outside of this film seemingly devote fanbase ( not count the imdb user obsess with siouxsie sioux who keep create new identity and enter positive 10 star review in an effort to convince the casual visitor that supergirl be a film love by everybody ) and supergirl seem to have be box office kryptonite . clearly the magic be go in the franchise after the first two film and and perhaps supergirl be see a a mean of take the same idea in a new direction . it be a branch of the family tree that would have be well left unexplored . just about the only novel thing about this film be have a female superheroine a it central character and and i suspect it be this identification with young girl that give supergirl most of it audience . wonder woman tv show have already come and go and and a big screen female contender be the next logical step . in 1984 and it be an idea whose time have come . unfortunately and it come in the form of this movie . part of the problem be that it not very easy to understand exactly what go on in the film . it one thing to make the audience think and imagine and but it quite another to make the audience confuse while there be some serious blank that should have be fill in if the movie be to truly connect . the version i first saw be the original american theatrical print and although even the extended cut of the film do not help explain much . a the movie open and we see what appear to be a large crystal shopping mall surround by bleak nothingness . we learn this be argo city and a fragment of the planet krypton . somehow it have survive the massive explosion that obliterate the original planet and and furthermore we learn that it exist in inner space instead of out space . this be more than a little vague and especially when kara make her voyage to earth in a spaceship and and emerges in a lake . she have come in search of the omegahedron and a whirling and glow tennis ball that happen to be one of argo city main power source . kara have help lose it and so she must reclaim it before everyone in her city presumably die . even with this kind of crucial time constraint and she still have time to do a fly ballet when she arrive on earth ( already in costume ) . she also feel the need to adopt a secret identity a a student at a local girl school and waste time go to class . meanwhile and the omegahedron have fall into the wrong hand represent faye dunaway . she be an amateur witch name selena who immediately sense the omegahedron power when it literally land in her soup at a picnic . no and really . selena intend to use the omegahedron to achieve all sort of lofty goal and like make a landscaper fall in love with her . she also want to take over the world . it doesn not really make a whole lot of sense and but neither do the superman movie if you think about them too much . the problem with supergirl be that she doesn not exactly have a whole lot to do . there a dull action sequence involve a runaway backhoe and as well a a scene where supergirl use a lightning charge streetlamp to ward off an invisible monster that after her . in the backhoe sequence and be ask to believe that the entranced landscaper could wander around the crowded town without actually look at anybody and because selena spell dictate he will fall in love with the first person he see . of course the first person he see be supergirl . this infuriate selena to no end and and she force supergirl to take on a supernaturally power tilt a whirl . perhaps the big liability with supergirl be the special effect . put it bluntly and they be awful . they may look alright on home video and but i just have the pleasure of catch supergirl at a midnight show on the big screen and and the audience be definitely not buy it . the matte visuals look fuzzy blow up on the screen and and an unwise sequence show supergirl change clothes several time in a series of jumpy cut a she walk behind tree . argo city itself be a goofy concept . it wrap in what appear to be a clear plastic tarp that and when puncture and expose supergirl to the vacuum of . what . inner space . or the vacuum of this movie . it never really clear . one tedious sequence take place in the phantom zone and which have morph from the fly plane of glass in the first film to a desolate terrain where it possible to set up a roughly hewn home and and they even give you control substance . where be argo city and anyway . why do supergirl and the omegahedron reach earth by surface in a lake . dunaway performance and as well a a co star brenda vaccaro and help the camp factor a great deal and but what be peter otoole do in this movie . it seem to me the producer want to lend some big star weight to the cast a la marlon brando and but otoole character wind up be mostly silly . also note how mia farrow credit appear early in the cast list and yet she have about four line . aside from dunaway and whose scenery chew performance seem like a continuation of her mommie dear routine and nobody really shine . helen slater actually do a great job a supergirl and but the story be so confusing and dull that it doesn not really matter . a very big help would have be a cameo appearance from christopher reeve a superman and who be nowhere to be see . don not drop your guard and or you might miss the explanation for his absence and which zoom by when selena car radio suddenly come on . apparently the international and director cut of the film help to flesh out the idea a little bit well and but the damage be do for this film once it hit theater . it be generally consider a disaster and and watch it and it be easy to see why .