In 1973 Ilya Salkind convinced his father, movie producer Alexander, to buy the filming rights to Superman.
In 1978 they released Superman, written by Mario Puzo of Godfather fame and directed by Richard Donner (Superman II 1980, The Goonies 1985, Lethal Weapon 1987). The film made over $134 million on a $55 million budget, making it the second highest grossing film of 1978, only coming behind the monster that was Grease.
Following the success of Superman, the Salkinds released the sequels Superman II in 1980 followed by the more underwhelming Superman III in 1983.
Even though these films were making money on ever-decreasing budgets and were doing well with a male audience thanks to the superhero content and an older female audience thanks to the “will they, won’t they” relationship between Lois and Clarke/Superman, there was nothing on the market that appealed to younger/teenage girls.
With the purchase of the Superman rights, the Salkinds had also received the rights to the DC comics character of “Supergirl”. And with that, the genesis of the Supergirl movie began.
The production was hit with issues almost from the beginning, with Christopher Reeve refusing to appear meaning that large portions of the script needed to be reworked (or left in and not explained). Warner Brothers, who had distributed the first 3 Superman films didn’t want anything to do with Supergirl (1984) – perhaps they knew something no one else did – leaving the film without a distributor until Tri-Star stepped in.
Where Superman (1978) had made a massive profit, which the sequels did as well (Superman II made over $100 million on a $54 million budget, and Superman III made $60 million on a $39 million budget), Supergirl only took in $15 million at the box office. With a budget of $39 million (which excludes marketing costs), the film was a resounding flop and the proposed sequel was shelved.
When you consider the cast included Peter O’Toole, Faye Dunaway and Peter Cook, you would think you had the recipe for success, but instead the film turned into a poorly-received disaster.
Amazon Picks
And if you’re wondering why I’m specifying “1984” when I’ve mentioned Supergirl (1984) so far, it’s because there’s a new animated film being released in 2026 within James Gunn’s new DECU. It’s called Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. There’s also the great CW series starring Mellissa Benoist that ran for 126 episodes from 2015 to 2021 so I feel like I have to differentiate this film from those properties. But from now on, let’s take it that when I mention Supergirl I am referring to the 1984 version.
So let’s take a look at what Supergirl is about and what went so terribly, terribly wrong with it.
What’s Supergirl About?
We meet Kara Zor-El on Argo City, a floating remnant of the planet Krypton.
During the planet’s destruction, Argo City had been placed into a pocket of “inner space”, where Krypton itself was in “outer space”. This inner space pocket kept the city and its inhabitants safe thanks to its power source, the Omegahedron.
A brilliant scientist and artist named Zaltar (Peter O’Toole – Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Tudors (2008)) has borrowed the Omegahedron and is using its power to create a tree like structure. He tells Kara that they grow on Earth (do no other planets have trees then?) and that the Omegahedron can create anything that you can think of.
He lets Kara play with the Omegahedron (because I’m sure allowing a teenager to play with the only thing keeping your city safe is a perfectly acceptable thing to do) and Kara uses it to conjure up a large dragonfly.
This is all fun, until the dragonfly bursts out of one of the city windows, causing the air, and the Omegahedron, to be sucked out into space.
Fortunately, Zaltar is able to seal the break but it soon becomes apparent that without the Omegahedron, the city will begin to power down and the remaining Kyptonians will all die.
Zaltar, saving Kara, takes full responsibility and says that he will send himself to the Phantom Zone – which seems a little unfair as he will still be alive there while everyone else suffocates to death in Argo City so I don’t see that as much of a punishment if you ask me.
Kara, on the other hand, feels responsible for putting the city in jeopardy – because, let’s face it, this is her fault – so she jumps in Zaltar’s handy ship and heads off into outer space to recapture the Omegahedron.
During her journey through trippy outer space (I think the special effects guys might have been on a bit of something here), Kara begins her transformation into Supergirl. How? We don’t know! Why? We don’t know! How does she know what’s happening to her? We don’t know!
