DVD : Look, Up in the Sky - The Amazing Story of Superman

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- up..up...and away
Superman is an all-american hero. To know more about its origin, triumph and success, just makes him more loveable. The documentary is very informative. Highly recommanded for all superman-mania

Rating:

- Enjoyable but not worth the 5 stars
First, I am a fanatic for the character of Superman. He is the greatest American pop-culture icon ever, not to mention the greatest fictional character ever created. Having collected comics for thirty years, I believe I have (and have had) a great knowledge of the character.

I have read the factual/historical books, all the comics, seen all the TV series, serials, movies, cartoons and thier associated documentaries. I have owned countless Superman toys, games, videogames, action figures, etc....

This documentary didn't show me anything new. It didn't teach me anything about the character, or those who love him, that was previously unknown or even more interesting than the plethora of interesting facts that I already knew. For example...

I already knew that George Reeves "suicide" was and is suspicious.

I already knew that Chris Reeve was an "unknown" when he got the part. (although his screen test was cool).

I already knew that Tom Welling plays a young Clark Kent. And why did I need to see clips from the show? Why not include Tom Welling's insight on the Superman mythos, or Mark Rosenbaum's thoughts on the classic rivalry between Supes and Lex? that would be way more interesting than a bunch of clips from a TV show that we've just seen over that past few months or years.

I already saw, online as did any Superman fan, the movie trailers for the new movie. Again....nothing new.

There was a lot of missing coverage regarding the great assortment of cartoons through the years. they covered some, but not enough.

And finally, the coverage of Superman in the comics was trite and insufficient.

Please do not interpret my review as a bashing session. It was enjoyable to watch but moved at a slow pace throughout. This may not be the perspective of someone who is not as knowledgable about the character as I am. I am going to suggest reading SUPERMAN THE COMPLETE HISTORY by Chronicle Books (It starts out showing a COLOR picture of George Reeves shirt worn during the B&W episodes.)

Summation: Good but not great. There needs to be more to a documentary than the simple rehashing of existing facts with random clips.

Rating:

- SUPERREVIEW
THIS DOCUMENTARY WAS REALLY AN IN DEPTH LOOK AT THE CHARACTER OF SUPERMAN THROUGHOUT THE AGES. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS DOCUMENTARY TO ANY COMIC BOOK OR NON-COMIC BOOK FAN WHO IS JUST INTERESTED IN KNOWING HOW THE SUPERMAN CHARACTER CAME ABOUT AND HOW THE LEGACY BEGAN!! HIGHLY ENTERTAINING AND VERY INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THIS MYTHICAL SUPERHERO THAT IS PART OF AMERICAN HISTORY!!

Rating:

- Superman Returns... and brings the past with him!!!
Great Documentary, very interesting. i was so happy to see so many super characters from the past, and present. highly reccommended.

Rating:

- "Story Of Superman" - For Truth, Justice, & The American Way
"The Amazing Story Of Superman" is a great documentary that's worth the price of admission. I have a sinking feeling that this might be a special feature on the upcoming DVD release of "Superman Returns", so, I'm sad to say, but, buyer beware. However, if you do buy this you won't be dissapointed.

Produced by Bryan Singer, directed by Kevin Burns & narrated by Kevin Spacey (current Lex Luthor mantle holder) "Look, Up In The Sky - The Amazing Story Of Superman" covers the history of The Man Of Steel warts & all.

From the minds of Jerry Siegal & Joe Shuster, came a short story titled "The Reign Of The Supermen". In the story a group of super powered madmen took control of the Earth.
The story got little notice & the writers decided to make a few changes. Instead of having Supermen, Siegal & Shuster decided to have one man with incredible superpowers that he uses for good & to fight the powers of evil.

After shopping the idea around & getting a publisher (DC Comics) Superman exploded onto the scene in the first issue of "Action Comics" in 1938. A mint copy of this first issue is currently worth four-hundred & seventy thousand dollars. By the end of 1938, Superman became a phenomenom that spawned his own book aptly titled "Superman".

Superman would later make the leap to the big screen in the Max Fleisher cartoon serials & live action serials starring Kirk Alyn.

Through the forties & fifties Superman's origins as well as the Superman Universe were explored. Everything from Kryptonite, Lex Luthor, & the George Reeves television series (& the tragedy of Reeves) are highlighted in the documentary.

With the social & changing conscience of the sixties (Vietnam, the psychedelic era, etc.), Superman still remained one of the top superheroes of the day. But his image was slowly fading away with the birth of a more cynical society & in the early seventies, Superman got a revamping. It was the Christmas, 1978 release of "Superman: The Movie" that got Big Blue back on track.

The documentary covers all of these events, plus a look at the "death" of Superman in the early nineties & the release of "Superman Returns" in 2006, introducing Superman to a whole new legion of fans.

If your a casual fan of Superman you'll love this & even if your a die-hard fan you'll enjoy the nostalgic look past at Superman & the American icon that he is.

Superman Returns?

He never left.

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