Favorite version of TV/Movies Superman?

[Kal-el]

Hello all! I was somewhat active on the old board awhile ago and I thought I'd give the new one a try.
Here's the question:
What version of Superman is the favorite?
Is it George Reeves? The old Superman cartoons? Superfriends Supes? Christopher Reeve? Dean Cain? S:TAS?

[Calhoun07]

The George Reeves Superman was the first I ever saw, so I am quite partial to that, but I also reallly loved the recent aniamted series.

[optimal321]

Well, the animated Supes is my first, and practically only exposure to the character, so i'm going w/ that one.

[Maxie Zeus]

Cbristopher Reeves is wonderfully self-deprecating without lapsing into camp or getting a terminal case of the cutsies (the way Dean Cain did). STAS was a drier and more ironic Superman. I'm not sure I could choose between them, but I like them both a great deal.

[DisneyBoy]

I really enjoyed Dean Cain in Lois and Clark. Since that was such an imaginative phenominal, soap opera-esque action packed, thrilling show, I became hooked on it and have never viewed Superman the same way since. "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" paved the way for me to enjoy Superman: The Animated Series. Though I have enjoyed the comics and what few episodes I did see, I still feel that the romantic relationship between Clark/Superman and Lois was severely underdevelopped. I'm not saying that they should get married, but we all know that that's the final result. That's the way I want it! I enjoyed the developpment of LiveWire, Brainiac (He HAS to be in Justice League), Mercy, Supergirl, Metallo and Luthor as well as the whole World's Finest storyline and the two "sequels", but never would have cared half as much if not for Lois and Clark! I have the soundtrack cd and I love waking up to in show's theme!

[Lucho]

Tuff one!
They all have things that make them unique, each capture different aspects of what makes up the giant mythos that is Superman. The Animated series took many of the best elements from every incarnation and repackaged them almost seamlessly. The Christopher Reeve movie successfully made the old myth contemporary and I'll never shake the sensation seeing it as a kid. Others are irrefutable classics. I remember seeing a Fleischer cartoon for the first time on the screen, before videos or cable there was "Animation Festivals" (any one remember those). When the Fleischer Superman marquee came up, the mostly adult audience eagerly applauded. I, being a confused kid thought; Superman? Why are adults clapping? At the time I'd only been exposed to Superfriends. Then I saw this masterpiece unfurl before my eyes and understood, these were truly works of art.
http://www.fortress.am/History/fleischer.jpg

[nerdgirl]

Hi everyone!

Wow! This is a tough one for me since I like almost every version of Superman. However, I must say that my favorite version is S:TAS. I think the characterizations on about all of the characters are very well done, especially Superman, Lois, and Luthor, and the plots are excellent. I like the variety of villains, and the animation allows for many scenes that can't be done very well with live action. The voices are top-notch too! My only complaint was the show was cut too short! I would have loved to see how Superman would have handled being hated by the public, and how his relationship with Lois would have evolved.

Speaking of relationships, another version I liked was Lois and Clark. Here, I liked how the romance between the reporters grew from a reluctant partnership to marriage (although neither wedding was really that good). I liked how the "man" part of Superman (Clark Kent) was fleshed out (btu more work on the "Super" was needed). I thought all of the actors were wonderful, especially Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher. They made Clark and Lois come alive! I also liked the plots, until the Lois-as-a-clone mess came about. Yuck! I loved that she eventually found out he was Superman. This series was fun, and like DisneyBoy above, I'll be a FoLC (Fan of Lois and Clark) forever!

Christopher Reeve made the Superman films sparkle! His portrayal of Superman was excellent! This was a Superman that was heroic and iconic! Margot Kidder was also great as Lois Lane. She was bold yet infactuated with Superman. Gene Hackman was not bad as Lex Luthor, but I prefer the cool but evil billionaire portrayed on L+C and S:TAS. The rest of the cast was nice, too. The first film was absolutely stunning, and the second was great, too! The third and fourth films were alright, but they could have been better. This franchise modernized the Superman legend, and it remains one of my favorites.

I actually saw the George Reeves show in reruns first. I liked this as well. I liked Reeves' portrayal of Clark Kent as a kind, yet determined reporter that didn't take any slack. Both of the Loises were good, and Jack Larson was hilarious as Jimmy. The plots in the black and white shows were fantastic, but they went downhill once the show switched to color. It was still fun, though.

Have a happy September!

nerdgirl :)

[Joker85]

It is definitely a hard choice but I would have to go with S:TAS, followed by Lois And Clark,with Christopher Reeves coming in third.:)

[sun]

In animation, for me, it's the first Fleisher series of the 40s. Some of that animation was really great. I would say, the first Braniac story, with the globes, contained all the elements of a great cartoon. When I first saw that, I wondered why that was not made into a full hour, when others were. (But I wasn't consullted you know). Braniac, with the development given in the introduction show, was a great villian.
In live action, it is very hard to say, Christorpher Reeves was very good in the first three movies, but George Reeves, was also good. They were done totally different, at diferent times, budgets, styles,directors, scripts, amount of time given to production, etc. I do not know if it is fair to compare them. It is ok, I am not trying to be crtical, it's just they came from different times.....An interesting add on, is the 40s serials that appeared in the theaters. A fifteen episode series that is of some interest. Can't remember who played Superman he was ok.. Some good stuff there, worth watching. An interesting black and white cartoon, represents Superman flying. I think that would be worth finding somewhere and just looking at it, Runs about 3 and 1/2 hours.

[Nightwing]

I was discussing this with SilentBob a few weeks ago and he changed my original opinion somewhat.

See, I really really LOVED Lois and CLark, and the job Dean Cain did, but there was one element that the animated series had, the movies had, and the George Reeves show had that's really really important. Clark was a dork!! Clark is the dork, and Superman is the preaching boyscout who's so nice that it forces you to either hate him or love him. Dean Cain's Superman and Clark were almost the exact same for the most part.

That's why the BAtman/Superman animated versian of Superman is my favorite, and Lois and Clark comes in second.

[Vin]

Originally posted by Nightwing
I was discussing this with SilentBob a few weeks ago and he changed my original opinion somewhat.

See, I really really LOVED Lois and CLark, and the job Dean Cain did, but there was one element that the animated series had, the movies had, and the George Reeves show had that's really really important. Clark was a dork!! Clark is the dork, and Superman is the preaching boyscout who's so nice that it forces you to either hate him or love him. Dean Cain's Superman and Clark were almost the exact same for the most part.

That's why the BAtman/Superman animated versian of Superman is my favorite, and Lois and Clark comes in second.

I agree with you Nightwing. Superman:TAS is number one for me, with Lois & Clark coming in second.

[Kal-el]

The Supes from S:TAS is probably my overall favorite (though I was disappointed at times with the "less super" Superman in S:TAS). Lois and Clark focused, I thought, more on making Clark Kent cooler, though the portrayal of Superman was good, but not imposing. Christopher Reeves had the near perfect look for the man of steel in the movies. The DC comic books Superman from the mid '90s seems to fit my ideal for Superman. That is my dark horse favorite.