Christopher Reeve

Ranking the Superman Movies

Ranking the Superman Movies

Superman’s film lineage is absolutely fascinating. Even when you remove the on-again-off-again projects during the lost years of the 1990s and early 2000s (not to mention the Richard Donner fiasco of 1980), the six films themselves are so different and so uniquely imperfect.  Do we have a definitive Superman movie? Not a chance. I’ll get […]

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace Review

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace Review

RATING: (0.5 STARS) It isn’t hard to see where Superman IV: The Quest for Peace goes wrong. Its awfulness hides in plain sight and renders the film as a whole nearly unwatchable. It’s a little like the sun—stare for too long, and you’ll feel physical pain. But then you start to feel a little bad […]

Superman III Review

Superman III Review

RATING: (1.5 STARS) With the off-screen problems connected to Superman II out of the way, there was no reason Superman III couldn’t have been another thrilling adventure. Sure, Gene Hackman was out, furious at producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind over what happened with Superman director Richard Donner. But the Salkinds lured comedian Richard Pryor into […]

Superman II Review

Superman II Review

RATING: (3 STARS) The behind-the-scenes story of Superman II is the stuff of legend, but one shouldn’t assume a project with such a messy history is itself a mess. On the contrary, Superman II (at least the theatrical version credited to director Richard Lester) is a slightly tighter, more suspenseful, and more entertaining film than […]

Superman Review

Superman Review

RATING: (3 STARS) Richard Donner’s Superman is very much a product of the Star Wars school of blockbuster filmmaking—big, ambitious themes masked in a familiar, satisfying story with sometimes spotty (by today’s standard), sometimes dazzling (by any standard) special effects that hide narrative deficiencies at every turn. The ink was hardly dry on the school’s […]