MovieChat Forums > Superman II (1981) Discussion > Who saw this in cinemas back in 80/81?

Who saw this in cinemas back in 80/81?

posted 11 years ago by bozo_500
17 replies | jump to latest

Who saw this back in the day? What were your memories - the anticipation of seeing it in the weeks/days before, the actually seeing it and how much a big deal was it where you were back then, the crowds, audience etc and after coming out of the cinema what were your thoughts and in the days/weeks that followed

it was my first film at the cinema - being taken to see it mustve been summer 81 (although some countries had it xmas 80) remember the poster in the lobby
http://www.pastposters.com/cw3/assets/product_full/(JamieF-SAS)__Superman2(1).jpg

i remember there being a guy outside selling the program magazine and seeing this portrait of Reeve on the back cover (the guy is holding them in a way that i can see the back cover)
http://www.movpins.com/big/MV5BMTY5MzIwMzI0M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNzk5NTUyNw/still-of-christopher-reeve-in-superman-ii.jpg

i wanted one but no one would buy one.

as for the film i think i very vaugely recall some stuff but its difficult to remember as ive seen II so many times since. i think i remember Clark getting beat up and some of the Times Sq battle scenes and end in the FOS, also the bit where Superman chooses to lose his powers and become mortal and steps into the chamber and his DNA gets stripped down and hes like a skull etc - i think i recall that as i got scared as it was very similar to the opening of the Hulk tv series at the time of which i was a huge fan of - but at the same time was very frightened of the change scenes.

but clearly remember that i wanted a program and didnt get one

A short while later I was given a Superman II fold out poster magazine which I marvelled at
http://www.supermanii.com/siiweb/sii%20merchandise/siizm10.html
and also a uk magazine called Superheroes Monthly which did a great SII issue with painted cover:
http://supermanii.com/siiweb/sii%20merchandise/Superman_II_Super_Heroes_Monthly/Superman_II_Super_Heroes_Monthly_COVER.jpg

But that program was always on my mind…

in the years that followed i developed an unheathly collecting obsession and bought loads of stuff on the Superman films. i searched tirelessly for a Superman II program in comic stores but never found one

anyway flash foward to 1999 and i discover ebay - first item i buy? the Superman II cinema program circa 1981
http://www.supermanii.com/siiweb/sii%20merchandise/siizm4.html

[–] michaelsmith30 10 years ago

I saw it but barely remember seeing it. I was only 5. It actually didn't premiere in the US til June if '81. It opened overseas in 1980

[–] engle_james 10 years ago

I was probably 10 years old when I saw this, in a drive-in theater, no less! It was a double-feature with Any Which Way You Can, the Clint Eastwood movie, which I remember nothing about. But Superman II was a big deal at the time, I remember seeing commercials and even print ads in the paper, which showed the three Kryptonian villains flying toward Superman. Superman was the first movie I had ever seen in the theater, so in comparison, the action in part II seemed double that of the original. It was a big deal to all the kids I was with!

[–] ThePlayerhater 10 years ago

I was 2 maybe 3 also.

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[–] michaelward15 10 years ago

I remember seeing it in the theater. I think my whole family saw it together. I remember loving it. I think I liked it better than the first one at the time. I was probably in my late teens before I started liking the first one better. I also remember kind of having a thing for Ursa even though I was only 8.

[–] Soupful 10 years ago

I did was age 12 and took little sister and her friends as Mum had taught-trained myself train-bus, stranger-danger to city for the movie and McDonalds was a big deal then in late 80/early 81.

All the kids loved it, the girls cared for Lois Lane as well as Superman boys too.

"Nothing is as it seems, nothing is just one thing and nothing is ever just over there"

[–] srb-3 10 years ago

I did. Thought it was much better than Superman and I loved it then and now.

[–] superturbo4 10 years ago

While i clearly remember seeing Superman III moreso than Superman II and Superman The Movie as a very young little kid. I *DO* however vividly remember the moments of sitting in the cinema waiting for the film to start and begin and the people hollering and cheering as the curtains opened up and we saw the license for the film come up on the screen and say; "Superman II" with its certificate (i.e. the film was started up).

The people went nuts with cheering and whisling going on.

And throughout the film remembering key moments when.

- Superman flew to Paris and saved Lois

- The 3 villains killing the Astronauts & Cosmonaut (looked so mch better on the big screen in a darken cinema screen than it does on television at home)

- Superman saves the kid in Niagra falls

- The Taxi moment with the driver calling Clark Kent a freak (got the audience laughing)

- Lex and Eve at the Fortress Of Solitude

- Clark getting beaten up at the diner

- The Metropolis fight (somewhat vaguely at the time)

- The Fortress battle

i very vaugely recall some stuff but its difficult to remember as ive seen II so many times since. i think i remember Clark getting beat up and some of the Times Sq battle scenes and end in the FOS, also the bit where Superman chooses to lose his powers and become mortal and steps into the chamber and his DNA gets stripped down and hes like a skull etc - i think i recall that as i got scared as it was very similar to the opening of the Hulk tv series at the time of which i was a huge fan of - but at the same time was very frightened of the change scenes.

Yeah i've heard so many from my generation say the same thing about the Hulk TV series and the Banner's first change into the Hulk in the TV pilot (during the thunderstorm sequence in the rain) it really effected a generation for it to be remembered as scary to kids. Even when people act all macho and deny being scared back then, i'm like yeah whatevers *cough cough* ('wink').

Didn't think of Clark being stripped of his powers as the same though, it was kinda freakish i'll admit, but it was vastly different though in terms of outright scares though.

ST4

Name's Django, The "D" is silent.

[–] RIP_IMDb 10 years ago

I did, a number of times.

"Italy invented the pizza, took it to New York...but Chicago perfected it.".

[–] dm7686 9 years ago

Yeah i also seen this at some drive in back in 81, i was 4 and a half, so i barely remember it, but i know i did go see it with my family, its very vague, bits and pieces of it, like the metropolis fight with the villians, Superman giving up his powers and the Diner scene at the end.

[–] nameismike69 8 years ago

I proudly saw I and II in the cinema. As a child.

[–] millar70 8 years ago

I was 10 when I saw it in the movie theater. I remember it being a blast, with the crowded movie theater really into it. There was lots of cheering, especially during the fight in the city. I had a fun time, and saw it a couple of more times that summer.

I saw the first one in the theater as well and enjoyed it, though as a kid I was a little bored during the Marlon Brando scenes. Superman II was a much more consistently fun movie.