeverEnding Story"
3:32

2.
"Swamps of Sadness"
1:57

3.
"Ivory Tower"
3:10

4.
"Ruined Landscape"
3:03

5.
"Sleepy Dragon"
3:59

6.
"Bastian's Happy Flight"
3:16

7.
"Fantasia"
0:56

8.
"Atreyu's Quest"
2:52

9.
"Theme of Sadness"
2:43

10.
"Atreyu Meets Falkor"
2:31

11.
"Mirror Gate - Southern Oracle"
3:10

12.
"Gmork"
0:29

13.
"Moon Child"
1:24

14.
"AURYN"
2:20

15.
"Happy Flight"
1:21

text: In Germany, an album featuring Doldinger's score was released.

text:
[show]Die Unendliche Geschichte — Das Album

No.
Title
Length

1.
"Flug auf dem Glücksdrachen (Flight of the Luckdragon)"
3:12

2.
"Die Unendliche Geschichte (Titelmusik) (The NeverEnding Story (Main Title))"
2:44

3.
"Im Haulewald (In the Howling Forest)"
3:01

4.
"Der Elfenbeinturm (The Ivory Tower)"
1:54

5.
"Atréjus Berufung – AURYN Thema (Atreyu's Quest - AURYN Theme)"
2:47

6.
"Phantásien (Fantasia)"
0:52

7.
"Artax’s Tod (The Death of Artax)"
1:13

8.
"Die Sümpfe der Traurigkeit (The Swamps of Sadness)"
2:39

9.
"Atréju's Flug (Atreyu's Flight)"
2:27

10.
"Die uralte Morla (Morla, the Ancient One)"
2:27

11.
"Das südliche Orakel (The Southern Oracle)"
3:19

12.
"Die drei magischen Tore (The Three Magic Gates)"
3:25

13.
"Spukstadt (Spook City)"
1:37

14.
"Flug zum Elfenbeinturm (Flight to the Ivory Tower)"
3:02

15.
"Mondenkind (Moon Child)"
1:19

16.
"Die kindliche Kaiserin (The Childlike Empress)"
2:16

17.
"Flug auf dem Glücksdrachen (Schlußtitel) (Flight of the Luckdragon (End Title))"
1:19

text: Reaction[edit]

text: Release dates[edit]

text: Some international release dates:

text:
6 April 1984 in West Germany (Die unendliche Geschichte)[9]
20 July 1984 in the United States (The NeverEnding Story)[10][11]
21 November 1984 in France (L'Histoire sans fin)[12]
6 December 1984 in Spain (La Historia Interminable)[13]
7 December 1984 in Italy (La storia infinita)[14]
4 April 1985 in the United Kingdom (The NeverEnding Story)[15]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2016)

text: The film has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 82% based on reviews from 38 critics. The critical consensus reads: "A magical journey about the power of a young boy's imagination to save a dying fantasy land, The NeverEnding Story remains a much-loved kids' adventure."[16] Metacritic gives the film a score of 46/100 based on reviews from 10 critics.[17]

text: Film critic Roger Ebert gave it three out of four stars and praised its visual effects, saying that "an entirely new world has been created" because of them,[18] a comment echoed by Variety.[2] Joshua Tyler of CinemaBlend referred to it as "One of a scant few true Fantasy masterpieces".[16]

text: Vincent Canby panned the film as a "graceless, humorless fantasy for children" in a 1984 New York Times review. Canby's criticism charged that parts of the movie "sounded like 'The Pre-Teenager's Guide to Existentialism'". He further criticized the "tacky" special effects, and that the construction of the dragon looked like "an impractical bathmat".[19]

text: Box office[edit]

text: The film performed very well at the box office, grossing US$100 million worldwide against a production budget of DM60 million (approximately US$27 million at the time). Almost five million people went to see it in Germany, a number rarely achieved by German productions, resulting in a gross of about US$20 million domestically. It also grossed a similar amount in the United States; only a modest sum in the American market, which director Wolfgang Petersen ascribed to the film's European sensibilities.[20]

text: Awards[edit]

text:
1984 - Bambi Award for: National film
1984 - Golden Screen Award
1985 - Saturn Award for: Best Performance by a Young Actor
1985 - Brazilian Film Award for: Best Production
1985 - Film Award in Gold for: Best Production Design

text:
1985 - Saturn Award for: Best Fantasy Film, and Best Music
1985 - International Fantasy Film Award for: Best Film
1985 - Young Artist Award for: Best Family Motion Picture, Best Young Actor, Best Young Supporting Actress.

text: Home media[edit]

text: LaserDisc[edit]

text: The film was released by Warner Bros. on LaserDisc with a digital stereo soundtrack in 1985.

text: A widescreen laserdisc was released on 28 August 1991; no special features were included.

text: DVD[edit]

text: The Region 1 DVD was first released in 2001 by Warner Bros, containing only the North American release of the film. The only audio option is a 2.0 stereo mix in either English or Spanish. The theatrical trailer is the lone extra feature presented.

text: There is also a quite lavish 2003 European version, which is a two-disc special edition with packaging shaped like the book from the film and containing both the North American and German releases of the film. Various extras, such as a 45-minute documentary, music video, and galleries, are presented on the second disc.[21] However, there is no English audio for the German version of the film. This edition is currently[when?] out of print. The standard single-disc edition is also available for the Region 2 market.

text: A Dutch import has also appeared on the Internet in various places, which only contains the North American release of the film but also includes a remastered DTS surround track, which is not found in either the German or the Region 1 release.

text: Also, in 2008, Czech- and Slovak-language DVD versions appeared in Czech Republic and Slovakia.

text: Blu-ray[edit]

text: The first Blu-ray release was a region-free Dutch edition on 24 March 2007.

text: On 2 March 2010, Warner released a Region A Blu-ray edition of the film. The disc includes a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, which marks the first time a 5.1 surround track has been included in a US home video version of the film. No special features or theatrical trailer are included.[22]

text: Recent German releases feature the original Klaus Doldinger soundtrack with the original English audio track.

text: On 7 October 2014, a 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray was released, which duplicates the DTS surround track of its predecessor. Originally described as a "newly" remastered version of the film, Warner released a statement indicating that "the only remastered version is The NeverEnding Story II", while not elaborating further on this current US release.[23] The 30th Anniversary Edition contains the original theatrical trailer, a commentary track by director Wolfgang Petersen, documentaries and interviews from both 1984 and 2014, and a German-language/English-subtitled feature detailing the digital restoration process of the film.

text: Legacy[edit]

text: The film has since been an inspiration in popular culture.

text: Music[edit]

text:
The American metal band Atreyu derived their name from the character of Atreyu.
The Mexican pop punk band Fälkor derived their name from the character of Falkor, changing the styling of the middle a for ä.
The American rock band Bayside have used quotes from the film as titles of their songs. Examples include "They look like strong hands" and "They're not horses, they're unicorns".
The American rock band Rooney made reference to the film in the song "I'm Shakin'" ("I tossed and turned all night 'cause I was looking for an ending / This was so because I watched all day The NeverEnding Story with Atreyu")
The American pop punk band, New Found Glory, covered the film's theme song on their album, From the Screen to Your Stereo.
Timo Tolkki wrote the 9:56 song "Fantasia" for Stratovarius album Elements Pt. 1 (2003)
The Spanish indie-rock band Vetusta Morla derived their name from the character of Morla the Ancient One ("vetusta" means "ancient" in spanish).
The American rock band The Aquabats describe Falkor's potential romantic life in their song "Luck Dragon Lady!" on the album Hi-Five Soup!.

text: Warner Bros. planned adaptation of the novel[edit]

text: In 2009, it was reported that Warner Bros., The Kennedy/Marshall Company and Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way were in the early stages of creating another adaptation of Ende's novel. They intend to "examine the more nuanced details of the book" rather than remake the original film by Petersen.[24]

text: In 2011, producer Kathleen Kennedy said that problems securing the rights to the story may mean a second adaptation is "not meant to be."[25]


document_title: Covenant (biblical)

question_text: where is the abrahamic covenant found in the bible

root

text: Covenant (biblical)

text: Ancient Near Eastern treaties[edit]

text: There are two major types of covenants in the Hebrew Bible, including the obligatory type and the promissory type. The obligatory covenant is more common with the Hittite peoples, and deals with the relationship between two parties of equal standing. In contrast, the promissory type of covenant is seen in the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants. Promissory covenants focus on the relationship between the suzerain and the vassal and are similar to the "royal grant" type of legal document, which include historical introduction, border delineations, stipulations, witnesses, blessings, and curses. In royal grants, the master could reward a servant for being loyal. God rewarded Abraham, Noah, and David in his covenants with them.[1] As part of his covenant with Abraham, God has the obligation to keep Abraham's descendants as God's chosen people and be their God. When taking this oath we see that God is accompanied by a smoking oven and a torch. These were objects used in the procedure of taking an oath much like oaths that involved sacrificing animals while taking the oath. God acts as the suzerain power and is the party of the covenant accompanied by the required action that comes with the oath whether it be fire or animals in the sacrificial oaths. In doing this, God is the party taking upon the curse if he does not uphold his obligation. Through history there were also many instances where the vassal was the one who performed the different acts and took the curse upon them.[2]

tag: p

text: Terminology of covenants[edit]

