NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 20: (Editors Note: This image was altertered using digital filters) Actor Henry Cavill attends The ‘Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice’ New York Premiere at Radio City Music Hall on March 20, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
Silver Screen Superman: which film reigns Supreme?
Perhaps no superhero is more iconic or indelible to American entertainment than Superman. His exploits and adventures have become synonymous not only with what’s best about the genre, but what’s best about the country. He is a modern-day cultural icon, instantly recognizable across the world from only a silhouette, or even just the curl of his hair. He has added words to our lexicon (that’s right, brainiac) and been the subject of no less than 26 popular songs.
The Man of Steel is that rare phenomenon that has outgrown his origins. People who’ve never so much as stepped into a comic book store can tell you all about the Last Son of Krypton. They can tell you where he grew up, the name of his arch-nemesis, even identify the particular space rock that he is so famously allergic to.
Some of this lore can has been plucked directly from the cultural zeitgeist, so great is Superman’s influence, but much of the spread of The Gospel of Kal-El can be attributed to his many movies, predating the current superhero boom and continuing still: a live-action legacy of America’s greatest hero.
But not all of these films have been created equal. Which of these films are more powerful than a locomotive, and which have left us wishing we could leave the theater faster than a speeding bullet.
For the purpose of these rankings, we will only consider the movies after Christopher Reeve’s iconic portrayal. While Superman and the Mole Men, featuring the stoic George Reeves (no relation), is technically the first Superman movie, it hardly qualifies as such, being both incredibly low-budget and primarily serving as a test for the television series The Adventures of Superman. It’s more two-episode pilot than proper film. Still, were it included, it may very well have beaten out our lowest ranked film.
Which brings us to the business at hand. Without further ado, let me present the movie with the dubious honor of being the worst Superman flick of all-time…
Superman and Nuclear Man square-off while an American flag lays crumpled between them. Underneath it, presumably, is the dignity of everyone involved with this film.
8. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Picking the worst Superman movie of all-time is shockingly easy if only because Superman IV: The Quest For Peace is not only one of the worst Superman movies, but one of the weakest in the entire history of superhero films, and would stand unchallenged if not for some other righteously awful movies like Catwoman and Batman and Robin. Occasionally, critics or disgruntled fans with a hate-beef for the new DCU will argue that the newer movies are somehow worse than this wretched film. With all due respect, those people are wrong. Rebuild-the-Great-Wall-with-magic-vision-wrong. Giant-press-on-nails-wrong.
This is a bad movie, a step back for the entire genre, that functioned as a ignoble swan song for what had been a strong run for Christopher Reeve as the iconic hero, and still serves today as a cautionary tale about just how much harm can come from the best of intentions, and from allowing a lead actor too much creative authority.
Reeve, at the height of his power–and his ego, if Margot Kidder is to be believed–co-wrote this bloated 80’s era morality tale after growing concerned about the dangers of nuclear war. How he got quite so much putrid juice out of that simplistic squeeze, I’ll never know, but we can be thankful that it was cut from its original run of an unpalatable 134 minutes down to a nausea-inducing 90 minutes.
Nothing works in this film, from the laughably cartoonish Nuclear Man–whose eleven lines of dialogue seem ten too many–to the shoddy special effects, the cheapness of which are even more disappointing considering the technical achievements of the previous movies. This film could easily be renamed Superman IV: A Bridge Too Far. There is a scene where, using re-purposed footage taken from an earlier scene where Superman waves, The Man of Steel rebuilds the Great Wall of China with his eyes because they didn’t have the budget for a speed run. They invented a superpower to cover-up an FX crisis that happened because most of their crew left over a labor dispute.
In the span of four films we went from the iconic tagline, “You’ll believe a man can fly,” to magic repair eyes. That’s almost offensive.
It was time to hang up the cape after Superman III–which had its own myriad of issues (more on that later)–and everyone seemed to realize it. It was a movie that seemingly no one wanted made and no one wanted to be in, but was made for…reasons?
Even Reeve only agreed to do it in exchange for financing for another project, Street Smart, and is on record as saying, “Superman IV was a catastrophe from start to finish. That failure was a huge blow to my career.”
If that isn’t enough for you to put this one at the bottom of the Superman hierarchy, consider this: Superman IV was such a commercial and critical failure that it effectively ended plans to make a Spiderman movie. It was so bad that it not only put Superman on the self for two decades, it iced an absolutely innocent web-slinger in the process.
I don’t care what any of these other movies were guilty of: they didn’t kill Spiderman by virtue of their awfulness.
If a picture is normally worth a thousand words, this one is worth two-thousand, and they are all various forms of the sentence, “Please, don’t make this movie.”
