Supergirl, 1984

STARRING: Faye Dunaway (Selina)

Oscar winning Faye was really down on her luck when she made this. In 1976 she won and Oscar for her role in Network after making a whole host of well received movies such as Bonnie and Clyde, The Thomas Crown Affair and Chinatown. Sadly the Oscar didn’t help her career and she subsequently starred in such crap-classics and The Eyes Of Laura Mars and Mommie Dearest which rather than shock audiences saw them rolling around the aisles with laughter at such classic lines as “No wire hangers, EVER!” and “Don’t f**k with me fellas, this ain’t my first time at the rodeo”. Her career never quite recovered from the critical response to Mommie Dearest and Faye moved to England where she made the appalling remake of The Wicked Lady directed by Michael Winner, and of course this movie, Supergirl! She redeemed herself by going on to win two Emmies for Ellis Island and a very special episode of Columbo as well as rave reviews for her sober performance in Barfly, but personally I like her portrayal of clinically insane characters like Mommie!

Helen Slater (Linda Lee, Supergirl)

This was Slater’s first movie she followed it up with the excellent The Legend of Billie Jean and a supporting role in Ruthless People among other roles. In recent years her appearances have become more and more infrequent. I don’t know about you but I think it’s time for Supergirl 2!

Peter Cook (Nigel)

Popular British actor and comedian, he died in 1995.

Brenda Vaccaro (Bianca)

Vaccaro is a popular supporting actress and can be seen in movies such as The Mirror Has Two Faces and Cookie, she has a very distinctive voice. After Supergirl she appeared in the short-lived TV series Paper Dolls.

With Mia Farrow, Peter O’Toole and Maureen Teefy.

PLOT: Supergirl (Slater) travels to earth to recover the Omegahedron, the power source that keeps her home planet alive. Unfortunately it has fallen into the hands of a wannabe witch, the thoroughly evil Selina (Dunaway), who will stop at nothing short of world domination.

No sex, some violence, no language, PG/PG.

THOUGHTS: This was a childhood favourite of mine so I am a little biased. While it is incredibly camp and very silly, there are some great moments in Supergirl. Visually the flying scenes are still impressive, especially the ones in which Supergirl learns to use her powers to fly when she first lands on Earth. The over the top dialogue between Selina and whoever she happens to strike up a conversation with are also highly amusing. Supergirl has always gotten bad press, but it is a great adventure movie with something to please anyone with a taste for cheesy entertainment. From reading Faye Dunaway’s book it’s clear that it was a great deal of fun to make and I think it shows.

QUOTE: Selina: "I have been chosen. I think the powers of darkness may have at long last, come to their senses. The world is at last, my oyster..."

CAN I BUY IT? There is a deleted individually numbered two-disc DVD (Region 1) which includes both the theatrical and directors cut, both were also issued separately but are also now deleted. Currently the theatrical version is available worldwide on DVD.