text: Weinfeld believes that similar terminology and wording can connect the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants with ancient Near Eastern grants, as opposed to being largely similar to the Mosaic covenant, which, according to Weinfeld, is an example of a suzerainty treaty. He goes on to argue that phrases about having a "whole heart" or having "walked after me [God] with all his heart" strongly parallels with Neo-Assyrian grant language, such as "walked with royalty". He further argues that in Jeremiah, God uses prophetic metaphor to say that David will be adopted as a son. Expressing legal and political relationships through familial phraseology was common among Near Eastern cultures. Babylonian contracts often expressed fathership and sonship in their grants to actually mean a king to vassal relationship.[3]

text: Further underlying the idea that these covenants were grant-like in nature is the similar language used in both. In the grant of Ashurbanipal, an Assyrian, to his servant Bulta, he describes Bulta's loyalty with the phrase "kept the charge of my kinship". Abraham similarly kept God's charge in Genesis 26: 4–5: "I will give to your descendants all these lands...inasmuch as Abraham obeyed me and kept my charge, my commandments, my rules and my teachings."[4]

text: Furthermore, in Jeremiah, God says, through prophetic metaphor, that David will be adopted as a son. Expressing legal and political relationships through familial phraseology was common among Near Eastern cultures. Babylonian contracts often expressed fathership and sonship, in their grants to actually mean a king to vassal relationship.[5]

text: Dissolving covenant form[edit]

text: According to Mendhenhall, pressures from outside invaders led the loosely bound Israelite tribes to converge into monarchical unity for stability and solidarity. He also argues that during this consolidation, the new state also had to unify the religious traditions that belonged to the different groups to prevent dissent from those who might believe that the formation of a state would replace direct governance from God. Therefore, Mendenhall continues, these loosely bound tribes merged under the Mosaic covenant to legitimize their unity. They believed that to obey the law was to obey God. They also believed that the king was put into power as a result of God's benefaction, and that this accession was the fulfillment of God's promise of dynasty to David. Mendenhall also notes that a conflict arose between those who believed in the Davidic covenant, and those who believed that God would not support all actions of the state. As a result, both sides became relatively aloof, and the Davidic covenant and the Mosaic covenant were almost entirely forgotten.[6]

text: Number of Biblical covenants[edit]

text: Students of the Bible hold wildly differing opinions as to how many major covenants exist (or did exist) between God and humanity, with numbers ranging from one to at least twelve. [7] (See covenant theology and dispensationalism for further information on two of the major viewpoints.)

text: Noahic covenant[edit]

text: The Noahic covenant[Gen 9:8–17] applies to all of humanity and to all other living creatures.[8] In this covenant, God promises never again to destroy all life on Earth by flood[9:11] and creates the rainbow as the sign of this "everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth".[9:12–17]

text: Abrahamic covenant[edit]

text: The covenant found in Genesis 12–17 is known as the Brit bein HaBetarim, the "Covenant Between the Parts" in Hebrew, and is the basis for brit milah (covenant of circumcision) in Judaism. The covenant was for Abraham and his seed, or offspring,[9] both of natural birth and adoption.[10]

text: In Genesis chapters 12–17 three covenants can be distinguished based on the differing Jahwist, Elohist and Priestly sources.[11] In Genesis 12 and 15, God grants Abraham land and a multitude of descendants but does not place any stipulations (unconditional) on Abraham for the covenant's fulfillment. By contrast, Genesis 17 contains the covenant of circumcision (conditional).

text: Covenants in biblical times were often sealed by severing an animal, with the implication that the party who breaks the covenant will suffer a similar fate. In Hebrew, the verb meaning to seal a covenant translates literally as "to cut". It is presumed by Jewish scholars that the removal of the foreskin symbolically represents such a sealing of the covenant.[12]

text: According to Weinfeld, the Abraham covenant represents a covenant of grant, which binds the suzerain. It is the obligation of the master to his servant and involves gifts given to individuals who were loyal serving their masters. In the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15, it is God who is the suzerain who commits himself and swears to keep the promise. In the covenant there are procedures of taking the oath, which involve a smoking oven and a blazing torch. There are many similarities between Genesis 15 and the Abba-El deed. Genesis 15 and similarly in the Abba-El deed it is the superior party who places himself under oath. Also the oaths in both involve a situation where the inferior party is delivering the animals while the superior swears the oath. The Abraham covenant is part of a tradition of covenantal sacrifices, which dates back to the third millennium BC. The animals that are slaughtered in the covenant in Genesis 15 are considered a sacrificial offering. The covenant in Genesis 15 preserve the sacrificial element alongside the symbolic act.[2]

text: Mosaic covenant[edit]

text: The Mosaic covenant, found in Exodus 19–24 and the book of Deuteronomy, contains the foundations of the written Torah and the Oral Torah. In this covenant, God promises to make the Israelites his treasured possession among all people[Exo 19:5] and "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation"[Exo 19:6], if they follow God's commandments. As part of the terms of this covenant, God gives Moses the Ten Commandments. These will later be elaborated on in the rest of the Torah.

text: The form of the covenant resembles the suzerainty treaty in the ancient Near East.[13] Like the treaties, the Ten Commandments begins with Yahweh's identification and what he had done for Israel ("who brought you out of the land of Egypt"; Ex 20:2) as well as the stipulations commanding absolute loyalty ("You shall not have other gods apart from me"). Unlike the suzerainty treaty, the Decalogue does not have any witness nor explicit blessings and curses.[14] The fullest account of the Mosaic covenant is given in the book of Deuteronomy.

text: God gave the children of Israel the Shabbat as the permanent sign of this covenant.[Exo 31:12–17]

text: Priestly covenant[edit]

text: The priestly covenant[15] (Hebrew: ברית הכהונה brith ha-kehuna) is the covenant that God made with Aaron and his descendants, the Aaronic priesthood, as found in the Hebrew Bible and Oral Torah. The Hebrew Bible also mentions another perpetual priestly promise with Phinehas and his descendants.[16][17]

text: Davidic covenant[edit]

text: The Davidic covenant[2Sam 7] establishes David and his descendants as the kings of the united monarchy of Israel[Jer 33:17–21] (which included Judah). The Davidic covenant is an important element in Jewish messianism and Christian theology. In Jewish eschatology, the messiah is believed to be a future Jewish king from the Davidic line, who will be anointed with holy anointing oil, gather the Jews back into the Land of Israel, usher in an era of peace, build the Third Temple, have a male heir, re-institute the Sanhedrin and rule the Jewish people during the Messianic Age.

text: Christian view[edit]

text: Christian theologian John F. Walvoord maintains that the Davidic covenant deserves an important place in determining the purposes of God and that its exegesis confirms the doctrine of a future reign of Christ on earth.[18] While Jewish theologians have always held that Jesus did not fulfill the expectations of a Jewish messiah, the position of Dispensational (historically-grammatically literal) Biblical theologians is almost unanimous that Jesus will fully fulfill the Davidic covenant, the provisions of which Walvoord lists as:

text:
David is to have a child, yet to be born, who shall succeed him and establish his kingdom.
A son (Solomon) shall build the temple instead of David.
The throne of his kingdom shall be established forever.
The throne will not be taken away from him (Solomon) even though his sins justify chastisement.
David’s house, throne, and kingdom shall be established forever (2 Samuel 7:16).[18]

tag: ol

text: The New Covenant is a biblical interpretation originally derived from a phrase in the Book of Jeremiah, in the Hebrew Scriptures. It is often thought of as an eschatological Messianic Age or world to come and is related to the biblical concept of the Kingdom of God.

text: Generally, Christians believe that the New Covenant was instituted at the Last Supper as part of the Eucharist, which in the Gospel of John includes the New Commandment. A connection between the Blood of Christ and the New Covenant is seen in most modern English translations of the New Testament[19] with the saying: "this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood".[20]

text: Christians see Jesus as the mediator of this New Covenant, and that his blood, shed at his crucifixion is the required blood of the covenant: as with all covenants between God and man described in the Bible, the New Covenant is considered "a bond in blood sovereignly administered by God".[21] It has been theorized that the New Covenant is the Law of Christ as spoken during his Sermon on the Mount.[22]


document_title: House on Haunted Hill (1999 film)

question_text: where did they film house on haunted hill

text: House on Haunted Hill (1999 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: In 1931 the mental patients at the Vannacutt Institute for the Criminally Insane revolt against the staff headed by the sadistic Dr. Richard Vannacutt. The patients start a fire which engulfs the building, killing all of the inmates and all but five of the staff.

text: In 1999, Evelyn Stockard-Price (Famke Janssen), a spoiled trophy wife, is in a disintegrating marriage with Steven Price (Geoffrey Rush), an amusement park mogul with a wicked sense of humor. At Evelyn's insistence, Price leases the house from the owner, Watson Pritchett (Chris Kattan), for her birthday party. She gives Price a lengthy guest list; he shreds it to spite her and then creates one of his own. Five guests arrive for the party - Jennifer Jenzen (Ali Larter), Eddie Baker (Taye Diggs), Melissa Margaret Marr (Bridgette Wilson), Dr. Donald Blackburn (Peter Gallagher), and Pritchett himself. The guests are not the ones Price invited and neither Evelyn nor Price know who they are. Despite this, Price continues the party's theme, offering $1 million to each guest who stays in the house and survives until morning. Those who die forfeit their $1 million to the survivors.

