Post by crazy_asian_man on Nov 13, 2008 14:47:02 GMT -5
...the expectations would have been FAR different.
(Note: Added SII/SIII/SIV in an edit on 11/23/08 rather than start a new thread so as not to add too many extraneous threads...)
Being an old-timer that saw STM as a kid, I got the magical chance to see it in the movie theatres on a GIANT screen (Living in the bay area, it's something I forget that is taken for granted, but am reminded not everyone in the US has access to these jumbo screens closeby), with the 'real' drapes closed and opened at the proper time in the beginning to give the credits an even more 3-d effect (something brand new at the time that made the audiences gasp).... and, for those who aren't as old and decrepit (and cranky and bitter, but that's another story) as myself, I thought I'd put in perspective why the timing of STM was fantastic- and why it was more of a phenomenon by its context in time, versus a Superman movie (of ANY quality--- so as not to talk about the pro/con merits of SR here) that is/was released nowadays.
In 1978, Superman came out shortly after the gigantic phenomenon that was "Star Wars" and, to a lesser extent, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".
In my time, prior to "Star Wars", (unless you go WAYYY back into maybe the 30's, but I'm not that old) fantasy and adventure films were mainly blockbusters with a harder edge, like the "Planet of the Apes" series, or a very soft edge in Disney's fare... and the James Bond film was THE 'action-adventure' high budget phenomenon around this time.
No "Star Trek: Next Generation, DS9, Voyager/etc." tv shows. (There was Star Trek a decade before with cheap fx, but their rebirth would come a year later after STM)
No "Indiana Jones" or their clones.
No "Batman", "Xmen", "Daredevil", etc.--- (again, unless you go WAYYY back. The Batman tv show was a little over a decade before)
Also-
No Internet, no (real) home computers that could access all the movie stuff that's so easily in reach of one's fingertips now!
NO VHS machines! (Or dvd recording machines, or dvd players)--- If you EVER saw a movie on tv, it really WAS a giant event! Hard to imagine if you grew up with VCRs or DVD players. So...
(Also, no cellphones and thus, no idiots who opened their cellphones in the middle of a movie)
No weekly "Smallville" nor ANY scifi show with anywhere near close to what's now considered 'average' special effects. (Seeing a spaceship fly convincingly from one end of a tv screen to another would be considered amazing at this time.)
No videogames (except for a hi-tech "Pong" game, if you had money.)
Try to imagine all that.
Maybe not easy to. But if you can, imagine what a wonder a film like this can generate.
NOW...
Imagine- the anticipation of ONLY being able to see a MAN FLY for the first time CONVINCINGLY ever on the giant screen in a movie theatre with a crowd of people that seems a mile long, of all ages- primed by the positive vibes they got from "Star Wars" (prior to that, also, much of the entertainment was VERY dark at the time- very little for fantasy beyond Disney).... ALL excited to see a giant budget version of the comic book "Superman"--- the comic, which had run stagnant itself for awhile.
I was a big comics fan at the time, but even then, the comics of Superman at the time had been fairly stale.... what could they possibly do with a character that was invulnerable and make a story that would make you care? Was my thought.
SO...
To be in a jumbo movie theatre with no seats available, to have people filling up with popcorn and gigantic anticipation of something they'd NEVER seen before- You'd at first hear the sound level of conversations going around - but moreso, you'd hear the EXCITEMENT from all ages, as if facing something totally unknown (in a good way) that was on their way- and the quiet reverence everyone had, as soon as the lights dimmed, and the John Williams' music score started over the black and white credits...
...and then- when the black and white credits ended, and the movie curtains of the theatre opened (in sync with the screen curtains), you could a giant wave of people gasp for air at the 3-d credits that overwhelmed the audience, as if they were going down a roller-coaster- (and it's possible this effect only happened because it was a jumbo screen)- to a totally new interpretation of Krypton as an all-crystal planet - to seeing young teenaged Clark Kent (convincingly) outracing a train- to Superman's first appearance in the middle of Metropolis, saving a helicopter and Lois Lane...
Anyhow, you get the point. SO much was brand new at the time, and was a 'first' at the time, that it added tremendously to the full effect of enjoying STM.
If STM came out now, in 2008?
Well, of course, it still holds up tremendously well, because the core of the movie is/was the characters but Donner's artistic choices down the line (though to this day and first viewing, I'll always admit being less than crazy about how Luthor was portrayed) made the film something special and unique. It's sentimental, but with a sense of humor and a sense of perfectionism throughout.
