Superman (1978) - Quotes

Lois Lane: So, how did you enjoy your first day on the job?

Clark Kent: Frankly, the hours were somewhat longer than I expected, but meeting you and Jimmy and Mr. White on the whole, I think it's just swell.

Lois Lane: Swell"? You know, Clark, there are very few people left in the world who feel comfortable saying that word.

Clark Kent: What word?

Lois Lane: Swell".

Clark Kent: Really? It just sort of comes naturally to me.

Clark Kent: Excuse me, Mr. White. I was wondering if, if, uh, perhaps you could arrange for half my salary to be sent to this address on a weekly basis.

Lois Lane: Your bookie, right?

Clark Kent: My what?

Clark Kent: [brief pause as they both realize he's not kidding] Actually, she's silver-haired.

Perry White: Yeah. I'll see what I can do.

Lois Lane: Any more at home like you?

Clark Kent: Uh, not really, no.

Lois Lane: I didn't think so.

Jimmy Olsen: Golly, Miss Lane, how come you get all the best stories?

Lois Lane: A good reporter doesn't get great stories, Jimmy...

Perry White: [to Clark] ...a good reporter makes them great.

Jor-El: My son, you do not remember me. I am Jor-El. I am your father. By now, you will have reached your 18th year as it is measured on Earth. By that reckoning, I will have been dead for many thousands of your years. The knowledge that I have, matters physical and historic, I have given you fully on your voyage to your new home. These are important matters, to be sure, but still matters of mere fact. There are questions to be asked, and it is time for you to do so. Here in this...this Fortress of Solitude, we shall try to find the answers together. So, my son, speak.

Clark Kent: Who am I?

Jor-El: Your name is Kal-El. You are the only survivor of the planet Krypton. Even though you have been raised as a human being, you are not one of them. You have great powers, only some of which you have as yet discovered.

Clark Kent: I have to leave.

Martha Kent: I knew this time would come. We both knew it from the day we found you.

Clark Kent: [struggling to maintain his composure] I talked to Ben Hubbard yesterday, and he said...that he'd be happy to help out from now on. Mother...

Martha Kent: I know, son. I know. Do you...know where you're headed?

Clark Kent: North.

Martha Kent: Remember us, son. Always remember us.

Jonathan Kent: Been showing off a bit, haven't you, son?

Clark Kent: Uh...I didn't mean to show off, Pa. It's just that...well, guys like that Brad, I just wanna tear em apart...I know I shouldn't, but...

Jonathan Kent: I know. You can do all these amazing things, and sometimes you think that you will just go bust unless you can tell someone about it.

Clark Kent: Yeah!...I mean, every time I get the ball, I can make a touchdown. Every time! Is it showing off for a person to do what he's capable of? Is a bird showing off when it flies?

Jonathan Kent: No! No, now you listen to me. When you first came to us, we thought that people would come and take you away because if they found out about the things you could do, well, that worried us a lot. But then a man gets older and he thinks very differently, better, starts to see things very clear. And there's one thing I do know, son. And that is, you are here for a reason. I don't know whose reason it is, or whatever the reason...maybe it's...I don't know...but I do know one thing: it's not to score touchdowns.

Clark Kent: Thanks Dad. C'mon Dad! I'll race you to it!

Jonathan Kent: You will?

Clark Kent: [runs into the barn with his dog] C'mon! C'mon!

Jonathan Kent: [starting to have a heart attack; last words; collapsed dead] Oh, no.

Martha Kent: [looks over at the barn; realizing] Jonathan...? Jonathan!

Clark Kent: [runs out of the barn in shock] Dad...

Executor: The energy input to Jor-El's quarters is now in excess. Our data indicates the loss is due to a misuse of power.

First Elder: Investigate.

Second Elder: And if our suspicions prove correct?

First Elder: He knew the penalty he faced, even as a member of this Council. The law will be upheld.

First Elder: ...An unpleasant duty has been masterly performed, Jor-El. They have received the fate they deserve: isolation in the Phantom Zone; an eternal living death.

Jor-El: A chance for survival, nonetheless. As opposed to us, if we continue to ignore these facts...It's suicide! No, it's worse. It's genocide!

First Elder: Be warned, Jor-El. The Council has already evaluated this outlandish theory of yours.

Jor-El: My friends, you know me to be neither rash nor impulsive. I'm not given to wild, unsupported statements. And I tell you that we must evacuate this planet immediately!

First Elder: Jor-El, you are one of Krypton's greatest scientists.

Second Elder: Ah, yes, but so is Vond-Ah.

Vond-Ah: It isn't that we question your data. The facts are undeniable. It's your conclusions we find unsupportable.

Jor-El: This planet, along with its red sun, will destabilize and burst within thirty days...likely within seven.

Vond-Ah: I tell you Krypton is simply shifting its orbit.

Second Elder: Jor-El, be reasonable! Let Krypton die? Never! This is just another one of your...mistaken fantasies.

Jor-El: My friend, I've never been otherwise. This madness is yours...to do with as you wish.

First Elder: This discussion is terminated. The decision of the Council is final...Any attempt by you to create a climate of fear and panic among the populace must be deemed by us...an act of insurrection.

Jor-El: You would accuse me of insurrection? Has it now become a crime to cherish life?

First Elder: You would be banished to endless imprisonment in the Phantom Zone...the eternal void which you yourself discovered. Will you abide by the Council's decision?

Jor-El: I will remain silent. Neither I nor my wife will leave Krypton.

