Superman Page #3

Synopsis: Superman is a 1978 superhero film directed by Richard Donner. It is based on the DC Comics character of the same name and stars Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Glenn Ford, Phyllis Thaxter, Jackie Cooper, Trevor Howard, Marc McClure, Terence Stamp, Valerie Perrine, and Ned Beatty. The film depicts Superman's origin, including his infancy as Kal-El of Krypton and his youthful years in the rural town of Smallville. Disguised as reporter Clark Kent, he adopts a mild-mannered disposition in Metropolis and develops a romance with Lois Lane, while battling the villainous Lex Luthor.
Production: Warner Bros. Pictures
  Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 18 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.3
Metacritic:
86
Rotten Tomatoes:
94%
PG
Year:
1978
143 min
Website
857,575 Views


A glass wall facing the capsule slides open. The launcher is raised. The ceiling above retracts, exposing the glow of Krypton night.

5/4/77 TM

25INT. MILITARY AURA

Seen from within: the aura races through a glass tunnel.

26INT. JOR-EL'S LABORATORY

The room shakes in a violent tremor as JOR-EL tries to get the engines fired. The energy columns glare at fever pitch.

26AEXT. KRYPTON

The proximity of Kryptonian sun has bathed the planet in a reddish glow. NOTE: All Scenes on Krypton both interior and exterior will from now on reflect this color.

27EXT. KRYPTON

The military aura nears JOR-EL' S house. Suddenly a huge tremor dislodges a mass of crystal which crashes down, obliterating the aura.

28 INT. JOR-EL'S LABORATORY

The tremor continues in the lab. Tons of crystal crash down into the room as JOR-EL frantically tries to fire the rocket. With a last desperate effort he lunges forward throws the tumbling debris and hits the control which ignites it. With

a deafening roar, the rocket starts to glide off into the night as the house begins to collapse, the energy columns shattering under the strain.

29 EXT. SP ACE - CLOSE ON MODULE

The module races away from the disintegrating planet below toward the Phantom Zone.

30INT. COUNCIL OF ELDERS

The Council room is destroyed co1lapsing on some of the ELDERS.

30AINT/EXT KRYPTON

Various scenes of destruction, to include exterior shots and the trial chamber.

30BINT. JOR-EL'S LABORATORY

JOR-EL and LARA are buried beneath a cascading shower of debris, clinging together desperately in the moment of their death.

30CEXT. JOR-EL'S HOUSE

The House collapses in ruins.

31EXT. PHANTOM ZONE

The THREE VILLANS, pressed against the linear Phantom Zone, watch the module hurtle past.

31CONTINUED

VILLANS:

(muffled echoes)

Take us with you ...

The capsule heads out into the intergalactic void as the VILLANS turn their attention to the planet Krypton, now in total eruption.

32ANGLE ON KRYPTON - VILLANS POV

The red sun eats its way into the core or the planet Krypton which suddenly explodes and implodes - leaving a vast black void.

33 EXT. SPACE - CLOSE ON MODULE

The module speeds through space to the accompaniment of steady electronic pulsings.

34INT. MODULE

Lights flash on the complex instrument panel. A computer memory bank repeats recorded data while machines registers other space functions on graphs. The BABY is completely wired and fitted with instruments and tubes for his survival in space. The computer spews forth information.

COMPUTER:

(JOR-EL'S VOICE)

Early concepts of matter appear

in ancient Creek philosophy. In

the fifth century Demoocritus

defined a small unit as an atom,

then thought to be indivisible...

35EXT. SPACE - CLOSE ON MODULE

The module voyages through space. A giant asteroid lost in the void, soars toward it at tremendous speed. The module and the asteroid nearly collide. The module sways on, away into the void.

36 INT. MODULE

The control panels continue to flash. The BABY has grown. The survival tubes, instruments and belts have adapted to his increase in size as the years have passed.

COMPUTER:

(JOR-EL'S voice)

Index 19, Sonnet 101: "0

truant muse, what shall be thy

amends for thy neglect of truth

in beauty dy'd? ...

37 EXT. SPACE - CLOSE ON MODULE

Traveling through space: A tiny yellow dot becomes larger as the module enters our Universe. The yellow dot grows rapidly into a flaming yellow sun.