Meanwhile, on Earth, Selena (Faye Dunaway in scene chewing form) is having a picnic with Nigel (Peter Cook who is channelling the devil from his performance in Bedazzled here). Through some awkward exposition, we know that they used to be a couple and that she is a witch and he is a warlock.
Selena’s trying to find a way to get away from Nigel when the answer quite literally falls into her lap – it’s the Omegahedron. Selena quickly realises that the device has great power and uses it to start up Nigel’s car, where we hear a radio announcement letting us know that Superman is off in space somewhere which explains why he won’t be in the movie – how convenient!
Just after Selena (and presumably Nigel) have left the area, Kara Zor-El arrives on Earth. She’s now in her full Supergirl outfit – how? Why? Where? WE DON’T KNOW! And she somehow knows how to fly, use that blowy wind breath thing and inexplicably attract rabbits (I am not even going to question this any more).
The place where she’s landed is right next to an all girl’s private school – how convenient! And even though she’s been in an inner space pocket universe for the whole time Superman has been on the planet, she somehow knows who Clarke Kent is and forges a letter from him arranging her “transfer” to the school and Kent (I guess) agreeing to pay for her fees – how convenient!
So one of Kara’s first acts on Earth is forgery and fraud, nice!
I’ll chat about the school in a later section but suffice-it-to-say its… something.
Selena begins to use her own magical skills and combines them with the power of the Omegahedron to bend people to her will, start to increase her power and her wealth and also make a man fall in love with her.
When the love spell goes a bit awry and the target of the spell, Ethan (Hart Bochner – Die Hard (1988)), accidentally falls for Kara in her “human” disguise of Linda Lee, Selena begins a vendetta against a LITERAL SCHOOL GIRL.
It’s now up to Linda/Kara/Supergirl to save Ethan, stop Selena from using the Omegahedron to take over the world and return it to Argo City to save her family.
The Good
On the face of it, the cast is outstanding. Kara’s parents are played by Mia Farrow (Rosemary’s Baby (1968)) and Simon Ward (Judge John Deed (2003-2007)), Academy Award winner Faye Dunaway (Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Network (1977)) is having a whale of a time as the over-the-top Selena, Peter Cook (Bedazzled (1967)) is similarly having fun while Peter O’Toole looks like he’s just there for a large pay check.
As for the star, Helen Slater (City Slickers (1991), The Lying Game (2011-2013)), she’s in her first major film role. Considering she was just 18 when filming started, she does really well with the material she has been given to work with and is certainly capable of holding her own against the powerhouse that is Faye Dunaway.
But the standout character for me has to be Selena’s henchwoman, Bianca (Brenda Vaccaro (Capricorn One (1977)). She steals every scene she’s in and even manages to outshine Dunaway.
Given the limited budget, the majority of the effects hold up quite well for the time, but the effects and great acting cannot go anywhere near saving this movie.
The Bad
As mentioned previously the script is all over the place. This is mainly due to Christopher Reeve being available, then wanting a reduced role and then not wanting anything to do with the film at all – even refusing a short cameo right at the end of the film.
I’ve not been able to find out whether it’s because he wasn’t happy with the script, or whether the lacklustre reception for Superman III had something to do with it but it’s clear that the original script heavily relied on Superman being there at key points throughout the film.
For example, Superman would have been present when Kara Zor-El first arrived on Earth and was to help her navigate her powers and give her the iconic costume. Without Reeve being present, we’re just left with Supergirl getting her outfit and instantly knowing how her powers work.
What also seems like an odd script choice is the mixing of science fiction and witchcraft.
The Superman films were firmly within the science fiction realm and to add sorcery into the mix was an really odd choice.
I can only think that’s it’s perhaps because films such as Krull (1983) and The Dark Crystal (1982) were hugely popular at the time that the production team thought sorcery was the way forward (especially with the lucrative “teen girl” market) which is why they asked The Dark Crystal writer, David Odell, to pen the script.
I think this veering into more magical realms will have turned away a large number of potential (male) viewers who wanted a pure superhero movie in the vein of Superman.
Also, where is the urgency in this film? When Kara leaves Argo City she’s told that they’re all going to die shortly and yet she spends her first day on Earth flying around looking at horses and then inexplicably enrolling in a school and sitting in lessons!