text: The security gates are tripped, locking everyone inside. After finding some hand guns, Jennifer, Eddie and Pritchett decide to take one of the guns and search the basement for the machinery which controls the gates. Price believes the trap is a stunt organized by Evelyn. As Eddie and Jennifer explore the dungeon-like basement, Jennifer confesses to Eddie that her real name is Sara Wolfe, and that she's an out-of-work assistant to the real Jennifer Jenzen. She attended the party in Jennifer's place because she needed the prize money. However, the two are separated, and Sara is nearly drowned in a tank of blood by a ghost impersonating Eddie, though the real Eddie arrives in time to save her.

text: Melissa disappears when she wanders off in the basement, leaving behind a massive trail of blood. Price visits his assistant Schechter, who is supposed to be managing the party stunts, but finds him horribly mutilated. On the surveillance monitor he sees the ghost of Dr. Vannacutt walking around with a bloody scalpel. Shortly after, Evelyn dies in front of the others, when they find she has been strapped to an electroshock therapy table. Furious, Price pulls a gun on the guests, demanding to know which one of them killed his wife. Sara nearly shoots him, but Eddie knocks him out before either one can kill the other. The remaining guests lock Price in the "Saturation Chamber", an archaic device that Vannacut used to treat schizophrenics. Blackburn volunteers to stay behind to guard Price, but when the others leave he turns the chamber on, leaving Price to be tortured by the moving images and ghostly hallucinations until it drives him catatonic.

text: Meanwhile, Sara and Eddie find Vannacut's office. Inside, they find a portrait of all the head staff and realize that all the party guests are descendants of the five surviving staff from the 1931 fire. Pritchett explains that the spirits themselves created the guest list by hacking into Price's computer. The only exception is Blackburn, whose name does not appear among the staff.

text: Blackburn is revealed as Evelyn's lover and Evelyn in fact faked her death by electrocution. Together the two are plotting to frame Price for the murders, hoping one of the party will kill him in self defense. Evelyn stabs Blackburn to add another victim to the mix and releases a delirious Price from the chamber. Sara discovers Price covered in blood and Blackburn's head hanging from the door of the Saturation Chamber. Believing that he is Blackburn's murderer, Sara shoots him. After the others return upstairs, Evelyn approaches Price to gloat, and Price, protected by a bullet-proof vest, attempts to kill Evelyn. The two scuffle before Price throws her through a decaying door. Inside the rotting room, the two realize they just stumbled upon the evil core of the house. The Darkness – a dark, shape-shifting creature composed of the spirits in the house – awakens and begins to take form. Evelyn is captured and killed by the Darkness. Trying to escape the monstrous apparition, Price stumbles upon the remains of Melissa, neatly dissected and arranged as an anatomical display.

text: The Darkness emerges in front of Price, revealing that it is composed of "everyone who died and is responsible". Pritchett is killed by The Darkness, allowing Price to evade it. Price tells Sara and Eddie not only that Pritchett was right, but that the house really is alive and deduces that the only way to get out is through the attic. The three flee as The Darkness begins to seep through the house, manipulating the walls and shattering the floors as it chases them. Price activates a pulley that reveals an opening in the window of the attic. When the Darkness seeps into the attic, Price sacrifices himself to give the others time to escape, but the Darkness closes the iron gate after Sara escapes, trapping Eddie inside.

text: As the Darkness prepares to assimilate Eddie, Pritchett's ghost appears and opens the iron gate. The Darkness is distracted by Pritchett long enough for Eddie to escape out of the window to Sara. Pritchett's ghost and the Darkness then both fade away. As Sara and Eddie watch the sun rise, they notice an envelope on the ledge. It contains all five $1 million checks, made out to cash.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Geoffrey Rush as Steven H. Price
Famke Janssen as Evelyn Stockard-Price
Taye Diggs as Eddie Baker
Peter Gallagher as Donald W. Blackburn, M.D.
Chris Kattan as Watson Pritchett
Ali Larter as Sara Wolfe
Bridgette Wilson-Sampras as Melissa Margaret Marr
Max Perlich as Carl Schecter
Jeffrey Combs as Dr. Richard Benjamin Vannacutt
Lisa Loeb as Channel 3 reporter
James Marsters as Channel 3 cameraman
Janet Tracy Keijser as Girl on wires
Peter Graves as Himself

tag: ul

text: Rush's name "Price" as well as Rush's appearance is a nod to actor Vincent Price, who played the similar lead role, then named Frederick Loren in the original film.

text: Production[edit]

text: William Castle's daughter Terry Castle served as co-producer on the film.[2] The film was shot in late 1998 and early 1999 in Los Angeles, California, with exteriors of the house's driveway being shot in Griffith Park near the Griffith Park Observatory.[3] The "Terror Incognita" rollercoaster at Price's amusement park featured in the beginning of the film is actually The Incredible Hulk rollercoaster at Universal Studios Florida.[4]

text: The unethical psychiatry methods and experimental procedures featured in the film were loosely based on medical experiments conducted by the Nazis.[5][6]

text: Visual effects[edit]

text: Some reviewers noted that the surrealistic jerking, twitching effect of the ghosts featured in the film was similar to the effects in Adrian Lyne's film Jacob's Ladder (1990).[7] The special effects in the film were designed by Gregory Nicotero and Robert Kurtzman, with additional makeup design by Dick Smith in his last film credit.[7] One of the monster figures featured in the film was a creation of Smith's that was intended to be used in Ghost Story (1981) but was ultimately not featured.[7] The tentacular morphing mass of ghosts featured at the film's climax was designed by KNB Effects using CGI, and was inspired by the visuals of H.P. Lovecraft's novels, as well as resembling the Rorschach inkblots used in psychiatry.[7]

text: Deleted footage[edit]

text: Several key scenes were taken out of the final cut of the film.[8] This included an exposition scene in which Sara Wolfe (Ali Larter) is fired by her boss, Jennifer Jenzen (played by Debi Mazar), the feisty vice president of a motion picture company. Two versions of the scene were shot, both taking place on a film set where Wolfe hands Jenzen a bag delivered for her; inside is a music box with a jack-in-a-box-trigger which cuts the handler's finger. Jenzen throws the box in the garbage, and Wolfe discovers the invitation to Price's party inside of it.[8] This is why in the final cut of the film, Wolfe hesitantly introduces herself to Price as Jennifer Jenzen; in the final cut of the film, she later confesses to Eddie Baker about posing as Jenzen in order to receive her $1,000,000, but details surrounding the circumstances in which she received the invitation are sparsely revealed.[8]

text: Another scene removed from the film last-minute, according to director Malone, was a scene in which Wolfe falls through a collapsing floor when she and Baker are being chased by the Darkness.[8] After falling two stories below, Wolfe awakens in a subterranean crematorium filled with the ashes and corpses of the hospital's dead patients. There, she is attacked by reanimated corpses who rise out of the ashes, terrorizing her and tearing off her overcoat.[8] As a result of the scene's removal, there remains a continuity error in the final cut of the film, in which Wolfe's overcoat disappears from her body in-between scenes.[8]

text: A final epilogue scene completing the Jennifer Jenzen story arc was also filmed, featuring Jenzen arriving at the house, which she has now inherited. As she enters the front door, a bloodcurdling scream is heard, and the realtor is revealed to be Dr. Vannacutt.[8] Director Malone said the scene ultimately was removed after the cutting of Jenzen's exposition scene, as well as for having a comical tone that did not fit with the rest of the film.[8]

text: All three deleted scenes from the film were included on the 2000 Warner Bros. Home Video release of the film on DVD in the bonus features section.

text: Release[edit]

text: House on Haunted Hill premiered in Los Angeles on October 27, 1999 at the Mann Village Theater.[9] Stars Famke Janssen, Chris Kattan, Ali Larter and Bridgette Wilson were in attendance with director William Malone, as well as the film's producers Joel Silver and Gilbert Adler. The film was released theatrically in the United States two days later, on October 29, 1999, opening #1 at the box office and earning over $15 million in sales its opening weekend.[10]

text: Promotion[edit]

text: In keeping with the spirit of William Castle's tradition of releasing each of his films with a marketing gimmick, Warner Bros. and Dark Castle supplied movie theatres with scratch-off tickets that would be given to anyone who paid to see the film. The scratch-off ticket would give each movie patron a chance to win money much like the characters in the film.[11]

text: Dark Castle had originally intended to release each of their films with a gimmick much like William Castle had done. They had considered releasing the remake Thirteen Ghosts in 3-D with special glasses similar to the ones used by the characters in the film. These plans were scrapped and House on Haunted Hill remains the only film released with a special marketing gimmick.[citation needed]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: Although they found the film entertaining and scary, House on Haunted Hill received mixed reviews from critics; they criticized the special effects and the story lines. In comparison, of the original's overwhelmingly positive score of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, the House on Haunted Hill remake did not fare as well. Based on 57 reviews, the film received a score of 28%, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The site's consensus reads, "Unsophisticated and unoriginal film fails to produce scares."[12] On Metacritic the film has a score of 28 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[13] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.[14]