But...getting back to the point:
Would STM have generated as much audience interest NOW in 2008 versus the audience interest level it had THEN when it was the 'first giant supehero movie on the block with good fx' in 1978?
Don't get me wrong. STM will always have a special place in my heart, and I'm not talking about the quality here.
What I'm talking about is the CONTEXT. The documentaries have said the same thing, but I think it's also different if you were able to be a kid at the time it first came out and saw it in the movie theatres, and saw what WASN'T around at the time same.
Seeing SR (which I love to a degree, though I'll also admit wasn't perfect) was fantastic, and I saw it several times at the theatre on a jumbo screen--- but in the back of my mind, there was always a feeling of: "I'll see it as many times as I can on the big screen while it's there- until it goes to dvd, when it will probably never show on the bigscreen again"---
It was far different from seeing STM over and over again in 1978- (as a kid, I'd sneak behind a curtain when the theatre cleared, so that I could see it three times repeatedly on a Saturday)- when every time you saw Reeve fly over the night skies to John Williams' magical score and Geoffrey Unsworth's beautiful cinematography--- there was no 'future vhs or dvd' to buy.
You had to see him fly, and try to hold that sense of wonder to memory, because you might not see it ever again, unless you had the $$$ to buy a 16mm print of it (and knew where to get it. Remember, no ebay in '78).
So....
I often wonder- in this time of 'superhero movies' as a yearly novelty (even though they're still not done well as often as I'd like), and this time of excellent special effects being the norm and not the exception, and the accessibility (and sometimes disposibility) of movies on dvd....
Are/were box-office expectations just too high on SR in 2006 to begin with?
I won't get into the argument of whether it was a success box-office wise (Even thought I thought it incredibly successful- as much as Batman Begins was, though Batman didn't need to have a man fly....and the generation of kids I encountered consider Batman more relatable--- and, heck, didn't it make $400 million worldwide with an unknown star?
)---
But, anyhow, it feels great to see on this forum STM have so much love, from people who caught it on the small screen of VHS or DVD (or tv), but at times I almost wish I could share with you guys and gals how much of a phenomenon (and why) it was on the big screen at the theatres in 1978.
Guess this confessional will have to do. Hope it conveys some of what it felt like.
(Note: Added SII/SIII/SIV in an edit on 11/23/08 rather than start a new thread so as not to add too many extraneous threads...)
Being an old-timer that saw STM as a kid, I got the magical chance to see it in the movie theatres on a GIANT screen (Living in the bay area, it's something I forget that is taken for granted, but am reminded not everyone in the US has access to these jumbo screens closeby), with the 'real' drapes closed and opened at the proper time in the beginning to give the credits an even more 3-d effect (something brand new at the time that made the audiences gasp).... and, for those who aren't as old and decrepit (and cranky and bitter, but that's another story) as myself, I thought I'd put in perspective why the timing of STM was fantastic- and why it was more of a phenomenon by its context in time, versus a Superman movie (of ANY quality--- so as not to talk about the pro/con merits of SR here) that is/was released nowadays.
In 1978, Superman came out shortly after the gigantic phenomenon that was "Star Wars" and, to a lesser extent, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".
In my time, prior to "Star Wars", (unless you go WAYYY back into maybe the 30's, but I'm not that old) fantasy and adventure films were mainly blockbusters with a harder edge, like the "Planet of the Apes" series, or a very soft edge in Disney's fare... and the James Bond film was THE 'action-adventure' high budget phenomenon around this time.
No "Star Trek: Next Generation, DS9, Voyager/etc." tv shows. (There was Star Trek a decade before with cheap fx, but their rebirth would come a year later after STM)
No "Indiana Jones" or their clones.
No "Batman", "Xmen", "Daredevil", etc.--- (again, unless you go WAYYY back. The Batman tv show was a little over a decade before)
Also-
No Internet, no (real) home computers that could access all the movie stuff that's so easily in reach of one's fingertips now!
NO VHS machines! (Or dvd recording machines, or dvd players)--- If you EVER saw a movie on tv, it really WAS a giant event! Hard to imagine if you grew up with VCRs or DVD players. So...
(Also, no cellphones and thus, no idiots who opened their cellphones in the middle of a movie)
No weekly "Smallville" nor ANY scifi show with anywhere near close to what's now considered 'average' special effects. (Seeing a spaceship fly convincingly from one end of a tv screen to another would be considered amazing at this time.)
