The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened?

The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened?_720p(480P)

source: The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened?

This is a wonderful documentary about the production process and eventual cancellation of the Nicholas Cage, Tim Burton "Superman Lives" movie. Its something that really isn't known about and this documentary really illuminated a lot about the movie. I loved the crazy weird designs and art that went into this movie and, even though I'm not confident that the film would be any good, I'm fascinated by what this might have been. Jon Schnepp does a great job stitching this history together with great editing of audio and video to really tell a story. I also loved some animations they overlaid on interviews to help explain what the interviewee was talking about. Despite loving this documentary it wasn't totally perfect. At times it had cheaper production value commensurate with it being self funded. There is also a weird segment left in where Jon Peters takes a phone call during the interview. It wasn't clear if this was trying to say something about him but it kind of derailed the generally great pace of this documentary so I felt it could have been left to the ether of bonus content rather than the main film. Overall I loved this documentary and Schnepp's fascination with this project is absolutely infectious. Moreover, I have never felt this kind of passion from Tim Burton before and it was great to see that in this context. Definitely a documentary to check out.

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.

A fantastic story told by an uneven documentary. The best parts (for me) were the Kevin Smith scenes. He seemed really happy to regale the audience (again) with his bizarre turn as scriptwriter for Superman Lives, and he's a nicely expressive personality. The downside to this is that he's not presenting anything new, and you can still get the same entertaining story in one of his "An Even With Kevin Smith" stand-ups. Outside of that, the reason to see this movie is the wealth of uncovered costume-test footage with Nicolas Cage and Tim Burton. This paints a different tale than just the pictures we've had on the internet for so many years. Still would've made for a whacko movie. The director conducts a stilted interview with Burton himself (poor lighting and all), but give the man credit; have you ever heard a Burton commentary? They're not easy to get through. The Death of Superman Lives is worth a watch, and it'll hold your attention, but you can get by with Smith's testimony of events in one of his on-stage conversations. And he makes for better subject matter.

I've been a fan of Jon Schnepp for a long time. I've watched him on AMC/Collider Movie talk for years now. In the world of comic-book "sweaties", he is the cream of the crop. The man's knowledge spans decades and just about every comic-book character you can possibly imagine. But he also has background knowledge in filmmaking and animation, so I trust him his ability in more than one area. The fact that he made a documentary about the failure of one of the most mysterious superhero projects of all time, "Superman Lives", was immensely intriguing. I'm not entirely sure why it took me so long to sit down and check it out, however. I preordered the blu-ray the day it became available, but I just kept forgetting to watch it. Well, I'm glad I finally did. "The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened?" is one of the most fascinating films I have ever seen. Schnepp devoted years to figure out what kind of a film this was going to be and why in the world it didn't happen. The final product definitely gives you a visual and thematic idea of this film, but perhaps more time could have been taken to tackle why it didn't happen. The amount of information that Schnepp was able to gather whilst delivering it at a brilliant pace is uncanny. Chris Rock as Jimmy Olsen? Courteney Cox, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, or Sandra Bullock as Lois Lane? Not to mention the legitimate casting of Nicolas Cage as Superman? This is information that the casual comic-book fan probably didn't know, and Schnepp covers it all. But it isn't just the obscure casting, it's the enormous spider, the version of Lex and Brainiac combining, or the idea of Superman not flying are all things that were considered by producers for the failed film. Pretty much everything about the comic was flipped or altered for this film. I think this documentary is important to keep in mind, especially considering how lucky we are in this age of superhero films. A film this strange and this much of a departure from the comic, would never be made today. At the same time, this documentary made me immeasurably interested in how big of a bomb this movie could have been. I want to see this film. I know it will never happen, but I would totally be down to see this insane project. Ultimately, practical reasons, including a spiraling budget, ruined the film's chances. But this could have been an all-time guilty-pleasure. 3 weeks from production! Overall, I learned a ton of random knowledge with Schnepp's documentary. I also learned that just because someone is in position of power (Jon Peters), doesn't mean they know what's right. I'm sorry but some of the decisions that Peters and some of the other higher-ups were going to make, were horrendous. But in the end, it serves as a fascinating tale of "what could have been". Sure, there are so many questionable aspects to this film that taint the idea at first thought, but man this could have been something special. Special props to Jon Schnepp for making a kicka** documentary. +Schnepp and Kevin Smith kill it +Insightfully insane ideas +Not your ordinary DOC 9.0/10

The Death of 'Superman Lives': What Happened? (2015) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Remember SUPERMAN LIVES? You know, that new Superman movie that was going to be directed by Tim Burton and feature Nicolas Cage in the title role? It got into production but the film never managed to see the screen and this fun documentary explains why. What's so great about this documentary is that many of the main people involved with the production are interviewed here. This includes Burton, producer Jon Peters, the three different screenwriters including Kevin Smith as well as people involved in costumes, set design and various others. What's even more entertaining is that those interviewed are willing too speak their mind on what went wrong. As one person states, it would have been a great movie or something laughed off the screen and it seems Warner knew this and that's one reason the film was canceled. There's a lot of great stuff on display here including the interviews that are terrific. We also get to see video footage of Cage inside the Superman suit and having discussions with Burton and the crew. Speaking of Burton, you can tell that this film still bothers him. If you're a fan of comic book movies or just disastrous Hollywood mistakes then you should get a kick out of this documentary.

