With Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice opening this Friday we realized
two things.
One, the summer movie season now officially starts in March, and two,
there was no way we'd be able to do this week's episode on
anything other than Batman and or Superman.
Because we're frightened by commitment we went for a bit of both.
Focusing on the 70s and 80s Superman movies and
the Batman flicks from the 80s and 90s.
We've dug up some things on the Nolan era movies too and
we'll get to those in another installment.
So make sure you subscribe so you don't miss that episode.
All right, enough setup. Here are seven things you didn't know
about Superman or Batman, probably.
(Sound) Richard Donner's,
Superman preceded Tim Burton's Batman by 11 years.
So, let's start there.
Casting was just one of the many challenges Superman the movie, would face.
The Adam West Batman series and even The Adventures of Superman
from the 50s with George Reeves led a lot of people to dismiss the project from
the onset figuring it would just be camp. >> Why it is Superman.
He's reversing the explosion.
He's driving it back into the ground. >> What helped the producers get
credibility, and in turn, financing, was getting Marlon Brando to sign on.
But Brando didn't come cheap.
He got an unprecedented payday for playing Jor-El, $3.7 million and
for just 2 weeks of work.
It's a ton of money by today's standards, so
you can imagine what people must have thought of that number in the late 70s.
And it gets even better. >> I bequeath you
my son. >> You may notice Brando looking down in
these shots.
Well, that's because he's reading his lines.
They had cue cards and cheat sheets stashed all over the set
because Brando didn't believe in memorizing lines.
He felt he got more honest and spontaneous performances by reading them right there,
in the moment.
And, as of this moment, I just dropped, boom,
a bonus thing you didn't know. >> When it came time to cash in your
chips, this old,
diseased maniac would be your banker. >> Gene Hackman didn't do too badly for
himself either.
He scored a $2 million fee to play Lex Luther.
And his attachment to the film further solidified its legitimacy
in the public's perception.
But even after getting Brando and Hackman,
there was still the problem of finding someone to play Superman.
(Sound) A lot of people don't know that Donner had to talk the producers out of
going after a big star to play Superman.
They'd originally wanted Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, or Paul Newman.
Paul Newman, who by the way, was 52 years old at the time.
Newman turned down the Superman role and the Lex Luther role,
which they'd also offered to him before Hackman had signed on.
Ultimately, the filmmakers agreed to go with an unknown in Christopher Reeve.
And Reeve was a stroke of casting genius but he almost didn't even get the part.
The production team totally dismissed Reeve after meeting him in New York
because they felt he looked too young and way too skinny.
They went on to audition hundreds of other candidates.
Including Bruce Jenner,
who had caught the producers' attention when competing in the 1976 Olympics.
Jenner even did a screen test in Rome, but the producers agreed
unanimously that Jenner simply didn't have the acting chops.
Production was getting so desperate to find their Superman,
they even screen tested the producer's wife's dentist at one point.
>> It's all over Luther.
You're coming with me. >> Weeks after blowing off
Christopher Reed, principal photography was looming so they finally screen tested
him and immediately realized holy [BEEP] this guy is totally our guy.
But he was going to have to put on some lb's to pull of that bright blue body suit
which segues perfectly into our next thing.
(Sound) >> How'd you like your first day on
the job? >> Well frankly, the hours
are sort of longer than I expected. >> When Christopher Reeve signed on to
play Superman, he was only 175, 180 pounds so he was under strict orders from
Richard Donner and the producers to put on some mass.
What most people don't know is Darth Vader was Superman's personal trainer.
David Prowse was the guy who played Darth Vader in the Star Wars films.
Physically, inside the costume. >> Find the passengers of this vessle.
I want them alive. >> But
he was also the guy that the Superman production team hired to get
Christopher Reeve all swolled and Prowse definitely did the job.
Under Prowse's guidance,
Christopher Reeve put on some 20 pounds of muscle over the course of filming.
And that was with no help from the just weights and vitamins and (Bleep).
(Sound) >> Remember there's a wire on your
neck. >> Yeah.
>> And don't touch the little
wires together, you'll be short circuited and
you'll go up into flames. >> Superman's 1 and
II were being shot at the same time in the late 70s.
Now this was a really, really big deal.
You've gotta remember this is pre, Lord of the Rings, so the financial gamble of
shooting two movies simultaneously of an unproven franchise was pretty ballsy.
Problem was, production on Superman was a total clusterbang every step of the way.
Richard Donner was constantly being told he was over budget and
behind schedule, even though he was never given a budget or a schedule.
Ultimately, production ran out of money,
so the studio decided to go ahead and see what they had with the first film and
table what they'd shot for Superman II. >> Bye, Frisky.
So long now. >> Long story short,
Superman went on to be a huge hit.
In fact, it was Warner Brother's biggest movie ever at the time.
