Superman (1978) Full Length

Alot of the reason for the flying is Christopher Reeve himself. Reeve was very athletic, and one of his loves was hand gliding, which is why you see his arms and movements in the air look so natural, and why every Superman since seems to fly like Reeve.

Joey Tovar

Now you know why Christopher Reeve is OUR Superman. Nobody has captured all aspects of both of his characters as convincingly. This is an extended cut; all of the scenes are longer, with slower pacing, and there were a couple of scenes on Krypton that I've never seen. Superman 2 is excellent; you'd really enjoy that. After that, well, I'm sure somebody likes the third and fourth

Mark Adolph

Im sure someone else said but he looked at the phone booth because Clark Kent would use the phone booth to change into Superman but in the late 70's early 80s Ma Bell changed a lot of the full size phone booths to those open dinky things. No where for Supes to change.

Marty B

I love the OG Superman and Christopher Reeve. It has all the camp and I loved it with all my young preteen heart. Which is why I didn't need the 2025 superman. I guess he's the corny supes of the new preteens. I love adult "Superman for the Now" in Henry Cavill's Superman. takes into account that this is no longer the 50's or 60's and brings an edge that as an adult I find more appealing. I absolutely love the score for the OG. Snyder used an undertone to pay homage to John Williams (my personal favorite when it comes to movie scores) And just an interesting fact Mario Puzo, who wrote this, was the author of The Godfather and any number of other novels about the Cosa Nostra. Last point for now... seems like no matter how many Supes movies and shows I see I always think of John Schneider (Smallville) when I think of Jonathan Kent

Marty B

ESPECIALLY part 4 part 3 was ok but it was just a cheesy team up with the hottest comedian of the time

Karl Kraus

Superman 2 is great.. but beyond that .it kind of gets to cheese. So I would not go further then part 2

Todd beckrich

There is something so special about this movie. I think it truly shows what a hero looks like. What a truly good person looks like. And the great Christopher Reeve, in real life, was a hero. I've donated to his character and was given Superman Dog Tags and they are so cool. The tragedy he went through and the fight he put up and his unending advocacy is what compelled me to donate. He was a light.

RidingTheFrequency

53:35 although acting scared throughout this scene Clark immediately steps in front of Lois to protect her from the gun pointed at them.

Tony F.

are the comments the best place to make suggestions?

Huxley

now you gotta watch superman 2. you will love it.

ty110072

Superman II is worth watching and answers the questions you may have had in part 1.

sb

Yep this is my Superman! Almost teared up when Christopher Reeve popped up on screen. So glad you enjoyed this one too. How a about a Denzel Washington movie. He has some great movies too! I would highly recommend his Man On Fire 🔥.

Jayce

Classic. See Superman 2. Terrance Stamp JUST died. RIP 🙏💕

Roberto A Luna

Great reaction...and Thank you. I was 7 years old when this came out and as a mom you can imagine the type of effect that this would've had on a 7 year old boy.😂🤣😆 Superman 2 please if you can find the time.🙏

K Dub

Great reaction Amber 🙂 Superman 2 is good too but after that they're not as good 😁

Stephen Ulmer

If Amber does react to Superman 2 sadly she'll have to endure with more beginning credits. Not as long as the first Superman movie I think but still, yeah beginning credits 🤷‍♂️

JoJo

the are a lot of other supers that he meets in the series. My favorite was when Clark and Barry Allen (The Flash) are running together at high speed, Barry waves and the poof, disappears into the distance.

Steven Costa

To answer your question about if he’d do better in a colder climate: Climate doesn’t really make a difference for him. He can survive in inhumanly cold climates, the vacuum of space, and even inside of a sun or star. Extreme heat or extreme cold, doesn’t make a difference it won’t bother him. I’m pretty sure, and any comic reader that’s more well-read than me can correct me if I’m wrong, that the reason for the fortress always being in a colder climate area like Antarctica is because it’s crystalline structure blends in well with ice. And the only reason they went with that type of structure is aesthetic preference… basically they thought it looked cool. But ultimately temperature of an environment doesn’t really matter to superman

MadeByMali

Please do smallville omg. You will absolutely get more money outta me lol

Omar Reeves

“I fully support them deciding to put the credits at the end of the film” 😂😂 It was so long lmao

Omar Reeves

The comics have been rebooted and retconned few times. In some tellings, Jonathan died of a heart attack before Clark became Superman. In others Jonathan and Martha both passed away before Clark went to Metropolis. In the comics I read growing up, Jonathan and Martha Kent were alive and well when Clark and Lois got married.

