| | | | Supergirl
(1984) |
small fraction of the long lost planet Krypton, now named Argo City, remains in the cosmos. A magical place, powered by the mysterious 'Omegahedron'. Among the residents is a young Kara Zor-El, played by Helen Slater.
She is the cousin of Kal-El whom we all know on Earth as Clark Kent, better known famously as Superman!
Kara's world is thrown into sudden jeapordy when she is almost blamed for the vital power source of the inner-space Kryptonian city (The Omegahedron) blasting off into the great unknown.
Knowing that she is the only person to retrieve it, Kara's curiousity gets the best of her and she sets off after the power source and ends up on planet Earth where her cousin also lives.
Now decked out in a female version of the Superman costume, Kara soon becomes known as... Supergirl.
Unfortunately her search for the Omegahedron is endangered as it has fallen into the hands of Selina (Faye Dunaway), an evil witch who plans to use black magic along with the power of the Omegahedron to bring the world to its' knees before her.
Its a race against time for Kara to find the power source and return it to her homeworld before all is lost!
 Don't forget that Supergirl is now available to order on Widescreen DVD using our special 80s Retro Assistant...
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I'm cutting this film a lot of slack considering its not well received by fans of the genre.
Of course it does not hold its own well against the first couple of Superman sequels but at least the participation of "Superman" film producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind lend a bit of continuity, also the inclusion of Marc McClure's Jimmy Olsen sort of bridges the gap between the films.
The script itself could have been a lot better and the villains a bit more sinister, but the crown jewel performance in this film is Helen Slater in her starring debut as Supergirl.
The other high point of this film is the amazing special flying effects that hold their own against any other action/fantasy film of the 80s.
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With a total gross of 14 million dollars this movie made the least money of all the films in the Superman series, it was intended to be the first of a series of Supergirl films, but its lack of success at the box office ended these plans. 
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The film marked a reunion of sorts for Dunaway and the producers, as she had previously been in the Salkinds' "The three Musketeers" in the 1970's -Thanks to Robert Baum
Brenda Vaccaro, the evil Selina's sidekick in supergirl actually appears in the hit sitcom 'Friends' as Joey Tribbiani's mother, who comes to visit Joey after learning her husband is having an affair.
Only Jimmy Olsen from the first three Superman films appears as a connector to the original series, though there are references in the film to Clark Kent, Superman, Lois Lane, and the Daily Planet.
On the cover of Supergirl #1, the 1970's DC comic first devoted to Supergirl's solo adventures, Supergirl is ripping off the front carriage of a runaway bulldozer, just like she does in the movie.
In the comics, Argo City is a city on Krypton and only Jor-El's brother, Zor-El, believes Jor that Krypton is going to explode and prepares his city to survive the explosion. The floating city's ground turns to Kryptonite and Zor-El coats the entire city with a foundation of lead to protect the citizenry. Kara is born after Krypton has exploded. A meteor shower penetrates Argo's dome and the lead shielding and, as the Argonians die, mom Allura knits a costume for Kara to resemble that of her cousin on Earth and Zor-El fires off El #2 in the direction of the Earth before everyone apparently dies. Years later, it's discovered that Supergirl's Kryptonian folks survived the destruction of Argo City by propelling themselves into an alternate dimension, the Survival Zone, which existed as a parallel of sorts to the Phantom Zone, which brother Jor-El discovered and in which Krypton placed its bad guys. Supergirl eventually freed her parents from the Survival Zone and they went to live in the bottled city of Kandor, a Kryptonian shrunken city kept in Superman's Fortress of Solitude.
In the comics, Linda Lee is in Midvale Orphanage, not Midvale School for Girls.
In an interview with Slater that appeared before the release of the film, Slater related a story in which she met with Chris Reeve in New York City to discuss playing a Super person. As they were talking on a park bench, there was a fire and the firefighters showed up and started tackling the fire while, ironically, Superman and Supergirl sat on a bench across the street doing nothing.
Slater refused to participate in the making of the DVD and does not generally discuss Supergirl, which was her first film role.
In the novelization and comic book adaptation of the film, it's made clear that when Kara leaves Argo she ages several years from pre-teen to teen. This was eventually discarded for the film so that Slater could be introduced from the beginning.
Supergirl was originally slated to be released in the United States in July 1984, but it was delayed until Thanksgiving time. It was released internationally first, just as was done with Superman II, a 1980 film released in 1981 in the States.
Supergirl was the only Super film released without a "WB" logo at the beginning - it was a Tri-Star film distribution.
Director, Jeannot Szwarc, also directed "Jaws 2" and Christopher Reeve ("Superman") and Jane Seymour in the time travel romance "Somewhere in Time". -Thanks to Jeanie
Helen Slater would go on to star in "The Legend of Billy Jean" with Christian Slater. (No relation)
The production team on this film, including the Salkinds went on to do "Santa Claus: The Movie" the year after this film's release.
Helen Slater was born 'Helen Schlacter' in New York city in 1963.
