Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Thomas Drufke I've been a fan of Jon Schnepp for a long time. I've watched him on AMC/Collider Movie talk for years now. In the world of comic-book "sweaties", he is the cream of the crop. The man's knowledge spans decades and just about every comic-book character you can possibly imagine. But he also has background knowledge in filmmaking and animation, so I trust him his ability in more than one area. The fact that he made a documentary about the failure of one of the most mysterious superhero projects of all time, "Superman Lives", was immensely intriguing.I'm not entirely sure why it took me so long to sit down and check it out, however. I preordered the blu-ray the day it became available, but I just kept forgetting to watch it. Well, I'm glad I finally did. "The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened?" is one of the most fascinating films I have ever seen. Schnepp devoted years to figure out what kind of a film this was going to be and why in the world it didn't happen. The final product definitely gives you a visual and thematic idea of this film, but perhaps more time could have been taken to tackle why it didn't happen.The amount of information that Schnepp was able to gather whilst delivering it at a brilliant pace is uncanny. Chris Rock as Jimmy Olsen? Courteney Cox, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, or Sandra Bullock as Lois Lane? Not to mention the legitimate casting of Nicolas Cage as Superman? This is information that the casual comic-book fan probably didn't know, and Schnepp covers it all. But it isn't just the obscure casting, it's the enormous spider, the version of Lex and Brainiac combining, or the idea of Superman not flying are all things that were considered by producers for the failed film. Pretty much everything about the comic was flipped or altered for this film.I think this documentary is important to keep in mind, especially considering how lucky we are in this age of superhero films. A film this strange and this much of a departure from the comic, would never be made today. At the same time, this documentary made me immeasurably interested in how big of a bomb this movie could have been. I want to see this film. I know it will never happen, but I would totally be down to see this insane project. Ultimately, practical reasons, including a spiraling budget, ruined the film's chances. But this could have been an all-time guilty-pleasure. 3 weeks from production!Overall, I learned a ton of random knowledge with Schnepp's documentary. I also learned that just because someone is in position of power (Jon Peters), doesn't mean they know what's right. I'm sorry but some of the decisions that Peters and some of the other higher-ups were going to make, were horrendous. But in the end, it serves as a fascinating tale of "what could have been". Sure, there are so many questionable aspects to this film that taint the idea at first thought, but man this could have been something special. Special props to Jon Schnepp for making a kicka** documentary.+Schnepp and Kevin Smith kill it+Insightfully insane ideas+Not your ordinary DOC9.0/10

schf Details the long journey of preproduction and design of the film Superman Lives. With long interviews from kevin smith ,various producers and of course tim burton himself.It is a great story of the film that never was ...yet no one seems to ever acknowledge the possibility that the film would probably have been a spectacular flawed failure.Some of their ideas from plot to effects were ludicrous and at no point does any one even hint at this not being a potential master piece . I found this blind spot for the "movie " quite tragic. I would have loved to have seen the film myself but only for all its car crash value.

siderite It is always fascinating to see the innards of the making of a movie. People that are working so much before you even know that the idea exists. Superman Lives, though, was not that special an idea.It would have been fun to see a long hared Nicolas Cage play Superman (and I honestly mean it, especially since he was still young and caring enough about his roles) and Tim Burton would have probably reinvented the superhero genre all by his lonesome. However it would have been neither completely revolutionary nor conservatory enough to appeal to movie studios. Its cancellation was not possible, but the most probable outcome.The documentary goes ahead and describes how the work for the movie started and how they prepared concepts and costumes and they were weeks from starting filming when the project was canceled. Fun to see Kevin Smith contradict Jon Peters on how things actually happened and who had which idea, but in the end the viewer doesn't care one way or the other.I feel that the documentary, unlike others in the genre, like Jodorowsky's Dune, failed completely in making the viewer care. You didn't see Cage heartbroken for not making the film (in fact he didn't appear at all, except in archive footage), you didn't see Smith or Peters cry tears of frustration for not getting the thing done, and the footage about their preparations and the minute details about the Superman costume left me cold.Bottom line: Good to watch it in order to learn how movies get conceived and made. Bad if you want to enjoy yourself or feel anything about this movie that was not made.

nixon carmichael The Death of Superman Lives is a story about the bizarre and at times grotesque would be super hero movie, Superman Lives, which was commissioned by Warner Brothers in the 1990s.The movie never got out of preproduction but documentary filmmaker Jon Schnepp has set to find what in the hell actually happened, uncover anecdotes, footage and notes from the people involved. At the end of the day I didn't learn a great deal of new information but it was nice to hear multiple viewpoints and see some of the concept art from the film.Director Jon Schnepp has a clear vision of what he's after and has the intelligence to see it through, but where the film suffers is execution. Though I'm aware that this is an independent doc made with what had to be a modest budget, the film itself is at times woefully crafted. The audio is often out of sync, the video quality is lacking and sequence editing seems strewn together, haphazardly. Mr. Schnepps prowess for conducting interviews also leaves room for desire at times.All things being equal, this is not the worst thing I've ever seen, and it was interesting at times at least and approached with integrity and intellect. I'm not sure it was worth $30, but hey, that's just me, I'm sure that there are going to be some people out there who love this movie.