MAN OF STEEL - Grading & Discussion

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Agent Richard07, Jun 11, 2013.

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Grade the movie...

  1. A+

    10.9%
  2. A

    20.8%
  3. A-

    18.1%
  4. B+

    9.8%
  5. B

    11.3%
  6. B-

    4.2%
  7. C+

    4.9%
  8. C

    4.9%
  9. C-

    3.8%
  10. D+

    3.4%
  11. D

    3.8%
  12. D-

    2.6%
  13. F

    1.5%
  1. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    That whole secret identity was pretty much a hard-and-fast aspect of Superman's continuity until the Byrne era. Since then, having a few people here and there know who Supes is - and not necessarily folks that he chooses or who are central to the continuity - is something they've played with from time to time. Also since the 80s, Lois and Clark's relationship has been treated as one that evolves; it was held in a pretty rigid template from the 40s through at least the 70s.
     
  2. P0sitr0nic

    P0sitr0nic Vice Admiral Admiral

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    My take on it was the "key" / program running Jor El was also using the ships resources to build and create the suit, which was a pre programmed item in the keys database.

    Only way I can see it being real. Kryptonian tech could disintegrate and store on a molecular level (the codec), so it stands to reason it can reintegrate like a replicator.
     
  3. Tyberius

    Tyberius Commander Red Shirt

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    I haven't read the entire thread.

    I went to see it yesterday for Father's Day with my two girls and my wife.

    I would not say that Supes is my most favorite comic book of all time. It is tough to decide. Bats is there, x-men, spidey. I have had this same avatar for several years, even though it is from a batman comic.

    I give this movie an A. I would give it an A+ but for a couple of minor quibbles, that are probably on the cutting room floor.

    To Earth, and humans, Superman is a God. He has to show incredible restraint with his power and emotions. I believe that this was the lesson that Pa Kent was trying to teach Clark, as much as that he should hide himself. I would have liked to have seen a line of dialog in the discussion about the bus that "everybody dies" and saving the entire world, while technically possible, for Clark, is not what the world needs, and may not be Clark's responsibility or purpose.

    I would have liked the exposition of Zod's motivation to have come earlier in the film.

    I liked the death of Zod. Let us not forget that Superman killed a powerless Zod in the Donner version, so in this version, killing a full power genetically motivated Zod is a problem?

    I liked the grief afterwards. I felt the despair was as much for the death of Zod as for the cost of the battle.

    I connected with every emotional beat in the film.

    I liked the alien-ness of the Kryptonians.

    I liked the fight sequences. I liked the weight of the bodies. The Matrix version of the superman fight scene was not physically heavy enough. These combatants looked solid. Superman looked 235 - 250 lbs when he was thrown. The Kryptonians looked 500 in their armor.

    I liked the Supe's heat vision and x-ray vision and super hearing.

    I liked that this was a "realistic" superman movie. Superman is an alien. The Kryptonians are aliens. What would that look like? How would earth respond? To me, pretty much like this film.

    I thought this was the best Superman movie I have seen. I do not know what movie the Rotten Tomatoes critics saw.
     
  4. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    That goes back to a core concept of the genre that Supes started in 1938...super-heroes are vigilantes, they operate outside the law. You can't sue somebody when you don't know who to sue.
     
  5. Dark Gilligan

    Dark Gilligan Writer Fleet Captain

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    While not everyone in Smallville may know who Superman is, certainly those who were friendly with the Kents do. And I kind of like the notion that they might protect that knowledge. "He's our boy..." and all that. They know Clark as one of their own, even if he was a little peculiar growing up, which of course they'd understand why now.
     
  6. Shazam!

    Shazam! Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Also, if you did know and you made it public you'd immediately become a target for one of his enemies.
     
  7. Anwar

    Anwar Admiral Admiral

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    Getting rid of the whole "Lois/Clark/Superman" triangle thing isn't such a bad thing. It makes Lois look like less of a moron, and it makes Clark/Superman seem like less of a jerk for doing that to her for all those years (and frankly, taking some smug pleasure from it).
     