Jor-El: [referring to Non; referring to Ursa] This is no fantasy, no careless product of wild imagination. No, my good friends. These indictments that I have brought you today, the specific charges listed herein against the individuals, their acts of treason, their ultimate aim of sedition, these are matters of undeniable fact. I ask you now to pronounce judgment on those accused. On this...this mindless aberration, whose only means of expression are wanton violence and destruction. On the woman Ursa, whose perversions and unreasoning hatred of all mankind have threatened even the children of the planet Krypton. Finally, General Zod. Once trusted by this Council, charged with maintaining the defense of the planet Krypton itself. Chief architect of this intended revolution and author of this insidious plot, to establish a "New Order" amongst us with himself as absolute ruler. You have heard the evidence. The decision of the Council will now be heard.

Council Member 1: Guilty!

Council Member 2: Guilty!

Council Member 3: Guilty!

Council Member 4: Guilty!

General Zod: [Jor-El signals the Phantom Zone; screaming with rage] The vote must be unanimous, Jor-El. It has therefore now become your decision. You alone will condemn us if you wish, and you alone will be held responsible by me. Join us. You have been known to disagree with the Council before. Yours could become an important voice in the new order, second only to my own! I offer you a chance for greatness, Jor-El! Take it! Join us! You will bow down before me, Jor-El! I swear it! No matter that it takes an eternity! YOU WILL BOW DOWN BEFORE ME!! BOTH YOU, AND THEN ONE DAY, YOUR HEIRS!!!

Boy: [opening narration] In the decade of the 1930s, even the great city of Metropolis was not spared the ravages of the worldwide depression. In the times of fear and confusion the job of informing the public was the responsibility of the Daily Planet. A great metropolitan newspaper, whose reputation for clarity and truth had become a symbol of hope for the city of Metropolis.

Miss Teschmacher: Why is it I can't get it on with the good guys?

Desk Sergeant: [on seeing a boat in the middle of the street and Superman flying off] Mooney, first bottle's on me, let me get my hat.

Jimmy Olsen: [to Clark] Hey, dork. Jimmy Olsen.

Perry White: Lois, Clark Kent may seem like just a mild-mannered reporter, but listen, not only does he know how to treat his editor-in-chief with the proper respect, not only does he have a snappy, punchy prose style, but he is, in my forty years in this business, the fastest typist I've ever seen.

Lex Luthor: There's a strong streak of good in you, Superman. But then nobody's perfect...almost nobody.

Lex Luthor: You were great in your day, Superman. But it just stands to reason, when it came time to cash in your chips, this old "diseased maniac" would be your banker. Mind over muscle?

Lex Luthor: Some can read War and Peace and come away thinking it's an adventure story. Others can open the wrappers of chewing gum and unlock the secrets of the universe.

Lex Luthor: [to Otis] Do you know why the number 200 is so vitally descriptive to both you and me? It's your weight and my I.Q.

Lex Luthor: I have to leave you now. No hard feelings. We all have our little faults. Mine's in California.

Lex Luthor: [repeated line; screams bloody murder] MISS TESCHMACHER-R-R-R-R-R!!!!

Lex Luthor: [after he's explained how a meteor from Krypton can kill Superman] Doesn't it give you kind of a, a, a...shudder...of electricity through you to be in the same room with me?

Lex Luthor: I told you. That's Kryptonite, Superman. Little souvenir from the old home town. I spared no expense to make you feel right at home.

Lex Luthor: This is Lex Luthor. Only one thing alive with less than four legs can hear this frequency, Superman, and that's you. In approximately five minutes, a poison gas pellet containing propane lithium compound will be released through thousands of air ducts in the city, effectively annihilating half the population of Metropolis.

Lex Luthor: Because if any human being were going to perpetrate such a fantastic hoax, it would've been me!

Lex Luthor: [watching Otis approaching the hideout] It's amazing that brain can generate enough power to keep those legs moving.

Jor-El: Live as one of them, Kal-El, to discover where your strength and your power are needed. Always hold in your heart the pride of your special heritage. They can be a great people, Kal-El; they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you...my only son.

Jor-El: [As he bids his infant son farewell before sending him to Earth] You will travel far, my little Kal-El. But we will never leave you...even in the face of our deaths...the richness of our lives shall be yours. All that I have, all that I've learned, everything I feel...all this, and more I...I bequeath you, my son. You will carry me inside you...all the days of your life. You will make my strength your own, and see my life through your own eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father, and the father, the son. This is all I...all I can send you, Kal-El.

Jor-El: [answering criticism from the Council leader] My friends, you know me to be neither rash nor impulsive. I'm not given...to wild, unsupported statements. And I tell you we must evacuate this planet immediately!

Jor-El: A chance for life, nonetheless...as opposed to us, you cannot ignore these facts! It's SUICIDE! No, it's worse. It's GENOCIDE...!

Lois Lane: [voiceover] Can you read my mind? Do you know what it is that you do to me? I don't know who you are. Just a friend from another star. Here I am, like a kid out of school. Holding hands with a god. I'm a fool. Will you look at me? Quivering. Like a little girl, shivering. You can see right through me. Can you read my mind? Can you picture the things I'm thinking of? Wondering why you are...all the wonderful things you are. You can fly. You belong in the sky. You and I...could belong to each other. If you need a friend...I'm the one to fly to. If you need to be loved...here I am. Read my mind.

Superman: [After getting "clubbed" on the head by a crowbar by a thief; the crowbar shivers uncontrollably in the thief's hands] Bad vibrations?

Superman: [lands holding a cat burglar; takes a handful of stolen jewelry out of the burglar's bag] Officer! Uh, good evening, Officer Mooney. Well, they say confession's good for the soul. I'd listen to this man. Take him away.

Superman: [A cat burglar is climbing up the side of a building. He looks up and sees Superman standing there] Hi there. Something wrong with the elevator?