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The Puzo Scripts – Part 8: The Confrontation, the Rescue, and the Phantom Zone
Picking up on page 188, we find Jimmy Olsen broadcasting an emergency alert for the citizens of Metropolis to evacuate the city, as an automated airplane carrying Luthor Lux’s nuclear bomb circles the city. According to the information that they have received, it will detonate in the next two hours. People across Metropolis are in…
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The Puzo Scripts – Part 7: The H Bomb, Luthor’s Second Plot, Superman Returns, and the Final Plot
It’s hard to believe, but it’s true, we are now heading into the home stretch of analyzing Mario Puzo’s first draft script for Superman. There’s not much more to go, but yet there’s lots to cover, so let’s get started! Picking up with page 161, we find our team back in Metropolis, as Morgan (Martin)…
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New 4K Update with Artwork and Specs
We interrupt the Mario Puzo script analysis with this Muppet news flash… We now have more information about the forthcoming 4K release of the Superman films. HD Movie Source has released what appears to be the final cover artwork for what is tentatively being called the Superman 5-Film Collection: 1978-1987, which is still set for…
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The Puzo Scripts – Part 6: Aftermath, Bullies, and Luthor’s Next Plot
Before I launch into the next section of the first draft script, I want to point out that everything in the previous section pertaining to Lois Lane tricking Superman, and Superman giving up his powers, focus on just those two characters alone. There are no breaks in the sequence, as in both versions of Superman…
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The Puzo Scripts – Part 5: Analysis, The Secret Exposed, and the Sacrifice
So far I have covered the first half of Mario Puzo’s first draft script for Superman, and while it does not feel like a finished script, we can see the groundwork being laid for what will become the final film. Granted, not everything is fully represented in this first draft, and there are a number…
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The Puzo Scripts – Part 4: Luthor’s Plan, Kryptonite, and Superman in Peril
When we last left off with Mario Puzo’s first draft script for Superman, we saw the Man of Steel going into action, stopping a robbery, on the search for the whereabouts of Luthor Lux, preventing a drug deal from going down, and giving Lois Lane the first interview. Where do we go from here? Over…
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The Puzo Scripts – Part 3: Metropolis; Clark Kent, TV Reporter; and Lex Luthor
After the buildup of Krypton, Smallville, and the Fortress of Solitude, we now turn our attention to what has made Superman successful: the action in Metropolis. As with the final film, Mario Puzo’s first draft script from July 1975 spends a relatively small part of time building up to the events in Metropolis. But does…
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The Puzo Scripts – Part 2: Smallville and the Fortress of Solitude
Last time I set up the introduction to analyze Mario Puzo’s 1975 scripts for Superman, which included a look at the scenes on Krypton at the start of his first draft script from July 1975. Now I will turn my attention to his scenes set in Smallville and in the Fortress of Solitude, which encompasses…
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The Puzo Scripts – Part 1: Introduction and Krypton
It came out of the blue on Monday, and it was something that I had not seen coming. But there it was on Facebook: my friend Jim Bowers had acquired what is certainly a pair of Holy Grail pieces for any collection – both of Mario Puzo’s original 1975 scripts for Superman! The scripts had…
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Will the Donner Cut Be Fixed?
Since the news came out this past week that the Superman 5-film collection on 4K Ultra HD would be released in April 2023, the news has been received with a mixture of responses across the board. A number of fans are excited that all of the Christopher Reeve films are coming to 4K this spring,…