  8. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah I definitely see the appeal, and the previous comic and live-action versions of the character had a lot of good fun with it. But in this day and age-- and especially in a serious movie like MOS-- it just seems a bit ridiculous to think that Lois wouldn't recognize him under the glasses (the others, maybe not, since they don't see Supes up close as often as she does).

    But the good thing is there's still plenty of room for romantic tension in this idea, not to mention humor with Lois having to constantly pretend this Clark guy is just an everyday reporter. And I like the idea that they have this huge secret between them as well (which thankfully doesn't require them being married like in the comics).
     
  9. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, once they finally broke the "she doesn't know" rule decades ago - by having their relationship progress and eventually having them marry - then the question of "at what point does she find out?" is really nothing but bookkeeping whenever they revise continuity.

    The idea of Perry White knowing is...pretty much inevitable, for reasons somewhat similar to Lois.
     
  10. Captrek

    Captrek Vice Admiral Admiral

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    He may have started the genre, but he did not fit that stereotype. He was a paragon of virtue, standing for truth, justice and the American way.
     
  11. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Revised weekend estimates are putting Sunday about equal to Saturday, for an additional three million or so - 116 million for the weekend rather than 113.
     
  12. marillion

    marillion Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Very true...

    While the "don't know who to sue" issue may work when it comes to 99.9% of the Metropolis residents, you know the people of Smallville know who he is.. Or at least some of them do, and you know that loose lips sink ships.. It goes back to the post about if Lois Lane can do some digging and find out who he is, you know there will be a lot of other people doing the same... It wouldn't be long before someone in Smallville talks, especially when you consider how much destruction/death he caused (or was the inadvertant cause of) there...

    I realize i'm speaking in real world terms here, about a fantasy world, but when you consider the billions, if not trillions of dollars in damaged caused to the city of Metropolis, not to mention the thousands of deaths, I don't see how Superman could come out of this as the good guy..

    Yes, he acted to protect the world, but he was the reason the bad guys were there in the first place...

    I know, I know... Just watch and enjoy the movie... Which I did.. I just can't help but be devil's advocate in looking at this..
     
  13. CorporalClegg

    CorporalClegg Admiral Admiral

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    There will be a scene in the next one where Clark volunteers for the kissing booth at the Smallville fair.
     
  14. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    You guys have obviously never read the earliest Seigel/Shuster stories. Go pick up a reprint volume of Action Comics and/or Superman from the 1938-1941 era. He was very much a lawless vigilante in those days, who fought for social justice, was usually at odds with the authorities, and was fairly cavalier about the lives of criminals (occasionally throwing them out windows or into the paths of their own bullets).

    He was every bit the vigilante as Batman or most other super-heroes that followed in their wake in those days. John Byrne knows this...when he had the 1939 versions of Superman and Batman meet in his Generations Elseworlds story, Batman is interrogating a criminal on top of the Perisphere at the World's Fair, and lets the thug fall. Superman comes upon the scene and catches him. Batman says, "If I'd known you were going to catch him, I wouldn't have let him fall." Superman responds, "If I'd known you'd let him fall, I wouldn't have caught him."
     
  15. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    Well, since he was there since he was a newborn, he really didn't get to select his home. And is there anyone here who believes Zod would have went on his merry was if Clark surrendered (at any point in the film)?
     
  16. Scout101

    Scout101 Admiral Admiral

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    For fun, though, in the scenes in the arctic with Dr. Hamilton, they had the computer guy, Sekowsky, played by the actor that played Dr. Hamilton in Smallville... :)
     
  17. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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    You mean Gaita from nuBSG?
     
  18. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Well, Clark saved the world from being converted into New Krypton and he's the only one who could have done that. So he comes out the good guy.

    He wasn't responsible for Zod being here, BTW. When Zod and his fellow inmates were freed from the Phantom Zone they started checking up on the old colony worlds, and found Earth. Now, absent Kal-El and the Codex they couldn't have restored the population of Krypton but there would have been no one to stop them from using the World Engine to terraform this place to their liking.
     
  19. CorporalClegg

    CorporalClegg Admiral Admiral

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    There was a Smallville nod every five minutes--all the way down to the font on the water tower.

    Heck even the plot sort of was since, to be fair, SV did do the "New Krypton" story first.
     
  20. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

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