Superman (1978) on Netflix
PG19782h 23mActionAdventureDrama
Sent from the dying planet Krypton, Kal-El is raised in Kansas by Jonathan and Martha Kent as Clark. Grown, he hides his powers as a Metropolis reporter while Lex Luthor plots.
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- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb7.4/10208,949 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes87%
Trailer
Plot summary
On Krypton, the scientist Jor-El warns the ruling council that the planet is doomed, but they refuse to listen. He and Lara, his wife, send their baby son Kal-El to Earth in a starship. The craft lands near Smallville, Kansas, where farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent take him in and name him Clark. He grows up keeping his abilities hidden, until a green crystal from the ship calls him north to the Arctic, where a fortress of ice rises and Jor-El's hologram explains his origins. In a suit bearing his family's crest, he is warned not to change human history. In Metropolis he becomes a reporter at the Daily Planet and meets Lois Lane, saving her from a helicopter accident. His rescues make him famous, and Lois names him Superman. The criminal mastermind Lex Luthor is putting a plan together.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Superman (1978)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Brando signed on as Jor-El in early 1975 for $3.7 million and 11.75% of the box office gross profits, totaling $19 million, and horrified Salkind by proposing at their first meeting that Jor-El appear as a suitcase or a green bagel with Brando's voice, until Donner flattered him into playing the part.
- Reeve went from 188 lb to 212 lb during pre-production and filming, yet earned only $250,000 for both Superman and Superman II, while his veteran co-stars took huge sums: $3.7 million for Brando and $2 million for Hackman on Superman alone.
- Brando sued the Salkinds and Warner Bros. for $50 million because he felt cheated out of his share of the box office profits, and that suit stopped his footage from being used in Richard Lester's version of Superman II.
- Paul Newman was offered his choice of roles as Superman, Lex Luthor or Jor-El for $4 million, and turned down all three.
- Jeff East, who portrays the teenage Clark Kent, had his lines overdubbed by Reeve during post-production, and said he was not happy about it because the producers never told him what they had in mind.
- Brando had it written into his contract that all of his scenes be completed in twelve days, and he also refused to memorize his dialogue, so cue cards were compiled across the set.
- Superman was the final complete film by cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth, who died during post-production while working on Tess for director Roman Polanski.
- Vic Armstrong was hired as the stunt coordinator and Reeve's stunt double, while his wife Wendy Leech worked as Kidder's double on the film.
