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  1. #1
    Obsessed & Compelled Bored at 3:00AM's Avatar
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    Default What are your favorite parts of each Superman-centric adaptation?



    We all have our favorite adaptation of Superman/Supergirl/Superboy, but what part of each of them do you think they nailed the best (even the ones you didn’t particularly like)?

    For instance, I didn’t much care for Dean Cain’s Superman, but I do think he did a good job of depicting Byrne’s Superman and his romance with Lois, helped immeasurably by Teri Hatcher absolutely nailing it (when the scripts were good at least).
    Last edited by Bored at 3:00AM; 12-08-2020 at 12:28 AM.

  2. #2
    Ultimate Member Riv86672's Avatar
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    I wasn’t a huge fan of Man of Steel (I didn’t enjoy the dour depiction of Pa Kent which begat a much less bright and inspirational Superman), but man that movie nailed the epic scope of Superman’s powers/Superman in action.

  3. #3
    Obsessed & Compelled Bored at 3:00AM's Avatar
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    The Helen Slater Supergirl movie is a dud, but I think the actress herself embodied the spirit of the character as well as Christopher Reeve did.

    The DCAU wasn’t a particularly great depiction of Superman either as it was largely created by people who didn’t really like the character, but the studio wanted them to do for Superman what they’d done for Batman. However, I do love how this cartoon reminded everyone that Kirby’s Fourth World were originally rooted in Superman comics and the JLU adaptation of “For the Man Who Has Everything” is damned solid, despite the crappy guitar music.

    The Superboy TV show was never all that great, but Gerard Christopher did great job of toning down Reeve’s hilariously over the top Clark into something more balanced. Same with Brandon Routh’s Clark, who also got an all time great Superman action sequence with that airplane rescue (even if the movie surrounding it is a confused mess).

    I have serious issues with some of the choices made for Cavill’s Superman, but I don’t think there’s ever been a depiction of Superman in combat that has ever matched what we saw in Man of Steel, particularly during that Smallville fight.

    The Smallville TV show is very much a mixed bag, but, at his best, Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum gave what I think is the best and most nuanced depiction of the Clark/Lex relationship.

    As for George Reeves, I must admit I can’t think of anything about that adaptation of the character that has ever sung to me outside of the cheerful mischievousness he always seemed to have, particularly as Clark.

  4. #4
    Obsessed & Compelled Bored at 3:00AM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Riv86672 View Post
    I wasn’t a huge fan of Man of Steel (I didn’t enjoy the dour depiction of Pa Kent which begat a much less bright and inspirational Superman), but man that movie nailed the epic scope of Superman’s powers/Superman in action.
    Totally agree about the action and score. Zimmer’s theme is the only thing that comes close to Williams in my mind.

  5. #5
    Extraordinary Member DragonPiece's Avatar
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    The Clark and Lois television series had my favorite live action take on the daily planet!

  6. #6
    The Man Who Cannot Die manwhohaseverything's Avatar
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    This bar none.
    "People’s Dreams... Have No Ends"

  7. #7
    Obsessed & Compelled Bored at 3:00AM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by manwhohaseverything View Post

    This bar none.
    That surprises me, I would have pegged you for a Fliescher Superman cartoon guy, at least as far as your favorite Superman adaptation goes. It's the closest to Seigel & Shuster we ever got outside the comics.

  8. #8
    Obsessed & Compelled Bored at 3:00AM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DragonPiece View Post
    The Clark and Lois television series had my favorite live action take on the daily planet!
    Agreed. Although their Cat Grant sucked, despite the best efforts of the actress.

  9. #9
    Ultimate Member Gaius's Avatar
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    George Reeves show
    -From what I've scene, I enjoy his Clark Kent.

    Superman/Superman II
    -Christopher Reeve obviously
    -Gene Hackman and Terrance Stamp
    -Williams score

    DCAU
    -Braniac and Luthor
    -I prefer Newbern over Daly was the voice for Superman

    Superman Returns
    -Plane rescue scene

    Man of Steel
    -The Krypton scenes
    -Flight scene
    -Best trunk-less version the suit before the Reborn one.
    -Zimmer's score
    Last edited by Gaius; 12-07-2020 at 08:11 AM.

