Superman Through the Ages! Forum

I've been amused by the radically different reviews I've read of the romantic chemistry between Routh and Bosworth.  Some say there's no chemistry.  Others say it kicks the butt over Reeve and Kidder.  

So, here's an incredibly scientific poll for your amusement.  

I added TV characters where it was clear they did something one might reasonably construe as a movie.  I stuck with the romantic leads to avoid write-in votes for Valerie Perrine.  And, at the risk of ticking off the Allison Mack and Stacy Haiduk fan clubs, I avoided Smallville and Superboy -- it's a SuperMAN question.  :)

Actually I voted for the TAS  version but after just sseing Superman Returns and Superman 2. I have to go for Routh and Bosworth over Reeve and Kidder.

I love Dana Delaney, but other than some jealousy in "Worlds Finest", I don't remember a lot of chemistry in S:TAS...

I liked Kidder and Reeves in Superman I, and while it was maudlin and campy in late 70s style (remember King Kong 1976?) it worked for me...I probably like Superman II much less than a lot of other people....

I dont care for Superman 2 myself and have no idea why mainstream critics prefer it to SM78.  I just look at em and go huh?

My choise of Reeve & Kidder is based on the interview/flirt fest in Sm 78

PINK!

DO YOU LIKE PINK?

I LIKE PINK VERY MUCH LOIS......... :roll:

I have a surprisingly hard time disassociating from post-Superman I movies when I think Reeve and Kidder.  The Superman II moment with all sorts of possible fallout in Superman Returns starts with Lois (who for the most part had been acting more like Charlie Brown's Lucy than a romantic interest) wondering if Superman is nutso with his dual identity thing.  Superman says "it's all very clear" and starts eyeballing her like a stalker.  The only thing missing was Kryptonian war drums.  By Superman IV, they're grasping to recapture magic that was lost to them, which only looks romantic compared to Mariel Hemingway and Nuclear Man.  

I voted for Reeve and O'Toole.  Most everything else about Superman III was wrong, but Reeve and O'Toole were downright charming.  If I counted their entire body of work and not just "the movies", I'd have to go with Cain and Hatcher.  But, the pilot movie alone didn't sell me on those two (mostly Dean Cain, who AFAICT was to John Shea's Luthor as Wil Wheaton was to Patrick Stewart).

I think Reeve and Kidder had some chemistry in the first film, where it was all flirtation and longing (well, with maybe the flying scene as a metaphor for sex), but once they "went all the way" in Superman II, they wrecked it for me.  I just never understood what he saw in her, basically.  Not only because she wasn't all that good-looking (in her defense, partially because of that godawful Moe Howard haircut...inexplicably duplicated in the comics once the films were out!), but also because she really didn't have much going for her as a human being.  She was not very bright, she was mean to Clark, she came off like a trampy old barfly trying to seduce the naive young altruistic farmboy and (a big one for me) she smoked.  I could see Superman taking her on as the ultimate "makeover" project as she seems to exemplify so many of humankind's foibles, but never in a million years will I believe that a guy so pure of heart would be attracted to someone like Kidder's Lois. Certainly he wouldn't give up his super-powers (and his service to all mankind) just to get into her pants.  Lunacy.

Routh and Bosworth had a hard job in that their "chemistry" had to created without words for the most part, and without kissing or any of the other giddy stuff two new lovers get to do (like Reeve and Kidder in the first film).  That said, I definitely believed they had powerful feelings for each other.  Frankly as someone who's never much liked Lois in any incarnation, it was a fresh change to have the romance be such a non-issue for once.  For the same reason, I dig S:TAS since they only got close near the end.

One interesting aside here:  my wife's take on Kate-Lois saying "No [I didn't love him]" in SR is that she was NOT lying.  She thinks Lois has finally developed the maturity to understand that what she felt for Superman was not love. I'm not sure I agree that's what Singer wanted to do, but it would be cool if he did, because I've always felt Lois doesn't so much love the man as she loves the idea of being "Superman's girlfriend."  What's not to love about the perfect man?  Lois is too immature to maintain a relationship with a real man, so she picks the one guy who seems totally perfect, and who conveniently isn't around most of the time, anyway.