Superman: The Movie (1978) – Review

Lets start by showing yall the trailers shall we?

Before diving into the plot or anything else, let’s take a moment to honor someone important to this legacy: Gene Hackman, who passed away in February 2025. Gene and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, both died within a week of each other in their Santa Fe home. Betsy passed from a rare disease called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, while Gene died of heart disease, with advanced Alzheimer’s contributing. There’s a haunting sadness to it — reportedly, Gene may not have even realized his wife had passed. A quiet, tragic end for a titan of cinema. So let’s give this man his flowers. He brought Lex Luthor to life in a way no one else had, and regardless of how you feel about this version of Lex, Hackman’s charisma was undeniable. Rest in peace.

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Opening Thoughts

This film is where it all began for live-action Superman. I didn’t grow up on this version, but it’s a fascinating time capsule of 1970s superhero cinema. It feels slow-paced by today’s standards, but there’s something charming about its sincerity. This Superman doesn’t throw punches every five minutes — instead, it’s about hope, truth, justice, and a whole lot of wirework.

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Non-Spoiler Plot Rundown

The story opens on Krypton, where Jor-El (Marlon Brando) sends his infant son Kal-El to Earth before their planet explodes. Baby Kal is found by Jonathan and Martha Kent and raised as Clark in Smallville. He eventually discovers his alien heritage, moves to Metropolis, becomes Superman, works as Clark Kent at the Daily Planet, and meets Lois Lane. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor has a bizarrely real estate-centered evil plan involving nuclear missiles and the California fault line.

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Character & Actor Breakdown

• Superman / Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) – He’s got the look, the charm, the decency… but not a lot of depth. He’s nice. Like painfully nice. You get why he’s Superman, but sometimes it’s a bit too simple. There’s no inner turmoil or layers — he’s just the perfect golden boy.
• Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) – Honestly? Kinda forgettable. She’s not awful, but there’s not much to her beyond being “the love interest.”
• Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) – The best way to describe this Lex is… landlord villain. He smokes cigars, wears bad wigs, and wants to destroy California real estate for profit. It’s cartoonish, but Hackman sells it. He’s theatrical and eccentric, and even though the plan is dumb, you kind of enjoy watching him chew scenery.
• Zod and his gang (briefly introduced here) – They’ll matter more in the sequel, but their presence is felt, and the actors do a solid job setting up that cosmic threat.
• Nuclear Man / Richard Pryor villain (for context) – Just noting for later entries, the Superman rogues gallery in these films goes downhill. Pryor in Part III is more of a walking SNL sketch than a threat.

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Pros:

• The iconic John Williams score. Easily one of the best superhero themes ever created.
• The flight effects for the time were pretty revolutionary.
• Christopher Reeve looks like Superman stepped off the page.
• The hopeful tone is a refreshing contrast to later dark, broody reboots.
• Gene Hackman — even with goofy material — still brings energy and personality to Lex.
• Also this film gave us one the most iconic superman songs of all time.

Cons:

• Lex Luthor’s plan being about land feels more Mr. Monopoly than criminal mastermind.
• The pacing drags in places.
• Superman feels a little too perfect. You want more nuance, more emotional struggle.
• Lois is underwritten.
• The time-reversal ending (yes, Superman flies around the Earth to reverse time) is nonsense.
• Lex Luthor’s “Genius” Plan: The Dumbest Mastermind in Metropolis
  
  I don’t care what era this film came from—Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor is not a criminal mastermind. He’s a delusional landlord with access to nukes. His grand scheme? Detonate a nuclear bomb on the San Andreas Fault to sink California into the ocean so his desert land becomes the new West Coast.
  
  And then… sell it as prime real estate.
  
  I’m sorry, what?
  
  You just nuked half the country. Who’s buying land from you, Lex? The cockroaches? Everyone else is either dead, irradiated, or trying to evacuate the fallout zone with a melted face. There’s no government left. No economy. No Starbucks. Just scorched dirt and tumors.
  
  And he has the nerve to say it like it’s some genius business move. Like he’s pitching it on Shark Tank.
  
  The real kicker is: Lex Luthor is supposed to be the smartest man alive. He should be inventing world-changing tech, manipulating global markets, or at least building an evil robot army. Instead, he’s just a war criminal in a turtleneck screaming about property value.
  
  > “I have a plan! I’m gonna nuke the entire country and then build a resort!”
  
  Bro… no one’s gonna be alive to go to your damn resort.
  
  Or as I so eloquently put it while watching this:
  
  “No dumbass, no one would be alive because you nuked them.”
  
  
  
  That’s not Lex Luthor. That’s just your weird uncle with a Zillow addiction and a grudge.
  

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Final Thoughts:

It’s not the Superman movie I grew up with, but I get the appeal. There’s a nostalgic magic here. It’s sincere and optimistic, with a Superman who represents the best of us — but the film also feels trapped in a less complicated time. It’s a product of its era: earnest, a little goofy, and surprisingly heartfelt. Is it perfect? Nah. Is it essential viewing? Yeah.

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Rating: 7/10

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Spoiler Warning ⚠️

Spoilers ahead for the third act!

So Lex’s master plan is to nuke the San Andreas fault so California falls into the ocean. Superman fails to stop both missiles, and one actually triggers an earthquake. Lois Lane gets trapped in her car and dies (??), so Superman — and I swear this is real — flies around the Earth so fast that he reverses time and saves her.

Yup. That’s the climax. He flies backward to undo death. It’s not even explained. It just… happens. Because Superman is that powerful, I guess?

It’s a weirdly magical ending that doesn’t quite match the rest of the film’s tone. But hey — that John Williams score makes everything feel more epic, even when the logic is out the window.

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