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August 25, 2015: "The Death of 'Superman Lives': What Happened?" Review
"The Death of 'Superman Lives': What Happened?" documentary film from writer/director Jon Schnepp chronicles the events surrounding the failed 1998 film "Superman Lives" which would have been based on the critically acclaimed comic book story, "The Death of Superman".
The film was ultimately cancelled by Warner Bros. only weeks before cameras were set to role and would have potentially starred Nicolas Cage as Superman, Christopher Walken as Brainiac, and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. Tim Burton was set to direct from a heavily edited original script written by Kevin Smith.
Now, through the fundraising efforts of Kickstarter as well as plenty of money out of his own pocket, Schnepp has managed to put together a very entertaining and insightful documentary that answers the questions surrounding "Superman Lives" and why it ultimately failed.
Fans are treated to first looks at production images and concept art from the film as well as interviews with practically everyone who was ever involved with the project. Kevin Smith kicks off things by offerring quite a bit of humorous - albiet adult language laced - insight in regard to his early meetings with hairdresser-turned-producer Jon Peters who had utterly insane demands such as no flying, no suit, and the infamous giant spider.
We also learn about other odd anecdotes in regard to Peters - from the man himself - such as an annoying habit of routinely bringing his four children into the production department because "kids are honest about their opinions" and his being such a martial arts aficionado to the point of putting a chokehold on a production designer just to prove a point.
In addition to Smith and Peters, others such as costume designer Colleen Atwood, concept artist Sylvain Despretz, and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura speak their minds about their experiences while working on "Superman Lives" and one comes away with a true sense of the amount of heart & soul each one put into their work while trying to make the film a reality.
Hands down, the biggest reward the documentary offers is never-before-seen footage of test fittings featuring actor Nicolas Cage in various versions of the redesigned Superman costume. Contrary to previously leaked still images from these videos which were not well-received, seeing actual footage of Cage moving around in the costume offers a whole new perspective on what could have been and it looks good!
There is also test footage of Superman in flight as well as landing through a combination of CGI and Cage himself. The result is truly spectacular and, combined with the test fittings footage, leaves you with the perception that seeing Cage as the Man of Steel on the silver screen really could have been accomplished and even turned out to be one of the best Superman films ever produced.
All-in-all, "The Death of 'Superman Lives': What Happened?" is a wonderful documentary and it is extremely evident that it was labor of love for Schnepp and all those involved with putting the film together.
The documentary is available for purchase here on Bluray, DVD, and digital format. If you are a Superman fan or a fan of superhero films in general, this is definitely one film you will want to add to your entertainment library.
