165 quotes found
"[A cat burglar is climbing up the side of a building. He looks up and sees Superman standing there] Hi there. Something wrong with the elevator?"
"[lands holding a cat burglar] Officer! Uh, good evening, Officer Mooney. Well, they say confession's good for the soul. [takes a handful of stolen jewelry out of the burglar's bag] I'd listen to this man. Take him away."
"[After getting "clubbed" on the head by a crowbar by a thief; the crowbar shivers uncontrollably in the thief's hands] Bad vibrations?"
"[voiceover] Can you read my mind? Do you know what it is that you do to me? I don't know who you are. Just a friend from another star. Here I am, like a kid out of school. Holding hands with a god. I'm a fool. Will you look at me? Quivering. Like a little girl, shivering. You can see right through me. Can you read my mind? Can you picture the things I'm thinking of? Wondering why you are...all the wonderful things you are. You can fly. You belong in the sky. You and I...could belong to each other. If you need a friend...I'm the one to fly to. If you need to be loved...here I am. Read my mind."
"A chance for life, nonetheless...as opposed to us, you cannot ignore these facts! It's SUICIDE! No, it's worse. It's GENOCIDE...!"
"[answering criticism from the Council leader] My friends, you know me to be neither rash nor impulsive. I'm not given...to wild, unsupported statements. And I tell you we must evacuate this planet immediately!"
"[As he bids his infant son farewell before sending him to Earth] You will travel far, my little Kal-El. But we will never leave you...even in the face of our deaths...the richness of our lives shall be yours. All that I have, all that I've learned, everything I feel...all this, and more I...I bequeath you, my son. You will carry me inside you...all the days of your life. You will make my strength your own, and see my life through your own eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father, and the father, the son. This is all I...all I can send you, Kal-El."
"Live as one of them, Kal-El, to discover where your strength and your power are needed. Always hold in your heart the pride of your special heritage. They can be a great people, Kal-El; they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you...my only son."
"[watching Otis approaching the hideout] It's amazing that brain can generate enough power to keep those legs moving."
"Because if any human being were going to perpetrate such a fantastic hoax, it would've been me!"
"This is Lex Luthor. Only one thing alive with less than four legs can hear this frequency, Superman, and that's you. In approximately five minutes, a poison gas pellet containing propane lithium compound will be released through thousands of air ducts in the city, effectively annihilating half the population of Metropolis."
"I told you. That's Kryptonite, Superman. Little souvenir from the old home town. I spared no expense to make you feel right at home."
"[after he's explained how a meteor from Krypton can kill Superman] Doesn't it give you kind of a, a, a...shudder...of electricity through you to be in the same room with me?"
"[repeated line; screams bloody murder] MISS TESCHMACHER-R-R-R-R-R!!!!"
"I have to leave you now. No hard feelings. We all have our little faults. Mine's in California."
"[to Otis] Do you know why the number 200 is so vitally descriptive to both you and me? It's your weight and my I.Q."
"Some can read War and Peace and come away thinking it's an adventure story. Others can open the wrappers of chewing gum and unlock the secrets of the universe."
"You were great in your day, Superman. But it just stands to reason, when it came time to cash in your chips, this old "diseased maniac" would be your banker. Mind over muscle?"
"There's a strong streak of good in you, Superman. But then nobody's perfect...almost nobody."
"Lois, Clark Kent may seem like just a mild-mannered reporter, but listen, not only does he know how to treat his editor-in-chief with the proper respect, not only does he have a snappy, punchy prose style, but he is, in my forty years in this business, the fastest typist I've ever seen."
"[to Clark] Hey, dork. Jimmy Olsen."
"Boy: [opening narration] In the decade of the 1930s, even the great city of Metropolis was not spared the ravages of the worldwide depression. In the times of fear and confusion the job of informing the public was the responsibility of the Daily Planet. A great metropolitan newspaper, whose reputation for clarity and truth had become a symbol of hope for the city of Metropolis."
"Miss Teschmacher: Why is it I can't get it on with the good guys?"
"Desk Sergeant: [on seeing a boat in the middle of the street and Superman flying off] Mooney, first bottle's on me, let me get my hat."
"It was Tom Mankiewicz. I had known him since he graduated Yale as an "intellectual writer" who found himself writing James Bond [with his scripts for the 1970s films "Diamonds Are Forever", "Live and Let Die" and "The Man with the Golden Gun"] but always wanted to write something that was going to change the world. When we read what we had and we got permission for rewrite, I approached Tom and told him I was looking for two things: One, we have to convince the audience that a guy can really fly; the other is that this has to be a love story. The minute he heard that, he cottoned to it and decided to make the movie. I have a little cutout of Superman, it shows him flying in the cloud, and he was dragging a word on his cape: Verisimilitude. It came from Tom. We wanted to do this — and it's a comic book, but it had to have its own sense of reality. You don't parody it. That was the most important decision."
