Search - Supergirl on DVD

There and Back Again

Eric B. Gordon | Indianapolis, IN (USA) | 10/31/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't remember when I first heard about this film. But, it was at least at age five, a year after it was released to theaters. Apparently, most people didn't think much of it, because it was viewed historically as a commercial flop. A part of it may have been circumstantial, though. Supergirl production was started hot off the heals of the rap on Superman III, a film that performed abominably in the theaters. Pending who you asked, many people were starting to get burnt out on the Superman cannon, and they must've seen a teenage, female equivalent as a joke. If it had been produced and released in between Superman II and III, that might've had a more positive, circumstantial effect.

Here, Helen Slater stars in her first leading role as Kara, the Kryptonian cousin to Superman (official name of Kal-El) who left Krypton with her parents to live in the inner-space settlement of Argo City. At the film's start, her mentor Zaltar (Peter O'Toole), incidentally the city's forefather, makes a mistake that forces a key power source, an omegahendron) to disappear into outer space, necessitating Kara's swift departure to rescue it, Zaltar's lifelong expulsion into Phantom Zone and possibly resulting in the whole city's eventual degradation. The omegahendron surfaces on earth and, the little ball is snared by a narcissistic, pretentious and vindictive would-be witch named Solina (Faye Dunaway) and her jittery sister, Bianca.

When Kara surfaces on earth herself, she discovers she has unprecedented powers of flight, strength, hearing and mater manipulation. She uses an armband transmitter to detect the general location of the ball. Eventually, she manages to disguise herself to conceal her attire. Then, she passes as a student at a private university in a town called Midvale. She passes as Clark Kent's cousin, Linda Lee and forges a letter of recommendation from him. The headmaster places her with Lucy Lane, a sophomore who happens to be sister of Lois Lane and love interest of Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure reprising his Superman role). As a coincidence, their math teacher, a man named Nigel is also Solina's erstwhile instructor of black magic. He pursues her repeatedly, and she repeatedly rebuffs him.

Meanwhile, all the girls at the school (including Linda) lust after a big, muscular groundskeeper named Ethan. But, Bianca also catches his eye, as does Solina, who says he belongs to her. Using a cheap form of black magic, she seduces him and tries to make him fall for her. However, her magic goes badly awry, and his heart instead falls to Linda (after she changes to her true identity and saves him from physical danger). Back in her dorm, Linda is forced to do battle with Solina's evil magic (as Kara) and comes out of this bout unscathed. Then, she gets a signal from her transmitter that the omegahendron is functioning, and she tears off for the abandoned amusement park where the evil sisters reside.

And, who should be waiting for her but Ethan, spouting uncharacteristic love poetry and brandishing flowers & chocolates for Linda. The two are ambushed by the sisters, and Solina attempts to eliminate Linda, unsuccessfully. Linda is forced to change back into Kara and carry Ethan away to a distant lakeside. Solina eventually caves in and asks Nigel to help her eliminate Kara (whom she appropriately christens "Supergirl"). Nigel arrives at the park with a wand built for pure evil, which they use to lure Ethan back; Solina steals the wand, petrifies Nigel and creates a tall mountain with a castle on top in the exact middle of town. Supergirl arrives in the castle to rescue Ethan, only to find herself imprisoned in a diamond-shaped piece of glass, which then expels her to the Phantom Zone along with Zaltar. Meanwhile, she succeeds in subduing the whole community and seizing Lucy & Jimmy.

at first, she doesn't know where she is, but she knows she's lost her powers. When she and Zaltar come into contact with each other, Kara tries convincing him that they shouldn't let the Phantom Zone consume them and that if they don't try and escape, Argo City is finished and so is earth. She uses straightforward teenage irony to finally win him over, and they push off for a deadly vortex. If they can circumvent the perimeter of the vortex, they can get to a way out. However, with the aide of her magic mirror, Solina spies on Kara & Zaltar and tries summoning elements of the Zone to kill them. She succeeds in finishing Zaltar, who lets himself die so Kara can push through. This she does, regaining her earthly abilities and flying straight through Solina's mirror and into the castle. Supergirl manages to rescue Lucy, Jimmy & Nigel from the cages they've been sealed in and engages a battle with Solina's dark magic. With help from Ethan and Nigel, Supergirl not only overpowers the magic but manages to create a vortex and shunt Solina & Bianca through the broken mirror and into the Phantom Zone. Afterwards, things return to normal, and Kara is able to return to Argo City with the reclaimed omegahendron.

I for one thought the movie was well worth watching. I've actually watched it multiple times. It didn't include Christopher Reeve, Margot Kitter, Jackie Cooper or Gene Hackman, but that has very little to do with the quality of the film. It's an almost-completely new cast, and that does in fact add to the unacknowledged greatness of the film. It did go kind of far when the character of Ethan mentioned the fact that Supergirl [and Superman] could "leap tall buildings in a single bound." But, that was probably the only remotely inappropriate Superman reference in the finished product.

There are only two real problems I've ever had with this film, and neither one of them could make me change my rating. First, How does Kara find out that Superman's earth identity is Clark Kent? Also, could someone explain to me where Solina could possibly have learned about the Phantom Zone, let alone send Supergirl there or manage to manipulate its elements?"

A girls' night out....

Stefan Hayes | 03/19/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This film throws misogyny to the way-side.
Helen Slater gives a fine performance.
It is, however, Faye Dunaway and Brenda Vacarro that elevate this film to it's feminine heights. Dunaway plays the villian without a miss. Vacarro's comedic turns and affects are wonderful.
The special effects are grand and without a clue as to their reality.
There is even a villianess sub-plot with two Midvale School girls that really add to this womanly film.
Such a great film, leaves us all hoping that this same effect can be created within Warner's "Wonder Woman".
Good job to EVERYONE who played a part in the production of this film: Pure Entertainment."