text: Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle called it a "gutsy remake," saying, "House on Haunted Hill is the kind of horror movie that's not a bit scary and quite a bit gross. Yet it's also mildly, even pleasantly, entertaining, at least by the diminished standard set by this summer's The Haunting... [it] sets up hostile relationships between the characters, which allows the audience to wonder who is doing what to whom. Finding out is not so interesting, but getting there isn't so bad."[15] Maitland McDonough of Film Journal gave the film a similar review, saying "The proceedings are all utterly conventional, but watching them unfold is mildly diverting if you're in the right frame of mind, as many moviegoers apparently were over the Halloween weekend," also favorably comparing the film to Jan de Bont's remake of The Haunting, which was released several months prior.[16]

text: Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B- rating, calling the film "trash, but creepier than you expect."[17] Variety gave the film a positive review, noting the film's "cheap scares," but saying: "Given the irredeemable cheesiness of the original 1958 "House on Haunted Hill," the makers of the remake had nowhere to go but up. So it's not exactly a stunning surprise to find the new horror opus is a slicker and scarier piece of work."[18]

text: In their review, The New York Times criticized the film, calling it a "sorry reincarnation" of the original, and said: "This film wastes the talents of actors like Geoffrey Rush and Peter Gallagher in hollow roles and relies heavily on its sets and special effects to do the work that should have been accomplished by its director and writer."[19] The Austin Chronicle echoed a similar sentiment, saying: "The nicest thing I can say about this remake of William Castle's 1958 shocker is that Geoffrey Rush, god bless him, sure can do a fine imitation of Vincent Price's original mustache, even better than John Waters' -- which is no mean feat."[20]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
House On Haunted Hill

Film score by Don Davis

Released
November 2, 1999

Genre
Soundtracks
Film scores

Length
54:01

Label
Varèse Sarabande

tag: table

text: The soundtrack for the film was commercially released on the label Varèse Sarabande, containing selections from the original score by Don Davis.[21]

text:
Main Title
Pencil Neck
Hans Verbosemann
House Humongous
Funky Old House
No Exit
Gun Control
Surprise
Price Pestiferous
Misty Misogamy
Coagulatory Calamity
Melissa in Wonderland
Sorry, Tulip
Struggling to Escape
Soirée a Saturation
On the House
Dead But Nice
Blackburn's Surprise
Encountering Mr. Blackburn
The Price Petard
Epiphanic Evelyn
The Corpus Delecti Committee Meeting
Price in Perpetuity
The Beast with the Least

text: The song Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by Marilyn Manson is not on the movie soundtrack but is played during the scene lead up to the Asylum and end credits. Piano Quartet in G Minor Opus 25 by Johannes Brahms was definitely not composed for the movie but is the 5th track on the soundtrack album.


document_title: Superman (1978 film)

question_text: who played the title role in the film superman

question_tokens: who played the title role in the film superman

text: Superman (1978 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: On the planet Krypton, using evidence provided to the Council by scientist Jor-El, the attempted insurrectionists General Zod, Ursa, and Non are sentenced to the Phantom Zone. For this, Zod swears revenge on Jor-El and his family. Jor-El, despite his eminence, is unable to convince the Council that Krypton will soon be destroyed when its red supergiant sun goes supernova. To save his infant son, Kal-El, Jor-El launches him in a spaceship to Earth, a planet with a suitable atmosphere where Kal-El's dense molecular structure will give him superhuman powers. Shortly after the launch, Krypton's sun explodes, destroying the planet.

text: The ship crash lands on Earth near Smallville, Kansas. Kal-El, who is now three years old, is found by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who are astonished when he lifts their truck. They take him to their farm and raise him as their own, naming him Clark after Martha's maiden name.

text: At 18, soon after Jonathan's death from a heart attack, Clark hears a psychic "call" and discovers a glowing crystal in the remains of his spacecraft. It compels him to travel to the Arctic, where it builds the Fortress of Solitude. Inside, a hologram of Jor-El explains Clark's origins, and after 12 further years of educating him on his powers and responsibilities, he leaves the Fortress wearing a blue and red suit with the House of El family crest on his chest and becomes a reporter at the Daily Planet in Metropolis. He meets and develops an unrequited romantic attraction to co-worker Lois Lane.

text: Lois becomes involved in a helicopter accident where conventional means of rescue are impossible, requiring Clark to use his powers in public for the first time to save her, and goes on to thwart a jewel thief attempting to scale a building using suction cups, captures robbers fleeing police on the river by depositing their boat at the police station, rescues a girl's cat from a tree in her neighborhood, and saves Air Force One after a lightning strike destroys the port outboard engine, making the "caped wonder" an instant celebrity. He visits Lois at her home the next night and takes her for a flight over the city, allowing her to interview him for an article in which she names him "Superman".

text: Meanwhile, criminal genius Lex Luthor plans to make a fortune in real estate by buying large amounts of barren desert land, then using a nuclear explosion on a weak point in the San Andreas Fault, sinking California and leaving Luthor's desert as the new West Coast, greatly increasing its value. Upon learning the U.S Army and U.S. Navy will launch a twin nuclear missile test, he diverts one missile to the weak spot, after his incompetent henchman Otis accidentally redirects the first missile to the wrong place.

text: Knowing Superman could stop his plan, Luthor lures him to an underground lair, reveals his plan and exposes him to Kryptonite. As Superman weakens, Luthor further taunts him by revealing the first missile is headed toward Hackensack, New Jersey, as even Superman cannot stop both impacts. Eve Teschmacher, Luthor's accomplice, is horrified because her mother lives in Hackensack, but Luthor does not care and leaves Superman to a slow death. Knowing his reputation for keeping his word, Teschmacher rescues Superman on the condition he will deal with the New Jersey missile first. After Superman diverts the missile into outer space, the other one explodes near the San Andreas Fault. He mitigates the effects of the explosion, getting rid of the fallout and shoring up the crumbling Earth, but the aftershocks damage the Golden Gate Bridge and cause the Hollywood Sign and the Hoover Dam to collapse, endangering lives.

text: While Superman is busy saving others, Lois's car ends up falling into a crevice that opens from one of the aftershocks. It fills with dirt and debris and she suffocates to death. Angered at being unable to save her, Superman defies Jor-El's earlier warning not to manipulate human history, preferring to heed Jonathan's advice that he must be here for "a reason". He accelerates around Earth, rewinding time, to save Lois. After bringing Luthor and Otis to prison, he flies into the sunrise for further adventures.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Marlon Brando as Jor-El: Superman's biological father on Krypton. He has a theory about the planet exploding, yet the Council refuses to listen. He dies as the planet explodes but successfully sends his infant son to Earth as a means to help the innocent. Brando sued the Salkinds and Warner Bros. for $50 million because he felt cheated out of his share of the box office profits.[7] This stopped Brando's footage from being used in Richard Lester's version of Superman II.[8]
Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor: A scientific genius and businessman who is Superman's nemesis. It is he who discovers Superman's weakness and hatches a plan that puts millions of people in danger.
Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent/Superman: Born on Krypton as Kal-El and raised on Earth, he is a being of immense power, strength and invulnerability who, after realizing his destiny to serve mankind, uses his powers to protect and save others. As a means to protect his identity, he works in Metropolis at the Daily Planet as mild-mannered newspaper reporter Clark Kent and changes his clothes into a red-blue red caped suit with an S shield on its chest and known for his dubbing as "Superman" by Lois. Reeve was picked from over 200 actors who auditioned for the role.

Jeff East as the teenage Clark Kent: As a teenager, he is forced to hide his superhuman abilities, making him unpopular among his classmates and frustrating his efforts to gain the attention of classmate Lana Lang (Diane Sherry). Following the death of his adoptive father, he travels to the Arctic to discover his Kryptonian heritage. East's dialogue in the film is redubbed by Christopher Reeve for the final cut.[9]

