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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Superman Returns - pre-release discussion

  
  

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This Sunday
00:23 / 23.04.05
Does this still have the same backers as the Burton/Smith/Cage/Woo/everybodyelse thing of ages past? I recall a producer supposedly being quite against much of Supe's suit, claiming it was 'too pink' and should have lightning bolts, or something. Perhaps this had an effect on dulling the color scheme? Or, maybe Singer just likes his superfolk unbright? Makes them more respectable, you know, more gritty and serious and adult. Which is precisely what Superman should be, obviously.
But I can't believe that.
 
 
Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!
00:38 / 23.04.05
I keep thinking "Superman of the 50s!"
 
 
Spatula Clarke
01:13 / 23.04.05
Off topic:

FinderWolf, can you please take thirty seconds to learn how to format links? Moderators have to fix this every single time you post a URL, and given that you do this in an awful lot of posts it's getting to be a minor pain in the arse. The info on how to do it is pointed to on the Post Reply screen, but in case you've missed it so far - here.
 
 
FinderWolf
02:49 / 23.04.05
Sure, no problem - understood re: the links.

As for the suit, I have to say, Brandon looks great, but I'm not feeling the darker colors so much... the boots look cheesy and the chest insignia is a little too small, I think. I also could like without the "S" in the belt buckle. But overall it looks pretty good - I'm
glad they didn't go with a muscle suit augmenting the actor's body. But I do feel like they need some tweaking here. I've seen fans' photoshopped versions of the
costume with a larger "S" on the chest and brighter color reds and it looked far better with just those slight changes.

I've also heard some people complain about the very low-riding belt, and I see the point, but I can live with it.

It does look very 1930s Superman, that's for sure, like the old movie serials.
 
 
Tamayyurt
04:03 / 23.04.05
The photoshoped version on this thread looks fantastic. Why can't that be in the movie?
 
 
Benny the Ball
08:29 / 23.04.05
People! It's a photo - the film stock will have to be graded and the lighting will play a massive role in changing the appearence of the suit. I bet it'll look very bright, very Red and Blue.

I thought it looked alright, but he does look massive as Clark Kent and a bit smaller as Supes.
 
 
Withiel: DALI'S ROTTWEILER
09:57 / 23.04.05
I'm with the people that think the shield is too small and the belt insignia is overkill, but I quite like the darkness of the cape and other red elements - these work well as bright on the page, but in reality would run the risk of looking polyestery or latexy, neither of which would be much good on film (in my opinion). On the size issue, I do think Routh looks a bit too Supermanly as Clark Kent (although I've been spoiled by the Quitely CK/Superman transition drawings), but I like the slimness as Superman; I've always thought that the ridiculously muscular representations made his acts of super-strength look a little unimpressive - It looks even more otherworldy if a guy built like this can lift a car.
 
 
Brigade du jour
20:58 / 23.04.05
I thought it looked alright, but he does look massive as Clark Kent and a bit smaller as Supes.

Something about that picture has been bugging me and Benny, you just nailed it. Singer & co don't seem to be going for a huge, ridiculous muscle-bound Adonis so much as a svelte, regular guy in good shape who happens to have super-powers. I suppose the film itself will help us decide whether that's a good thing or not.
 
 
FinderWolf
01:40 / 24.04.05
Well, Reeve wasn't bulging with muscles either, remember.

I think the low-riding belt has a lot to do with making him look more skinny and less impressive, cause it makes his torso look thinner, design-wise.

I do like the raised 3-D "S" insignia, though.

But in this day and age, they couldn't design cooler looking boots? Even the boots in the Reeve movies looked cooler.

I wonder how much Singer is listening to all the online chat about this and perhaps tweaking his decisions a bit...someone earlier in this post says Singer really cares about what the fans have to say. We'll see. But I agree that it's not bad, just not as primally cool as the Supes design in the Reeve movies.
 
 
Tamayyurt
15:22 / 24.04.05
But I agree that it's not bad, just not as primally cool as the Supes design in the Reeve movies.

Which is too bad since I’m sure we’ve made strides in material and costume making… since Superman I. And I do think that Singer does listen to online fans, which is why he released the costume shot. I don’t think they’ve shot anything with Routh in the suit so they can go back to the shop and tweak it before filming… at least that’s my hope.
 
 
H3ct0r L1m4
19:11 / 24.04.05
they went for the design and color scheme of the max fleischer cartoon of the 40s/50s.

read somewhere the red/scarlet will look brighter onscreen because singer is using fuji film.

what I have a problem with is the superman costume itself [tired of talking online about how it could have been updated, it's almost 80 years old], but since they went for it, it just looks great.

guys and gals will drool for routh as they did for jackman.
 
 
Warewullf
19:16 / 24.04.05
People! It's a photo - the film stock will have to be graded and the lighting will play a massive role in changing the appearence of the suit.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking, too. I'm not too keen on how it looks in the photo but I'll reserve judgement until I've seen it on film.
 