7. Superman III
The legend goes that Richard Pryor, revolutionary comedian and considered perhaps the funniest man alive for his often polarizing sets that consisted of equal parts courageous, unblinking social commentary and brutal profanity-laced take-no-prisoners humor, jokingly made a comment during an interview with Johnny Carson that he’d like to do a Superman movie. The story goes that Pryor was only joking but the producers thought he was serious.
Now, that may sound outlandish, but if you have another, more plausible explanation for why this movie was made, I’m listening.
…
Yeah, I didn’t think so.
A testament to how two great things don’t always go together, Superman and the normally electric Pryor combine to form a partnership that is confusing, unnecessary, and detrimental to the energy and talents of both. Together, they muddle through a preposterous story-line that’s only redeeming quality is later inspiring the movie Office Space. The villains are forgettable and bland, Pryor seems handcuffed to a raise-no-eyebrows performance that seems especially unsuited for him, and Reeve’s turn as a Superman fighting against the inebriating effects of red Kryptonite come off as a poorly thought out after-school special about the dangers of alcoholism, with the exception of the junkyard scene–which stands out as remarkably well-done in an otherwise abysmal film. Even a broken Superman clock is right twice a day, I suppose.
Superman III is the buddy comedy absolutely no one asked for. Even the war-crime-bad Superman IV feels like a Superman movie–if a really, really bad one. This film never does. It’s almost some strange alternate-dimension Superman where everyone is under a compulsion to tell jokes that aren’t funny and act uncomfortable around each other. Interestingly enough, Dudley Moore was originally slated to play the mischievous Mister Mxyzptlk. Perhaps the film would have made more sense then. The scene where Vera Webster is transformed into an impromptu cyborg almost crosses over into the theater of the absurd.
As it stands, this movie is a mess of mismatched energy and conflicting themes that deserves its low ranking on this list. On many such lists it would nab the bottom spot, but I’ll take Richard Pryor over Nuclear Man any day. Even the funny man himself hated the flick, saying after that he thought the script was trash and only signed on for the Benjamins.
No matter who lands this punch, the movie itself has to be considered an enormous missed opportunity.
6. Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice
Some may be surprised or disappointed to see Batman vs Superman this low on the list, and it’s true that the film is leaps and bounds better than the two beneath it.
BvsS ends the trend on this list of truly awful movies. From here on out there are things to really like about these next offerings, as we work our way up to films that inspire outright love. They aren’t perfect, but they aren’t soul-stealing either.
For instance, the fight scenes in Batman vs Superman are hyper-kinetic fun. Epic and enjoyable. Seeing these two titans square-off for the first time is nothing short of jaw-dropping for longtime fans, and the rumble does not disappoint. It’s a tight bit of supercharged choreography that presents a fight between near-gods as well as anything we’ve ever seen.
Likewise, the appearance of Wonder Woman and even the seismic clash against Doomsday at the end are first-grade blockbuster blowouts.
And if a film were judged only by pulse-pounding moments, by “coolness” and clever camera work, Batman vs Superman would rate much higher on this list.
But at its heart–the emotional center that makes you care about characters and root for heroes, hate villains, cry, laugh, smile, feel–this is a deeply troubled movie. In large part because it wants so desperately to be something more than it is. It may star Supes and Bats, but the way it overextends itself would make Plastic Man jealous.
Were it simply a beat-em-up with no pretense of depth or overarching ambition, it might be looked on more favorably.
Lost amid the gritty, forgettable lines of a voice modulated Batman and the imposing stares of an almost silent Superman, is any kind of dialogue that establishes motivation, that makes these two battling heroes distinct or memorable in any significant way.
Without the presence of nearly two centuries of combined backstory and built-in audience adoration, this is just a flick about angry whiners staring each other down and throwing super punches until they realize their moms share a name, at which point they team-up against a hastily constructed big-bad for an HD superfight with this cool lady that also enjoys saving worlds. Pretend you don’t know these two famous, quarreling gentleman and they are largely unremarkable. If this were Owlman vs Hyperion, people wouldn’t have made it through the halfway point.
While some may argue this placement, when you make a movie called Batman vs Superman, and the overwhelming consensus is that Wonder Woman was the best part, you have a problem.
HOLLYWOOD, CA – NOVEMBER 13: Actor Henry Cavill attends the premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures’ ‘Justice League’ at Dolby Theatre on November 13, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)
5. Justice League
In a move that was shamelessly intended to replicate the staggering popularity (and monetary success) of Marvel’s The Avengers, the greatest heroes in the DC Universe were at last brought together in one film: the contradictory, chaotic mash-up that is Justice League.
