History Film / Superman

** Pa Kent, too: "Been showing off a bit, haven't you, son?" He follows it with a lecture that Clark is "[[ComesGreatResponsibility here for a reason]]." And then suffers a fatal heart attack. Which was portrayed beautifully by Glenn Ford. Yes, ''that Glenn Ford''.

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: To this day, you can send scientifically knowledgeable folks into a boiling rage by mentioning the "spin the Earth backwards to reverse time" ending of the first film.
** Or the earth is spinning backwards because time was being turned backwards by Superman flying faster than the speed of light. It's still ridiculous, but just not that ridiculous.
** Or the Earth was spinning backwards from Superman's perspective as he traveled faster than the speed of light in order to travel back in time. Thus he can stop both rockets in time because there are now two of him present until the one who didn't go to save Lois [[TimeyWimeyBall goes back in time to complete the loop]] and save her life again (off-screen of course).

** Strongly implied with the girl whose mother slaps her for "telling lies" about a flying man.

Produced (concurrently with its first sequel) in the late 1970s and released in 1978, ''Superman'' almost wasn't even made, since the studio feared it would be two hours of campiness in the vein of the 1960s ''{{Franchise/Batman}}'' [[{{Series/Batman}} TV series]]. This was averted when the producers secured the commitment of Oscar-winners MarlonBrando and GeneHackman to appear in it and a screenplay written by Mario Puzo (''Film/TheGodfather'') was approved, after which Creator/RichardDonner was hired to direct and history was made. Part of what Donner did to make it so good was his commitment to verisimilitude, an artistic ambience to the story that makes the whole SuperHero concept feel real on a gut level. The fact that it employed innovative visual effects to make Superman's flying look convincing helped further that goal as well.

The film was followed by 1980's ''Film/SupermanII'', 1983's ''Film/SupermanIII'', and 1987's ''Film/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace'', as well as the related (and unsuccessful) 1984 spinoff ''Film/{{Supergirl}}''. The last two films did poorly with critics and the box office, which caused a planned fifth film to sit in DevelopmentHell for nearly two decades. Writers and directors such as Creator/TimBurton and KevinSmith attempted to reboot the franchise with their own unique takes, but had no success in convincing Warner Bros. to greenlight the project. In 2006, the fabled fifth film was finally released: ''Film/SupermanReturns'', both a sequel and a SpiritualSuccessor to the first two films, was released, directed by BryanSinger of the ''Film/XMen'' film series fame. Unfortunately, the film proved too slavish a retread of the Donner film's plotting and BrandonRouth just could not emerge out of Reeve's shadow; it became a disappointment that finally killed the series.

A DarkerAndEdgier reboot of the film franchise, ''Film/ManOfSteel'', was released in 2013, to generally decent box office success, but mixed reviews. A second planned film, a CrossOver co-starring the Franchise/{{Batman}}, was announced at Comic-Con in July 2013.

-->-- '''End line of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twyYIPhSa3U one Trailer]]'''

-->-- '''End line of one Trailer'''

A DarkerAndEdgier reboot of the film franchise, ''Film/ManOfSteel'', was released in 2013, to generally decent box office success and reviews. A second planned film, a CrossOver co-starring the Franchise/{{Batman}}, was announced at Comic-Con in July 2013.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The films are usually good about avoiding it, but the first guy who sees Superman in costume is unquestionably from the '70s.

-->'''Otis:''' Looks like a burnoose... (''Luthor shakes his head'') Gasp! Are we going to Addis Ababa, Mr. Luthor!?

-->'''Miss Teschmacher:''' "Get Out!"

-->'''Superman:''' You diseased maniac! You think you can hide it from me by encasing it in lead? [''Throws Luthor across the room.''] I'l mold this box into your prison bars.

* CarloadOfCoolKids: Played straight: a car full of teenagers (who are entirely irrelevant to the plot after this point) drive up to call him a loser. Leads to a slight WhosLaughingNow moment when Clark Kent uses his super speed to beat them home.

** Pa Kent, too: "Been showing off a bit, haven't you, son?" He follows it with a lecture that Clark is "[[ComesGreatResponsibility here for a reason]]." And then suffers a fatal heart attack. Which was portrayed beautifully by Glenn Ford. Yes, ''[[TheBlackboardJungle that Glenn Ford]]''.

-->'''Otis:''' Looks like a burnoose... ''Luthor shakes his head.'' Gasp! Are we going to Addis Ababa, Mr. Luthor!?

** Of course, there's RealitySubtext to the Mood Whiplash. Richard Donner dealt with ExecutiveMeddling in the form of Richard Lester, so the film veers wildly between comedy and drama.

* ThrowItIn: Gene Hackman's "Come in, it's open!" in the first film after Superman breaks the door down is said to be an ad-lib.

* MoneyDearBoy: MarlonBrando received an infamously huge salary for the first film. He wanted even more for the second one, which led to [[ExecutiveMeddling all his scenes being cut, Richard Donner fired for supporting him, and Margot Kidder being given all of two scenes in ''Part 3'' for supporting Donner]].

* ExecutiveMeddling: Lots of it.

* DoingItForTheArt: Richard Donner made "verisimilitude" his mission for the movies. He wanted it to feel real, which was no easy feat. There's a reason why "you'll believe a man can fly" is the tagline, though.

* DeletedScene: Included in some foreign cinema releases and TV airings before the DVD release included them all.
** An unusual case where no deleted scene(s) exist, but the editing of the movie makes it appear as if there is. Luther and his cronies are shown [[ContrivedCoincidence discussing the idea of travelling to Africa to obtain a piece of Superman's home planet]]. The scene ends with them preparing for their trip. ''The very next scene'' takes place in a mountainous area of the United States where suddenly Luther and his gang execute their hijack of the nuclear missile. The sudden narrative jump to this day has people wondering if there wasn't an entire sequence of events between the two sequences - i.e. the Addis Ababa caper, or at least a transitional scene involving Superman - that was filmed and cut.
*** Actually, the film seemed to suggest that Luther and Company didn't go to Addis Ababa after all, and that Luther stole the kryptonite from the Metropolis Museum - remember when Perry White was giving Clark a lecture on how he should be more aggressive, he mentions that the Museum was broken into and two security guards were killed - but all that was stolen was a piece of meteorite...

* DawsonCasting: A minor case. In the extended edition, Lois Lane is the young girl the teenage Clark waves to as he's running past her train, implying that Lois Lane is a number of years younger than Clark Kent. Margot Kidder, however, is four years older than her co-star Christopher Reeve.
** Slight reversal in the case of Reeve. Although Superman only says "Over 21" when asked about his age, it's later stated that he arrived on Earth in 1948 after a 3-year journey (consistent with apparent age of young Clark as he came out of the spaceship). Assuming the movie takes place circa 1978, the year it was released, that puts Superman in at least his early 30s, but Reeve was only in his mid-20s.

* {{Fainting}}: Lois Lane does the Emotional Faint version after Superman saves her from falling to her death.

*** Actually, the film seemed to suggest that Luther and Company didn't got to Addis Ababa after all, and that Luther stole the kryptonite from the Metropolis Museum - remember when Perry White was giving Clark a lecture on how he should be more aggressive, he mentions that the Museum was broken into and two security guards were killed - but all that was stolen was a piece of meteorite...