But that didn't stop the producers from holding a grudge against Donner and
bringing on another director to finish shooting Superman II in Richard Lester.
Here's the part where most people don't know.
Richard Donner had already shot somewhere between 60 and 70% of Superman II.
After all, they've shot a good 19 months before the money ran out.
In fact, they'd gotten so much done, Gene Hackman and
Ned Beatty didn't shoot a single foot of film with Lester.
So any scenes with them in Superman II were all under Donner's direction.
Superman III on the other hand is 100% Richard Lester which says everything.
>> You always wanted to fly kid.
Now's your chance. >> Because Donner had done so
much on Superman II, the producers felt somewhat
obligated to ask if he wanted his name on the film after Lester finished it.
Well, Donner got as far as this Eiffel Tower part which
is only 11 minutes into the film and said, no thanks.
Quick bonus that you may have not known.
Ten years ago, they finally strung together what would have been
Donner's Superman II for a DVD release.
The best they could anyway, filling in the blanks with screen tests and
other footage that was never really meant to be in the final film.
>> No, don't be crazy now.
(Sound) >> They even got permission from Marlon
Brando's estate to use his scenes as Jor-El which weren't used in the original
theatrical released because the producers didn't want to pay him for it.
Still salty over that $3.7 million, I guess.
(Sound) Let's get into some Batman things.
And this thing contains a spoiler, so if you still haven't gotten around to
seeing Batman Returns, clearly you're just never going to.
But I'm still going to be a good guy and skip ahead to the next thing.
>> I am Catwoman, hear me roar.
>> Now that it's just us cool guys,
let's talk about the ending with the reveal that Catwoman is still alive.
You probably didn't know that keeping Catwoman alive was a last minute decision
from Tim Burton, which means the shot had to be created at the absolute last minute,
and it wasn't cheap.
They only had a few days to create the shot and
Michelle Pfeiffer wasn't available anymore.
So that's actually not Michelle Pfeiffer we're seeing.
First, they did a version where we see an animatronic Catwoman from behind looking
at the bat signal, but that version wound up getting cut.
Instead, they use the double for Catwoman whom they shot on a blue screen and
then composited her into the original negative.
And by the effects team own admission, the shot really doesn't make sense because
there's nowhere for Catwoman to be standing in the shot.
Then again, we are talking about a movie where a bunch of penguin pallbearers
usher Danny Devito into a watery grave.
So why don't we all just let it go.
(Sound) >> My dear penguins,
we stand on a great threshold. >> Speaking of the penguins, you
probably didn't know just how difficult it was to get them all for the film.
Pretty much every working penguin in Hollywood at the time wound up getting
booked on Batman Returns, including 30 black foot penguins and 12 king penguins.
They were hard to get because of their complex mating schedules.
It took 3 days of blasting the AC to get the stages down to 30 degrees, both for
the penguins, and so it would be cold enough to see people's breath on film.
But every time some jerkoff left the door open for five minutes, it would let
all the cold air out, because they were shooting Batman Returns in the summer.
Anyway, they had to supplement the live penguins with animatronics,
little people in costumes, and some early CJ penguins just to have
all of the flightless birds they needed for the film.
But just so you know, the real penguins were super easy to work with.
As long as you have treats when you are calling them and
weren't interrupting their complex mating, they always hit their mark.
>> You're all doing a fine job.
(Sound) >> Kawabunga.
>> Let's end this thing on a low note with
Batman and Robin.
And this thing actually helps to explain why the movie sucks so, so badly.
Most people don't know that there was an actual directive from
the studio to make Batman and Robin more kid friendly and
to make it more, this is an actual word they used, toy-etic.
In other words, they wanted Joel Shumacher in the production team to find as many
opportunities as possible, within the film, to create toys and merchandise.
Which explains how we wound up with these suits,
since they make no sense whatsoever within the movie, or in general really.
There was even a toy company involved with the design of the Batmobile as
it appears in the movie.
They basically snatched the designs from the art department before the ink was even
dry so they could send them off to China to have the toy molds made.
After all, that mold making crap takes time.
And it's more important to have your movie tie in toys on the shelves at the same
time the movie hits theaters than it is to try to make a half way decent movie that
actually makes sense and doesn't damage the franchise almost irreparably,
right? >> Chicks dig the car.
>> This is why Superman works alone.
>> Right, we're all on the same page.
Guys, that it just the tip of the fortress of solitude.
We have so many more things about the Batman and Superman movies,
the old ones and the newer ones, so stay tuned for a part two.
In the mean time, you can check out our episode on the 1989 Batman and
our episode on the Dark Knight.
Thanks for watching our very special episode of Batman v Superman,
Things You Didn't Know.
And be sure to check out Cinefix.com and subscribe for
more true-ish things about movies.
And sometimes Darth Vadar the personal trainer,
right here on things you didn't know. >> Bye.
(Music)