Ned Beatty as Otis: Lex Luthor's bumbling henchman.
Jackie Cooper as Perry White: Clark Kent's hot-tempered boss at the Daily Planet. He assigns Lois to uncover the news of an unknown businessman purchasing a large amount of property in California. Keenan Wynn was originally cast, but dropped out shortly before filming because of heart disease. Cooper, who originally auditioned for Otis, was subsequently cast.[10]
Glenn Ford as Jonathan Kent: Clark Kent's adoptive father in Smallville during his youth. He is a farmer who teaches Clark skills that will help him in the future. He later suffers a fatal heart attack that changes Clark's outlook on his duty to others.
Trevor Howard as the First Elder: Head of the Kryptonian Council, who does not believe Jor-El's claim that Krypton is doomed. He threatens Jor-El, "Any attempt by you to create a climate of fear and panic amongst the populace must be deemed by us an act of insurrection."
Margot Kidder as Lois Lane: A reporter at the Daily Planet, who becomes a romantic interest to Clark Kent. The producers and director had a very specific concept for Lois: liberated, hard-nosed, witty and attractive. Kidder was cast because her performance had a certain spark and vitality, and because of her strong interaction with Christopher Reeve.[11] Over 100 actresses were considered for the role. Margot Kidder (suggested by Stalmaster), Anne Archer, Susan Blakely, Lesley Ann Warren, Deborah Raffin and Stockard Channing screen tested from March through May 1977. The final decision was between Channing and Kidder, with the latter winning the role.[12][13]
Jack O'Halloran as Non: Large and mute, the third of the Kryptonian villains who are sentenced to be isolated in the Phantom Zone.
Valerie Perrine as Eve Teschmacher: Lex Luthor's girlfriend and accomplice. Already cynical of his increasing grandiosity and disturbed by his cruelty, she saves Superman's life after learning that Luthor has launched a nuclear missile toward her mother's hometown of Hackensack, New Jersey. She shows a romantic interest in Superman, implied by her fixing her hair before she makes her presence known to him, and then by kissing him before she saves his life.
Maria Schell as Vond-Ah: Like Jor-El, a top Kryptonian scientist; but she too is not swayed by Jor-El's theories.
Terence Stamp as General Zod: Evil leader of the three Kryptonian criminals who swears vengeance against Jor-El when he is sentenced to the Phantom Zone.
Phyllis Thaxter as Martha Kent (née Clark): Clark Kent's faithful adoptive mother. A kindly woman who dotes on her adoptive son and is fiercely devoted to her husband, Jonathan. She is her son's emotional support after Clark is devastated by Jonathan's death. Thaxter was producer Ilya Salkind's mother-in-law.[14]
Susannah York as Lara: Superman's biological mother on Krypton. She, after learning of Krypton's fate, has apprehensions about sending her infant son to a strange planet alone.
Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen: A teenage photographer at the Daily Planet. Jeff East, who portrayed the teenage Clark Kent, originally auditioned for this role, but outranked following his portrayal of the teen Clark.[9]
Sarah Douglas as Ursa: General Zod's second in command and consort, sentenced to the Phantom Zone for her unethical scientific experiments.
Harry Andrews as the Second Elder: Council member, who urges Jor-El to be reasonable about plans to save Krypton.

text: Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill have cameo appearances as Lois Lane's father and mother in a deleted scene that was restored in later home media releases.[15] Alyn and Neill portrayed Superman and Lois Lane in the film serials Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), and were the first actors to portray the characters onscreen in a live-action format. Neill reprised her role in the 1950s Adventures of Superman TV series, and also appeared as Lex Luthor's elderly wife in the opening scene of the film Superman Returns (2006).

text: Larry Hagman and Rex Reed also make cameos; Hagman plays an army major in charge of a convoy that is transporting one of the missiles, and Reed plays himself as he meets Lois and Clark outside the Daily Planet headquarters.

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: Ilya Salkind had first conceived the idea for a Superman film in late 1973.[16] In November 1974, after a long, difficult process with DC Comics, the Superman film rights were purchased by Ilya, his father Alexander Salkind, and their partner Pierre Spengler. DC wanted a list of actors that were to be considered for Superman, and approved the producer's choices of Muhammad Ali, Al Pacino, James Caan, Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood and Dustin Hoffman.[14] The filmmakers felt it was best to film Superman and Superman II back-to-back, simultaneously, and to make a negative pickup deal with Warner Bros.[12] William Goldman was approached to write the screenplay, while Leigh Brackett was considered. Ilya hired Alfred Bester, who began writing a film treatment. Alexander felt, however, that Bester was not famous enough, so he hired Mario Puzo (The Godfather) to write the screenplay at a $600,000 salary.[17][18] Francis Ford Coppola, William Friedkin, Richard Lester, Peter Yates, John Guillermin, Ronald Neame and Sam Peckinpah were in negotiations to direct. Peckinpah dropped out when he produced a gun during a meeting with Ilya. George Lucas turned down the offer because of his commitment to Star Wars.[10][16]

text: Ilya wanted to hire Steven Spielberg to direct, but Alexander was skeptical, feeling it was best to "wait until [Spielberg's] big fish opens." Jaws was very successful, prompting the producers to offer Spielberg the position, but by then Spielberg had already committed to Close Encounters of the Third Kind.[16] Guy Hamilton was hired as director, while Puzo delivered his 500-page script for Superman and Superman II in July 1975.[12] Jax-Ur appeared as one of General Zod's henchmen, with Clark Kent written as a television reporter. Dustin Hoffman, who was previously considered for Superman, turned down Lex Luthor.[14][17]

text: In early 1975, Brando signed on as Jor-El with a salary of $3.7 million and 11.75% of the box office gross profits, totaling $19 million. He horrified Salkind by proposing in their first meeting that Jor-El appear as a green suitcase or a bagel with Brando's voice, but Donner used flattery to persuade the actor to portray Jor-El himself.[16] Brando hoped to use some of his salary for a proposed 13-part Roots-style miniseries on Native Americans in the United States.[19] Brando had it in his contract to complete all of his scenes in 12 days. He also refused to memorize his dialogue, so cue cards were compiled across the set. Fellow Oscar winner Hackman was cast as Lex Luthor days later. The filmmakers made it a priority to shoot all of Brando's and Hackman's footage "because they would be committed to other films immediately."[12][16] Though the Salkinds felt that Puzo had written a solid story for the two-part film, they deemed his scripts too long and so hired Robert Benton and David Newman for rewrite work. Benton became too busy directing The Late Show, so David's wife Leslie was brought in to help her husband finish writing duties.[10] George MacDonald Fraser was later hired to do some work on the script, but he says he did little.[20]

text: Their script was submitted in July 1976,[12] and carried a camp tone, including a cameo appearance by Telly Savalas as his Kojak character. The scripts for Superman and Superman II were now at over 400 pages combined.[7][21] Pre-production started at Cinecittà Studios in Rome, with sets starting construction and flying tests being unsuccessfully experimented. "In Italy," producer Ilya Salkind remembered, "we lost about $2 million [on flying tests]."[16] Marlon Brando found out he could not film in Italy because of a warrant out for his arrest: a sexual-obscenity charge from Last Tango in Paris. Production moved to England in late 1976, but Hamilton could not join because he was a tax exile.[21]

text: Mark Robson was strongly considered and was in talks to direct, but after seeing The Omen, the producers hired Richard Donner. Donner had previously been planning Damien: Omen II when he was hired in January 1977 for $1 million to direct Superman and Superman II.[22] Donner felt it was best to start from scratch. "They had prepared the picture for a year and not one bit was useful to me."[22] Donner was dissatisfied with the campy script and brought in Tom Mankiewicz to perform a rewrite. According to Mankiewicz "not a word from the Puzo script was used."[21] "It was a well-written, but still a ridiculous script. It was 550 pages. I said, 'You can't shoot this screenplay because you'll be shooting for five years'," Donner continued. "That was literally a shooting script and they planned to shoot all 550 pages. You know, 110 pages is plenty for a script, so even for two features, that was way too much."[23] Mankiewicz conceived having each Kryptonian family wear a crest resembling a different letter, justifying the 'S' on Superman's costume.[22] The Writers Guild of America refused to credit Mankiewicz for his rewrites, so Donner gave him a creative consultant credit, much to the annoyance of the Guild.[22]

text: Casting of Superman[edit]

text: It was initially decided to first sign an A-list actor for Superman before Richard Donner was hired as director. Robert Redford was offered a large sum, but felt he was too famous. Burt Reynolds also turned down the role, while Sylvester Stallone was interested, but nothing ever came of it. Paul Newman was offered his choice of roles as Superman, Lex Luthor or Jor-El for $4 million, turning down all three roles.[10]

text: When it was next decided to cast an unknown actor, casting director Lynn Stalmaster first suggested Christopher Reeve, but Donner and the producers felt he was too young and skinny.[12] Over 200 unknown actors auditioned for Superman.[24]

text: Olympic champion Bruce Jenner had auditioned for the title role.[10] Patrick Wayne was cast, but dropped out when his father John Wayne was diagnosed with stomach cancer.[22]

text: Both Neil Diamond and Arnold Schwarzenegger lobbied hard for the role, but were ignored. James Caan, James Brolin, Lyle Waggoner, Christopher Walken, Nick Nolte, Jon Voight, and Perry King were approached.[10][16] Kris Kristofferson and Charles Bronson were also considered for the title role.[25]

text: James Caan said he was offered the part but turned it down. "I just couldn't wear that suit."[26]

text: "We found guys with fabulous physique who couldn't act or wonderful actors who did not look remotely like Superman," creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz remembered. The search became so desperate that producer Ilya Salkind's wife's dentist was screen tested.[10][16]

