History Film / SupermanTheMovie

''Superman'' [[TropeCodifier established]] a standard superhero film format dealing with his or her [[OriginStory origin story]]: Origin of Hero, then Introduction of ArchEnemy, LoveInterest and other important characters (which often didn't happen all at once in the comics), then First Conflict. The film starts on Krypton, with brilliant scientist Jor-El (Creator/MarlonBrando) sentencing [[ChekhovsGunman a trio of treasonous villains]] to spend eternity in [[SealedEvilInACan The Phantom Zone]]. Following this scene, the film follows Superman's origins -- Krypton's explosion, baby Kal-El's trip through space, getting his adoptive name of Clark Kent, and the first appearance of Superman -- before he becomes a mild-mannered reporter for the ''Daily Planet'' as Clark, rescues Lois Lane (Creator/MargotKidder) and others as Superman, and finally has to stop a plot by the self-proclaimed "greatest criminal mind of our time", Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman), to destroy the West Coast.

* AdaptationalWimp: Downplayed. While Luthor's evil plan still involves launching stolen missiles at fault lines, resulting in the deaths of countless innocents, which is ''definitely pretty'' dangerous, comics!Luthor would probably have had a bigger goal in mind than making the land he owns worth more.

* TwoOfYourEarthMinutes: Jor-El uses this twice during the reading of his VideoWill to Clark Kent (Kal-El) (due to him having travelled at FTL speeds.)

'''Superman:''' You couldn't have...You couldn't have imagined...\\

** [[FreezeFrameBonus Look closely]] at Luthor's map for his "new" California. The area labelled "Teschmacher Peaks" consists of [[GagBoobs two large, identical mountains side by side.]]

* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: Superman spins like a top while drilling into Lex Luthor's underground lair and flies around the Earth to make it spin backwards and turn back time. That and the revolving door costume change bit, and the rotating hoops that confine Zod and his accomplices in the docket on Krypton.

* AbsoluteCleavage: Miss Teschmacher in the red dress.

** Possibly [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by his various super-senses. It can be assumed that he used them, but TheLawOfConservationOfDetail omits showing that for simplicity.

* DeadArtistsAreBetter: Christopher Reeve's paralysis from a riding accident later in life has certainly helped raise popular opinion of this version of Superman to near-godlike levels. Not that he wasn't popular before but suffering tragedy and becoming a living martyr sealed his place in pop culture heaven. Exaggerated after Reeve (and Creator/MargotKidder) reunited to appear in a couple episodes of ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' years after his accident and shortly before his death.

* AsideGlance: Superman ends the movie by giving the audience a smile.

* DeadArtistsAreBetter: Christopher Reeve's paralysis from a riding accident later in life has certainly helped raise popular opinion of this version of Superman to near-godlike levels. Not that he wasn't popular before but suffering tragedy and becoming a living martyr sealed his place in pop culture heaven. Cranked UpToEleven after Reeve (and Creator/MargotKidder) reunited to appear in a couple episodes of ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' years after his accident and shortly before his death.

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 producers went on to create ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperboy'' a few years later.

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* WhooshingCredits: The TropeMaker. Reportedly the credits for the first movie alone cost $1 million, more than a lot of movies of the time.

The success of ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' in the comics opened the doors for other [[{{Superhero}} masked marvels in colorful costumes]] -- and 1978's ''Superman: The Movie'' (or just ''Superman'', the onscreen title) did the same for big-budget superhero films. While it wasn't Superman's first live-action foray -- it followed [[FilmSerial movie serials]] in 1948 and 1950, and a {{pilot movie}} in 1951 for [[Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman a television series]] which ran from 1952 to 1958 -- it went above and beyond them in terms of spectacle and special effects like never before seen on screen.[[note]]As with the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' comics, Franchise/{{Zorro}} asserts his influence here as well: the producers, Alexander and Ilya Salkind, admitted they decided to make a Superman film after seeing a billboard of Creator/AlainDelon as the eponymous character of 1975's ''Film/{{Zorro|1975}}''.[[/note]]

* TheMovie: It's a big budget adaptation of ''Superman''.

* AdultFear:
** "All those powers ... and I couldn't even save him."
** Parents being forced to send their child away, to another world, for his own safety. Never knowing if he'll be okay.
** Inside the train during the earthquake, you can hear a woman shouting for her running daughter to come back.
** "YOU ''WILL'' BOW DOWN BEFORE ME! BOTH YOU [Jor-El] AND THEN ONE DAY, YOUR ''HEIRS!!''"
** Jonathan tells a teenage Clark that he and Martha were afraid that someone will take him away from them if they learned about his powers.

* AwesomeAnachronisticApparel: [[ClarkKenting Clark Kent's]] suit and hat are very [[TheFifties fifties]], yet he manages to look dashing in them.

** Not to mention Lex's dad, who apparently told him to "get out" when he was only six, although this may have been Lex's idea of a joke.

* AgeLift: Jor-El seems to be older than in the comics [[AudienceColoringAdaptation (of the time)]], as implied with his white hair and Marlon Brando pushing middle age. In the comics he was basically just around Superman's age and [[StrongFamilyResemblance looked nigh-identical]], to the point where a time-traveling Superman could pass as him.

** Played straight when the army believes Luthor's henchmistress is an accident victim. The officer insists he has to do chest compressions and "mouth-to-mouth" and even makes his unit about-face.

* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: ComicBook/LexLuthor's master plan: Setting aside the environmental factors that probably sink this plan from the start,[[note]]Just for one, the "new West Coast" would be a series of unstable cliffs and landslides (surrounding a fallout zone) for decades, at a minimum.[[/note]] the US government could probably seize the disaster zone via Eminent Domain immediately on national security/emergency factors. In the unlikely scenario that they don't, it will probably be decades before investors will be willing to develop on a coastline that wasn't there years before. Luthor may not live long enough to recoup a single penny, let alone see the riches he seemed to be predicting. Not to mention the fact that he has taken no steps whatsoever to hide his responsibility for the disaster—using a company named after himself to buy the real estate, for instance—and will undoubtedly be prosecuted.

* BumblingSidekick: Otis, of course.

* ExtranormalPrison: General Zod and his cronies are banished to the Phantom Zone, which is portrayed as an interdimensional wasteland with no hope of escape. Unless, of course, someone therein is needed by the plot, in which case, the Phantom Zone is a horrible vacation spot.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9vrfEoc8_g title theme]], like past Superman scores, does a three note motif that basically says "Superman", only this theme has two different motifs.

* GutPunch: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxF3kNmJ7tk Lois Lane's death and Superman's reaction.]] In the previous two hours, you were treated to a lighthearted superhero movie, complete with comic relief, CardCarryingVillain, superhuman feats. Then, Superman finds a dead Lois Lane, and you ''expect'' his kiss to revive her (keep in mind, this was their ''first kiss''). No, and when she begins to crumple, he catches her as if she were still alive to rest her on the ground. You then get a long, painful sequence of seeing the two from an extreme long shot, before Superman begins to sob and then gives a horrifically human scream. Keep in mind, before that moment, he was basically the Big Blue Boy Scout with a constant smile on his face for the most part. Even when upset at Lex, he was posturing like a superhero. In this one, sole moment, he's not a superhero, but a man - who is pissed at the universe.

** The first spoken dialogue of the film: "This is no fantasy – no careless product of wild imagination." This line is aimed at the movie audience, basically telling them it's time for WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief.

* WeaksauceWeakness: Of course people will argue the KryptoniteFactor, but at least it's [[{{Unobtainium}} supposed to be rare]].