Supergirl (1984) - Comic to Movie #3

A stormdragon? A Supergirl!

Director
Jeannot Szwarc

Cast
Helen Slater - Kara Zor-El/ Linda Lee/ Supergirl
Peter O' Toole - Zaltar
Mia Farrow - Alura In-Ze
Peter Cook - Nigel
Brenda Vaccaro - Bianca
Hart Bochner - Ethan
Maureen Teefy - Lucy Lane
Marc McClure - Jimmy Olsen

I'm reviewing the 1984 movie Supergirl more for my own sake than for anyone who reads this blog and never realized this movie exists. Or, maybe they once heard about a Supergirl movie, but didn't care enough to see if it actually exists. Well, it exists. It's not necessarily obscure, but I have met many people who weren't around when this movie was released, or even in the same decade of its release, and never heard of it.
My family had a copy of Supergirl recorded off television when I was a kid. I liked it back then because it's Supergirl - a continuation of sorts to the Superman movies. But I haven't watched it since I was really young. That was about 30 years ago. So, I only recalled a few random scenes here and there.
Today, though the movie is often panned, some still hold it in somewhat of a high regard. So, I wanted to make it a part of this "comic to movie" thread I have going on, on this blog. I want to see what I think of Supergirl now that I've matured since those days of watching the TV version.
Helen Slater who plays Supergirl is still fondly remembered for this role. She appeared on Smallville as Superman's real mother, Lara. And Slater also appeared as Supergirl's adoptive mother on the current series, Supergirl.
How many female superheroes where featured in their own movie prior to 1984? Lynda Carter played Wonder Woman on TV between 1975 and 1979. She's the only other person who comes to mind.
But female superhereos weren't deemed as marketable back then for the big screen as their male counterparts were. So, despite whether Supergirl is good, bad, or in-between, it has a special place for paving the way for other female hero films like Tank Girl, Elektra, WonderWoman, and Captain Marvel to name a few titles. They only got better and better.

Helen Slater.

In the movie, Kara Zor-El (Helen Slater), the biological cousin of Kal-El (Superman), lives in a community of Kryptonians inside a place called Argo City.
One Kryptonian named Zaltar (Peter O'Toole) lets Kara witness first hand the power and ability of an object called the Omegahedron - a powerful tool that, along with another piece of technology called the alphahedron, powers the entire city.
Zaltar has the Omegahedron without the knowledge of the Argo City leaders. When he's questioned about it, he secretly kicks it over to Kara who's sitting on the floor attempting to create a large dragonfly, or some kind of big colorful insect, out of her imagination with a tool that goes with the Omegahedron.
The insect comes to life, starts flying around her, and then flies through a window causing the Omegahedron to get sucked out and shoot through space.
It travels all the way to earth and lands at a picnic site where the kind-of sorceress, Selena (Faye Dunaway), and maybe-warlock, Nigel (Peter Cook), are hanging out.
Selena claims it despite having no idea what it is or where it came from. Somehow, she happens to know how to use this alien object. Poor writing is common throughout the movie and this is one example.
As Selena is driving away, we hear on the car radio that Superman is on a "peace seeking mission" in some distant galaxy. That's Hollywood speak for Christopher Reeve probably read the script and said "nope." Reeve was slated to be in the movie but dropped out early on.
Kara arrives on earth to find the technology she lost in Argo City. Once she exits her spaceship, which landed in the bottom of a lake, Kara discovers all her powers insanely quickly. Keep in mind it took Superman years from when he landed on earth to when he developed his fortress of solitude to learn of his powers and abilities. Kara took a few minutes with a drawn out flight scene.
So, now she's Supergirl and decides to disguise herself as Linda Lee - a mild mannered student in a girls school. She also identifies herself as Clark Kent's cousin.
Linda becomes roomies with a girl named Lucy Lane, the sister of none other than Louis Lane. Whatta coincidence! And guess who teaches at this school. Nigel!
Meanwhile, Selena, who hides out inside a carnival haunted house ride, realizes the Omegahedron has the power to make her spells real.
She works towards gaining power and influence, but soon becomes enamored with a school grounds keeper named Ethan (Hart Bochner).
She makes a love potion and lures Ethan into her spooky ride lair. He unwittingly drinks it, and passes out.
When he wakes up, and Selena is distracted by a knock at the door, Ethan walks out and ultimately finds Linda whom he falls in love with thanks to the spell.
(As I write this, I'm now finding the story rather convoluted.)
Selena spies on him through some magical spell, and grows angry when he sees him fall in love with this random student. She uses her magic to bring Ethan back, but he's rescued by Supergirl.
So, this battle of good versus evil really boils down to a fight over a guy! How laughable.

Peter O'Toole and Mia Farrow in Supergirl.

After sometime, Selena traps Supergirl and sends her to the Phantom Zone where she runs into an exhiled Zaltar.
Having lost her powers in the Phantom Zone, Zaltar shows her how to escape while sacrificing himself.
Supergirl comes back to earth, and battles Selena.
There are too many inconsistencies in the cutaways. It seems there's poor execution in camera work, and no one cared enough to clean up some of the shots during the editing process.
And the poor writing makes the movie feel rushed. This is evident with Kara figuring out her powers and abilities immediately upon arriving to earth. She can figure all that out with no problem, but can't seem to grasp simple earthly idiosyncrasies and behavior. Also, how did she acquire her outfit upon arriving on earth? 
And how did Alura know about the Phantom Zone? There's too many plot holes.

Aside from the nearly all-star cast of high profile actors, the movie is very imaginative in its imagery. As Selena is a kind-of witch, using black magic and sorcery to gain power, the imagery fits but still leaves the movie coming across at times like a bad fever dream.
Jimmy Olson (Marc McClure) is the only character from Superman who returns in this movie. Otherwise, the only other cameo is Reeve's Superman on a poster hanging on Lucy's dorm wall.
Supergirl just falls flat on its face. But somehow still maintains an integral place in the genre of comic book movies.
It's the writing and story that makes the movie collapse. But the studio must have had confidence in this production. The cast in the movie speaks for itself.
I'm sure the bulk of the budget went towards casting such high profile actors like Peter O'Toole, Faye Dunaway, Mia Farrow (who plays Alura In-Ze - Superman's aunt), and Peter Cook. I wonder if that hurt the special effects budget, as well as budgets elsewhere. With such a stellar cast, you'd think producers would want a more solid movie. Someone must have thought "we really need to clean this up."
A theatrical remake has great potential to make Supergirl the movie superhero she deserves to be.