text: Stalmaster convinced Donner and Ilya to have Reeve screen test in February 1977. Reeve stunned the director and producers, but he was told to wear a "muscle suit" to produce the desired muscular physique. Reeve refused,[13][27] undertaking a strict physical exercise regime headed by David Prowse. Prowse had wanted to portray Superman, but was denied an audition by the filmmakers because he was not American. Prowse also auditioned for Non. Reeve went from 188 to 212 pounds during pre-production and filming.[28] Reeve was paid a mere $250,000 for both Superman and Superman II, while his veteran co-stars received huge sums of money: $3.7 million for Brando and $2 million for Hackman for Superman I.[29] However, Reeve felt, "'Superman' brought me many opportunities, rather than closing a door in my face."[30] Jeff East portrays teenage Clark Kent. East's lines were overdubbed by Reeve during post-production. "I was not happy about it because the producers never told me what they had in mind," East commented. "It was done without my permission but it turned out to be okay. Chris did a good job but it caused tension between us. We resolved our issues with each other years later."[9] East also tore several thigh muscles when performing the stunt of racing alongside the train. He applied 3 to 4 hours of prosthetic makeup daily to facially resemble Reeve.[9]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Principal photography began on March 28, 1977 at Pinewood Studios for Krypton scenes, budgeted as the most expensive film ever made at that point. Since Superman was being shot simultaneously with Superman II, filming lasted 19 months, until October 1978. Filming was originally scheduled to last between seven and eight months, but problems arose during production. John Barry served as production designer, while Stuart Craig and Norman Reynolds worked as art directors. Derek Meddings and Les Bowie were credited as visual effects supervisors. Stuart Freeborn was the make-up artist, while Barry, David Tomblin, John Glen, David Lane, Robert Lynn and an uncredited Peter Duffell and André de Toth[31] directed second unit scenes. Vic Armstrong was hired as the stunt coordinator and Reeve's stunt double; his wife Wendy Leech was Kidder's double. Superman was also the final complete film by cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth, who died during post-production while working on Tess for director Roman Polanski. The Fortress of Solitude was constructed at Shepperton Studios and at Pinewood's 007 Stage.[32][33] Upon viewing the footage of Krypton, Warner Bros. decided to distribute in not only North America, but also in foreign countries. Due to complications and problems during filming, Warner Bros. also supplied $20 million and acquired television rights.[18][32]

text: New York City doubled for Metropolis, while the New York Daily News Building served as the location for the offices of the Daily Planet. Brooklyn Heights was also used.[34] Filming in New York lasted five weeks, during the time of the New York City blackout of 1977. Production moved to Alberta for scenes set in Smallville, with the cemetery scene filmed in the canyon of Beynon, Alberta, the high school football scenes at Barons, Alberta, and the Kent farm constructed at Blackie, Alberta.[35][36] Brief filming also took place in Gallup, New Mexico, Lake Mead and Grand Central Terminal.[5] Director Donner had tensions with the Salkinds and Spengler concerning the escalating production budget and the shooting schedule. Creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz reflected, "Donner never got a budget or a schedule. He was constantly told he was way over schedule and budget. At one point he said, 'Why don't you just schedule the film for the next two days, and then I'll be nine months over?'."[32] Richard Lester, who worked with the Salkinds on The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers, was then brought in as a temporary co-producer to mediate the relationship between Donner and the Salkinds,[16] who by now were refusing to talk to each other.[32] With his relationship with Spengler, Donner remarked, "At one time if I'd seen him, I would have killed him."[18]

text: Lester was offered producing credit but refused, going uncredited for his work.[32] Salkind felt that bringing a second director onto the set meant there would be someone ready in the event that Donner could not fulfill his directing duties. "Being there all the time meant he [Lester] could take over," Salkind admitted. "[Donner] couldn't make up his mind on stuff."[16] On Lester, Donner reflected, "He'd been suing the Salkinds for his money on Three and Four Musketeers, which he'd never gotten. He won a lot of his lawsuits, but each time he sued the Salkinds in one country, they'd move to another, from Costa Rica to Panama to Switzerland. When I was hired, Lester told me, 'Don't do it. Don't work for them. I was told not to, but I did it. Now I'm telling you not to, but you'll probably do it and end up telling the next guy.' Lester came in as a 'go-between'. I didn't trust Lester, and I told him. He said, 'Believe me, I'm only doing it because they're paying me the money that they owe me from the lawsuit. I'll never come onto your set unless you ask me; I'll never go to your dailies. If I can help you in any way, call me."[23]

text: It was decided to stop shooting Superman II and focus on finishing Superman. Donner had already completed 75% of the sequel.[37] The filmmakers took a risk: if Superman was a box office bomb, they would not finish Superman II. The original climax for Superman II had General Zod, Ursa, and Non destroying the planet, with Superman time traveling to fix the damage.[10]

text: Donner commented, "I decided if Superman is a success, they're going to do a sequel. If it ain't a success, a cliffhanger ain't gonna bring them to see Superman II."[22]

text: Effects[edit]

text: Superman is well known for its large-scale visual effects sequences, all of which were created before the digital age. The Golden Gate Bridge scale model stood 70 feet long and 20 feet wide. Other miniatures included the Krypton Council Dome and the Hoover Dam. Slow motion was used to simulate the vast amount of water for the Hoover Dam destruction. The Fortress of Solitude was a combination of a full-scale set and matte paintings. Young Clark Kent's long-distance football punt was executed with a wooden football loaded into an air blaster placed in the ground. The Superman costume was to be a much darker blue, but the use of blue screen made it transparent.[38]

text: The first test for the flying sequences involved simply catapulting a crash test dummy out of a cannon. Another technique had a remote control cast of Superman flying around. Both were discarded due to lack of movement. High-quality, realistic-looking animation was tried, with speed trails added to make the effect more convincing.

text: As detailed in the Superman: The Movie DVD special effects documentary 'The Magic Behind The Cape', presented by optical effects supervisor Roy Field, in the end, three techniques were used to achieve the flying effects.

text: For landings and take-offs, wire flying riggings were devised and used. On location, these were suspended from tower cranes, whereas in the studio elaborate rigs were suspended from the studio ceilings. Some of the wire-flying work was quite audacious considering computer-controlled rigs were not then available—the penultimate shot where Superman flies out of the prison yard for example. Although stuntmen were used, Reeve did much of the work himself, and was suspended as high as 50 feet in the air. Counterweights and pulleys were typically used to achieve flying movement, rather than electronic or motorized devices. The thin wires used to suspend Reeve were typically removed from the film in post-production using rotoscope techniques, although this wasn't necessary in all shots (in certain lighting conditions or when Superman is very distant in the frame, the wires were more or less imperceptible).

text: For stationary shots where Superman is seen flying toward or away from the camera, blue screen matte techniques were used. Reeve would be photographed suspended against a blue screen. While a special device made his cape flap to give the illusion of movement, the actor himself would remain stationary (save for banking his body). Instead, the camera would use a mixture of long zoom-ins and zoom-outs and dolly in/dolly outs to cause him to become larger or smaller in the frame. The blue background would then be photochemically removed and Reeve's isolated image would be 'inserted' into a matted area of a background plate shot. The zoom-ins or zoom-outs would give the appearance of flying away or toward the contents of the background plate. The disparity in lighting and color between the matted image and the background plate, the occasional presence of black matte lines (where the matte area and the matted image—in this case, Superman—do not exactly match up), and the slightly unconvincing impression of movement achieved through the use of zoom lenses is characteristic of these shots.

text: Where the shot is tracking with Superman as he flies (such as in the Superman and Lois Metropolis flying sequence), front projection was used. This involved photographing the actors suspended in front of a background image dimly projected from the front onto a special screen made by 3M that would reflect light back at many times the original intensity directly into a combined camera/projector. The result was a very clear and intense photographic reproduction of both the actors and the background plate, with far less image deterioration or lighting problems than occur with rear projection.

text: A technique was developed that combined the front projection effect with specially designed zoom lenses.[38] The illusion of movement was created by zooming in on Reeve while making the front projected image appear to recede. For scenes where Superman interacts with other people or objects while in flight, Reeve and actors were put in a variety of rigging equipment with careful lighting and photography.[38] This also led to the creation of the Zoptic system.[39]

text: The highly reflective costumes worn by the Kryptonians are made of the same 3M material used for the front projection screens and were the result of an accident during Superman flying tests. "We noticed the material lit up on its own," Donner explained. "We tore the material into tiny pieces and glued it on the costumes, designing a front projection effect for each camera. There was a little light on each camera, and it would project into a mirror, bounce out in front of the lens, hit the costume, [and] millions of little glass beads would light up and bring the image back into the camera."[22]

text: Music[edit]

text: Jerry Goldsmith, who scored Donner's The Omen, was originally set to compose Superman. Portions of Goldsmith's work from Capricorn One were used in Superman's teaser trailer. He dropped out over scheduling conflicts and John Williams was hired. Williams conducted the London Symphony Orchestra to record the soundtrack.[40] The music was one of the last pieces to come into place. Williams liked that the film did not take itself too seriously and that it had a theatrical camp feel to it.[10] Kidder was supposed to sing "Can You Read My Mind?," the lyrics to which were written by Leslie Bricusse, but Donner disliked it and changed it to a composition accompanied by a voiceover.[5] Maureen McGovern eventually recorded the single, "Can You Read My Mind?," in 1979, although the song did not appear on the film soundtrack. It became a mid-chart hit on the Billboard Hot 100 that year (#52), spending three weeks at number five on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart, as well as making lesser appearances on the corresponding Canadian charts. It was also a very minor hit on the U.S. Country chart, reaching #93. The score earned John Williams an Academy Award nomination, but he lost to Giorgio Moroder's score for Midnight Express.[41]

text: 2000 Rhino Complete album[edit]