Not big news, but Matt Frewer (aka: Max Headroom) has a cameo in this film with the ridiculously great line "That's just the way we are" during the early scene with the threatening truckers. -Thanks to Troy Shawhan
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Rediscover your favorites! If you like
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check out this list: ..... Angel ..... Raiders of the Lost Ark ..... Beverly Hills Cop ..... Die Hard ..... Predator ..... Terminator ..... Black Rain ..... 48 HRS ..... Untouchables ..... Lethal Weapon ..... Rocky IV ..... Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior ..... Top Gun ..... Highlander ..... Streets Of Fire ..... Commando .....[More]
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Helen Slater had to train three hours a day for three months to do the outdoor flying sequences where she was suspended by wires from a 200ft tower crane.
Demi Moore was signed on to play Lucy Lane, but backed out to star in another movie. -Thanks to Cliff
The role of Selina was originally to be played by Dolly Parton and production materials were prepared marketing Parton's role in the film. In the original script, Selina is a simple farm girl interested in magic who becomes consumed with evil by contact with the Omegahedron. Rather than the end for Dunaway's character in the film, Parton's Selina would have been freed from the Omegahedron's influence at the end of the movie.
In the original script, that contemplated Reeve's participation, Superman is overpowered by the evil Selina and it is up to Supergirl to save the day. Reeve never committed to Supergirl as he still believed he was done playing Superman, a decision he made at the end of filming Superman III and recanted on making Superman IV.
The production team initially intended to give Supergirl a feminized version of Superman's uniform with a more stylized "S" and a headband. DC Comics initially objected because only Kryptonian men wore headbands, not women. However, DC eventually relented and even incorporated the planned film costume into the comic book character's adventures. After explaining Supergirl's reasons for violating Kryptonian protocol and wearing a headband, Supergirl the movie decided against the stylized costume but DC Comics was stuck. Supergirl the comic character died in that costume at the hands of the Anti-Monitor in Crisis on Infinite Earths #7, saving her cousin Superman from the Anti-Monitor's attack.
Though the role of Principal Danvers is played mainly for laughs, the original script called for Danvers and his family to befriend Linda Lee. This would have echoed the comic book story, where orphan Linda Lee is eventually adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers.
In an interview with late-show host Conan O'Brien in the mid-1990's, Helen Slater signed an image of her role as Supergirl, adding "By the way, this is not my real breast". In truth, she revealed that the production team chose to 'increase' that aspect of her costume to more closely resemble the comic strip Supergirl. -Thanks to Pascal Faucher
The original movie script would have had the movie opening with a recreation of the destruction of Krypton and the survival of Argo City, though it was eventually decided to provide no explanation at all for the existence of Argo City beyond that it was founded by Supergirl's pal, Zaltar.
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|  |  |  | | Supergirl
Locations |
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 Featured Movie Location: The lake
Wanna see the real life filming location used for The lake in the movie? These scenes were actually shot at Black Park Country Park, located at Black Park Road in Wexham, Nr Slough, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, United Kingdom.
This popular park is set within 530 acres of attractive woodland, grassland and heathland with a centre-piece lake. There are many recreational opportunities for the visitor: waterside and woodland walks, a lakeside cafe, orienteering course and a children's woodland play area. This location is often seen in classic British movies and part of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was filmed at Black Park.
The town of 'Midvale' was built in its entirety at London's Pinewood Studios, not far from Black Park, as a large scale set on the backlot.
Supergirl was also filmed on location in Norway, Canada, and Scotland.
Can you help? Do you know any of the United Kingdom (or any other) filming locations used for Supergirl? [Please send them in]
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| Our
Comments: Special Edition |
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The great and I believe underrated Supergirl soundtrack contains an orchestral score by Jerry Goldsmith that is well worth a listen.
In this case it's thanks again to the SilvaScreen label who have remastered this classic score on to a new and expanded verion on CD.
The Howard Jones song "What is Love" was a huge European hit in 1983. WEA records (a part or Warner) used 'Supergirl' (a Warner production) as a way of introducing their new talent to the US market where he was hugely successful and remains popular even now. Howard was only 28 years old at the time. The song is NOT on the sountrack CD, but can be found on Howard's "Human's Lib" CD or on any of the many compilations of his work.
While a new score was recorded for Supergirl, composed by Jerry Goldsmith, the original John Williams Superman music was used in television commercials promoting the film. In the movie, listen for the classic Williams Superman theme when Linda looks at the Superman poster in her room.
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| | "Adventure Runs In The Family!"
| |  | | Approaching Chicago |
 | | The ever lovely Helen Slater stars in this, her motion picture debut. |
 | | Confrontation... |
 | | ... Final showdown... |
Year:
| 1984 | Studio:
| Warner Bros | Director:
| Jeannot Szwarc | Starring:
| Helen Slater,
Peter O'Toole, Faye Dunaway, Hart Bochner, Marc McClure
| | - | - | Genre:
| Action | | | | + | All one really needs to see in this film is the incredible performance of the beautiful, talented Helen Slater, and the fantastic visual effects. | - | The hammy acting displayed by the otherwise fantastic Faye Dunaway, she was supposed to be a Lex Luthor-type villain to Slater's Supergirl but the performance came off too campy and ham-handed, I would've sworn Dunaway was giving a repeat of her "Mommie Dearest" performance! |
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