No videogames (except for a hi-tech "Pong" game, if you had money.)
Try to imagine all that.
Maybe not easy to. But if you can, imagine what a wonder a film like this can generate.
NOW...
Imagine- the anticipation of ONLY being able to see a MAN FLY for the first time CONVINCINGLY ever on the giant screen in a movie theatre with a crowd of people that seems a mile long, of all ages- primed by the positive vibes they got from "Star Wars" (prior to that, also, much of the entertainment was VERY dark at the time- very little for fantasy beyond Disney).... ALL excited to see a giant budget version of the comic book "Superman"--- the comic, which had run stagnant itself for awhile.
I was a big comics fan at the time, but even then, the comics of Superman at the time had been fairly stale.... what could they possibly do with a character that was invulnerable and make a story that would make you care? Was my thought.
SO...
To be in a jumbo movie theatre with no seats available, to have people filling up with popcorn and gigantic anticipation of something they'd NEVER seen before- You'd at first hear the sound level of conversations going around - but moreso, you'd hear the EXCITEMENT from all ages, as if facing something totally unknown (in a good way) that was on their way- and the quiet reverence everyone had, as soon as the lights dimmed, and the John Williams' music score started over the black and white credits...
...and then- when the black and white credits ended, and the movie curtains of the theatre opened (in sync with the screen curtains), you could a giant wave of people gasp for air at the 3-d credits that overwhelmed the audience, as if they were going down a roller-coaster- (and it's possible this effect only happened because it was a jumbo screen)- to a totally new interpretation of Krypton as an all-crystal planet - to seeing young teenaged Clark Kent (convincingly) outracing a train- to Superman's first appearance in the middle of Metropolis, saving a helicopter and Lois Lane...
Anyhow, you get the point. SO much was brand new at the time, and was a 'first' at the time, that it added tremendously to the full effect of enjoying STM.
If STM came out now, in 2008?
Well, of course, it still holds up tremendously well, because the core of the movie is/was the characters but Donner's artistic choices down the line (though to this day and first viewing, I'll always admit being less than crazy about how Luthor was portrayed) made the film something special and unique. It's sentimental, but with a sense of humor and a sense of perfectionism throughout.
But...getting back to the point:
Would STM have generated as much audience interest NOW in 2008 versus the audience interest level it had THEN when it was the 'first giant supehero movie on the block with good fx' in 1978?
Don't get me wrong. STM will always have a special place in my heart, and I'm not talking about the quality here.
What I'm talking about is the CONTEXT. The documentaries have said the same thing, but I think it's also different if you were able to be a kid at the time it first came out and saw it in the movie theatres, and saw what WASN'T around at the time same.
Seeing SR (which I love to a degree, though I'll also admit wasn't perfect) was fantastic, and I saw it several times at the theatre on a jumbo screen--- but in the back of my mind, there was always a feeling of: "I'll see it as many times as I can on the big screen while it's there- until it goes to dvd, when it will probably never show on the bigscreen again"---
It was far different from seeing STM over and over again in 1978- (as a kid, I'd sneak behind a curtain when the theatre cleared, so that I could see it three times repeatedly on a Saturday)- when every time you saw Reeve fly over the night skies to John Williams' magical score and Geoffrey Unsworth's beautiful cinematography--- there was no 'future vhs or dvd' to buy.
You had to see him fly, and try to hold that sense of wonder to memory, because you might not see it ever again, unless you had the $$$ to buy a 16mm print of it (and knew where to get it. Remember, no ebay in '78).
So....
I often wonder- in this time of 'superhero movies' as a yearly novelty (even though they're still not done well as often as I'd like), and this time of excellent special effects being the norm and not the exception, and the accessibility (and sometimes disposibility) of movies on dvd....
Are/were box-office expectations just too high on SR in 2006 to begin with?
I won't get into the argument of whether it was a success box-office wise (Even thought I thought it incredibly successful- as much as Batman Begins was, though Batman didn't need to have a man fly....and the generation of kids I encountered consider Batman more relatable--- and, heck, didn't it make $400 million worldwide with an unknown star?
)---But, anyhow, it feels great to see on this forum STM have so much love, from people who caught it on the small screen of VHS or DVD (or tv), but at times I almost wish I could share with you guys and gals how much of a phenomenon (and why) it was on the big screen at the theatres in 1978.
Guess this confessional will have to do. Hope it conveys some of what it felt like.
;D (Or maybe it's that extra testosterone I produce.)