Comicfan86

Great reaction Amber. The practical effects were great for it's time & still holds up to date. This is highly regarded as the GOAT when it comes to the super hero genre. CR was fantastic as Superman and the touch he added to Clark's awkward persona was brilliant!

orlandoJ21

The Smallville series is definitely worth checking out! It’s fun to watch as he goes through those teen years and the farm setting is very much like the one in this movie! Be careful though, because it gets you hooked pretty quickly, lol.

Bernie Zwicky

The Superman theme was scored by John Williams that did Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Just hearing this music gets me excited. I was a junior in high school when this came out. When Christopher Reeves broke his neck horseback riding, the country cried as Chris Rock laments "Superman can't walk", A little Superman trivia. Terrance Stamp that plays General Zod also played Jor-el in the TV series Smallville. People confuse the S, but it was the El family sigil. You might notice that only Jor-el had the S on his clothes. The other members of the council had different family sigils. Most amazing part of this movie was no CGI. All the special effects were done practically. Superman in the comics would change in a phonebooth, thus his look at the phone stall and move to the alley. The klutz Clark Kent would never be mistaken for Superman.

Steven Costa

I have to comment on the thought that having credits at the end of the movie is better. If you watch a modern movie now the credits are a mile long at the end. Every person that worked on the film from the dog catcher to the kitchen sink is listed. Older movies only showed the actors, the principle production people. If you can't sit through that your impatient, but then I guess that's today's newer generations. It used to be you only could see first run movies at the theater, with news reels and a cartoon before the show. Times have changed.

Steph

Some people think Superman is literally turning back the planet. For me, I believe its a visual effect that represents HIM going back in time instead.

Tim

Excellent movie!!! I had forgotten about that one

Debbie Green

Christopher Reeves will always be my Superman both on and off the screen! ❤️

Debbie Green

Another film to check out is the romance Somewhere in Time

Elizabeth Franco

Definitely a classic. It's been so long I forgot about all the back-story stuff and remembered mostly the 'adult' Superman stuff. Marlon Brando -- from The Godfather to Superman's father!! Loved Gene Hackman (RIP). we've gone from all the credits at the beginning of movies to 20 minutes or more of previews before the movie! I recently saw an old skit from SNL--mostly likely 1978--when Christopher Reeve hosted. The skit was HIMSELF auditioning for the role of Superman with 2 other guys. He was the worst of the three!! One of the others knocked himself out or something like that and the guy that the director wanted--that ACED the audition--decided to pass on it because he had an upcoming audition for a commercial that he didn't wanna miss, so the director said "Well...I guess we'll take this Reeve guy" Hysterical! Star Wars: Episode IV was 1977 and yeah, special effects in both movies were great, and you were right on with the miniature thing for the flood scene--they do that in a lot of movies, though maybe not so much nowadays. It is a cool effect, though. As far as OG Superman...maybe you'd have to go back to the 50s and the George Reeves Superman (tv series). I've only seen snippets of it, myself. But that WAS tv, so Christopher Reeve would be the OG movie guy for sure.

Marc Lamoureux

Check out Superman 2 after you watch the documentary about Christopher Reeve

Elizabeth Franco

Classic

david walker

Smallville is amazing. I'd definitely give it a look. Be prepared to get hooked and it's 10 seasons.

Keith Allen

The limited special effects in this movie are so easy to forget since it does literally everything else at peak levels. I grew up on this movie (it came out the same year I was born) and it still holds up as rewatchable today. Looking forward to your reaction to the second one because it’s just as good!

