Thursday, November 5, 2009

Jor-El

I've always loved "Superman: The Movie," especially the first 15 minutes or so. There's enough cool stuff packed in the beginning (Jor-El, the Phantom Zone villains, the destruction of Krypton) to fill an entire movie.

I also love those crazy glowing Kryptonian outfits. They didn't make some kind of complicated electric clothes-- they were made out of the same reflective material used on highway signs to make them glow in your headlights. They just shined a light on the clothes and filmed the result. A simple and elegant solution.

Marlon Brando made movie history when he became the highest paid actor in history (up to that time) for his part in "Superman." He reportedly nabbed $16 MILLION dollars for 15 minutes of screen time. And we're talking 1978 dollars too!

One thing I always wondered: Was it really necessary to call the film "Superman: The Movie?" Were they afraid we'd confuse it with "Superman: The Laundry Detergent Commercial?" "Superman: The High School Play?" "Superman: The Billboard?" Thank you ladies and gentlemen, I'm here all week.

Drawn in Photoshop on the graphic tablet.



Here's the original digital sketch of Jor-El.

3 comments:

  1. bob, i always loved superman too. it was the first film i saw in the theaters. to this day when it comes on tv i will watch it.

    i had no idea they paid him that kind of money that is insane!!

    great caricature!

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  2. Yeah, I can remember reading in Starlog magazine (man, am I old!) about how big a deal it was for them to get Marlon Brando and how much he made for the part. I guess it was worth it-- everyone was talking about it when it first came out.

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  3. Also having Marlon Brando in the movie made it seem more legitimate. Back in the 70s if they made a comic book movie at all, it was seen as kiddie fare. Having the Godfather, Gene Hackman & Glen Ford in it made people take it seriously.

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