 
FinderWolf
23:19 / 25.04.05
It seems that 80% of the talkbackers at aint it cool news, the most prominent movie fan site in the Hollywood biz, feel that it could be improved with the few tweaks I and many others suggested (larger S on chest, brighter red colors, no S on belt buckle being the top 3). So maybe Singer will hear that input.
 
 
Tamayyurt
01:43 / 26.04.05
Don't you just hate reading those talk backs? Most of them are like, "THIS IS SO GAY! That faggot Singer is making my favorite hero into a homo!" I turns my stomach to have to wade through all that crap.
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
09:06 / 26.04.05
It seems that 80% of the talkbackers at aint it cool news, the most prominent movie fan site in the Hollywood biz, feel that it could be improved with the few tweaks I and many others suggested (larger S on chest, brighter red colors, no S on belt buckle being the top 3). So maybe Singer will hear that input.

Shit, I hope so! I really hope Bryan Singer is the kind of director who pays attention to the input of "the talkbackers at aint it cool news" [sic] when it comes to making decisions about his movies, especially decisions about wardrobe. I hope he's the kind of guy who treats the real Superman fans with the respect they deserve, y'know? In fact, I hope he emails you and Harry Knowles and all the "talkbackers" and invites you to a big super-fun barbecue and pool party to say thanks!


"Here's looking at you, Findy!"
 
 
Jack The Bodiless
10:31 / 26.04.05
Seconded. You all suck so very, very bad. Unlike Fly, I'm all for some intelligent fanboy-style speculation about movies pre-release, but this loveless nitpicking about the logo, the costume, wondering whether Bryan Singer will hear your plaintive cries and reconsider the TERRIFYING MISTAKE HE'S MAKING... Jesus. This is the kind of shit that makes everyone else think we smell of milk, you know?
 
 
FinderWolf
12:24 / 26.04.05
well, gosh, thanks for being so polite, kids. Jeez.

I meant that I know in the past that filmmakers like Singer himself and Sam Raimi have been very concerned about fan reaction and have been known to look through the net stuff to see what the fans have to say, even to the point of having made some minor adjustments on things because of fan reaction. I didn't mean they should make their movies entirely based on what irrational crazed screaming lunatics are saying on the internet.
 
 
FinderWolf
12:25 / 26.04.05
and Jack, re-read my post and see if I ever said anything as remotely as extreme as the words you put in my mouth. Then calm down a bit.

And just because I mention that directors sometimes read fan reaction online (and the implication is that they disregard all the nonsense, of course) doesn't mean I want them to invite me to their pool parties and I dream of them acknowledging my fanboy presence. Classic example of taking what someone says and amplifying it by 100% to make the person seem like a raving incoherent fanboy. And who really needs to spell "Aint It Cool News.com" exactly correctly (with capitals and .com) anyway? There are multiple versions of the URL anyway, and it's not so crucial to capitalize "Talkbackers" either.
 
 
FinderWolf
20:09 / 26.04.05
and all the homophobia surrounding Singer and Routh is really messed up....I shudder to think what it'll be like when the press junket for the movie really gets going, esp. if Singer goes ahead with his rumored plan of 'the guy playing Superman is gay' marketing.
 
 
Jack The Bodiless
10:18 / 27.04.05
Yeah, that's because I was taking the piss, dude. Because y'all spent the last four days nit-picking about the new Superman costume in the most drivellingly, mind-numbingly, unselfconsciously fatbearded way possible. "The logo's too small." "The belt shouldn't have a logo." "He's not massively muscled." "The colours look too dark." "The boots aren't cool enough." "Here's a photoshopped pic in which ALL THE MISTAKES are fixed." "I wonder if the director will change the costume to FIX ALL THE MISTAKES. THE TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE MISTAKES."

I've seen parodies of fatbeard-culture that didn't tick all the boxes that the last page of this thread has ticked. If it's true that comics characters get the fans they deserve, then maybe we should change his name to Milkman...
 
 
Brigade du jour
00:15 / 28.04.05
Funnily enough Jack, 'milkman' is a widely-used English translation of 'Kal-El'.
 
 
gridley
13:17 / 28.04.05
I've seen parodies of fatbeard-culture that didn't tick all the boxes that the last page of this thread has ticked.

If it bugs you that much, you should really start spending some time away from the internet, dude.
 
 
Triplets
13:20 / 28.04.05
Does anyone else think Superman's emblem is too small?
 
 
Mr Tricks
16:18 / 28.04.05
I remember when that show "Lois & Clark" was on TV. at one point "they" tweaked the costume and made the LOGO to large. I hardly watched the show anyway and rememebr noticing the change... it didn't make me watch the show any less... but like I said, I hardly watched it.

It seems to me that this new costume is heavily influenced by the success in the spiderman costume design; heavily textured, 3 dimsional components and a supposed "muscle suit" underneath. The Spedo trunks and other elements seem to lend a sence of athleticism to the costume.
I noticed that the boots seem rather fashionable, look closely at the souls, I seen boots like that; but perhaps thats because of my proximity to San Francisco.
If the logo is as solid as it appears it would make sence that it would be smaller, otherwise a huge piece of plastic worn accross the chest just might restrict movement.