Ben Martin

The opening sixteen notes of the "Superman March" by John Williams have become as iconic as the "S" (hope) symbol itself, the Fortress of Solitude (although Superman's writers ripped that one off from Doc Savage) or any of the old phrases from the cartoons: "Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!" or "..Trust, Justice and the American Way", or "This is a job -- for Superman!" Echoes of John Williams' music from this first theatrical Superman movie have been used in the musical scores of other Superman films since. The advertising campaign when this movie came put promised "You will believe a man can fly." Two different women played Lois Lane in the Superman TV series where George Reeves played Superman. As someone already pointed out Noel Neill is the woman on the train whose little girl sees Clark running past the train; Phyllis Thaxter plays Ma Kent in this movie. Prior to 1978, Krypton in the comics was a perfectly normal planet with alien flora and fauna and a scientifically advanced society. It was the production design for this movie that re-imagined it as stark, cold and crystalline. Then in 1986, comics writer/artist John Byrne did a reboot of Superman's origin and history (and to a small extent, his powers) in and that introduced the idea of biomechanical wombs for Kryptonian infants, replacing natural births planetwide. Byrne's version was the official Superman origin story from 1986-2003. The point of the Fortess being in the Arctic (or in one movie, the Antarctic) is isolation, not so much the cold. You don't want casual visitors or a lot of air traffic in an area where you're trying to hide out. 1:100:18 Miss (Eve) Tessmacher. Believe it or not, this is the same character as Jimmy's obsessed "mutant toes" girl in the 2025 film. 2:11:45 He's flying so fast he breaks the time barrier and goes a few minutes into the past. Both Superman and The Flash have traveled through time in the comics using their superpowers. In Flash's case, it didn't always work out well.

Michael Griffin

I would never ask for you to react to it in its entirety because it’s 10 seasons long, But it’d be cool if you checked out the tv show Smallville. Even just the first episode. Till this day I think it’s the best live action superhero tv show that has ever been. It’s all about Clark’s life from his teenage years all the way until he becomes Superman. But because it’s a tv show we get much more character development not just for him but all the other side characters such as his parents, Lois, Lex, etc. Idk I don’t see a practical way for you to watch it since it’s so long but it would be really cool if you did 👀

MadeByMali

Jor-El is Vito Corleone from The Godfather Amber.

Steven Garcia

No CGI in this film. All of it is practical. Models, etc.

Tim

Sooner or later that possibility was going to be explored, superman being groomed as a ruler instead of a savior

Karl Kraus

Smallville is a must next. It starts off a hefty bit of that CW-level teenage angst show; but it gets better and better each season. Plus aside from small things here and there; it really moves in the spirit of this movie and the Silver Age Superman Lore. Plus it boasts the BEST casting of Lex Luthor, Lois Lane and the Kents ever. Not to mention prob the most developed version of Clark Kent; prob the best too.

Tim

Amber if somebody didn’t already mention it, the woman on the train that Clark was racing was Noel Neill she played Lois Lane in the 1950s with George Reeves

Thomas Horton

The tornado was too much to bring that point across A medical death would've done just fine

Karl Kraus

He aged 3 years, but he was in it for thousands. Jor'El even stated he has been dead for 1000s of your years at one point.

Tim

He was really flying on wires

Elizabeth Franco

This movie was so massive when it came out. I was too young to remember it, but from what my Uncle told me it was one of the biggest things since Star Wars. It had a massive budget for the time and was a absolute blockbuster. In modern dollars, the original grossed around 1.5 BILLION. Far out pacing any Superman movie since.

Tim

Zod is in Superman 2

Elizabeth Franco

Superman 2 is worth the watch, don’t waste your time with Superman 3!

Anthony Caples

Based on the way he appears, baby Kal was in that capsule for 3 years traveling to Earth

Karl Kraus

Check out the movie Deathtrap. Christopher Reeve, and Michael Caine. Brilliant!

Richard C

I kinda agree with you, except now I can see the contrast between them much more clearly and accept each one as unique in its own way (CGI/Practical/Action-Driven/Story-Driven). Modern movie goers are so tribal, and I believe Amber’s perspective is to allow everyone their own takes, without tearing down another, IMHO 💁... I can appreciate what she did here, and honestly it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. No other Channel that I know of has done this REVERSE contrast between reactions, and included that commentary in the reaction 👀. Brava 💕 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 💕…

Topher Miller

Yes definitely check out Smallville

Elizabeth Franco

Amber, Superman and Superman II were filmed at the same time so the sequel really is a very good continuation. And that is the one where General Zod and his friends trapped in the mirror (Phantom Zone) come back.