text:
[show]Disc One

No.
Title
Length

1.
"Prelude and Main Title March**"
5:30

2.
"The Planet Krypton**"
6:40

3.
"Destruction of Krypton**"
7:52

4.
"Star Ship Escapes*"
2:21

5.
"The Trip to Earth"
2:29

6.
"Growing Up**"
2:35

7.
"Death of Jonathan Kent*"
3:24

8.
"Leaving Home"
4:52

9.
"The Fortress of Solitude**"
9:18

10.
"Welcome to Metropolis*"
2:12

11.
"Lex Luthor's Lair**"
4:48

12.
"The Big Rescue*"
5:55

13.
"Super Crime Fighter**"
3:20

14.
"Super Rescues**"
2:14

15.
"Luthor's Luau (Source)*"
2:48

16.
"The Planet Krypton (Alternate)**"
4:25

17.
"Main Title March (Alternate)"
4:37

text:
[show]Disc Two

No.
Title
Length

1.
"Superman March (Alternate)**"
3:49

2.
"The March of the Villains"
3:36

3.
"The Terrace*"
1:34

4.
"The Flying Sequence"
8:14

5.
"Lois and Clark*"
0:50

6.
"Crime of the Century*"
3:24

7.
"Sonic Greeting*"
2:22

8.
"Misguided Missiles and Kryptonite*"
3:27

9.
"Chasing Rockets**"
4:55

10.
"Superfeats**"
4:53

11.
"Super Dam and Finding Lois**"
5:11

12.
"Turning Back the World"
2:07

13.
"Finale and End Title March**"
5:42

14.
"Love Theme from Superman"
5:06

15.
"Can You Read My Mind (Alternate)*"
2:58

16.
"The Flying Sequence / Can You Read My Mind"
8:10

17.
"Can You Read My Mind (Alternate Instrumental)*"
2:57

18.
"Theme from Superman (Concert Version)"
4:24

text: Themes[edit]

text:
"You will travel far, my little Kal-El. But we will never leave you, even in the face of our deaths. The richness of our lives shall be yours. All that I have, all that I've learned, everything I feel—all this and more I bequeath you, my son. You will carry me inside you all the days of your life. You will make my strength your own, and see my life through your eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father and the father the son. This is all I, all I can send you, Kal-El."

 – Jor-El

tag: div

text: Superman is divided into three basic sections, each having a distinct theme and visual style. The first segment, set on Krypton, is meant to be typical of science fiction films, but also lays the groundwork for an analogy that emerges in the relationship between Jor-El and Kal-El. The second segment, set in Smallville, is reminiscent of 1950s films, and its small-town atmosphere is meant to evoke a Norman Rockwell painting. The third (and largest) segment, set mostly in Metropolis, was an attempt to present the superhero story with as much realism as possible (what Donner called "verisimilitude"), relying on traditional cinematic drama and using only subtle humor instead of a campy approach.[5]

text: In each of the three acts, the mythic status of Superman is enhanced by events that recall the hero's journey (or monomyth) as described by Joseph Campbell. Each act has a discernible cycle of "call" and journey. The journey is from Krypton to Earth in the first act, from Smallville to the Fortress of Solitude in the second act, and then from Metropolis to the whole world in the third act.[42]

text: Many have noted the examples of apparent Christian symbolism. Donner, Tom Mankiewicz and Ilya Salkind have commented on the use of Christian references to discuss the themes of Superman.[5][10] Mankiewicz deliberately fostered analogies with Jor-El (God) and Kal-El (Jesus).[21] Donner is somewhat skeptical of Mankiewicz' actions, joking "I got enough death threats because of that."[5]

text: Several concepts and items of imagery have been used in Biblical comparisons. Jor-El casts out General Zod from Krypton, a parallel to the casting out of Satan from Heaven.[5] The spacecraft that brings Kal-El to Earth is in the form of a star (Star of Bethlehem). Kal-El comes to Jonathan and Martha Kent, who are unable to have children. Martha Kent states, "All these years how we've prayed and prayed that the good Lord would see fit to give us a child," which was compared to the Virgin Mary.[5]

text: Just as little is known about Jesus during his middle years, Clark travels into the wilderness to find out who he is and what he has to do. Jor-El says, "Live as one of them, Kal-El, to discover where your strength and power are needed. But always hold in your heart the pride of your special heritage. They can be a great people, Kal-El, and they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you, my only son."[5] The theme resembles the Biblical account of God sending his only son Jesus to Earth in hope for the good of mankind. More were seen when Donner was able to complete Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, featuring the fall, resurrection and his battle with evil. Another vision was that of The Creation of Adam.[5]

text: The Christian imagery in the Reeve films has provoked comment on the Jewish origins of Superman. Rabbi Simcha Weinstein's book Up, Up and Oy Vey: How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero, says that Superman is both a pillar of society and one whose cape conceals a "nebbish", saying "He's a bumbling, nebbish Jewish stereotype. He's Woody Allen."[43][44] Ironically, it is also in the Reeve films that Clark Kent's persona has the greatest resemblance to Woody Allen, though his conscious model was Cary Grant's character in Bringing Up Baby. This same theme is pursued about 1940s superheroes generally in Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero by Danny Fingeroth.[43][44]

text: In the scene where Lois Lane interviews Superman on the balcony, Superman replies, "I never lie." Salkind felt this was an important point in the film, since Superman, living under his secret identity as Clark Kent, is "telling the biggest lie of all time." His romance with Lois also leads him to contradict Jor-El's orders to avoid altering human history, time traveling to save her from dying. Superman instead takes the advice of Jonathan Kent, his father on Earth.[10]

text: Release[edit]

text: Superman was originally scheduled to be released in June 1978, the 40th anniversary of Action Comics 1, which first introduced Superman, but the problems during filming pushed the film back by six months. Editor Stuart Baird reflected, "Filming was finished in October 1978 and it is a miracle we had the film released two months later. Big-budgeted films today tend to take six to eight months."[32] Donner, for his part, wished that he had "had another six months; I would have perfected a lot of things. But at some point, you've gotta turn the picture over."[23] Warner Bros. spent $7 million to market and promote the film.[18]

text: Superman premiered at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C. on December 10, 1978, with director Richard Donner and several cast members in attendance. Three days later, on December 13, it had a European Royal Charity Premiere at the Empire, Leicester Square in London in the presence of HM Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew. It went on to gross $134.21 million in North America and $166 million internationally, totaling $300.21 million worldwide.[3] Superman was the second-highest-grossing film of 1978 (behind only Grease), and became the sixth-highest-grossing film of all time after its theatrical run. It was also Warner Bros.' most successful film at the time.[32]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: Based on 53 reviews and an average rating of 8/10 collected by Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of reviewers enjoyed Superman, with the consensus, "Superman deftly blends humor and gravitas, taking advantage of the perfectly cast Reeve to craft a loving, nostalgic tribute to an American pop culture icon."[45] By comparison, Metacritic collected an average score of 88, resulting in "universal acclaim", based on 12 reviews.[46] The film was widely regarded as one of top 10 films of 1978.[47][48][49] Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster gave a positive reaction.[14] Shuster was "delighted to see Superman on the screen. I got chills. Chris Reeve has just the right touch of humor. He really is Superman."[7]

text: Roger Ebert gave a very positive review. "Superman is a pure delight, a wondrous combination of all the old-fashioned things we never really get tired of: adventure and romance, heroes and villains, earthshaking special effects and wit. Reeve is perfectly cast in the role. Any poor choice would have ruined the film."[50] Ebert placed the film on his 10 best list of 1978.[51] He would later go on to place it on his "Great Movies" list.[52] James Berardinelli believed "there's no doubt that it's a flawed movie, but it's one of the most wonderfully entertaining flawed movies made during the 1970s. It's exactly what comic book fans hoped it would be. Perhaps most heartening of all, however, is the message at the end of the credits announcing the impending arrival of Superman II."[53] Harry Knowles is a longtime fan of the film, but was critical of elements that did not represent the Superman stories as seen in the comics.[54] Dave Kehr felt "the tone, style, and point of view change almost from shot to shot. This is the definitive corporate film. It is best when it takes itself seriously, worst when it takes the easy way out in giggly camp. When Lex Luthor enters the action, Hackman plays the arch-villain like a hairdresser left over from a TV skit."[55] Neal Gabler similarly felt that the film focused too much on shallow comedy. He also argued that the film should have adhered more to the spirit of Mario Puzo's original script, and referred to the first three Superman films collectively as "simply puffed-up TV episodes."[56]

text: The television broadcasts[edit]

text: While, by contract, Richard Donner had major editorial control over what was theatrically released, the Salkinds had editorial control on what was shown outside of theaters. This was the result of deals that had been made between the producers and the ABC television network prior to the film's release. Financially, the more footage that was restored for television, the more revenue that could be made for the broadcast (the producers charged by the minute for every bit of footage added back in). During production of the film, Alexander and Ilya Salkind had been relegated to having to sell more and more of their rights back to Warner Bros. in exchange for financial help[citation needed], which is why Warner Bros. would have theatrical and home video distribution rights. So by 1981 when the television rights reverted to the Salkinds, the producers prepared a 3-hour and 8-minute version for worldwide television reincorporating some 45 minutes of footage and music deleted from the theatrical cut, and specially prepared so that networks and stations can re-edit their own version at their discretion. This edit is commonly known as the "Salkind International Television Cut". All subsequent network television cuts were derived from this version.

text: ABC aired the broadcast television debut of Superman over two nights in February, 1982, with a majority of the unused footage. The 182-minute network cut (which was slightly cut down for content) was repeated in November of that same year, this time in its entirety in one evening. The remaining two ABC broadcasts were presented in its original theatrical version.

