The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened?

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.

Back in time to 1998 when Tim Burton was in talks and fully involved during pre-production to direct the major new Superman film, Superman Lives! Nicolas Cage would be Clark Kent and the costume screen tests is amazing footage, particularly seeing how great Tim and Nic would have collaborated. Featuring interviews from spectacularly gifted artists who provided the concept art, producer Jon Peters with his strange approach and early drafts of the screenplay by none other than the mighty Kevin Smith, not only is it a really enjoyable watch but really captivating and I personally think it's such a shame it was a failed project. The concept art looks incredible and to see that on screen would've been something else. Maybe it'll rise to studios interest again in the future.... the documentary itself is essential viewing though and although I would've liked to know more details about the films story which is barely referenced to, it's still really well edited and clearly made with a passion for its subject

Over the years, there have been talks of an unmade Superman movie starring Nicholas Cage, which has been the subject of controversy among not only fans of the character, but comic book fans in general. Pretty much all there was to show for it was a few leaked, horrible images of Nicholas Cage sporting quite a head of hair in a cheesy suit, Kevin Smith's shared experiences from being a writer on the movie, and a supposed leaked script.

This documentary sheds light on the unmade movie and tells the whole story through incredible concept art, and pretty cool special effects tests all of which just don't belong in a Superman movie.In addition there's info from some of the crew members working on the movie at the time. People interviewed include concept artists, director Tim Burton, writer Kevin Smith, Producer John Peters, costume designers, special effects artists, and others caught up in the production at the time.

The thing I personally found amusing was how almost everyone involved with Superman Lives had so little knowledge on the characters, mainly from producer John Peters who had the most insane, outlandish ideas that made little sense to not only the actual movie, but to the universe established in the DC comics. The movie truly felt like like it was doomed from the start.

Anyways, it's a pretty good documentary that tells the tale of how outright bonkers Hollywood can truly be. I'd suggest you watch it if you're into the whole unmade movie type of documentary thing Reminiscent of Jodorowsky Dune, which is another documentary you should also check out.

Over the years I had heard about this failed Superman reboot, and then pictures started appearing online, but until this documentary I didn't know the full story. Much like Jodorowsky's Dune, this insightful documentary takes us behind the scenes, showing us not only how the wheels for this project started but finally answers the question of why exactly the whole thing came crashing down.

There's in depth interviews with Jon Peters, Kevin Smith and some surprisingly emotional words from Tim Burton. Sadly Nic Cage declined to appear. Regardless, this is a fascinating journey into what could have been either one of the best comic books movies ever or the most bizarre mess since Batman and Robin. Tragically we'll never get to see Nic Cage as Superman shouting NOT THE KRYPTON! Our loss.

Fascinating behind the scenes look of Hollywood craziness. Makes you wish they had made Superman Lives!