Superman (1978)

As the planet Krypton approaches destruction from its sun, a scientist (Marlon Brando) sends his infant son to the planet Earth in another galaxy. There, he will grow into a young man (Christopher Reeve) with super powers known as Superman. But he has an alternate identity, that of a mild mannered news reporter named Clark Kent. Based on the Action comic books first published in 1938 and created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and directed by Richard Donner (THE OMEN). This delightful family friendly superhero film remains the pinnacle of film adaptations of comic superheroes (sorry,, Batman). The phrase "He was born to play this part" is a cliche but sorry, I have to say it. Christopher Reeve was born to play Superman. He perfectly encapsulates the stiff jawed all American purveyor of justice but with a twinkle in his eye. The plot dealing with master villain Lex Luthor's (Gene Hackman) attempts to destroy California in order to make his land holdings increase in value is simplistic (keeping true to its comic book roots) but Donner doesn't rush through action sequence to action sequence, instead taking the time to savor the characters and occasionally witty dialog. Performances are fine all around although I could have done without the painfully unfunny antics of Ned Beatty as Hackman's dumb henchman. The John Williams score is marvelous. The large cast includes Margot Kidder (as Lois Lane), Glenn Ford, Trevor Howard, Valerie Perrine, Terence Stamp, Maria Schell, Phyllis Thaxter, Harry Andrews and Jackie Cooper.