text: When the TV rights reverted back to Warner Bros. in 1985, CBS aired the film one last time on network television in its theatrical version. When the movie entered the syndication[57] market in 1988 (following a play-out run on pay cable[58][59]) TV stations were offered the extended cut or the theatrical cut. The stations that showed the extended cut[58] edited the second half to add more advertising time and "previously on..." cutback scenes just as ABC had done in 1982.

text: In 1994 (following a pay-cable reissue and its obligatory run on USA Network), Warner Bros. Television syndicated the full 188-minute international television version, most famously on a Los Angeles television station. The most notable additions unseen on U.S. television were two additional scenes never seen before, in addition to what had been previously reinstated.[8] This version also surfaced outside of Los Angeles. For example, WJLA Channel 7, an ABC affiliate out of Washington, D.C., aired the extended cut in July 1994. Because its first known airing was on Los Angeles television station KCOP, it is also known in fan circles as the "KCOP Version".

text: When Michael Thau and Warner Home Video started working on a film restoration in 2000, some of the extra footage was not added because of poor visual effects. Thau felt "the pace of the film's storyline would be adversely affected [and there were] timing problems matching [footage] with John Williams' [sic] musical score, etc… The cut of the movie shown on KCOP was put together to make the movie longer when shown on TV as the Television Station paid per minute to air the movie. The "Special Edition" cut is designed for the best viewing experience in the true spirit of movie making."[60] There was a special test screening of the Special Edition in 2001 in Austin, Texas, on March 23 with plans for a possible wider theatrical release later that year, which did not occur.[61] In May 2001, Warner Home Video released the special edition on DVD.[62] Director Donner also assisted, working slightly over a year on the project. The release included making-of documentaries directed by Thau and eight minutes of restored footage.[63]

text: Thau explained, "I worked on Ladyhawke and that's how I really met Dick [Donner] and Tom Mankiewicz. I used to hear those wonderful stories in the cutting room that Tom and Dick and Stuart would tell about Superman and that's how I kind of got the ideas for the plots of 'Taking Flight' and 'Making Superman'".[63] Donner commented, "There are a few shots where Chris [Reeve]'s costume looked green. We went in and cleaned that up, bringing the color back to where it should be."[64] Thau wanted to make the film shorter: "I wanted to take out the damn poem where Lois is reciting a poem ["Can You Read My Mind"] when they're flying around. I also wanted to take out a lot of that car chase where it was just generic action… It was like a two-minute car chase. But Dick didn't want to take [that] out [or] the poem."[63] It was followed by a box set release in the same month, containing "bare bones" editions of Superman II, Superman III, and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.[65] In November 2006, a four-disc special edition was released,[66] followed by an HD DVD release[67] and Blu-ray.[68] Also available (with other films) is the nine-disc "Christopher Reeve Superman Collection"[69] and the 14-disc "Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition."[70]

text: There were various extended TV versions each broadcast in various countries. Most of these are in pan and scan, as they were made in the 1980s, when films were not letterboxed to preserve the theatrical aspect ratio on old TVs.

text: Until 2017, it was thought the quality of the extended network TV version was inferior to any theatrical or previous home video release because it was mastered in 16mm (using the "film chain system") and a mono sound mix done, as by the time the extended cut was prepared in 1981, stereo was not available in television broadcasts (16mm television prints were in fact made and mastered on NTSC Standard Definition video for the initial ABC network broadcasts). However, during an inventory of the Warner Bros. library, an IP master of the full 188-minute television version was discovered. This eight-reel master was not marked with an aspect ratio, but the print was inspected and, as it turned out, was in the proper 2.35:1 Panavision ratio. This was the source of the Warner Archive Collection Blu-Ray release of what would officially be called the "Superman: The Movie Extended Cut", issued on October 3, 2017.[71] The new video release was visually restored by WB's imaging department, and, other than the opening and end credits (which are in true stereo), the film is presented in an enhanced version of the mono TV sound mix. It should be noted, however, that eight of the 45 minutes of extended scenes that were used in the later 2000 director's cut restoration (which is also included in the new video release) were taken from restored elements.

text: Legacy[edit]

text: Superman was nominated for three Academy Awards (Best Film Editing – (Stuart Baird), Best Original Score – (John Williams) and Best Sound – (Gordon K. McCallum, Graham V. Hartstone, Nicolas Le Messurier and Roy Charman))[72] and received a Special Achievement Academy Award for its visual effects. Donner publicly expressed disgust that production designer John Barry and cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth had not been recognized by the Academy.[22]

text: Superman was successful at the 32nd British Academy Film Awards. Reeve won Best Newcomer, while Hackman, Unsworth, Barry, and the sound designers earned nominations.[citation needed] The film won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.[citation needed] At the Saturn Awards, Kidder, Barry, John Williams, and the visual effects department received awards, and the film won Best Science Fiction Film. Reeve, Hackman, Donner, Valerie Perrine, and costume designer Yvonne Blake were nominated for their work as well.[citation needed] In addition, Williams was nominated at the 36th Golden Globe Awards and won the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.[citation needed] In 2007, the Visual Effects Society listed Superman as the 44th-most influential use of visual effects of all time.[73] In 2008, Empire magazine named it the 174th-greatest film of all time on its list of 500.[74] In 2009, Entertainment Weekly ranked Superman 3rd on their list of The All-Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture.[75]

text: With the film's success, it was immediately decided to finish Superman II. Ilya and Alexander Salkind and Pierre Spengler did not ask Donner to return because Donner had criticized them during the film's publicity phase.[10] Donner commented in January 1979, "I'd work with Spengler again, but only on my terms. As long as he has nothing to say as the producer, and is just liaison between Alexander Salkind and his money, that's fine. If they don't want it on those terms, then they need to go out and find another director, it sure as shit ain't gonna be me."[23] Kidder, who portrayed Lois Lane, was dissatisfied by the producers' decision,[32] and also criticized the Salkinds during publicity. As a result, Kidder was only given a cameo appearance for Superman III, and not a main supporting role.[76] Jack O'Halloran, who portrayed Non, stated, "It was great to work with Donner. Richard Lester was as big an asshole as the Salkinds."[77] Two more films, Superman III (1983) and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), were produced. Superman Returns was released in 2006. Director Bryan Singer credited the 1978 Superman as an influence for Superman Returns, and used restored footage of Brando as Jor-El. Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut also was released in 2006.[33]

text: The film's final sequence, which features Superman flying high above the Earth at sunrise, and breaking the fourth wall to smile briefly at the camera, featured at the end of every Superman film starring Reeve and was re-shot with Brandon Routh for Superman Returns.

text: The series was rebooted with Man of Steel in 2013.

text: Because Superman went into production prior to the releases of Star Wars (May 1977) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (November 1977), some observers credit the three films collectively for launching the reemergence of a large market for science fiction films in the 1980s. This is certainly the view of Superman producer Ilya Salkind and some who have interviewed him,[10][16] as well as of film production assistant Brad Lohan.[78] Other observers of film history tend to credit the resurgence of science fiction films simply to the Lucas and Spielberg productions, and see Superman as the first of the new cycle of films launched by the first two.[79] Ilya Salkind denies any connection between Superman—which began filming in March 1977—and the other films, stating that "I did not know about 'Star Wars'; 'Star Wars' did not know about 'Superman'; 'Close Encounters' did not know about 'Superman.' It really was completely independent—nobody knew anything about anybody."[16] Superman also established the superhero film genre as viable outside the production of low-budget Saturday matinee serials. Director Christopher Nolan cited Richard Donner's vision and scope of Superman when pitching the concept for Batman Begins to Warner Bros. in 2002.[80]

text: The movie inspired The Kinks' 1979 song "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman", when the band's main songwriter, Ray Davies, watched the film in late 1978.[81]

text: In 2006 the "Last Son" comic book story arc debuted in Action Comics, co-written by Superman director Richard Donner.[citation needed]

text: The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

text:
2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains:

Superman (Clark Kent) – #26 Hero[82]
Lex Luthor – Nominated Villain[83]

2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:

"Can You Read My Mind?" – Nominated[84]

2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:

Superman: "I'm here to fight for truth, justice, and the American way." – Nominated[85]

2005: AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated[86]
2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – Nominated[87]
2008: AFI's 10 Top 10:

Nominated Fantasy Film[88]

text: Comic book continuity[edit]

text: Elements of the Superman mythos which originated in the film have since been incorporated into the regular continuity of the DC Comics universe:

text:
The crystalline-based technology of the planet Krypton.,[89] along with the barren landscapes and cold, distant society.[90]
Superman's "S" logo originates as the El family crest.[citation needed]
Ursa and Non—characters created specifically for the film—are imprisoned in the Phantom Zone with General Zod.[91]
A computer-generated simulacrum of Jor-El survives in the Fortress of Solitude to advise his adult son Kal-El.[89]
Clark Kent commences his public superhero career as the adult Superman, rather than the teenage Superboy.[92] (This is also in keeping with the character's earliest incarnation, who also began his superhero career as an adult.)
Lois Lane first meets Superman when he rescues her as she falls from a disabled helicopter in Metropolis.[93]
Lois is the one who first names the hero "Superman."[94]
Jonathan Kent dies of a heart attack, but Martha survives as his widow.[95]
Although she is an excellent reporter, Lois frequently misspells words.[93]