38INT. MODULE

The control panel lights flash rapidly. An electronic bleep quickens its squeal. The BABY has grown older.

COMPUTER:

(JOR-EL'S voice)

...which Einstein called his Theory

of Relativity, mistakenly held to be

correct until the year ...

39 EXT. MODULE - EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE - DAY

The module enters the earth's atmosphere. We SEE the familiar astronaut's POV of the revolving earth, growing larger and larger until we can make out the recognizable shapes of land masses on oceans. As the module gets closer, it seems as if it will surely land in the middle of the Soviet Union. But as the Earth continues to revolve, the rocket heads for the dead centre of the United States.

NOTE:
As the module speeds down through the atmosphere, the resistance gradually transforms its shape into a jewel-like geode form, burnished hot by the pressure.

40EXT. KANSAS WHEAT FIELD - DAY

Miles and miles of golden wheat wave under a cloudless sky. CAMERA PANS: A dilapidated farm pick-up truck comes chugging down a long flat dirt road.

41INT. PICK-UP TRUCK - DAY

Two PEOPLE are seated in the truck cab, dressed in their shiny, patched "Sunday best" clothes. The MAN is in his 50"s, the WOMAN in her 40'5. "Private" people who mind their business, Christian folk whose morals are as basic as the soil they till: JONATHAN AND MARTHA KENT. Suddenly an ominous black shadow quickly crosses the road. Simultaneously: a loud whooshing sound (the space module coming to Earth). JONATHAN is startled, darts a momentary look ,in the direction of the noise .

JONATHAN:

What in the...

42 EXT. WHEAT FIELD ROAD - DAY

The "bang" of a tire blowout is heard. JONATHANslams on the brakes. The truck lurches violently to the right, the front tire having burst. The truck swerves, narrowly missing the embankment, stops.

43 CLOSE ON TRUCK

JONATHAN steps out of the truck cab, looks sadly at the punctured tire.

JONATHAN:

(muttering)

If a man didn't know better, he'd think

Detroit made those things to blowout

on purpose.

Grumbling, he goes around the rear to unstrap the spare tire and haul out the jack. MARTHA gets out of the cab, stretches her legs, gazes across the wheat fields as JONATHA in B.G. places the jack under the car, then wedges a stone under it to hold the jack in place. CAMERA SUDDENLY ZOOMS IN ON MARTHA: Her face is frozen in astonishment at something she's seen in the wheatfield.

MARTHA:

Jonathan!

43CONTINUED

JONATHAN turns, looks, eyes widening, equally amazed.

JONATHAN:

Great God Almighty! What is it?

44ANGLE ON MODULE - THEIR POV

The space module has landed in the fields. The engines are silenced.

45 EXT. FIELD - CLOSE ON MODULE

JONATHAN rushes to the strange, eerie metallic geode nesting in the charred wheat, MARTHA close behind him.

MARTHA:

Careful, Jonathan.

Suddenly:
a wall of the module Opens. A capsule ejects a little BOY still fastened inside, cushioned by the three blankets.

JONATHAN:

What in the Sam Hill

He looks inside the module, leans over, touches the capsule burning his hand.

MARTHA:

Jonathan!

The little BOY, aged 3, suddenly springs out of the electronically controlled belts, half naked.

MARTHA:

(stunned)

It's a ... baby.

JONATHAN stares, dumbfounded. MARTHA smiles softly at the baby, wraps him in the three blankets, picks him up.

46CLOSE ON JONATHAN AND MARTHA - TRACKING SHOT

MARTHA carries the BABY back to the truck, looks at him with wonder. JONATHAN walks in front, shakes his head.

Rate this script:3.7 / 17 votes

Mario Puzo

Mario Gianluigi Puzo (October 15, 1920 – July 2, 1999) was an American author, screenwriter and journalist. He is known for his crime novels about the Mafia, most notably The Godfather (1969), which he later co-adapted into a three-part film saga directed by Francis Ford Coppola. He received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the first film in 1972 and Part II in 1974. Puzo also wrote the original screenplay for the 1978 Superman film. His last novel, The Family, was released posthumously in 2001. more…

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Submitted by acronimous on February 22, 2016

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