All The Superman Movies, Listed From Best To Worst

lethargic · Post by **lethargic** » Sun Jun 02, 2013 8:09 pm

1. Superman III
2. Superman Returns
3. Superman the Movie
4. Superman II
5. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
6. Superman II - The Richard Donner version
7. Superman and the Mole Men

DEAL WITH IT!!!!!!

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sun Jun 02, 2013 9:45 pm

I agree with this list. Wait, which Superman II is which? Is Richard Donner the old director?

I hope we can find some common ground in that Christopher Reeve was and is and forever will be the best guy to play Superman.

lethargic · Post by **lethargic** » Sun Jun 02, 2013 10:54 pm

Donner filmed 1 and 2 at the same time but they figured out that was dumb and put out the first one before finishing the second one. He was then fired and Richard Lester finished the second one. 30 years later Donner was allowed to finish his and it wasn't worth the wait.

The main differences...

In the Lester version when Superman gives up his powers he is told he can NEVER get them back. 5 minutes later he gets them back.

In the Donner version he doesn't say he can't get them back, making it slightly less stupid when he gets them back 5 minutes later.

In Donner's version Superman doesn't trap anybody in a giant cellophane Superman logo. Yet I kinda missed it. It's so retarded that it's become a highlight of the retarded Superman 2.

In the Lester version it ends with Superman somehow wiping Lois' memory so she no longer remembers his identity by kissing her.

In the Donner version he wipes her mind by flying around the world backwards and reversing time. The same ending as the first movie. Yet here it makes even less sense because this essentially reverses time all the way back to the beginning of the movie meaning Zod should show up again.

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 3:08 am

I cringed at the plot device of spinning the earth backwards would somehow reverse time. Having to see it twice would make it 10XXXX times worse. Glad they found some other way to end the second movie. Even if it looked like an ELO album cover.

THE
STRANGE MOVIE MAGIC
AARDVARK

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 5:29 am

I think that would totally work you guys. Anyway you have no proof that someone didn't already do it.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 5:31 am

Also the Superman theme is the single greatest thing John Williams ever did, except for perhaps the Imperial March.

Anyone who disagrees with this is a crazy person.

lethargic · Post by **lethargic** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 12:46 pm

AArdvark wrote:I cringed at the plot device of spinning the earth backwards would somehow reverse time. Having to see it twice would make it 10XXXX times worse. Glad they found some other way to end the second movie. Even if it looked like an ELO album cover.

THE
STRANGE MOVIE MAGIC
AARDVARK

The problem with those movies is that they're so campy I'm all cringed out before I even get to the time reverse.

What I don't get is why reversing time only undoes the one thing Superman wants undone, it doesn't undo anything else.

In part 1 Lois' car runs out of gas. The earthquake cracks the road and her car falls in.

Superman reverses time. Lois' car stalls. Superman shows up and they have a good laugh.

But if time was reversed then Superman should show up and save Lois from the car and then the earthquake swallows the car. But it doesnt. It doesn't happen at all anymore. THAT MAKES NO SENSE.

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 1:10 pm

See! See! It's all mixed up and craziness. What about the oceans that are suddenly stopped and reversed. Think there might be a little storm-surge effect, maybe? Just a little?
Also, there are voices (presumably in Superman's head) that tell him this deed is a no-no even though he's already made up his mind.

So now I'm thinking slightly mentally unstable man.

THE
LEAST OF OUR WORRIES
AARDVARK

lethargic · Post by **lethargic** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 3:28 pm

I have posted this three places. This is the only place I haven't been called an idiot yet.

Retro · Post by **Retro** » Sun Dec 08, 2013 9:41 pm

Where does Man of Steel fit into your hierarchy, Lethargic?

lethargic · Post by **lethargic** » Sun Dec 08, 2013 10:35 pm

I can't decide. After the first time I saw it I would've put it third behind Returns. After I watched it again I like it a lot more and I keep thinking about how badly I want to watch it again already.

I meant to come back here and actually explain my reasoning of my list and I never did. Nobody questioned Superman 3 being #1 so I just forgot about it. But I'll do it quickly...

1. Superman 3 - It is not the best Superman movie, of course, but it is the most entertaining to watch. It's a bad movie if we're going to be technical about it. It's very goofy and campy. But they're ALL goofy and campy. The difference is #3 is legitimately funny and entertaining because of it's humor, while the other movies are cringe inducing camp. The scene where drunk Richard Pryor wears the giant novelty foam cowboy hat will never not make me laugh.

Maybe this came out at the right age for me so I watched it more than the others, but it has the most iconic Superman movie moments for me. Such as freezing the pond and dumping it on the chemical plant fire. And the Superman vs Evil Superman fight is, by far, the most "comic book" moment of all 4 movies and the best action sequence they have to offer.