Low-budget but comprehensive documentary examination of the ill- fated 1990s attempt to reboot Superman. This is clearly a passion project of writer/director Jon Schnepp and it shows, for good and for ill. Schnepp's enthusiasm for the subject is infectious enough to carry us through what feels like an overlong film without too much drag. Somehow he managed to secure interviews with almost everyone important involved in the abandoned production, including would-be director Tim Burton, all three screenwriters who wrote and rewrote, Warner Bros. honcho Lorenzo di Bonaventura, costume designer Colleen Atwood, a large number of the technical artists who worked on the film's concepts, and most incredibly Jon Peters. Considering that screenwriter number one Kevin Smith has made a career trashing Peters over his involvement in what was supposed to be "Superman Lives," Peters is either brave or foolhardy for agreeing to participate. The most notable absence from the documentary is Nicholas Cage, who was cast as the Man of Steel and who we see only in archival footage of costume tests, but Schnepp has more than enough to work with. That is part of the problem -- this film presents more than anyone but the most obsessive fan boy would want to know about how the production progressed before it fell apart. It gets repetitive after the first hour and Schnepp isn't himself a dynamic enough filmmaker to keep it lively. The other problem is that, ultimately, despite some of the out-sized egos involved, there is no grand tale to tell here. "Superman Lives" died for perfectly sensible reasons, so this documentary ends on more of a whimper than a bang. While "The Death of Superman Lives" is catchier, this is really "The Short Life of Superman Lives" in that it gives us a good sense of what the film might ultimately have become, but doesn't really join the pantheon of fascinating tales of aborted projects.

I mean no offence by the geeks crack. I'm a geek!! I love comics, I adore Superman (I'm a collector and have loved him since I was a boy) and I had really only heard rumblings and rumours about the Kevin Smith written and Nicholas Cage starring Superman movie that never made it off the ground. I think for a long time I assumed it was an urban legend of some kind and then pictures started circulating of Cage in the suit and I still didn't think much of it. If this documentary doesn't surprise you about anything else, it shocked me with how deep into production this movie was. I mean we are talking script completion, special effects, costumes, casting...everyone was on board and in the production stages and that is the best thing this film shows. It also shows how genuinely passionate everyone was about making this work. The idea was they wanted to make a whole new concept Superman that was completely out of the box. Honestly, I am certain that it would have bombed and mainstream audiences would have hated it and die-hard fans would have ripped it apart including me and yet this documentary made me WANT to see this movie. It is based on my personal favourite and I think one of the best comic series' and concepts ever and that was the death of Superman. The project was perhaps too ambitious for one film and too much outside of the box for anyone. Jon Schnepp isn't exactly a household name and yet he's been around for awhile and worked on some high profile projects. I believe this film was made due to some sort of public forum donation (Kickstarter or something like that) and great for them because its the only documentary on this subject and it is extremely thorough. If I were Schnepp I may have hired someone to be the "host" of the documentary because Schnepp is clearly passionate about this subject and he's obviously a geek himself but he is incredibly awkward in front of the camera and has a ton of nervous tics (that nod...could be turned into a horrifying drinking game. The man nods 1000 times per interview I am sure.) He seems to get more comfortable as the film progresses but not much. He does ask the right questions and covers the right areas but he himself is not a great presence in front of the camera. The thing for me that I came out of this doc surprised about besides how deep into it they were is that I actually want to see this movie now and that includes Nicholas Cage. My first thought was the same as everyone else...Nicholas Cage would be laughed off the screen. But in seeing the film, watching him in costume and listening to him talk...I began to actually envision him in the role. Now again this would be WAY outside of the box. This would be a total departure from any Superman we have seen before but I could see Cage doing it. Man of Steel (in my opinion) was a butchering of the original Superman concept so why not this? The work put into it would have been (and was extensive.) Alas all we have is this documentary which was fascinating and decently made for the audience intended. Anyone outside of geeks and comic fans will likely be bored with the subject matter and find creator Jon Schnepp even more awkward. Its worth a look for all of us geeks. 7/10

Documentaries like THE DEATH OF "SUPERMAN LIVES": WHAT HAPPENED? are legion, it seems (JODOROWSKY'S DUNE, HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER'S APOCALYPSE, TERY GILLIAM'S LOST IN LA MANCHA, etc.). It's impossible to tell if TIM BURTON'S "SUPERMAN LIVES" would've been a Great movie or not, but it's a safe bet it would've been better than anything else we've seen thus far: Burton has shown more often than not an uncanny ability to get to the Soul of the Characters in his movies; THAT'S what makes the mere idea of Nicholas Cage as Superman under Burton's aegis such an intriguing notion. The footage of Cage in costume suggests much.