Susan Holly

She would if she could. Mom of 3, and a full time job. And we have a few other shows in queue before that could happen. Movie franchises are great, because generally there are 3 of them and you’re done to move on to the next franchise. But if the TV show seasons were 3/6 episodes, like those British Shows (Luther, Fleabag, MI-5, Killing Eve, etc), that would be another story…

Topher Miller

The Krypton theme is played by the University of Georgia's marching band at football games during the start of the 4th quarter I personally say it's one of the most awesome traditions in college football

Karl Kraus

If i may add guys, amber should watch superman returns after superman ll to complete her journey of the character It follows up the story of superman ll quite nicely even though the critical reaction wasn't as good as expected Kevin Spacey is a great Luthor and Routh did decent as well playing Superman I loved it as a kid so i think it deserves a fair shake

Karl Kraus

We recently lost gene hackman to a horrible death and terence stamp (general zod) just died as well, which made me so sad; therefore, this reaction is extra special It's also been over 20 years since christopher reeve's death too This was the only role i saw him perform He was such a trooper living like he did following that horse-riding accident for as long as he did Chris was a real hero

Karl Kraus

Marlon Brando was The Godfather

Elizabeth Franco

Rest in peace Terrence Stamp

Elizabeth Franco

Loved this one. But the new versions had to change somethings to be different. Otherwise why make them. Superman 2 1980 is even better. More romance, More danger. Great Reaction.

Matthew Killion

I’m about to get choked up writing this,not because I think I have superior writing abilities,but because of the man and actor I’m speaking of. To those of us who are a certain age,Christopher Reeve the first full length film Superman was Superman. He was also a very good actor immensely talented and had a star presence. In 1978 he donned the iconic red cape and flew into our hearts, Seventeen years later the cruel hand of fate would tap him on the shoulder and change his life forever. How he overcame it made another kind of Superman,not by flying faster than a speeding bullet or leaping over tall buildings but displaying a quiet courage that touched our hearts. Before you go on to the next Reeve Superman films I would advise you to watch the documentary Superman The Christopher Reeve Story,it will give a better understanding of the man most of us still think of when Superman is mentioned. This October will mark the 21st anniversary of his passing.May he rest in peace

Elizabeth Franco

A fun fact is that Metropolis is a real place. There is a city called Metropolis Illinois and they actually have a giant Superman statue.

superswingman24

So happy you’re watching this version. I grew up watching this and realized that John Williams scored the music. The same John Williams who did E.T., Harry Potter, Jurassic Park. You can always identify John Williams music.

David Palmer

Since you went backward in release order, you should check out a couple from the tv series. they were made in the 50's. and were the only real superman shows before this.

steven m

The documentary about him “Super/Man” is incredible. He was such an influence and helped change the lives of how quadriplegics can live. He truly was a Superman.

The Mad Icelander

Also the scene where he looks at the phone was in reference to the comics where Superman would change in a phonebooth.

steven m

The "Fortress of Solitude" in the comics was cut into a mountain by Superman because it was remote. Krypton wasn't like that in the comics, but made real good visuals for the movie. The new movie played homage to this one by using a similar crystal fortress.

steven m

Amber - Reason why Clark looked at the phone booth is because even decades before this movie, in the DC comics he would often use one of those old phone booths that had a folding door to get inside. But even in 1978, those kind of phone booths were starting to fade in society. That was common knowledge in 1978(like Batman and his Batmobile). It was just part of pop culture. That moment was a nod to the audience. And in the comics, Clark Kent acted all insecure and bumbling. His way to disguise himself so no one would ever think He's superman.

The Mad Icelander

One of the aspects of Superman (2025) that bugged me was how they portrayed Superman's genetic parents. If you are a young kid and have never seen any previous Superman film, you will believe Superman's real parents are these monsters that just wanted Kal El to screw and make Kryptonian babies.

David Callahan

Yes, in the comics Pa Kent dies from heart failure or some kind of health issue. The point is Superman can't save him despite his powers. Man of Steel made this point more emphatically with the more dramatic twister scene.

David Callahan

Amber- That's a great point, they didn't have CGI back then but the practical effects are still great for 1978. State of the art back then. Also, that score/Superman Theme song is composed by John Williams. Same guy who did all the Star Wars Music and Indiana Jones.

The Mad Icelander

Love it! I believe your Superman journey would have been more fulfilling if you had started here first and progressed to the new ones instead of backwards, but good journey non-the-less. RIP Christropher Reeve. He was an incredible hero and inspiration in real life. His documentary is one of the best I've ever seen.

The Mad Icelander

Dale Sands