| Director | Richard Donner |
|---|---|
| Budget | $55 million |
| Box office | $300 million |
On the planet Krypton, Jor-El, a member of the Kryptonian high council, sentences criminals General Zod, Ursa, and Non to the Phantom Zone. He warns the council that Krypton will be destroyed by its exploding red supergiant sun, but they dismiss his concerns. Before the planet's destruction, Jor-El and his wife Lara send their infant son Kal-El to Earth. There, the boy's unique physiology grants him evolving superhuman abilities. Kal-El's spaceship touches down near Smallville, Kansas. He is found by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who are astonished when the infant lifts their truck. They adopt him, naming him Clark. As he grows, hiding his powers, Jonathan believes Clark was sent to Earth for a special purpose.
Years later, after losing Jonathan to a fatal heart attack, the teenaged Clark is summoned by a glowing green crystal from his spaceship which is hidden in the barn. This leads him to the Arctic, where a Fortress of Solitude, mirroring Krypton's architecture, ascends from the ice. Inside, Jor-El's hologram reveals Clark's heritage and trains him over the next twelve years. Emerging in a blue-and-red suit bearing the crest of the House of El, he is cautioned against changing human history.
Clark adopts a new persona as a mild-mannered reporter, and starts wearing glasses to disguise his true appearance. He is hired by the Daily Planet in Metropolis, where he meets investigative journalist Lois Lane. Clark debuts his new costume by saving Lois from a helicopter accident and, over the rest of the evening, uses his powers in public acts of heroism, gaining immediate fame as the "caped wonder". Thanks to Clark's disguise, he successfully keeps his true identity secret from Lois and his colleagues. Perry White, the Daily Planets chief, seeks more information on this new hero; Clark arranges for Lois to interview his new alter-ego and, afterwards, takes her on a flight over the city, leading her to coin his name, "Superman".
Criminal mastermind Lex Luthor discovers a joint U.S. Army/U.S. Navy missile test and plots to target the San Andreas Fault with reprogrammed missiles, though one is misdirected by his bumbling assistant, Otis. Suspecting Superman's interference, Lex identifies a Kryptonian meteorite, lethal to Superman. With Otis and his girlfriend Eve Teschmacher, Lex retrieves it and traps Superman in his lair, revealing his plan to sink the western U.S., making his desert land prime coastline. He weakens Superman using the meteorite, now known as Kryptonite, and informs him of the misdirected missile set for Hackensack, New Jersey.
Concerned for her mother in Hackensack, Eve frees Superman, urging him to first stop the eastbound missile. He sends it to space but misses the westbound missile, which triggers severe earthquakes in California, endangering landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge and Hoover Dam. Superman counteracts the devastation by mending the fault line. As Superman rescues others, Lois is trapped in her car by an aftershock, suffocating before he can save her. Distraught and enraged over his failure to save Lois, he disregards Jor-El's warning against altering history. Heeding Jonathan's belief in his purpose, Superman accelerates around Earth, traveling back in time to prevent Lois's death and the missile's detonation. After saving the West Coast, he imprisons Luthor and Otis, then soars into the sunrise.