2. Superman Returns and 3. Superman - I have always defended the first Superman when people said it was corny and didn't hold up. I always said part 2 was corny and aged but the original is still great. But then I watched it again. I was wrong. It IS corny and very aged. It still has terrific moments and a terrific performance by Reeve, but I find that stuff can no longer overcome the cornball moments. The Otis holding up a tree limb in front of his face to sneak around type moments. It also shifts in tone too much. It's like 4 different movies spliced together and the shifts are very drastic.

The thing with Returns is that it's pretty much a note for note remake of Superman the Movie only with much better FX and the campy tone cut out, and that's why I put it ahead. At their heart, they are the same movies. The same characters, doing the same things, telling the same story, but it's all better acted, better shot and better written.

Also I loved Brandon Routh as Superman. I think that guy was born for the role. Walking down the street he looks like Superman. I think he was a perfect Superman and I like him WAY more than Henry Cavill. And I think he was given the hardest job out of any of them. He wasn't just tasked with being the guy to bring Superman back to movie screens, he was tasked with playing the new version of Christopher Reeve's Superman, one of the most beloved performances ever. I remembered getting chills the first time I heard him talk because he sounded so much like Reeve.

And all the other ones sucked.

But that's why it's hard for me to rank it. Logically, my mind says Man of Steel is #1 with a bullet. But my heart still really loves Richard Pryor in that cowboy hat and still wishes Routh had been given a chance to play the role without the baggage of being tied to the old movies.

Tdarcos · Post by **Tdarcos** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 11:11 pm

lethargic wrote:In the Lester version it ends with Superman somehow wiping Lois' memory so she no longer remembers his identity by kissing her.

In the Donner version he wipes her mind by flying around the world backwards and reversing time.

AArdvark wrote:I cringed at the plot device of spinning the earth backwards would somehow reverse time.

Would it be fair to say that the version where the earth is spun backward is more like a remake of the Donner Party?

lethargic · Post by **lethargic** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 2:40 am

Oh. I get it.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 7:27 am

Glad to hear you started drinking.

The last Superman movie I saw was Superman III. I never saw the fourth one with evil atomic man or whoever he was, or any of the remakes, or the TV show.

lethargic · Post by **lethargic** » Sun Dec 15, 2013 12:17 am

I'm bored.

1 - Batman Begins
2 - The Dark Knight Rises
3 - The Dark Knight
4 - Batman '66
5 - Batman Forever
6 - Batman and Robin
7 - Batman
8 - Batman Returns

DEAL WITH IT.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sun Dec 15, 2013 12:37 am

I feel Ledger's performance elevates that film to the top of the list.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Sun Dec 15, 2013 1:10 pm

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:I feel Ledger's performance elevates that film to the top of the list.

Yeah, this.

lethargic · Post by **lethargic** » Sun Dec 15, 2013 1:52 pm

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:I feel Ledger's performance elevates that film to the top of the list.

This is not a best movie list. It's a best Batman movie list. Begins and Rises are 100% Batman movies. Instead of Batman being there only to help tell Bane's story or Ra's al Ghul's story, they are there to serve Batman's story.

The Dark Knight is the complete opposite. It's great but it barely has anything to do with Batman. He's a supporting character in a Harvey Dent movie. And despite the flashiness of his scenes and the performance by Leger, even Joker is only there to push Dent's story forward.

As a Batman fan, Begins will always be the best movie for me because it's the one that had the most goose bump inducing moments. It's the one where as a fan you sit there and bask in the feeling of somebody finally got this right. It will never lose that feeling.

Also I think the depiction of the character was absolutely the best in Begins. In that movie the whole point of Batman was to use fear. Fear was his greatest weapon. In the sequels he completely left that motivation behind and he became all about using gadgets and technology over fear and intimidation. And The Dark Knight is the worst example of this due to that horrible sub-plot about the cell phone radar map thing.

I feel the same way about the comics these days. This whole "Batman is always prepared for any situation" crap. His use of technology and gadgets as became a huge crutch that gets him out of any situation. He's no longer the world's greatest detective, he's no longer scary. He's just a guy with a really good computer and somebody who just happens to always have the right tool in his pocket. He's officially became the Adam West Batman, he would absolutely have anti-shark spray in his belt.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Sun Dec 15, 2013 4:10 pm

I'ma buttfuck ya!

RetroRomper · Post by **RetroRomper** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 8:45 pm

lethargic wrote:He's officially became the Adam West Batman, he would absolutely have anti-shark spray in his belt.

Ouch. Good points in general and while the switch to venerating technology as opposed to cunning was disappointing, I did genuinely enjoy seeing elements from Batman Year One leak into the movie. I'm at the point that after suffering countless, horrible movie adaptations of comics and novels, I'm thankful for the small moments.