Not in the comics.

sum1 is right, Rita. Luthor was never that lame in the comics. And Superman IV was a perfect example of why politics should stay out of comic book movies... and storytelling in general.

A movie can have a message, but it must be woven into the fabric of the story so that the audience can make up their own minds. Message movies just preach to the audience, and they also compromise the storytelling process. Plot, characterization, story structure, narrative, theme, etc., all go right out the window in favor of messaging. In this case, it was an anti-nuclear message that was so intent on the message that the story got lost in a haze of mediocre plotting and character inconsistency, not to mention a lack of story logic. Christopher Reeve was warned by Richard Donner not to do that, not to give Superman a problem he could solve all on his own. That's why Jor-El said, "it is forbidden for you to interfere with human history." If Superman wanted to he could rid the world of nuclear weapons without even asking, but that would put him in the position of a dictator and an overlord, not a champion. And the whole story itself was basically a riff on the Bizarro character, only renamed "Nuclear Man." Jon Cryer's character didn't help matters much. It was just a mess.

Superman III was just as bad. It was originally going to be about Brainiac, but they took that storyline and instead made it a Richard Pryor comedy, and the Brainiac storyline instead became that supercomputer that Pryor's character ended up creating, which was an embarrassment.

Superman 3 wasn't just as bad. It was a lot better.

Really? I thought it was bad, just in a different way. :lol: But I guess IV was way worse.

IV was way worse, ten times more amateurish. And whether you like Pryor or not, he could act, which is more than I can say for some of the people in Superman 4 (Jon Cryer, Mark Pillow). Plus it was good to get a break from Hackman's awful Lex Luthor caricature for one movie. And the political lecturing in Superman 4 was so blatant, dumb and heavy-handed. And let's not forget the horrible "comedy" of Superman/Clark trying to date Lois Lane and Mariel Hemingway at the same time. By contrast, 3 mostly spared us Margot Kidder's annoying Lois Lane and had Clark spend time with Lana Lang instead, played by Annette O'Toole, who would later play Clark's adoptive mother in Smallville.

Yeah, I remember O'Toole did play Martha Kent in Smallville. :lol: Appropriate casting.

I like Pryor as a comedic actor, I just didn't get what he was doing in a Superman film. They would've done better if they'd just stuck to Donner's original Brainiac plotline, and Superman has to remain the main character in his own movie. I didn't really like many of the other characters in Superman III. But I do agree with you about everything you mentioned about Superman IV, especially the stuff with Mariel Hemingway. :sick: I couldn't believe how bad that film was. :sick: But I thought that Lois Lane was okay in the first two films. I just happen to prefer Teri Hatcher's Lois from Lois & Clark.

Margot Kidder's take on Lois in the Superman films really gets on my nerves. She annoys the hell out of me. And I can't stand the way she talks. As for Teri Hatcher's Lois -mixed feelings. Hatcher has real acting ability, but I'm not keen on her comedy schtick, which also annoyed me in what I saw of Desperate Housewives. The writing for Hatcher's Lois gets on my nerves a fair bit too. But like I said, Hatcher does have real ability and has a relatability that balances out her annoying overdone comedy bull and the silly writing. But in general I'm just not a huge fan of the Lois Lane character in in any form. I'm inclined to think superheroes should have super-girlfriends/boyfriends. I make an exception for Mary Jane Watson, but Lois isn't half as good a character.

The most attractive Lois Lane onscreen so far may be Kate Bosworth's, but the deepest, the most real as a character by far, has to be Amy Adams' version. Even if her hair is the wrong colour.

I wish Kate Bosworth had more movies

She's an example of an actor with some Cornish in them, like Tom Hanks.

Oh, I did like Kate Bosworth. :nod: And she even dyed her hair the right color. :lol:

Yeah... Amy Adams just looks wrong. Making Lois a redhead makes her look too Jean Grey/Mary Jane Watson for me. No offense to her or her performance, it just doesn't look right. I felt the same way about Michelle Pfeiffer doing Selina Kyle with blonde hair.

yeah, I wouldn't picture Lois looking like Amy Adams

Yeah, she isn't what I imagined Lois looking like. For one thing, I've always imghined Lois as much better looking. But still Amy Adams really humanized the character and gave her stature. It's a quality performance.

Yes, I agree with you about the performance, sum1. :nod: I just wish she'd dyed her hair, that's all. :lol: Jennifer Lawrence changed her blond hair to dark for The Hunger Games.

Well, she doesn't look very like Lois Lane anyway.

You mean her facial features? Yeah, Lois does have that 1940's look to her. Yeah, Teri Hatcher and Kate Bosworth both did good. :nod: