Spin-off of Superman series from the same producers. The Salkind brothers wished to put the series after the failures of Superman III and IV but this in 1984 when he come out was a great box-office flop. The picture-idea is not bad: it's a superhero-movie with the women lords it: all the principal characters are females and the men are relegated to co-starring or to protagonist's love-interest role. <br /><br />It's the story of beautiful blond young girl Kara from Argo city; a fragment of Krypton planet where the survivals are take refuge after the planet's destruction. Here the live is founded by a powerful sphere called Omegahedron invented by charismatic scientist Zaltar but one day the magical object for error gets lost and was re-sucked in the deep space. Kara takes a spatial device and goes to find of Omegahedron but the powerful object falls in down in the clutches of a evil terrestrial witch called Selena with dreams of world domination. Kara arrives in the earth and becomes immediately Supergirl: the maid of steal: with super-costume red-blue with the big S in the chest and then assumes the secret identity of school-girl Linda Lee and takes lodging in the local college; her roommate is Lois Lane's sister Lucy. The rivalry between Linda Lee/Supergirl and Selena is as for the Omegahedron possess as for same love-interest the muscle-man gardener Etahn. This rivalry remands me to contrast between Snow White and the wicked stepmother because also here the witch hates her arch-nemesis because she's more young and more pretty. In the final climatic battle, the witch evokes the dark powers and stirs up a monster against Supergirl. The maid of steal frees oneself from monster's grasp and wraps Selena in a whirlwind pushing her versus the monster: the witch screams desperately when is devoured by the voracious monster. The good triumphs, the peace returns in Earth and Supergirl takes finally the Omegahedron at Argo and saves her people. <br /><br />Director Jeannot Szworc gives a decent job: the rhythm of the action is not particularly raging but he is able to render the mood, the atmosphere of comic-book perhaps also helped by the photography and the scenography that gives the right color to the images. The music-score by Jerry Goldsmith is really splendid and gives to movie that lot of adventure spirit that have. The real reason of failure is the poor screenplay of David Odell: the history is silly, absurd and truly unbelievable. Sure the difficulty of production not must have helped Odell: at the last minute Cristopher Reeve, that must have been Superman in a little cameo, leaved the project (perhaps because he their have realized the narrowness) and Dolly Parton that was the first choice for the villainies role disowned, judging truly grotesque and silly. Although the problems the screenwriter is guilty for dialogs among the worst in movie history, for a plot full of holes and nonsense but especially he's responsible for a villainess absolutely groundless and dull that represents the real movie's disappointment. <br /><br />The all-star cast is interesting; the 18-old year Helen Slater in the title-role is wonderful; she's very beautiful when she flies with the mini-super costume and she gives to character the right mix of naivety and courage; she's the real perfect choice for the role; it is a pity that the picture's failure have run over her and have ruined her carrier still after to start. Then Slater will have in future only supporting roles in a little not important movies. As Marlon Brando in Superman movie Peter O'Toole shines as Zaltar and is splendidly camp; his hamming was funny and entertaining although the character and the lines are very poor. Peter Cook as the acerbic Dunaway's flame Nigel and Brenda Vaccaro as Selena's sidekick Bianca are campy and sarcastically funny; Hart Bochner as Etahan was embarrassing; he's very attractive but his acting is appalling. Marc McClure as Lucy Lane's boy-friend represents the only character that connects this movie to Superman's series. The rich cast is completed by Mia Farrow and Simon Ward in a little cameo as the Kara's parents. <br /><br />A speech apart merits miss Faye Dunaway as the movie's villainess; she's the evil witch Selena and she's horrible in every sense: her acting is so hammy and over-the-top than in few moments she's very unbearable; the character is unbelievably bad and silly but Dunaway seems to be pleased with herself, she speaks few of the most idiot lines of movie history with a unjustified fanatical gusto. Moreover her appearance is dreadful; it's true that she's a witch but the movie history was rich of witches funny or seductive or regaling or menacing; Dunaway is nothing of all this but she's grotesque, clumsy and with her make-up, with a big wig red-shocking and her bizarre look, she seems a man in drag. Dunaway is a witch and like the true witches, she's really ugly and wicked; in a movie almost all-female her face continually furrowed from grimaces and smirks is horrid to watch. She bears the palm of the worst actress in the movie but especially this time she wins also the award as the most ugly woman in the screen although the presence of the fat Vaccaro. In few scenes this enormous ham female falls in ridicule ruinously: when Dunaway prepares the spell-love potion with a spider and a walnut she's really embarrassing or when tries to seduce Etahn painfully or still in the final battle when she screams clumsily before to become feeding for the monster.<br /><br />This picture was considered one of worst comic-book movies ever but his ugliness it's such as was a sort of cult movie among the bad movies and most of merits are due to the uncontested queen of the razzie awards Faye Dunaway.