"You'll Believe a Man Can Fly!"
"The movie that makes a legend come to life."
"Look, up on the screen! It's Superman!"
"[from trailer] Once there was a civilisation much like ours, but with greater intelligence, greater powers, and a greater capacity for good. In one tragic moment, that world was destroyed. But there was one survivor. Because of the wisdom and compassion of Jor-El, because he knew the human race had the capacity for goodness, he sent us his only son. His name is Kal-El. He will call himself Clark Kent. But the world will know him... as Superman."
"Marlon Brando - Jor-El"
"Gene Hackman - Lex Luthor"
"Christopher Reeve - Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El"
"Margot Kidder - Lois Lane"
"Ned Beatty - Otis"
"Jackie Cooper - Perry White"
"Glenn Ford - Jonathan Kent"
"Trevor Howard - 1st Elder"
"Jack O'Halloran - Non"
"Valerie Perrine - Eve Teschmacher"
"Maria Schell - Vond-Ah"
"Terence Stamp - General Zod"
"Phyllis Thaxter - Martha Kent"
"Susannah York - Lara"
"Jeff East - Young Clark Kent"
"Marc McClure - Jimmy Olsen"
"Sarah Douglas - Ursa"
"Harry Andrews - 2nd Elder"
"Think of it. Three… count them, three supervillains! Each one with the powers of Superman! They'll need a contact here on Earth! Someone with the same wonderful contempt for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness!"
"The vote must be unanimous Jor-El. It has therefore now become your decision. You alone will condemn us if you wish... and you alone with be held responsible by me. You will bow down before me, Jor-El! I swear it! No matter that it takes an eternity! YOU WILL BOW DOWN BEFORE ME! BOTH YOU AND THEN ONE DAY... YOUR HEIRS!"
"So this is planet Houston. A very strange surface!"
"I like the glow. It flashes red, like the Krypton sun. But not this disturbing noise. Make way!"
"[after shooting himself, unharmed] Crude noisemaker."
"I win! I always win. Is there no one on this planet to even challenge me?!"
"[referring to the President] And he will answer to me! Or all of his cities shall end up like this one!"
"I see you are practiced in worshipping things that fly."
"Come to me, son of Jor-El! Kneel before Zod!"
"[to Superman] And now, finally- take my hand, swear eternal loyalty... to Zod."
"I have powers beyond reason here!"
"If the whole planet is watching, cannot we show them something more interesting?"
"General Zod does not take orders! He gives them."
"Look- they need machines to fly!"
"What kind of a backwards planet is this, where the fighting men wear jewelry and ribbons?"
"Non, you are as without thought as you are without voice. ~ Kryptonian Councilmember"
"Then, if this is what you wish, if you intend to live your life with a mortal, you must live as a mortal. ~ Lara"
"I'll bet you 10 dollars they're from Los Ange-leez. ~ Sheriff as he spots Zod and company in the road"
"Keep it on the flame Rock, this is just minute steak. - Trucker at diner"
"That's Kryptonite, Superman. A little souvenir from the old home town?"
"You were great in your day, Superman. But it just stands to reason! When it came time to cash in your chips, this old...diseased maniac would be your banker. Mind over muscle?"
"Wrong Lex? Miss Teschmacher, those are two words we don't use in the same sentence."
""Funny" is a person trying to smile without any teeth."
"[Watching Superman fight Zod, Ursa, and Non in Metropolis] Never thought this thing would go the distance."
"Father? If you can hear me, I failed. I failed you, I failed myself, and... and all humanity. I traded my birthright for a life submission in a world that's ruled by your enemies. There's nobody left to help them now... the people of the world... not since I... FATHER!!"
"General, haven't you ever heard of freedom of the press? [alternate line of "General, would you care to step outside?"]"
"The Adventure Continues."
"Miraculously freed from eternal orbit, the three outlaws from Krypton descend to earth, for ultimate confrontation."
"The three outlaws from Krypton descend to Earth to confront the Man of Steel in a cosmic battle for world supremacy."
"The Man of Steel meets his match!"
"The Man of Steel is back, and better than ever!"
"As Originally Conceived and Intended."
"The Version You Have Never Seen."
"A Hero Revealed, A Vision Restored."
