Worst: Superman IV The Quest For Peace
Was there ever a doubt in your mind that this wasn't the worse? Seriously, you have Jon Cyer as "Lenny Luthor", the even goofier version of Lex Luthor. A con-cold war story about how much nuclear weapons hurt the world, and yet we don't see nuclear weapons hurt the world in any form except in the corny barbarian villain "Nuclear Man" (what a creative name!) Gene Hackman delivers possibly his worst performance ever in this film, and poor Christopher Reeves never flew again.
5: Superman III
So much potential for this film if the writers had followed some simple steps. Such as, in a comic book movie, put in a fricken comic book villain. Seriously, Hackman's Luthor would have been much more appreciated in this film. Instead of Evil Superman vs Good Clark Kent, do Bizzaro vs Superman. And instead of a good for nothing Richard Prior, just do Brainiac. Put hey, at least Chris Reeves gave a decent preformance.
4: Superman II
So here is what I feel happened: there had a good movie, and then that movie had an abortion. The thing that really killed me off of this film was the weak way the producers kept Marlon Brando out of the film. Seriously, re shooting that entire opening? That was noticeably different than the opening to the original "Superman". Then there was that thing in Paris with the terrorists that have an H2 bomb. Some argue that this and The Richard Donner Cut are the same movie. They aren't.
3: Superman Returns
Ok, hater gonna hate, but Superman Returns wasn't a bad movie. It was just too long and difficult to understand with the timeline. But we finally have an evil Lex Luthor (nonetheless, still a real estate shark), played really well by Kevin Spacey. Brandon Routh wasn't a bad Superman, or Clark Kent. Not perfect, but still a good one. My favorite part has to be when Lex beats the crap out of Superman, just because it shows a contrast with the Hackman version. But still, too long and hard to understand.
2: Superman
The original. The great one. The superhero movie that started it all. With groundbreaking effects for its time, and Christopher Reeve in his prime. The tagline for this film was "You Will Believe a Man Can Fly"; it should have been "You Will Believe a Man Can Save the World" for that was what it did. It opened the door for other superhero films. However, as good as it was, there is still one Superman film that to me is the best.
1: Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
Or, a more appropriate name would be "The Real Superman II". Featuring a better opening, better explanations, and Marlon Brando. This showed a good story, plus it actually shows how Zod should be shown, during the White House raid scene. "Surely one who leads so many cannot bow down so easily!". This is the Superman film to be compared to, for now anyways...
That's my List! Hopefully Man of Steel will one day top this list, but for now here it is! Please let me know your opinion on the matter in the comments section!! and See Man of Steel in theaters whenever it comes out where ever you are in the world.