Waste of time

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

An absolutely fascinating documentary about the lost Superman film, that was to be directed by Tim Burton, and starring none other than Nicholas Cage as Clark Kent. My imagination went wild the entire time. Just thinking about how amazing it would've been to see a Superman movie, as weird and as sublime as only a Tim Burton film could be. From the looks of it, it was going to be a masterpiece. But corporate shenanigans shut it down. They never gave it a chance. If you are a fan of Superman and the films of Tim Burton, you must watch this. You will be floored by all the footage you are about to see. From concept art, to the camera test starring Nicholas Cage in the Superman suit, you will be amazed at how much went into the Superman film that never was.

The infamous bomb to end all bombs, a doomed effort to relaunch the Superman franchise in the immediate aftermath of the catastrophic Batman and Robin, never made it to principal photography. Ever since it was unceremoniously dumped back in 1998, the film's been a secretive slab of buried pop trivia and this documentary, through interviews with virtually every guilty party, attempts to uncover what might have been. Facepalm-worthy mistakes abound, from overzealous producers with absurd requests to tripped-out directors with no affinity for the character to one of the single worst casting decisions in recent memory. There's no two ways about it: this was going to be a launchpad disaster, even worse than the slim shreds of leaked information may have led us to believe. The story of its abortion is fascinating, too, in the same way a slow-motion replay of a fatal F-1 crash might be. The documentary belabors many points, though, needlessly bloating its runtime, and the director/moderator is incessantly forced into most shots, which I found grating. As a slideshow of concept art and talking heads recollecting (often, stunningly, with fondness) the mistakes they were never given the chance to make, it provides a short-lived interest. The full duration is something of a chore to push through, however, and it really could've done with some critical editing before release.

I have been after this movie FOR-ever, and FINALLY get to see it off Showtime over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend! First off; with movies you have such high anticipation for, you generally think you're going to be let down. Let me tell you right now, this was even better than I hoped it would be!In 1996, a chain of events took off that would lead to everyone from Kevin Smith (as a screenwriter), Tim Burton (as the director), Nicolas Cage (as the "Man of Steel" himself), etc.. attempting to create what would've been the next big Super hero franchise following in the aftermath of the mega-successful Warner Bros. Batman series. But low & behold, we all know now it didn't happen; well, at least, not for another decade, and with a whole other group of folks involved. I was mesmerized by this film from beginning to end, and was reminded of two other recent documentaries I saw about failed attempts at film-making (behind the scenes)- "Jodorowsky's Dune" and "Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau". In fact, Stanley himself is one of the major interviewees in this film, as he was in the "Dune" film. After watching this film about what described could've been one of the most amazing super hero films ever made, I think to the more recent "Superman Returns" and "Man of Steel" and think to myself- bleck! Oh well, at least we have THIS film we can now all watch and think about what could've been, as maybe something more creative future film-making endeavors can strive for..?? On a side-note: One thing though about this film. Maybe a little bit of a *SPOILER* alert? There is mention of Courtney Cox playing Lois Lane, Jim Carrey as "Brainiac", Michael Keaton making a cameo as Batman; however, when all these events were unfolding I "thought" i had heard that Jack Nicholson was in talks or being considered to play Lex Luthor- ?? There is no mention of him in this film; in fact, Kevin Spacey, who would of course ultimately play him in the 2006 film, is being considered for the role.

Over the years, there have been talks of an unmade Superman movie starring Nicholas Cage, which has been the subject of controversy among not only fans of the character, but comic book fans in general. Pretty much all there was to show for it was a few leaked, horrible images of Nicholas Cage sporting quite a head of hair in a cheesy suit, Kevin Smith's shared experiences from being a writer on the movie, and a supposed leaked script.This documentary sheds light on the unmade movie and tells the whole story through incredible concept art, and pretty cool special effects tests all of which just don't belong in a Superman movie.In addition there's info from some of the crew members working on the movie at the time. People interviewed include concept artists, director Tim Burton, writer Kevin Smith, Producer John Peters, costume designers, special effects artists, and others caught up in the production at the time.The thing I personally found amusing was how almost everyone involved with Superman Lives had so little knowledge on the characters, mainly from producer John Peters who had the most insane, outlandish ideas that made little sense to not only the actual movie, but to the universe established in the DC comics. The movie truly felt like like it was doomed from the start.Anyways, it's a pretty good documentary that tells the tale of how outright bonkers Hollywood can truly be. I'd suggest you watch it if you're into the whole unmade movie type of documentary thing Reminiscent of Jodorowsky Dune, which is another documentary you should also check out.