"Gene Hackman — Lex Luthor"
"Christopher Reeve — Kal-El, Superman / Clark Kent"
"Marlon Brando - Jor-El (only appears in The Richard Donner Cut)"
"Ned Beatty — Otis"
"Jackie Cooper — Perry White"
"Sarah Douglas — Ursa"
"Margot Kidder — Lois Lane"
"Jack O'Halloran — Non"
"Valerie Perrine — Eve Teschmacher"
"Susannah York — Lara Lor-Van (theatrical version)"
"Clifton James — Sheriff"
"E.G. Marshall — The President"
"Marc McClure — Jimmy Olsen"
"Terence Stamp — General Zod"
"Brandon Routh — Clark Kent / Superman"
"Kate Bosworth — Lois Lane"
"Kevin Spacey — Lex Luthor"
"Marlon Brando — Jor-El (Stock Footage)"
"Eva Marie Saint — Martha Kent"
"Josh Duhamel — Richard White"
"Sam Huntington — Jimmy Olsen"
"Tristan Leabu — Jason White"
"Frank Langella — Perry White"
"Kal Penn — Stanford"
"Parker Posey — Kitty Kowalski"
"James Karen — Ben Hubbard"
"Stephan Bender — Young Clark Kent"
"Jack Larson — Bibbo Bibbowski/Bo the Bartender"
"Noel Neill — Gertrude Vanderworth"
"Mike Massa — 777 Pilot"
"Peta Wilson — Flight Attendant Bobbie Faye"
"What I had noticed is that there weren't a lot of women lining up to see a comic book movie, but they were going to line up to see The Devil Wear Prada, which may have been something I wanted to address. But when you're making a movie, you're not thinking about that stuff, you're thinking, 'Wow, I want to make a romantic movie that harkens back to the Richard Donner movie that I loved so much'. And that's what I did."
"I've always felt that the origin of Superman is the story of Moses -- the child sent on a ship to fulfill a destiny. And this was a story about Christ -- it's all about sacrifice: The world, I hear their cries. So what happens? He gets the knife in the side and later he falls to the earth in the shape of a crucifix. It was kind of nailing you on the head, but I enjoyed that, because I've always found the myth of Christ compelling and moving. So I hoped to do my own take, which is heavy's for a summer movie."
"I thought he'd make a really gay Superman but he didn't; it was more Jesus' Superman...a lot of Messianic poses and what not and I was hoping for a little more gay action."
"On June 30, 2006! Look Up In The Sky!"
"Madam secretary. Honorable delegates. Ladies and gentlemen. For many years now, I've lived among you as a visitor. I've seen the beauty of your many cultures. I've felt great joy in your magnificent accomplishments. And I have also seen the folly of your wars. As of today, I'm not a visitor anymore, because the Earth is my home too. We can't live in fear, and I can't stand by and watch as we stumble into madness of possible nuclear destruction. And so I've come to a decision. I'm going to do what our governments have been unwilling or unable to do. Effective immediately, I'm going to rid our planet of all nuclear weapons."
"Once more, we have survived the threat of war and found a fragile peace. I thought I could give you all the gift of the freedom from war, but I was wrong. It's not mine to give. We're still a young planet. There are galaxies out there. Other civilizations for us to meet and to learn from. What a brilliant future we could have. And there will be peace – there will be peace when the people of this world want it so badly that their governments will have no choice but to give it to them. I just wish you could all see the Earth the way that I see it. Because when you really look at it, it's just one world."
"[to Clark Kent, about Superman] Well, if he can't manage and if he really is in trouble, then there's, uh, there's a few things I'd like to tell him. I'd tell him that I will always cherish the time we spent together. And I never expected anything in return and no matter how few minutes I saw him for, it always made me happy. And I would tell him, that I love him. And that I'll always love him. And that whatever happens to the world, I, I know that he's doing his best to make sure it'll be all right for the rest of us."
"Lenny, I've always considered you the Dutch Elm disease in my family tree."
"Lenny, let's try and keep your IQ a family secret."
"[to Lenny] He gets his energy from the sun. Without it, he's like you at night - useless."
"[to Superman] This is my nephew Lenny. He worships me."
"[to Superman] You know, you're a work-o-holic. Don't you ever stop, smell the roses, huh?"
"[to Superman] A toast. To a nice guy who's about to finish last."
"[repeated line] Destroy Superman."
"Prison Inmates: (Luthor has an annoying habit of whistling Mozart on the rock pile, to prove his intellectual superiority) Hey, everybody, Mozart's back!! (Chain gang inmates line up and whistle Mozart in unison)"
"FLYING THROUGH NEW DANGER THIS SUMMER"
"Nuclear Power. In the best hands, it is dangerous. In the hands of Lex Luthor, it is pure evil. This is Superman's greatest battle. And it is for all of us."
"The movie does not do justice to the script at all. The script was actually pretty clever. The script was basically that a kid asks Superman to get rid of all the nuclear weapons in the world, saying, 'You're Superman! Why can't you do it?' That was a much bigger part of it than a lot of the really dumb Nuclear Man stuff that ended up being used. It ended up with Superman basically deciding that's something Earthlings are going to have to do for themselves, which I thought was an important message at the time. When I finally did see the movie, every frame of it hurt me physically. [Laughs.] I'd had such high hopes for it that… To feel like you're a part of the downfall of something that you had hoped to resurrect, that's a tough thing to take."
