Men of Steel: The Epic Battle Over Superman: The Movie

by Benjamin Kerstein

To make a film is immensely difficult. To make a great film is almost impossible. This is especially the case for The Movie . It has become a classic, revered as one of the great works of fantasy cinema and the beginning of a new genre that has redefined the American film industry. But its making was a mammoth undertaking that nearly crushed those involved beneath the sheer weight of its creation.

The result was a decades-long battle between the film's director Richard Donner and its producers, Alexander and Ilya Salkind. Their war of words resulted in years of enmity and hatred, the ruin of Superman II , and recriminations that continue to this day.

Throughout, the parties involved have cherry-picked facts, distorted the record, and attacked each other in vitriolic terms. What, however, is the real truth? Here, for the first time, is an attempt to fairly assess both sides of the battle over The Movie .

BENJAMIN KERSTEIN is a film critic who has written for The New Ledger , Senses of Cinema , and Azure . He lives in Tel Aviv.

237 pages, Paperback

Published February 20, 2016

About the author

Benjamin Kerstein is an Israeli-American writer and editor who is currently a fellow at the Z3 Institute. His book Self Defense: A Jewish Manifesto was published on Oct. 16, 2025.

In 2024, he received the Louis Rapaport Award for Excellence in Commentary from the American Jewish Press Association.

Michael J. Totten, the prize-winning author of The Road to Fatima Gate, has called him "one of the finest American-Israeli authors of his generation."

Jay Nordlinger of National Review has referred to his work as "some of the most intelligent, clearest, most honest writing I have read in a long time."

Reviews

[جاسم كلمد · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's all in here, from the first dream to make a Superman movie by Ilya, to the second Superman.. and all the wars in between, that ended in making the iconic film..
I read the paperback version..
If you wanna know who wrote, rewrote, re-rewrote, made changes.. added details.. and the many directors and actors that would participate in the pre-production.. and what the hell happened to Superman II... you know, and the epic production and filming of the first one.. Then this is the book for you..

S
and happy reading to all..

[Erlend Bergsagel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have for a long time known that there was some controversy around the two first Superman movies.
Not much more.
A couple of years ago the «the Donner» version got released on DVD. I bought them, but haven’t seen them yet. But I will soon, including the documentary.

It is difficult making a movie, especially two.

The book covers everything from early financing to the final theatrical movie.
A bit slow in the start and suddenly I could’t put it away.

[Kid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastically well researched, but it is at its weakest when it goes to extreme lengths to defend the producers - I hadn’t heard of them before this book but by the end I was wondering if the author might have been paid off by them!