  10. #10
    The Man Who Cannot Die manwhohaseverything's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bored at 3:00AM View Post
    That surprises me, I would have pegged you for a Fliescher Superman cartoon guy, at least as far as your favorite Superman adaptation goes. It's the closest to Seigel & Shuster we ever got outside the comics.
    while,i concede max fleischer cartoons are my bread and butter.I have to say this is the closest to goldenage superman anyone's has ever gotten in this instance.Max fleischer never had this scene which from action comics.He instead opted for Clark basically pushing the train boggies which had it's engine blown up to the destination.While that basically does the job of proving the point of muscle over metal.There is no competition aspect to it.This speaks to the whole the working class man thing with Clark's rivalry with the machines and his own relentless pursuit to push past his limits.Also,donner makes it point that clark is a bit of a show off.He is strongman.It's in the dna of the character.
    Last edited by manwhohaseverything; 12-07-2020 at 08:41 AM.
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  11. #11
    Invincible Member Vordan's Avatar
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    Smallville
    -The Clark & Lex relationship was great
    -The Kents are still my favorite iteration of them

    Donner/Reeve
    -The Superman/Clark dichotomy was never better than here
    -Superman’s personality is at its strongest here

    DCAU
    -Showed the Fourth World can work just fine as a part of Superman’s mythos
    -The best Toyman was here
    -Livewire was cool

    DCEU
    -Best live action showcase of Superman’s powers

    DCTV
    -Hoechlin does the best all around Superman performance, very eager to see what he delivers in the main role

  12. #12
    Astonishing Member DochaDocha's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bored at 3:00AM View Post
    Agreed. Although their Cat Grant sucked, despite the best efforts of the actress.
    My recollection may be off, but they didn't do any real stories for the supporting cast until after the first season, which was also after there was turnover in the cast, writing staff, and among the producers. I think they could've done an interesting Cat Grant episode or two, but the character was written off the show after S1.

  13. #13
    Ultimate Member Sacred Knight's Avatar
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    Golden Age: His no-nonsense fighting for the common man.
    Fleischer: Visualizing the super-feats.
    Radio Show: Jimmy Olsen
    Silver Age: The fleshing out of the lore in sci-fi/fantasy based themes
    Bronze Age: Tempering the silliness of the Silver Age also brought
    Chris Reeve: Just the overall presence of character he brought to life.
    Post-Crisis: Making Clark Kent more important
    The Adventures of Superboy: Lana Lang
    Lois & Clark The New Adventures of Superman: post-Crisis Clark brought to life, Lois's characterization.
    Post-IC: Toning it down when post-Crisis went overboard with Clark Kent over Superman.
    DCAU: All the villains.
    Smallville: Lex and Clark's relationship, Lois's characterization.
    New 52: Superman's renewed edge, modernized themes with Silver/Bronze age slants again
    "They can be a great people Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you. My only son." - Jor-El

  14. #14

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    George Reeve: the performance of George Reeves, other than that I enjoyed the small scale charm of it. I have a soft spot for retro stuff.
    Chris Reeve: best Superman/Clark Kent hands down, first 2 films aged pretty well all things considered. The score.
    Lois and Clark: Daily Planet, It's campy but i like how different it is from Donner.
    Smallville: Lois, Lionel and Lex.
    DCAU: gets way too much hate, I liked how flawed and falible Superman was. Plus I often agreed with him in a lot of the more controversial scenes that bug a lot of other fans. Also dug how personal his feuds were with Luthor and Darkseid.
    DCEU: Cavill and his costume look great, Zod, the score.
    DCAMU: best adaptation of death of superman. Apokolips War was awesome.
    Arrowverse: I like a lot of the crossovers, Supergirl season 4 with Lex and Liberty was one of the better ones. Benoist and Hoechlin are endearing in their roles.
    Last edited by OpaqueGiraffe17; 12-07-2020 at 04:38 PM.

  15. #15
    Black Belt in Bad Ideas Robanker's Avatar
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    I'll probably bomb in later after I've hard more time to think of stuff, but...

    Lois and Clark

    Lane Smith as Perry White being a big Elvis fan is totally canon for me. It gave him an eternal youth vibe to me, because while that music dates him and makes him appear old to some degree (I say this as a man who loves the music of the 30s-60s), it reminds that this guy was probably young when that music hit and you can see how alive he gets when it comes on-- his youthful energy never left him. It also gave him a nice trait other than "good reporter, short temper, smokes."

    His Perry White felt more like an actual person than any on-screen (and many on-page) incarnations I've ever seen. All because he was able to have more character. As far as I'm concerned, Perry wears bowling shirts at home and loves rockabilly music. Probably has a cherry hot rod he works on in his garage.

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