"Gene showed up to set and I told him what to do, where to look and all that. He had to do this whole speech about the "primeval swamp" or something like that. So, he asked me where the primeval swamp was, and I told him that we'd have to shoot it later, but for now, he would just look offscreen. So he erupted, "You call yourself a director? How am I supposed to play this scene without seeing the primeval swamp?" And I just said, "Well, Gene, you're an actor. Isn't that what actors do? This is not Shakespeare. If anyone can fake it well, you can". And it wasn't quite the same after that, to be honest."
"This film's social conscience, which fortunately is presented with a minimum of self-righteousness, also leads Superman to the United Nations, where he makes a speech and promises to rid the world of nuclear weapons. He is then seen gathering missiles into a gigantic mesh shopping bag, spinning it around and flinging it into the sun, where it explodes. The Superman series gets more and more whimsically outrageous as it goes along. The cast wears costumes that are swanky but very strange, and the dialogue is also unexpectedly funny at times, as when Luthor pronounces Superman a workaholic and advises him to stop and smell the roses. There's also a new character, a solar-powered blond titan (Mark Pillow) created by Luthor as a rival for Superman, to keep the action moving. Threadbare as it's beginning to look, the Superman series hasn't lost its raison d'etre. There's life in the old boy yet."
"We were also hampered by budget constraints and cutbacks in all departments. Cannon Films had nearly thirty projects in the works at the time, and Superman IV received no special consideration. For example, Konner and Rosenthal wrote a scene in which Superman lands on 42nd Street and walks down the double yellow lines to the United Nations, where he gives a speech. If that had been a scene in Superman I, we would actually have shot it on 42nd Street. Richard Donner would have choreographed hundreds of pedestrians and vehicles and cut to people gawking out of office windows at the sight of Superman walking down the street like the Pied Piper. Instead, we had to shoot at an industrial park in England in the rain with about a hundred extras, not a car in sight, and a dozen pigeons thrown in for atmosphere. Even if the story had been brilliant, I don't think that we could ever have lived up to the audience's expectations with this approach."
"The story, which Christopher Reeve dreamed up in an attempt to make "Superman" more socially relevant, finds the man of steel persuading the leaders of the world to surrender their nuclear missiles and detonate them in deep space. But there is something our hero does not realise: Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) and his gormless nephew Lenny (Jon Cryer) have planted a fiendish device inside the weapons that, when detonated, creates an indestructible android programmed to wreak havoc on Earth. The ensuing battle between Reeve and Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow) is desperate stuff, involving the destruction of the Great Wall of China, and Superman coming to the rescue of a runaway subway train (unconvincingly shot on the London Underground). The rest is scarcely better and makes no sense, probably because over half an hour of material ended up on the cutting room floor. A sorry finale for a much-loved series."
"Christopher Reeve - Superman / Clark Kent"
"Gene Hackman - Lex Luthor / Nuclear Man (voice)"
"Jon Cryer - Lenny Luthor"
"Mark Pillow - Nuclear Man"
"Mariel Hemingway - Lacy Warfield"
"[to disgusted onlookers at a bar] What are ya' looking at?! Huh?!"
"Well, I hope you don't expect me to save you, 'cause I don't do that anymore."
"You always wanted to fly, Kent. Now's your chance!"
"[after blowing acid on Clark Kent] What's 'a matter, Kent? Too warm for ya'? Come on chicken! You've been on my nerves for a long time!"
"Both keys at the same time!"
"I don't want to go to jail because there are robbers and rapers and rapers who rape robbers!"
"I just do not believe a man can fly!"
"(throwing rock at mule) Get you, jackass!"
"He didn't die. I asked you to kill Superman, and you're telling me you couldn't even do that one, simple thing."
"Vera, get ahold of yourself. No one else ever will."
"Never underestimate the power of computers."
"Even when faced with a trio of supervillains from his home planet, Superman saved the day. This time, if the world's most powerful computer can control even Superman...no one on Earth is safe."
"Alexander Salkind Presents Christopher Reeve and Richard Pryor as you never seen them before. With more action, more twists, and more fun than Superman has ever had before!"
"The world's super hero in his toughest adventure yet!"
"Superman vs. the king of computerized crime!"
"Christopher Reeve - Superman/Clark Kent/Evil Superman"
"Richard Pryor - Gus Gorman"
"Annette O'Toole - Lana Lang"
"Annie Ross - Vera Webster"
"Pamela Stephenson - Lorelei Ambrosia"
"Robert Vaughn - Ross Webster"