Still I think it's a bit silly to get worked up by how this design might differ from how one see's it in their head. I would've made different choice were I the designer. But this hasn't really changed my entheusiasn for the film.
 
 
FinderWolf
16:30 / 28.04.05
>> and a supposed "muscle suit" underneath.

Apparently there is no muscle suit at all, as with Christopher Reeve - just a slightly thicker texture costume than Reeve's.
 
 
Spatula Clarke
16:44 / 28.04.05
Still I think it's a bit silly to get worked up by how this design might differ from how one see's it in their head.

Well, yeah. Because it's a bloke dressed in a bright blue lycra bodysuit with a red cape round his neck. You'll forgive me if I find it a little difficult to get wound up about minor details when the entire thing's fundamentally ridiculous.
 
 
Mr Tricks
20:44 / 28.04.05
I've heard otherwise about the muscle suit... but who cares, it's not like Me Routh is working out so as to jump over buildings.
 
 
FinderWolf
14:13 / 29.04.05
Rumors reported all over the net on the following...

>> [They're] also crowing about catching news in an Australian newspaper that Hugh Jackman has been confirmed as playing a young Jonathan Kent in the film.
 
 
Mr Tricks
16:51 / 02.05.05
The Hugh Jackman rumor's been debunked here.

& this guy says there's a muscle suit under there.
 
 
FinderWolf
16:58 / 05.05.05
okay...I do note, however, that the guy who wrote the article you link doesn't list anything which makes him think it's a muscle suit other than that he thinks it looks like a muscle suit. If it is a muscle suit, at least it's a subtle one.

Anyway, check out the photoshop wackiness that some have perpetrated on the pic of Routh as Supes (scroll down lots, there are many many, including Routh as Millar's Red Son Russian Superman) over here.
 
 
Mr Tricks
17:16 / 05.05.05
ouch... some of those people should have their Photoshop confiscated.
 
 
FinderWolf
17:42 / 05.05.05
I found this on All The Rage, about a special cut of Superman II.

-------

Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow?

The buzz on the Superman II: Restored International Cut DVD just keeps on growing, but it’s starting to get out of hand. The television series Celebrity Justice picked up the story earlier this week, airing a report on the RIC that had same glaring errors. The most serious error was when the report named the webmaster of Superman Cinema as the fan ultimately behind the RIC. To which, he replied:
People think that I was giving these DVDs away for free! I categorically deny that I was giving them away for free! Reporters say that I produced this restored cut of the TV edit! I DID NOT produce the project; a talented individual restored the film from VHS tapes; I was merely involved in the publicity but I wasn't distributing. The editor wanted this thing out there and hopefully people could supply free copies.

It's unfortunate that the magazine and TV reporters couldn't check with me before committing to final print.
To counter the misinformation, the web master has put up a Superman II: RIC Frequently Asked Questions list here: http://www.supermancinema.co.uk/superman2/real_s2/ric/s2ric_faq.asp.

By the way, does anyone else find it interesting that the two mass media outlets (Entertainment Weekly and Celebrity Justice) that picked up this story are both owned by Warner Brothers?

In other RIC related news, I received a TON of e-mails following last week’s story. And I haven’t had time to respond to everyone yet, so I’ll take the chance to answer two of my frequently asked questions:

Q: Does the Superman II: RIC have the lost Marlon Brando footage?

A: No, it doesn’t. It only has the longest cut of the movie that was broadcast on TV close to twenty years ago. No one outside of Warner Brothers and the filmmakers have seen the Brando footage, though Bryan Singer is said to be using some of Brando’s unused Jor-El scenes in Superman Returns. The IMDB even mentioned that recently. If you want to know what was specifically in the original televised cut of Superman II, check out this link: http://www.supermancinema.co.uk/superman2/general/extended_versions/index.htm .

Q: Can you send me a copy of the RIC?

A: No, I can’t. Sorry guys, that ship has sailed. Since the crackdown, Warner Brothers has been on the lookout for people openly trading or selling the RIC. I’m sure someone will try to bootleg it at some point, but it won’t be me.

If you REALLY want to see this movie, your best bet is still to talk to Warner Brothers directly. They have all of the lost footage and the resources to put out a version Superman II that could easily render the RIC obsolete.

Just show them that there’s a real demand for it.

This Has A “Kryptonite Kavilers” Factor of Nine Out of Ten
 
 
FinderWolf
16:42 / 18.07.05
Lots of news coming out of San Diego, what with Bryan Singer's press conference there about Superman Returns. Anyone want the spoiler-ridden details...?
 
 
Triplets
18:28 / 18.07.05
Yep (not yeah, or yes!)
 
 
Benny the Ball
19:26 / 18.07.05
Yep the second.
 
  

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