Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Different Superman Movies/Series'

I recently tried watching the newer Superman movies (Superman Returns) and just about ten minutes in, I turned it off. I couldn't watch it because I kept going, "That's not Martha." or "That's not Clark." etc etc.

I never did watch the Smallville series. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman was the first and only Superman series or otherwise that I ever actually got into.

I literally cannot watch anything Superman related now. I'm sure the movies are really quite good, but I can't do it! Anyone else have this issue?

Well, Superman Returns really did bite the big one. I wish they had had more of Pete in S3 and Lana :rolleyes: , so far, there has been a lot of not telling her for her own good (and you know how popular that is with the L&C crowd). Lex's dad reminds me of L&C's Lex as a dad.

I've wanted to see the old Reeve (not Chris) Superman show but Netflix won't dole out the $$ to buy more discs So, I'll have to wait for that to happen. Another phone call to customer service to complain AGAIN, I guess. (Why don't they allow e-mail complaints/suggestions?)

The VERY old Superman movies are available to rent on Netflix (disc only) and I’ll eventually get to those. These are the ones with the radio star as Superman.

I haven't ever seen the 1980s show SuperBoy. It looks like it was full of 80s cheese (and not the good kind). I'm curious if it's worth renting when I finally work my way through the next 7 seasons of Smallville (so around 2020).

I do recommend the documentary “Look! Up in the Sky” history of Superman; despite it coming out around the time of Superman Returns, so it’s mainly a plug for that movie. But if you can look past that aspect of it, it’s very interesting and entertaining.

That is my opinion about all movie/series (I skipped one musical, but I think just stating "musical" was enough of a reason for my skipping it) that I've seen since becoming addicted to Superman in 2010. In many ways, L&C was the best. (Not Iconic like Reeve/Kidder) But I'm always willing for someone to try to convince me otherwise.

Oh my! You are well versed in the Superman movies!

I think I could read the comics because it's similar to reading the fanfiction only with pictures.

I've debated watching Smallville, but I'm not sure. Like you said, high school drama isn't my thing. I imagine something like Degrassi with super powers?

I agree with everything Virginia said. And I most definitely recommend the documentary "Look Up in the Sky!". You get a glimpse of everything Superman that was made for tv or cinema, and then you can decide which ones you'd like to see.

Oh, and Superman IV is an even bigger cringefest than the previous one. I made a point of watching it and actually felt sorry for the cast - even the dude with the heavily hairsprayed hair. Then I rewatched with the scriptwriter's comment (to know what on Earth were they thinking) and actually felt sorry for the guy who was speaking. Even he was cringing while commenting the movie he originally wrote and the producers maimed.

Season 1 Superboy is out on disc. None of the other seasons are. Superboy had 1/2 hour episodes. I remember it as not being very good.

I am a huge fan of all things Superman (not just Lois and Clark). In fact, I even rather enjoyed Superman Returns. Sure, it was different, and I didn't think Kate Bosworth or Brandon Routh worked (though loved Kevin Spacey's Lex and I can't say anything bad about James Marsden because I just think he's a cutie ). But I could appreciate it for it's story. It wasn't very much Superman as we know him, but it wasn't a bad film. But even I tend to block Superman III and IV from my memory banks (ironically, that's also exactly what the studios did when making "Superman Returns"). They're pretty awful. Over this last summer, I actually rewatched all of the Superman movies. I would say the only thing that Superman 4 is good for is a laugh. Basically he just fights Nuclearman a bunch and amnesia kisses Lois a couple of more times. :rolleyes:

I am hesitant about the new movie. At the very least, I hope I can appreciate it as a film, and I'm keeping fingers crossed that it won't destroy the Superman franchise entirely...

And I, like Virginia, am still waiting out Netflix on the old George Reeve show. Can't wait for that. If they ever get it...

I hate to say it but I was a big Batman fan (the silly 60s TV show) when I was a kid. I remember seeing some of the original Superman TV episodes back then but I didn't like them nearly as much as Batman.

I loved the Christopher Reeves Superman movies when they originally came out. I even saw the first movie multiple times in the theater. I was so excited that Clark got to tell Lois how he felt about her in the second film. When I re-watched these films recently with my daughter, they seemed a bit slow.

I saw Superman Returns in the theater before re-visiting Lois & Clark. I didn't really like it. It seemed flat.

I haven't tried Smallville. I think Lois & Clark is a tough act to follow.

Hopefully the new film will be intersting.

I actually have never seen a Batman film until a few days ago when I watched Batman Begins and The Dark Knight (with Christian Bale & Morgan Freeman & Heath Ledger in TDK)

I'm like, ridiculously in love with them now and cannot wait for the third one to come out in the summer! Is there a Batman series like the LnC one?

Batman?! /laughs, spewing water everywhere/

Funny you should mention it. They just had a Batman marathon (a la Adam West) on tv on New Years Eve. I just watched, like, twenty of them. They're a blast. They're really funny, but I don't know how funny they were intended to be... I've also seen a few newer Batman episodes (no idea what series, it's interesting, but not enough to capture me entirely). The new movies are actually really cool (can't wait for the third and final one this december! Woo-hoo!). Nolan always does a good job, so I have high hopes.

I'm actually a huge superhero nerd, come to think of it...

I read somewhere is was coming out in July *crosses fingers*

Over the past week or so I've become ridiculous with the superheroes lol. I watched the two Batman films, the Green Lantern, Captain America, Uhh attempted the superman returns but didn't watch it. Lol I'm thinking of watching Cat Woman this week.

Warning: If you want to read comics I suggest the comics from the 90's. Those were the good times. <sigh>
The recent DC reboot has destroyed Superman in my opinion.