While sharing the same heritage and dark underpinnings as Batman vs Superman and Man of Steel, Justice League is a movie in crisis, a fully self-aware train wreck that is, in turns, grim, careless, and, ultimately, afraid of its own shadow.
While Jason Momoa and Ezra Miller are welcome additions to what should have been a strong cast, the characters they play are rudderless and tacked-on, having little to do besides quip one-liners and look cool. The arcs are there, but set against meaningless background and a rubbery opponent in the one-dimensional Steppenwolf, they hardly seem to matter. Worse, having heard the backlash over Snyder’s previous grimdark efforts, levity is pumped into the film like helium into a flaming Zeppelin, adding little lift and only more fuel to the fire.
It ends up being a child of two fathers, holding the same skeletal shape of a Zach Snyder film but cosmetically covered with poorly blended globs of Whedon’s characteristic wit and snazzy dialogue. The end result is something less than the sum of its parts.
It’s not an awful movie, but nor is it a good one. Certainly nothing to build a franchise on. If you come to it looking for scenes where superheroes stand next to each other, use extraordinary powers, and seem intent on looking as cool as possible, you will leave happy. If you expect anything else, you will not.
Everything you loved about the original, except originality.
4. Superman Returns
There were several scripts temporarily attached to this much anticipated return of Superman. Most notably, one by Kevin Smith that Tim Burton was set to direct that would have covered the comic arc “The Death of Superman,” and another by J.J. Abrams that re-imagined Superman as an infant Kryptonian prince sent to Earth to avoid an impending civil war between kings, who, after being raised among humans, later returns to Krypton to rule over his people after the death of Jor-El.
Both of these were rejected as incongruent with the theme and history of one of America’s most beloved and traditional heroes. Eventually, director Bryan Singer pursued a storyline that would serve as both a sequel and a remake to the immensely popular movies of Richard Donner–the classics, Superman and Superman II–with no mention of the third or fourth movies.
It must be said that in this respect, Superman Returns is a rousing success.
Brandon Routh’s Reeve impression is almost uncanny and Kevin Spacey does an incredible job following in the footsteps of the inimitable Gene Hackman. The story and cinematography seamlessly mimic the style and feel of those glorious, old films, while adding new wrinkles and moral complications that somehow seem perfectly in line with the projections of the original movies.
The most complimentary and damning praise that can be given is that as a piece of fan-fiction Superman Returns is absolutely unrivaled.
But that’s just it, the entire movie is like listening to an incredibly talented cover band play songs of a bygone era; it puts you in the mood to hear the old tunes, but not necessarily to devote yourself to the cover band. Cover bands don’t have followings, and for good reason. Why experience an imitation when you can still listen to the original?
Superman Returns is a good movie, but an even better advertisement for how great Superman used to be. It succeeds in every way it intends. Unfortunately, the ambition to tell a new and meaningful story was never among those goals. It’s enjoyable, charming, well-done, and almost completely lacking in merit of its own.
Hard to rank it any higher considering the few risks it took as a film.
Speaking of risks…
Henry Cavill dons the cape for the first time in this surprisingly bleak take on the boy from Krypton.
3. Man of Steel
Man of Steel is in many ways the polar opposite of Superman Returns. Where the Singer film is reverential of previous movies, treating the Reeves films as sacred, Snyder’s take on America’s most famous hero is ambition and unbending in its intent to bring a grittier, more realistic, and–shockingly–more fatal version of the character to the big screen.
But where the previous offering was criticized for being too cautious, Man of Steel was blasted by many fans, particularly those who had grown up with Reeve’s ultra-pure Clark Kent, as joyless, brooding, and harmful not just the Superman brand, but the idea of superheroes in general.
And it’s hard for even the most staunch Snyder defender to argue that, when seen through such a lens, the movie isn’t, at the least, a daring re-imagining, if not a cinematic slap in the face to all that down-home Donner-goodness.
Still, there is some precedent for a more morally ambiguous Superman in comics, and regardless of personal opinion on the ethics of the Kryptonian in question, the movie has a vision, and it sees that through–presenting a doubting, humanized hero, one befitting a darker world where saviors must pay a blood-price.
More, the movie is as much a first contact story than a traditional superhero flick, a movie about an alien defending his adopted home world against invaders from his previous planet. It’s more introspective science-fiction than feel-good nostalgia.
It’s less about truth, justice, and the American way, and more about finding a place to belong, something to fight, and even kill, for. The real issues with this film seem not to be with the movie as an effective story, but with its supposedly disrespectful treatment of a cultural icon. A visceral reaction that brings to mind the recent outcry over Luke Skywalker’s portrayal in The Last Jedi.
Regardless of where you fall in that argument, the narrative of Man of Steel is original and daring, (in contrast to the ultra-safe Superman Returns) and the film blends together harmoniously (something that cannot be said of Snyder’s later work).
