Supergirl [DVD]

I don't remember when I first heard about this film. But, it was at least at age five, a year after it was released to theaters. Apparently, most people didn't think much of it, because it was viewed historically as a commercial flop. A part of it may have been circumstantial, though. Supergirl production was started hot off the heals of the rap on Superman III, a film that performed abominably in the theaters. Pending who you asked, many people were starting to get burnt out on the Superman cannon, and they must've seen a teenage, female equivalent as a joke. If it had been produced and released in between Superman II and III, that might've had a more positive, circumstantial effect.Here, Helen Slater stars in her first leading role as Kara, the Kryptonian cousin to Superman (official name of Kal-El) who left Krypton with her parents to live in the inner-space settlement of Argo City. At the film's start, her mentor Zaltar (Peter O'Toole), incidentally the city's forefather, makes a mistake that forces a key power source, an omegahendron) to disappear into outer space, necessitating Kara's swift departure to rescue it, Zaltar's lifelong expulsion into Phantom Zone and possibly resulting in the whole city's eventual degradation. The omegahendron surfaces on earth and, the little ball is snared by a narcissistic, pretentious and vindictive would-be witch named Solina (Faye Dunaway) and her jittery sister, Bianca.When Kara surfaces on earth herself, she discovers she has unprecedented powers of flight, strength, hearing and mater manipulation. She uses an armband transmitter to detect the general location of the ball. Eventually, she manages to disguise herself to conceal her attire. Then, she passes as a student at a private university in a town called Midvale. She passes as Clark Kent's cousin, Linda Lee and forges a letter of recommendation from him. The headmaster places her with Lucy Lane, a sophomore who happens to be sister of Lois Lane and love interest of Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure reprising his Superman role). As a coincidence, their math teacher, a man named Nigel is also Solina's erstwhile instructor of black magic. He pursues her repeatedly, and she repeatedly rebuffs him.Meanwhile, all the girls at the school (including Linda) lust after a big, muscular groundskeeper named Ethan. But, Bianca also catches his eye, as does Solina, who says he belongs to her. Using a cheap form of black magic, she seduces him and tries to make him fall for her. However, her magic goes badly awry, and his heart instead falls to Linda (after she changes to her true identity and saves him from physical danger). Back in her dorm, Linda is forced to do battle with Solina's evil magic (as Kara) and comes out of this bout unscathed. Then, she gets a signal from her transmitter that the omegahendron is functioning, and she tears off for the abandoned amusement park where the evil sisters reside.And, who should be waiting for her but Ethan, spouting uncharacteristic love poetry and brandishing flowers & chocolates for Linda. The two are ambushed by the sisters, and Solina attempts to eliminate Linda, unsuccessfully. Linda is forced to change back into Kara and carry Ethan away to a distant lakeside. Solina eventually caves in and asks Nigel to help her eliminate Kara (whom she appropriately christens "Supergirl"). Nigel arrives at the park with a wand built for pure evil, which they use to lure Ethan back; Solina steals the wand, petrifies Nigel and creates a tall mountain with a castle on top in the exact middle of town. Supergirl arrives in the castle to rescue Ethan, only to find herself imprisoned in a diamond-shaped piece of glass, which then expels her to the Phantom Zone along with Zaltar. Meanwhile, she succeeds in subduing the whole community and seizing Lucy & Jimmy.at first, she doesn't know where she is, but she knows she's lost her powers. When she and Zaltar come into contact with each other, Kara tries convincing him that they shouldn't let the Phantom Zone consume them and that if they don't try and escape, Argo City is finished and so is earth. She uses straightforward teenage irony to finally win him over, and they push off for a deadly vortex. If they can circumvent the perimeter of the vortex, they can get to a way out. However, with the aide of her magic mirror, Solina spies on Kara & Zaltar and tries summoning elements of the Zone to kill them. She succeeds in finishing Zaltar, who lets himself die so Kara can push through. This she does, regaining her earthly abilities and flying straight through Solina's mirror and into the castle. Supergirl manages to rescue Lucy, Jimmy & Nigel from the cages they've been sealed in and engages a battle with Solina's dark magic. With help from Ethan and Nigel, Supergirl not only overpowers the magic but manages to create a vortex and shunt Solina & Bianca through the broken mirror and into the Phantom Zone. Afterwards, things return to normal, and Kara is able to return to Argo City with the reclaimed omegahendron.I for one thought the movie was well worth watching. I've actually watched it multiple times. It didn't include Christopher Reeve, Margot Kitter, Jackie Cooper or Gene Hackman, but that has very little to do with the quality of the film. It's an almost-completely new cast, and that does in fact add to the unacknowledged greatness of the film. It did go kind of far when the character of Ethan mentioned the fact that Supergirl [and Superman] could "leap tall buildings in a single bound." But, that was probably the only remotely inappropriate Superman reference in the finished product.There are only two real problems I've ever had with this film, and neither one of them could make me change my rating. First, How does Kara find out that Superman's earth identity is Clark Kent? Also, could someone explain to me where Solina could possibly have learned about the Phantom Zone, let alone send Supergirl there or manage to manipulate its elements?

