JCC Which Superman movie is the best?

Superman and the Mole Men is doing good somehow.

 

Doing well. Superman does good; "Superman and the Mole Men" does well.

The hell it doesn't!

 

MoS because of the thousands or millions of innocent bystanders killed in the climactic battle.



(I haven't seen it.)

 

What exactly is so "cheesy" and "dated" about Superman: The Movie? Apart from a handful of Luthor/Otis/Tessmacher scenes (which I find amusing anyway--the calm before Zod's storm), Donner's epic has aged as beautifully as the original Star Wars.

 

The original Reeve movie for sentimental reasons, however, Man of Steel does indeed kick ass!

 

I mostly agree. But, should Superman change so much just for the sake of a 21st century audience? Chris Reeve's Superman is definitely an embodiment of the Silver Age version of the character. A Paragon of virtue who inspired hope and trust because, well crap, he's goddam superheroic. MoS' Superman comes close, but he's too gritty, angst ridden, somewhat callous and more than a little reckless. A bit of a Renegade that would have a hard time inspiring trust after he and his compatriots have leveled a mid-western town and a major city, inflicting perhaps hundreds of thousands of human casualties. Yes, this is all beating on the proverbially dead equine, but even though he saved the day, you'd have a hard time trusting or even looking at this kind of Superman as a beacon of hope. Modern Age Batman would've had a hard time disliking Chris Reeve's Superman and, despite their differences, would've gotten along famously with him. But he'd be downright anxious and distrustful of MoS Superman, for all the right reasons. And I suppose that will come into play in the sequel.

To better explain myself, I just can't help thinking about Coulson's line to Cap as they were flying to the helicarrier, that perhaps in this cynical day and age a little bit of old fashioned heroism is just what is needed. Superman is the granddaddy of the spandex types, and as old fashioned as many may deem his, his way has always worked. I don't mean we should have again a bumbling Clark Kent that walks around saying "gosh" and "swell". He can be a 21st century hipster for all I care. But I hope, truly hope, that the next time we see him Snyder's Man of Steel learned something from his catastrophic debut and actually behaves a bit more like Superman.

 

A hipster Clark Kent would be hilarious.

- Do you have to lay the hipster on so thick, Clark? You're even going on my nerves at this point.
- Hey, I need to be a convincing douche, Lois. I have to appear as such a perpetually sarcastic cynical pessimist that no one in their right mind would ever assume any heroic qualities in me.

Cut to scene where he walks around in a t-shirt that says: "Patriotism: the art of feeling awesomely special for no other reason than where you happened to fall out of your mother"


But yeah, Invidious, I would have to agree that Batman would have liked the Reeve Superman. His portrayal in the Nolan trilogy would, at the very least. The impression I get from Wayne's dialog in TDK in particular is that he would rather be a Superman figure, but he does what he thinks is the most effective with the abilities and resources he has at his disposal.

 

If you watch MoS with the assumption that those buildings were going to become renovated anyway, it's a much better movie.


My tongue is so firmly in my cheek that I've drilled a hole and blood is spurting all over my keyboard.

 

Why should the good showing of "Superman and the Mole Men" be a surprise. For many of us, George Reeves was Superman. And even post-1978, he's still got a legit claim to the title. Plus, many of us prefer Phyllis Coates as Lois.

 

When I see George Reeves I immediately think of him as over the hill, Kingdom Come Superman.

I saw that show too when I was a kid. But now, just like with Batman '66, I'd have a hard time sitting through any one episode without groaning out loud.

 

Adam West's Batman still has very strong childhood love from me. However, I can't stand watching the George Reeves Superman.

 

Superman II: Richard Donner cut.

 

Superman Returns may have worked better including the deleted opening scene of Kal in orbit of Krypton and seeing the ruins, you can see it in youtube. It cost about 10 million to make that scene they say, or somewhere along those lines. And to actually include that Luthor was the one who sent Superman away for 5 years might have worked better. Poor execution however.

 

I have to disagree with those who downgrade George Reeves. I think he did a good job projecting Superman's sense of authority and strength. And I liked his take on Clark Kent; maybe not a big-time hero, but not a doormat, either. I will say, though, that I prefer the first, B/W season episodes.

By the way, if we're talking about theatrically released Superman, what about the Fleischer cartoons? Like, say, this...



Or this...



Today's Superman movies only wish they could be this action-packed.

 

I wish they had kept that deleted scene in.