Wertham lied

[Trekker4747]

The nuke may have still hit, but he "repaired" the fault before it could sink half of California into the ocean. So there's some damage, sure, from the resulting earthquake but over all not as bas as it could have been. The nuke hit in a remote enough area of the fault for the resulting radiation to probably not be too big of a concern. (Or Superman could have taken care of that off camera.)

What's bizarre is that Luthor claims that with all of Superman's speed and powers he couldn't stop both missiles at once. Ummm... how does Luthor know this? And, YES HE CAN! Hell we SEE Superman speed around the earth at incredible enough speeds to REVERSE TIME! So I think he could have gotten both missiles pretty easily.

It also raises questions on "Returns" where Luthor is free because Superman didn't show up for court or "properly" arrest Luthor because he left for Krypton. I'm pretty sure a man who steals two nuclear missiles and launches them at the US isn't going to be showing up in a civil court where Superman needs to show up to bare witness. Luthor must have gotten himself a DAMN good lawyer to even GET a trial rather than the US government throwing Luthor in a hole somewhere and not looking back.

 

[Gov Kodos]

^^^Interesting. Hadn't thought of that.

But the bottom line is that there can be lot of drama to the Superman character. The point is that despite his awesome powers he still has emotional vulnerabilities. He also has people that he cares about. Through these elements, he can still be hurt. A great story doesn't have to be about a physical fight.

I quite agree. The best stories, or points within a Superman story are about where he has to decide whether to use his powers or not followed by the consequences of the decision. The stories about the consequences are far more engaging than what the super powers can do in and of themselves.

 

[A beaker full of death]

What's bizarre is that Luthor claims that with all of Superman's speed and powers he couldn't stop both missiles at once. Ummm... how does Luthor know this? And, YES HE CAN! Hell we SEE Superman speed around the earth at incredible enough speeds to REVERSE TIME! So I think he could have gotten both missiles pretty easily.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yavK0mnE3wI[/yt]

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

They generally just jump on trends and if something works once especially in their superhero properties they just keep doing it over and over again even if it's not right for a particular character.

Exactly. Attaching Nolan to the new Superman film's development is the hard evidence of that songleminded [sic] approach.

Most successful companies try to expand and diversify their product lines not limit them to a narrow audience the way that DC seems to want.

All so true, and wrongheaded, since the public is not demanding all DC adaptations be "Nolanized."

All of this boils down to the foolish assertion that because something succeeds that's a good reason not to do it again.

 

[the G-man]

They generally just jump on trends and if something works once especially in their superhero properties they just keep doing it over and over again even if it's not right for a particular character.

Exactly. Attaching Nolan to the new Superman film's development is the hard evidence of that songleminded approach.

In fact, now that I think about it, even the first Reeve Superman movie was an example of their history of repeating themselves and trend jumping (fortunately, this time for the better).

Originally, the plan for the Superman movie was a relatively low budget, campy, film:

• Original treatments of the script most definitely fell into the Batman tv mode. One infamous scene in Puzo’s script had Luthor encountering Telly Savalas as Kojak in a railway station who then offers Luthor a lollypop and says “Who loves ya, baby ?” Reportedly it was Donner who toned the camp elements down, although some of it does still remain with the playing of Luthor and assistants. The major mistake certainly was playing Lex Luthor as a buffoon. Luthor survives okay, thanks to the usually excellent Gene Hackman in the role, but the film surrounds him with a bimbo and an annoyingly buffoonish performance from Ned Beatty as his dim-witted assistant.

Fortunately, however, "Star Wars" happened and WB decided they had better up their ante.

 

[BillJ]

Exactly. Attaching Nolan to the new Superman film's development is the hard evidence of that single minded approach.

Or it shows that Warner wants someone involved who knows how to make high profile pictures with large budgets? Much like Disney selecting a known quantity to place behind the camera for Star Wars: Episode VII.

 

[sidious618]

Nolan is a smart guy. He's capable of doing different tones and different approaches. Just because he did Batman, doesn't mean that EVERYTHING he'll do will be like Batman.

 

[the G-man]

So far, however, it seems more Batmanesque than not.

 

[BillJ]

So far, however, it seems more Batmanesque than not.

Even if it's nothing like the Dark Knight trilogy, it'd be stupid not to promote like it is.

 

[sidious618]

So far, however, it seems more Batmanesque than not.

I haven't gotten that vibe at all. It seems solidly in the Superman area. I can tell this because so far, like all the other Superman films, I have no interest in it.