Favorite Superman Movie

[Preus]

My absolute favorite Superman movies are Superman Returns & Superman II. Superman: The Movie was good too & I have no problems with that movie at all, it was great. Superman IV had some much potential but it was ruined.

[MerrickM]

Does the World's Finest TV movie count? If so, that, even if it was only half a Superman movie.

If not, Superman II I guess. Very entertaining despite the plot's almost complete lack of making sense at several points.

[Preus]

World's Finest were three episodes, not a movie.

And how was Superman II lacking in the plot direction? Three villains take over the world & Lex Luthor wants to own his own little part of the world (Austrailia). What's so lacking about that? Nothing at all.

[MerrickM]

I meant things like why, why, why does being in love with Lois mean he should remove all his power forever? Did the Phantom Zone just happen to be floating right outside Earth orbit? How do Lois and Clark get back from the North Pole so easily if it's so difficult to get back to the North Pole later? How does Clark turn back into Superman (okay, I realize the reason this one makes no sense is because they had to cut Marlon Brando's scenes)? Why does Superman leave Metropolis in the middle of the battle, does he know Lex is about to tell the bad guys where the Fortress is?

Not knocking the movie at all though, plot holes aside it's nonetheless probably the best Superman film to be released. (And it's not like it's the only Superman movie with plot holes, explain to me again how Lex knows Kryptonite will hurt Supes?)

[Preus]

For the Phantom Zone "plot hole", if they've been drifting in space for a while (it was 32 years), it is possible that they would eventually be somewhere around Earth's orbit. The other ones were stupid though. I've always hated that, a superhero feels that to be with someone he needs to relinquish his power.

[Ontir]

Pump Up the Volume is my favourite Superman movie.

[Kage Kisaragi]

Probably Superman 2 since it was the first time he had Super Villains who could actually hurt him fighting him.

[MPagar]

Superman 3. Probably because of Pryor.

[Preus]

As I've said before, Superman IV could've been so much better than it was. I loved the idea they had for Nuclear Man. If they would've just improved the special effects, made the fights look for believable & not introdcue Lucy (I think that was her name), then the film would've been much better than it was.

[Rik Levins]

I meant things like why, why, why does being in love with Lois mean he should remove all his power forever?

See the essay, "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex" (you can probably Google it), by Larry Niven.
On a more serious note, he may have felt that Superman belongs to the world, so to speak, and it would not be fair to Lois to have to share him with six billion people that need him so desperately 24/7.

Did the Phantom Zone just happen to be floating right outside Earth orbit?

The Phantom Zone is an alternate dimension and thus distance in our universe is irrelevant. Like Hyperspace, it's equally accessible from any point in three-dimensional space. You could enter it on Krypton and step out on Earth a second later.
Granted, it's still a hell of a coincidence that an explosion took place near Earth orbit that happened to release Kryptonian criminals onto the same planet where Jor-El sent his child. Surely there have been plenty of explosions on planets all over the universe, any one of which could have opened a portal to the Zone. But, hey, this isn't the first movie to feature an outrageous coincidence that sets up the major conflict.

How do Lois and Clark get back from the North Pole so easily if it's so difficult to get back to the North Pole later?

In the Donner cut of Superman II, we see a "Polar Patrol", who seem to be some kind of international police force. Possibly those guys gave them a lift back, but were not around during the return trip.

How does Clark turn back into Superman (okay, I realize the reason this one makes no sense is because they had to cut Marlon Brando's scenes)?

You are correct. Again, this scene is shown in the Donner cut.

Why does Superman leave Metropolis in the middle of the battle, does he know Lex is about to tell the bad guys where the Fortress is?

He leaves to lure the bad guys into chasing him, thereby avoiding continuing the battle in the middle of the city, where countless innocent bystanders could get killed. In fact, the only thing that puzzled me about it was that he waited as long as he did. The people in that bus nearly paid the price for his delay. And no, he probably didn't know that Lex knew the location of the Fortress, he probably just figured the bad guys would follow him or track him with telescopic vision.

Not knocking the movie at all though, plot holes aside it's nonetheless probably the best Superman film to be released. (And it's not like it's the only Superman movie with plot holes, explain to me again how Lex knows Kryptonite will hurt Supes?)

An EXTREMELY lucky guess?

Okay, of course there are plot holes, it's still MY favorite Superman movie, too.

[Ontir]

The movies explain why he can't be a husband, so long as he's Superman. He's not supposed to put any ONE above all others. His powers set him apart, and they are needed by the world. It's the messianic struggle between a mundane, ordinary life, and being a saviour. That's the path this series of films is taking, and so given that logic, he CAN'T be with Lois, so long as he remains Superman. Now if, a few years down the road, Richard is gone (when it serves Jason's character development), and Superman sacrifices his power to save Jason, a la Jor-el, then, when Jason is Superman, and Clark is just a normal man, he can finally have the life he's always dreamt of; but not UNTIL then!

[J. Robb]

I guess I'd have say "Superman Returns". I enjoy the Christopher Reeve movies mostly just for his dead-on portrayal of Superman, the movies themselves have a lot of problems (less so for the first one, obviously.)

[Preus]

Yeah, the first one didn't really have anything wrong with it. Sure, II had it's problems but overall it was still a very good film.

[Violet]

Superman Returns and Superman the movie.

[Preus]

Superman Returns is my all time favorite superhero movie. I loved everyone's deliverance. Superman II is my second favorite simply because General Zod was in it.

[mrc1214]

Id go with Superman II i enjoyed that movie very much.

[Carter Hall]

For me it goes:

1. Superman: The Movie
2. Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
3. Superman Returns

Superman III and IV were enjoyable but as pointless action movies. Not in the same category with the previous three, which I was very happy with and feel that they flow into each other quite nicely.

[Ontir]

I'd reverse your order, Carter, but I still think the best "Superman" film is "Pump Up the Volume!"

[niall mc cann]

Superman II, for me.

[niall mc cann]

The movies explain why he can't be a husband, so long as he's Superman. He's not supposed to put any ONE above all others. His powers set him apart, and they are needed by the world. It's the messianic struggle between a mundane, ordinary life, and being a saviour. That's the path this series of films is taking, and so given that logic, he CAN'T be with Lois, so long as he remains Superman. Now if, a few years down the road, Richard is gone (when it serves Jason's character development), and Superman sacrifices his power to save Jason, a la Jor-el, then, when Jason is Superman, and Clark is just a normal man, he can finally have the life he's always dreamt of; but not UNTIL then!

Also, and people may laugh at this, but if you read the film on a jungian symbolic level, there's a dream logic at play that's fiercely intellectual and very well thought through.

On a symbolic level, the films very profound and you can absolutely see why some of the plotting rules were bent slightly to make it work...

[MythicBrawn]

Superman 2 was the best. The others had their moments, excluding Superman IV which completely sucked. Superman Returns could have been so much better.

[niall mc cann]

Superman 3. Probably because of Pryor.

you're probably being sarcastic, but maybe my all time favourite superman movie scene happened in Superman III: the Clark Kent/Superman fight. Loved it, and love it still. I just think it's a great idea and it's done really well.

I'll never dislike Superman Three as much as other people, just 'cause of that one, great scene.