This evening I rewatched Supergirl for the first time in years (I saw it in the cinema with my dad when it first came out, and I'd seen it I think once since). Okay, it's cheesy in places. Peter O'Toole hams it up for all he's worth (whilst still managing to look distinctly bored), Simon Ward has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it role with a 'what the hell am I doing here' look on his face, and Faye Dunaway was - for me - miscast (although she seemed to be having fun). Some of the effects don't exactly look great, although I can't hold that against it - the film was made over 30 years ago.But Helen Slater was pitch-perfect - and gorgeous - as Supergirl (it's a shame she never got to repeat the role), Hart Bochner was spot-on as the himbo/'dude in distress', David Healy was entertaining as the headmaster, and Peter Cooke (always a favourite of mine) was funny. The Phantom Zone sequences were pretty well done too, and I found the flying effects actually more convincing than those in the Christopher Reeve movies. Overall, it was fun. I'm glad I finally took the time to revisit. And I'm still in love with 1984 Helen Slater. 7.5/10

SupergirlThe unique thing about female superheroes is that they turn into super-villains every 30-days.Luckily, Kryptonian woman, like the one featured in this action-adventure, don't have periods.Tracking the Omegahedron, an all-powerful energy source, from Superman's home world to his adopted planet, Kara not only assumes his Earth lineage but also Clark's alter ego.Enrolled at an all-girls school where she falls for the caretaker Ethan (Hart Bochner), Supergirl must battle the witch Selena (Faye Dunaway) for Ethan's heart. Unfortunately, Selena is in possession of the Omegahedron and a shadow demon that she'll use to conquer humanity.Existing in the same world as Christopher Reeve's Superman, this 1984 adaptation of the DC Comics character was an early prototype of the shared superhero universe. Unfortunately, Superman fatigue had set in by the time this underrated romp was released.Moreover, it's nice that Superman finally has a sexual partner he won't annihilate.Yellow Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

This movie is an okay film, but offers no where near the wonder, amusement or story as Superman (the first film). However, the real problem with this film is, unfortunately, Helen Slater.As good as Helen Slater looks in the Supergirl costume, her acting was just as oppositely bad. Most of the time, Slater's acting was flat and wooden. She has a weird speech pattern that, most of the time just didn't work for the role. While I realize, Kara is from Argo City, it was never established that people there had weird speech patterns, unless you count the over-the-top scene-chewing dialog that spewed from Peter O'Toole's mouth. I can forgive Peter O'Toole's Shakespearean dialog delivery for several reasons: 1) he's a supplemental character who, thankfully, has limited screen time, 2) what he says and does is mostly inconsequential to the main plot of the film and 3) it establishes that O'Toole's character, who was a former well known and respected scientist has now become an eccentric crackpot who is no longer respected for any of his ideas.However, Slater is the lead in this film. As a lead in a superhero film, the actor must strike up a rapport with the audience immediately as both likable and believable. Slater fails to properly secure both of those qualities with the audience and, instead, goes on to deliver a mostly utilitarian screen romp. Unfortunately, while Slater tries hard to make Kara seem innocent and sympathetic and likable, her 19 year old acting abilities are severely taxed and get in the way of this role. In other words, while she looks the part, she couldn't act it. She was ultimately miscast.As for Faye Dunaway, Brenda Vacarro and the rest of the cast, they do their level best to bring some semblance of life to their characters and roles. Sure, Dunaway is way over-the-top like O'Toole, but in her own different way. For the witch Selena, her over the top delivery, while a bit campy, works for what it is. In fact, if the lead role had been cast properly, I believe Dunaway's offbeat acting would have worked perfectly fine to balance the mostly straight forward lead role.Instead, what we get is an odd array of actors with very little chemistry or balance together. Though, Brenda Vacarro and Faye Dunaway together as a team was probably the best casting in the film. These two truly seemed to be BFFs and pulled it off in spite of the dialog.The story itself is simplistic and silly. Two super people fighting over a 'muscle pool guy' is about as inane a plot device as you can think up for a superhero film. Argo City is in peril and Supergirl has a school girl crush on some random muscle guy that she feels she has to constantly save? Yeah, no.Saving the Omegahedron, the power source of Argo City, is her most important task. Yet she has time to gawk at and save this muscle guy too many times from Selena, let alone run around at some girl school playing student in a tiny town. I know why they included the school. It was intended as a way to introduce Lucy Lane... an inconsequential character that didn't need to be in the film. Yes, it did let us know that Lois has a younger sister, but still an entirely unnecessary addition to the film.Having Supergirl thrown into the phantom zone and then emerging only to fight Selena's 'demon' left the film about as much fun as yanking off an adhesive bandage. Overall, I was hoping for a more sensible Superhero film with Supergirl taking on more important tasks than facing a silly little witch. In fact, Supergirl should have been able to find and retrieve the Omegahedron in the first 15 minutes of the film which would have left 1.25 hours to actually let Supergirl explore more of the earth, pick and choose more important problems to solve rather than be stuck in a tiny inconsequential town saving a lame muscle guy who's character is about as dumb as a brick. I can't even fathom why someone from an advanced society like Argo City who is smart enough to understand sixth dimensional math would be at all interested in a dumb earth muscle jock?

Released in 1984, "Supergirl" stars Helen Slater as Superman's cousin, Kara-El, in a community of Krypton survivors who lose the mysterious orb that powers their city. Kara goes to earth to recover it, masquerading as a student at a girl's school, where she meets Lois Lane's sister, Lucy (Maureen Teefy) and, later, Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure). Peter O'Toole plays the leader of the Krypton city who is imprisoned in the Phantom Zone while Faye Dunaway plays a witch, Selena, who lives at an abandoned amusement park. When she obtains the orb she gains great diabolical power. Brenda Vaccaro and Peter Cook are on hand as her assistants while Hart Bochner plays the romantic interest of both Kara and Selena. Remember how stunning the non-CGI props/sets/effects were in the opening Krypton sequence of 1978's "Superman"? They were so good they hold up to this day. Well, you can forget that with "Supergirl." The opening sequences at "Argo City" are laughable by comparison. Furthermore, if you thought Gene Hackman was over-the-top as Lex Luthor, wait till you see Dunaway's campy portrayal of Selena. But I don't mean any disrespect for Faye since that's how her character was written and she does an exuberant job. In any case, if you can embrace these factors the movie's surprisingly enjoyable, particularly the second act when Kara comes to earth, discovers her powers, and hooks up with the girl's school. Slater had a winsome quality and, although physically beautiful, her costume wasn't made to over-emphasize it. Her beauty stems from within and the movie captures this. At the same time, the movie stresses her femininity and doesn't make her more masculine, like they did with Linda Hamilton in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (not that there's anything wrong with Linda in that film). The film runs 124 minutes and was shot in Chicago, Manhattan and England.GRADE: C+