Andreia

lol I'll heed your advice! Do they follow a storyline like a show would, or can I just randomly pick up from anywhere? I read Action Comic #1 online where they introduced Superman, but nothing else yet.

Lois and Clark was actually a big departure from most of the post-war film history of Superman. The big change in comic books came in 1986, when they relaunched the Superman comics and gave the characters much more of a relationship, and did other things such as keeping Jonathan and Martha alive, but by that time all of the Reeve movies were made or in production, and they were based on the earlier comics which had much simpler plots.

Superman Returns unfortunately followed on from Superman II rather than Lois and Clark, so again the relationship takes a back seat, which is a shame.

Yes, they follow a long storyline (or followed, before the damned reboot ) but you can understand what is happening and catch up along the way. If you want Lois & Clark's romance you can start in 1990 - Superman V2 #43 .

The chronology is confused (there were four weekly different titles plus an extra title in months with five weeks) but you can follow it here .

Andreia

Oh! Thanks so much! - for all the info I tried to reply, but your inbox is full! lol

Thank you for alerting me about my full inbox. I've cleaned it up.

I've become a pretty big Superman fan because of "Lois and Clark," so I've seen practically all of the live action versions of the character. I'll give my thoughts on each version I've seen.

I enjoyed "Smallville" through its entire run, and I especially got into it during the last few seasons. Sure, there were some low points, but there were a lot of high points, too. I think any show that lasts 10 seasons is going to have some low points, especially one like "Smallville," which was only supposed to be about Clark's high school adventures and then lasted much longer than expected. Erica Durance as Lois Lane was amazing. I'd rank her right next to Teri Hatcher as one of the best Lois Lane actresses ever.

I liked the serials with Kirk Alyn. They're not for everyone, but I think they're worth checking out if you like Superman. I even saw some similarities to the way Lois and Clark were played there to the way Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain played them.

The George Reeves series, "The Adventures of Superman," in my opinion, is the Superman show most worth checking out for "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" fans. George Reeves as Clark Kent was a lot like Dean Cain. He was played as a good reporter, he wasn't bumbling or clumsy, and his Clark Kent always seemed like the real person, kind of like Dean Cain. In a lot of ways, "The Adventures of Superman" and "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" felt like two sides of the same coin.

I recently bought the movies on DVD, so I'll post my thoughts on each of them in this thread as I watch them. I just watched the first one last night.

I like Christopher Reeve as Superman a lot. I tend not to enjoy Clark being played as a bumbling disguise as much as I enjoy Clark being portrayed as the real person, but Christopher Reeve did a very good job with the role.

I first watched this movie before I got into "Lois and Clark," and I remember really liking Margot Kidder as Lois when I first saw it. These days, I like the portrayals of Teri Hatcher and Erica Durance better, but I can still appreciate Margot Kidder's Lois Lane.

The Lois and Superman scenes were some of my favorite moments of the film, so I guess it's no surprise that the show "Lois and Clark," revolving around Lois and Clark's relationship, is what would get me really into the Superman story. The first time Superman saved Lois was a great scene. The interview was another good scene, and Superman x-raying Lois' underwear always made me laugh. The best scene, for me, though, was the Lois and Superman flight scene. I think it was probably the most romantic Lois and Superman scene that had been filmed up to that point. Of course, Superman's reaction to Lois' death and then going back in time to save Lois was both a sad and powerful scene.

Gene Hackman made a good Lex Luthor. I prefer the businessman Lex Luthor that would show up in later versions, but Gene Hackman did a good job with the way Lex was written in this movie.

I always felt like Perry White and Jimmy Olsen didn’t get a whole lot of screen time in the movies, especially Jimmy. I guess that’s probably because in a movie, you only have a couple of hours to tell the story, so the supporting characters got pushed to the side.

OK, with that, I'm going to end this post. Sorry for the length, but I love talking about Superman.

Really? The poem was awful....

But not as bad as the entire fourth movie....

L&C is definately of the best versions,with tied second place going to Smallville & the CR movies IMHO. Although I haven't yet seen S4 of L&C OR S10 of Smallville.

I'll get round to them eventually I guess. Right now I'm on a big kick with another alien who saves the Earth & humanity a lot though. Hint: "People think that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but when you look at it from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's actually a big ball of wibbley-wobbley, timey-wimey stuff......"

Having said that Lois & Clark is one of the best shows ever....

Batman: The Animated Series is actually really well done. I'm a fan of both that and the Christopher Nolan films.

If you like Superman or Batman there are some great animated films out there.

Superman Doomsday is a truncated version of the "Death of Superman" comic saga. After reading that, then seeing the movie, I felt they did it justice. Lots of angst, lots of Lois. I really enjoyed this.

Justice League: The New Frontier is pretty neat; its animation is old-school, even though the movie is recent. Superman shares his screen time with the other superheroes, but if you like action, it's great.

There are two others that I know of: Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (featuring Supergirl) and Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. The first was kind of cheesy, the second I haven't seen.

Since I've been writing a Supergirl series I naturally took a look at Apocalypse - I agree that it was a little silly in places, especially after the bad guys got involved, but there were a couple of things that worked well for me; most notably, the fact that when she arrived she didn't speak English, didn't know how to control her powers properly, and had little or no idea of how human society worked. This led to things like the "Kara drags Clark off to go shopping" sequence, that ended up with her accidentally destroying most of a park after she got a little upset.

The version of Supergirl in the Superman animated series and Justice League Unlimited worked well, though she didn't really get a huge amount of screen time. Clark's reaction to her eventual exit from the series (can't say more without spoilers) seemed a little too casual though.