It’s almost like she doesn’t care that her parents are going to die, and if that’s the case why should we care either? This whole strand of the plot – Kara’s main point for coming to Earth in the first place – is essentially forgotten so Kara/Linda can run around pretending to be a Human teenage girl.
The Ugly
Oh boy!
I have tried so hard to find a way to justify portions of this film and I can’t.
It’s not that it’s “of its time” or that I’m just viewing this through a “modern lens”.
No. It’s objectively awful and not in a “so bad, it’s good” way.
Twenty minutes into the film, two guys try to SA Supergirl in an alley, with one of them lifting up her skirt. It obviously doesn’t end well for the men, with Supergirl asking one of them (Matt Frewer – Max Headrom no less) “Why are you doing this?” to which he sinisterly responds “It’s just the way we are” so she literally blows him away with her breath then kicks the other one in the nuts.
Good for her, but it does seem to make light of the very real fear women have when it comes to walking around safely at night as she can just fly away knowing her super powers will protect her.
And then we get to the parts set in the school.
I will not go into the fact that Kara decides to call herself “Linda Lee” after looking at a picture of Robert E. Lee. That’s a whole can of worms itself but it was 1984 so casual racism was okay, I guess?
No, it gets worse.
Simply put, this film contains scenes that can only have been filmed the way that they were filmed in order to provide gratuitous and unnecessary shots of partially clothed minors for the gratification of the male director, crew and viewers.
I’ve censored the image above because of course I have! I have no idea how old that actress was at the time, or even if she’s happy to be remembered like this.
Why was she half naked, exercising in a bra with her breasts jiggling up and down? Did this advance the plot in any way? Was she an important character?
NO!
As a reminder: This film is set in an all girls school. A school where the characters ARE UNDER EIGHTEEN.
And yet we get shot after shot within the school of LITERAL CHILDREN in bras, in short and partially open robes or running around in towels.
It has nothing to do with the storyline. They could have all been in exercise clothes, a school uniform or even a sleeping bag and it wouldn’t have affected the plot. It’s just there for the sake of being there in a voyeuristic, perverted way.
And then we have the “love interest”.
Once again, Kara/Linda Lee is attending a SCHOOL so she is at least pretending to be someone who is under the age of 18.
Selena was in her late 30s or early 40s (Dunaway was 43 at the time of filming.)
Ethan, who Selena has her sights set on, is a handyman at the school and so is at least of working age. Hart Bochner was 28 at the time of filming but even if you given them the benefit of the doubt and say that he’s meant to be in his early 20s, he still pursues a minor and there’s still a 20 year age gap between him and Selena.
Not only that, the plot is absolutely fine with Selena trying to roofie him, later making him her unwilling sex slave.
PLUS, we have the spell initially going wrong and this TWENTY-SOMETHING adult falls in love with a LITERAL CHILD.
This aspect of the plot was so egregious that I almost had to stop watching.
Sure, you could say that “But Katy! It’s a film that’s of its time!” but honestly, was making jokes about rape, showing half-naked kids on TV and glorifying adult-child relationships ever okay? Even in the 1980s? If you think it was please let me know – I was too young to see any of that happening so maybe I am getting this all wrong.
Oh wait, Mia Farrow was in this so perhaps the director fancied himself to be Woody Allen 2.0 or something.
Final Thoughts
If you can excuse/ignore the pedo tendencies of this film then it’s actually quite a fun tale.
Sure, the script is a bit disjointed and some of it makes no sense thanks to the missing Superman character but overall I do like the inclusion of the more supernatural aspects.
Also, it’s worth a look just to see how a production company could spend $1 million just on a title sequence. Again bear in mind this film was made in 1983/84 so there were no real computer graphics but… $1 million on the titles? Out of a $39 million budget? You’ve got to check it out just for that, right?!
So yes, while the film has its problems, I do think that it is worth a look especially if you’re a superhero fan and this might have flown under your radar (pun intended).
Watch this film if you’re a fan over extremely over-the-top acting or want to know how to turn an abandoned ghost train into a a great looking home that will be the envy of all your friends.