Although Superman was long thought to be the only survivor of his doomed home world of Krypton many Kryptonians were able to survive its explosion and survive in 'inner-space.' Their survival was made possible due to a device known as the Omegahedron, which provides their city with energy to power their devices, and air to breathe, among other things. Argo City has blossomed into a utopian society where its inhabitants have become complacent. Zaltar, the city's founder and resident artist, expresses his desire to leave Argo City for parts unknown; however his plans are not to be. Having 'borrowed' the Omegahedron to bring his tree sculpture to life Zaltar attempts to hide his theft from Allura, Kara's mother, by secretly slipping the Omegahedron to Kara while discussing his plans for leaving inner space. Kara subsequently uses the Omegahedron on her own creation, an insect-like creature, that tears through one of the city's walls.When the precious Omegahedron is sucked into space all hope seems lost, but Kara is determined to return it before the lights, and lives, of Argo City are extinguished forever. Kara follows the Omegahedron to Earth and, discovering her powers, becomes Supergirl.Guided by a bracelet whose gem is linked to the Omegahedron, Supergirl follows the signal to Midvale, Illinois and assuming the alter ego of Linda Lee enrolls in an all girl college to provide herself with a cover story for her time on Earth. Meanwhile, the Omegahedron finds its way into the hands of a 'wicked sorceress' named Selena who harnesses its power to amplify her black magic. After experimenting on a chicken with her new found powers, Selena sets her eyes on winning the affections of Ethan, a handsome, if aloof, gardener. Selena's ambitions then reach new heights and she declares her desire to rule the world.Supergirl struggles to acclimate to Earth culture, as she fights mundane forces in the form of Myra and Muffy, two female bullies at her school; and magical ones in the form of the dark forces Selena repeatedly sends in an attempt to destroy her. Failing in her attempts to destroy Supergirl and claim Ethan as her consort, Selena enlists the help of her erstwhile mentor, Nigel, into helping her fully control the Omegahedron and, upon success, abruptly turns on him in true villainous fashion. Now, having mastered the powers of the Omegahedron, Selena successfully sends Supergirl to the Phantom Zone, where she is powerless, and promptly turns Midvale into a police state. Here, Supergirl is reunited with Zaltar who has been imprisoned for losing the Omegahedron. Zaltar ultimately sacrifices himself in order to lead Supergirl out of the Phantom Zone and back to Earth where she engages Selena in an all out battle of might versus magic for possession of the ultimate power.Considered a major failure for many years, Supergirl attempted to do what didn't occur until the release of Superman Returns in 2006, which was to revive a dying franchise. Critics panned the film for its camp, bad acting, poor use of actors, and sub par script. However, the popularity of Supergirl has grown over the years into a cult classic on par with The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Harold and Maude, and Reefer Madness to name a few.Although there are plot holes, there are not as many as have been claimed. One such plot hole which is often brought up is the question of where Supergirl gets her costume upon emerging from the lake following the Omegahedron. This question can be easily answered if you look closely when Kara enters the sphere which transports her to Earth you can clearly see that she sits on a clear package about the size of a throw pillow containing a suit in the familiar yellow, red, and blue. Other plot-holes such as the question regarding how Selena had knowledge of the Phantom Zone aren't so easily answered.Despite its plot holes and occasional over-acting, Supergirl is not without merit. The 'flying ballet' sequence, as it has been called, captures the beauty and joy of a naïve young girl coming into her own power. The musical score brings an added dimension to the actions occurring in the film. Blink and you will miss Matt Frewer of Max Headroom fame as a trucker looking for a good time. While some have criticized Peter O'toole as lacking any emotional depth in his performance, I see him as a world-weary artist bored with his own existence and hungry for new adventures. Faye Dunaway is at her best as the evil sorceress Selena, although some would argue that Joan Crawford (Dunaway's character in Mommy Dearest) would beat Selena with a wire hanger given half the chance. Brenda Vaccaro as Bianca seems to be for this film what Otis (Ned Beatty) was for Superman The Movie (and it's sequel) comic relief--although her attempts at humor often fall flat and many of her lines are largely un-necessary. Finally, Helen Slater in her movie debut as Supergirl stands her own against the many veteran actors in whose company she finds herself. She certainly looks the part and plays her dual role to perfection.Overall, this is a very enjoyable, family-oriented film that doesn't require you to think too much. If you love deadly bumper cars, invisible monsters, run-away tractors, flying ballets, ghost trains, world domination, pseudo-magic, demon storms, teenagers dangling in cages, and the sky raining coconuts with pin point accuracy--then this movie is for you and for two hours you will believe... a girl can fly!

This is a good movie, even when it was made. The Blu-Ray was a good update to the quality and clarity.

Directors cut was never released in the UK, so this is a bit of a treat. Only DVD (not bluray quality) but its a nice box set, containing theatrical release, directors cut, and an hour long 'making of' which I remember watching on TV here when I was a kid - gives a really good insight into the thought process of the actors, especially Faye Dunaway. The directors cut supposedly add's more character dimension to Supergirl and Selena - I didn't really find that to be true. A few extra scenes in the boarding school padded out the characters of the two nasty girls, but that was about it. Still love the film for what it is, just wish they'd release it here, on bluray for a normal price. The boxset itself is a limited edition (50,000 only), numbered on the back, and its about double the width of a standard DVD case. Booklet inside is a nice read, detailing more about the production, studio interference and the awful critics response

This is a classic with Helen Slater; her fans will love it (the quality of the DVD is good); here she is a bit younger than when she played her major role in 12:01 - the latter movie is perhaps one of the best time-travel movies of the time-loop kind (it is perhaps even better than the 1993 Groundhog Day movie starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell).

good film first super girl film

The only reason I'm giving 3 stars is because of the time it took for delivery Otherwise Very Pleased

What can I say.... Helen Slater is well cute back in 1984 when she was in Supergirl. I'm real happy to watch it again as it takes me RIGHT BACK to the Eighties like its 1984.