Superman at his best?

I know this probably has a lot to do with what Superman you were raised on, but for me, the best live-action Superman will always be the one we saw in the original 78 movie with Christopher Reeve. Even after all these years I think it mostly stands up as being a really good film and a solid representation of the character himself. The casting was great, the acting was earnest and fun (in a pulpy/campy sort of way) and the music still stands as a masterpiece of superhero scoring. When I was younger I remember also loving Superman II as much as (if not more than) the first one, but over time I've soured on it because of all the behind-the-scenes shenanigans that went on after Donners firing, and don't think I could ever go back to watching it now. Its such a pity that Donner never got to finish them both.

If I'm allowed to bring animation into the mix, my ideal Superman will always be the one that was I was introduced to by Bruce Timm in Superman The Animated series back in the mid-90s. More than any other incarnation, this show was unafraid to portray him as the "big blue boy scout", instilled with an innate goodness by his adoptive parents and was unwavering in his compassion for all life (excluding Darkseid!). The "Worlds Finest" 3 episode arc with Batman works well as a mini-movie (if we are sticking to "movies" in this discussion). Supermans strengths/weaknesses are always best highlighted when contrasted against someone like Batman who, while still a hero, can operate outside of Clarks black and white, right and wrong view of the world. Their partnership always leads to interesting moral dilemmas, especially when dealing with the villains.

Back on the live-action side of things, I didn't care too much for Superman Returns, even though it was a gorgeous looking film, and Routh was surprisingly good at channelling Reeve during his scenes as Clark (at times the similarities are uncanny). And while I know Man of Steel has its fans, the character that Snyder had Cavill portraying in both that and Batman vs Superman was never really "Superman", as far as I'm concerned. Cavill looked the part, so I wouldn't have minded seeing him reprise the role again in a more light-hearted/heroic entry (I think Cavill himself wanted the character to move more in that direction) but sadly it'll never be. Heres hoping that Corenswet gets more of an opportunity to play an actual hero under Gunn.

I see IV is on RTÉ today for anyone who wants to check it out to confirm how bad it is.

Christopher Reeve is, was and will always be Superman for me. I recently went to see it in the Cinema during the Summer and loved it still.

The vest films is the 1978 film and Suoetman 2.

3 is OK in parts but 4 is atrocies in fact it's so bad it's funny.

Just of curiouslty - where would you put Superman V Batman in there. I have never seen that movie. Was going to throw it on a couple of times, but the lukewarm reviews put me off everytime.

Die Hard With A Vengeance is one of the great action movie sequels and is much better than the second movie. Die Hard 4 isn't bad either. Let's not mention the 5th one though.

Superman 1 and 2 are great.

I'm looking forward to seeing what James Gunn does with it.

The opening segment of 'Superman Returns' is cleverly crafted. You get the introductory text at the very start, the text explaining how Superman has dissapeared. The second you get to the end of that opening introductory text, the icy chords of John Williams "The Planet Krypton" score track from the original film kick in.

Probably the only decent bit of that entire film.

Superman 1.

So Lex sends off two rockets, Supe stops one but not the California one but managed to bandaid the earth crust fault, but Lois still dies in an aftershock.

Superman then spins the world back in time and forward again to current time. Lois is alive but mentions shes seen earthquakes and gas stations blowing up. So the 2nd rocket still hit California.

So, err, why wasnt she still at the bottom of the aftershock dead when he restored time?

Superman is a superb movie. Superman II even better.

Superman 2 was the best because it was pretty much non-stop action from the off. The characters had been established in the first film so they didn't have to waste time with backstory, and then they threw in 3 Kryptonians with similar powers to Superman to spice things up and you also the continued presence of Lex Luther trying to capitalise on this new development. Many great moments: the transition to Superman in the alleyway (great effect for its time); Niagara Falls and Lois discovering Clark is Superman; Superman giving up his powers for Lois; the diner bully; Zod, Ursa and Non wreaking havoc in Metropolis; Superman returning and having a smackdown against them; the Fortress of solitude finale and Superman's trick to win. So many memorable scenes and dialogue. Hackman was very funny in it, Terence Stamp's bored insouciance as Zod was great too.

I actually enjoyed the first half of Superman 3, especially when Clark went back to Smallville, and there were some interesting ideas in it, but it collapsed under its own ridiculousness and Richard Pryor took the attention from Supes.

4 is a turd. Superman Returns was even worse! I've never been so disappointed in a film except for maybe Halloween Ends. It was such a downer of a movie and a bizarre way to bring Superman back to the big screen. I really liked Man of Steel but as usual with these superhero films nowadays it was too long and the CGI was over the top during the end fight. Also a bit too earnest in parts,usually the scenes with Costner. The street fight against the Kryptonians in Smallville was a highlight. All the other Snyder Supes films were ****.