That’s enough to place this film third on the list, ahead of a charming if inconsequential remake and a number of entertaining but deeply flawed movies.
The movie that started it all. You will believe a man can fly.
2. Superman
A movie that defined the idea of the superhero for a generation, one simply cannot say enough about the impact and grandeur generated by this movie. Charming, technically impressive for the time, forward thinking but with its fingers firmly thrust into the nostalgia that powers Superman as surely as the rays of a yellow sun, the original Superman was the perfect superhero movie for an optimistic age.
America was caped in power and glory and so was the Man of Steel. Christopher Reeve–graced with a (for the era) powerful build, dashing good looks, a subdued charm and a wry smile–is nothing short of remarkable in a role that he seems absolutely born to play. It’s impossible to imagine another actor as the titular hero in this film, as Reeve’s delivers exactly the kind of endlessly admirable, faultless good guy we as Americans wanted ourselves to be, thought ourselves to be. He was an extension of us, of our country, of what was best in us. He was the American hero made flesh: an immigrant in a foreign land, who not only adopted our national ways, but adapted them to his very code.
Even Lex Luthor, the dastardly ultra-capitalist (played by a superb Gene Hackman), who is supposed to represent all that was worrisome about the United States–greed, unrestrained ambition–is irresistibly likable in a performance that is every bit the equal of Reeve’s career-defining turn.
The plot is slow and nonsensical, corny and ham-fisted by modern standards, the Marlon Brando scenes seem like puzzling improv exercises, but with the kind of charisma this flick pumps out, it could be an hour and a half of trying to rescue Jimmy Olsen’s cat from a tree and it would have still been endlessly enjoyable.
It could very well be argued that this movie deserves the top spot in this countdown, and I wouldn’t argue too vehemently in opposition. But for all its positives, Superman with its plodding pace and lack of action hardly seems to belong in the same genre as the superhero films of today. It’s almost a proto-superhero film, so subdued is its approach.
Yet one film remains on our list, a film that features virtually every hallmark of the modern-day blockbuster superhero movie.
The legendary Zod and his cronies.
1. Superman II
The original Superman may be the one that started it all, but it’s Superman II that perfects the legacy. The movie is exceptionally strong from start to finish, especially the much improved Donner cut, which gets rid of the odd bits of silliness that were thrown in once he was fired from production such as the infamous plastic shield gag. Even without the Donner cut, however, this is the best movie in the series for one simple reason: the villains.
One of the consistent knocks against Superman stories is that Kal-El is so powerful that it is difficult to challenge him physically. Another criticism is that in comparison to other heroes like the wily Batman or ever-inventive Spiderman, Superman mostly just relies on his stunning array of abilities to get him out of tight jams.
This movie addresses both those issues by having Superman battle three rogue, criminal Kryptonians, the tyrannical General Zod (played by Terrence Stamp in a fabulous performance), who, along with Gene Hackman’s brilliantly despicable run as a returning Lex Luthor, helps to create a two-front war for Earth’s champion. One he cannot possibly hope to win.
Just like modern superhero stories, it mixes epic battles, clever plot twists, and emotionally rich character development, using a backdrop of fantastic powers to tell a moving human story. Unlike some of the recent films, it doesn’t lack for heart.
The fight scenes are over-the-top and fun, marvelously inventive and well-staged for the period, and the overwrought personalities of the three Kryptonians mesh beautifully with Reeve’s All-American portrayal.
Beyond that, though, the movie addresses, in a purely innocent way, the price of being different, of being a hero. It highlights Superman’s desire to be normal, his desire to belong, much like Man of Steel would later do, but without all the angst and neck-snapping. The scenes where Clark Kent adjusts to mundane life after being de-powered are terrific, and the moment when he is forced to retake the mantle of Superman to save the world from this new overwhelming threat has a surprising amount of gravitas for such a saccharine sweet movie.
From the heartbreaking encounter where a beaten Superman is forced to flee before the alien aggressors to the clever ending where Superman uses Lex Luthor’s trustworthiness to trick an overconfident Zod and his allies, this movie offers the definitive Superman experience.
Next: 50 greatest super heroes in comic book history
It challenges the greatest hero in American history on all levels–physically, mentally, emotionally–only to see him emerge victorious not through brute force but through resourcefulness, empathy, and faith: those key values that mark Superman as a special hero regardless of his power level. Then, even in victory he must sacrifice for those he protects, for the people of Earth, when he chooses to be Superman over Clark, duty over love, and forsakes his love with Lois to be the hero we so desperately need.
It’s an arc worthy of the greatest of heroes, and it’s why Superman II sits at the top of this list.