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Newsarama has two articles that argues that he was either one of "the best performance in a comic book movie."

http://www.newsarama.com/film/christopher-reeve-superman-best-performance.html

Or

One of the "worst Comic Book-Based Movie PERFORMANCES of All Time"

http://www.newsarama.com/film/worst-comic-book-movie-performances-1.html

How do you think he did? Which article do you and don't agree with?

I actually agree with a lot of what the first article said.

Reeve was/is the quintessential Superman. He nailed (if not outright pioneered) Clark's earnesty and goofball klutz facade and the heroism and quiet intelligence of Superman. To me, that's the perfect characterization of Superman. When I wrote Superman fan-fics or even RPed as him online (yes, my nerdism knows no bounds), I based a lot of my characterization off of Reeve's portrayal

I don't know if he's the best comic book performance of all time, but he's up there. The following scene, while incredibly simple, is probably one of the best ever filmed in the history of comic book movies or cinema.

9Hy6S7urCZM

I'm at work and I can't read any of the articles right now.

They may have things that change my opinion or bring up points I didn't think of.

I don't know how Superman was portrayed at the time I don't read a lot of comics from that time or how well Reeves did portraying that version of Superman at the time, but regardless Reeves' Superman portrayal has been a major part of the character ever since than, and his Superman is often the very first Superman people think of in terms of what define him.

That probably counts for something in regards to his performance of the character.

The extremes with subjective opinions are generally too....extreme.

I thought he did well, and he's obviously remembered for it (though that isn't the same as being good). And he did a great job of seeming different in his various personas. But there's obviously some thick ham being sliced in his dorky Clark Kent sequences.

Chris Reeves will forever be the best Clark/Superman... no matter who else comes afterward

Originally posted by Digi
The extremes with subjective opinions are generally too....extreme.

I thought he did well, and he's obviously remembered for it (though that isn't the same as being good). And he did a great job of seeming different in his various personas. But there's obviously some thick ham being sliced in his dorky Clark Kent sequences.

Digi stop trying to start a flame war.

I still think the best comic performance is the one who won an Oscar for his role as the Joker, Heath. Reeve is certainly up there, IMO. Top 5 for sure.

Originally posted by Digi
The extremes with subjective opinions are generally too....extreme.

I thought he did well, and he's obviously remembered for it (though that isn't the same as being good). And he did a great job of seeming different in his various personas. But there's obviously some thick ham being sliced in his dorky Clark Kent sequences.

That is kind of the point, though: When Superman is in his Clark persona, he is putting on an act and playing a role.

Originally posted by JakeTheBank
Reeve was/is the quintessential Superman. He nailed (if not outright pioneered) Clark's earnesty and goofball klutz facade and the heroism and quiet intelligence of Superman. To me, that's the perfect characterization of Superman. When I wrote Superman fan-fics or even RPed as him online (yes, my nerdism knows no bounds), I based a lot of my characterization off of Reeve's portrayal

I don't know if he's the best comic book performance of all time, but he's up there. The following scene, while incredibly simple, is probably one of the best ever filmed in the history of comic book movies or cinema.

9Hy6S7urCZM

See, I don't necessarily agree, and when I play him, I don't really try to make him very Reeve-like. I think for his time, Reeve is great, but I think, like Johns did in the Brainiac arc, Superman needs a bit extra nowadays.

Originally posted by -Pr-
That is kind of the point, though: When Superman is in his Clark persona, he is putting on an act and playing a role.



See, I don't necessarily agree, and when I play him, I don't really try to make him very Reeve-like. I think for his time, Reeve is great, but I think, like Johns did in the Brainiac arc, Superman needs a bit extra nowadays.

Fair enough.

I do like Johns' Donner inspired Superman, though.

Originally posted by JakeTheBank
Fair enough.

I do like Johns' Donner inspired Superman, though.

I do too, I just felt like that, even in those arcs, he had a little bit more... Humanity, than Reeve had. He was nice, but he was still just a guy, which is something I think Reeve lacked at times.

The best Superman was Dean Cain.


Run at me.

Christopher Reeve is still the definitive Superman; I doubt even Henry Cavill will upstage him, but we'll see next summer.

You could go on how to define definitive - Christoper Reeve wasn't the best actor, but he embodied the character so well; is it great acting or the best representation of a comic character? Robert Downey Jr. is great as Tony Stark, but a lot of that is him merging his known persona with the character. The same with Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury. But that can be the difference between being a known actor/star and an unknown once you've been given such a role - a parallel with Christopher Reeve right now is Chris Hemsworth as Thor, embodying the character so perfectly, partially because we had no preconceived notions of him before, as an up & coming actor in smaller roles.

So much easier to be nostalgic than objective.

Reeves is Superman for the same reason Connery is James Bond, because that was how I, and many others, were first exposed to those characters.

Does that make them the best actors ever to fill the roles? No.

That said, I still agree with most of what was said in the pro-Reeves article.