Review of Supergirl (1984) by Tot F — 05 Jun 2014

This film is great, but only in the right context. The cast is amazing; some are in their later years, but so what? Helen Slater, 19 at the time, is amazingly beautiful in this, and does a layered performance of bravery, curiosity, and uncertainty.

Her performance is much more natural than Christopher Reeve's ever was. The "flying ballet" is stunning, especially for 1982 tech (when it was filmed). Goldsmith's soundtrack score especially shines here.

The effects are purely mechanical or matted, and well done from that aspect. But generally the vision was more grandiose than could be achieved at that time. And a major flaw is that it's obvious that many of the actors' takes are first or second takes.

But the script has much more of an edge than the Superman movies, e.g. the rape attempt when Supergirl first arrives in the city, and the drunken house mother. There was an entire town built for the bulldozer scene (parts of which were stolen later for Aliens).

For the writers at that time it was natural for Supergirl to battle another woman, thus a witch, who through a series of errors created then pursued Supergirl's boyfriend. In some ways, Helen's Supergirl was a proto-Buffy.

Unfortunately the various edits of the film mangle the complex storyline, losing a lot of the motivations and context. The Director's Cut from 2000 helps restore a lot of that. And when compared to the first 3 Superman movies it stands up well, and is actually superior to them.