Recently I have reviewed both The Secret of My Success and Ruthless People and one thing that those reviews have in common is my love for Helen Slater! Supergirl is the fourth movie in the Superman cinematic universe, although we did not have cinematic universes back then, it was seen as a direct spin-off and the events here take place after Superman III.
How to Download Supergirl (1984)
Supergirl was released on 19 July 1984. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice.
The Movie Review
A Nostalgic Favorite
This would be the first starring role for Helen Slater and she was one of my earliest crushes. I remember loving this movie as a kid and to be honest with you, back then, I would have ranked this as a close second behind Superman II, perhaps even just about level with it! I know that sounds crazy to most people, but even to this day, I love this movie.
The Plot of Supergirl
The plot here sees a young Kara Zor-El, the cousin of Kal-El/Clark Kent living in Argo City. This is a small community that survived the destruction of Krypton and a powerful wizard called Zalatr introduces Kara to a powerful artifact called The Omegahedron. This is the power source of Argo City and pretty much what is keeping it and everyone alive.
Well, a mishap occurs and The Omegahedron hurtles through space to Earth and Kara needs to go and get it back to save Argo City. Much like Superman, Kara is granted superpowers on Earth, and also like Superman, she adopts an alias, Linda Lee to help her blend in on Earth as she tries to find The Omegahedron.
A Villainous Witch and Magical Adventures
Unfortunately for her, it has fallen into the wrong hands. A would be witch called Selena (played by Faye Dunaway) gets her hands on it and uses it to give herself real magical powers! Hey, it is kind of goofy and kooky, but I dig it, although, the romantic subplot with the character Ethan is a little strange I will admit.
I think that Selena is a great villain and a real step up from what we had in Superman III that is for sure! It must have been so cool for a young actress like Helen Slater to get to go toe-to-toe with Faye Dunaway. The final fight scene is really cool and overall I think that the movie has a great pace to it. I also liked that they had nods to the Superman movies, from seeing Superman in a photo to Jimmy Olson being here.
Why Does Warner Bros Ignore Supergirl?
One of the things that I do not understand about Supergirl is the way that Warner Bros handles it. They have released the Christoper Reeve Superman movies many times, but no collection has ever featured Supergirl, even though it is part of this same universe! Even the most recent awesome five movie set of the Superman movies does not feature Supergirl! I would love for this to get a 4K release and I feel the recent Superman 4K boxset was the way for them to make this happen.
Final Thoughts on Supergirl
I would honestly have no argument for someone who said that they did not like Supergirl or that it was nowhere near as good as Superman or Superman II. However, this is a movie that I really do love and a huge part of that is nostalgia I will admit. I will also admit that while I love Helen Slater as Supergirl, I do think that Melissa Benoist and the CW Supergirl series is a much, much better representation of the character. Some may think me scoring this as high as Superman is insane, but I legit do like this a hair more than the first Superman movie!
