Confused about scene in Superman II

[Super Monkey]

 

[csw621]

(The picture of Superboy)

Wow, so I guess it does stand for Superman. But that still doesn't explain why it was on Jor-El's shirt. One more thing, I never fully understood, at the end of Superman III, when Clark gives Lana the diamond ring, is he asking her to marry him, or is he just giving her a ring to replace the one that she had to pawn?

[DoctorZero]

In the comics it stood for Superman.  In the movies, it was explained in press releases as the El family symbol.  There were a lot of things like that in the films, and people just have to accept them.

[csw621]

Gotcha. What about the ring?

[NotSuper]

To this day I can't understand why so many fans regard it as better than the first film, let alone call it the greatest comic book movie of all time.  It is a total mess.

I stand by my assertion that IV and I are both much better films than II.

I disagree. I've always looked at the Superman movies as getting worst with each sequel. Superman III was too campy and had a co-star (Pryor) who was so out of place it wasn't even funny. Superman IV: The Quest For Peace had a good idea (Superman getting rid of all nuclear weapons) but had the lamest villain of the series and bad special effects.

While Superman II isn't perfect by ANY means, it's the only one of the Superman sequels that I can watch. I'm hoping that the proposed "Special Addition" fixes some of the flaws and adds some new stuff.

As for the reason why so many people like the first sequel, there are several reasons, IMO. First of all, Donner's elements were still noticeable in the first sequel. Second, the first sequel was the most closely connected to its predecessor (also because of Donner). Third, Terence Stamp gave a great performance as General Zod. Fourth, this film actually had Lois discover Superman's secret identity and the two had a strong romantic involvement.

[csw621]

this film actually had Lois discover Superman's secret identity

That reminds me, what was the deal with that whole memory-erasing kiss thing?

[NotSuper]

this film actually had Lois discover Superman's secret identity

That reminds me, what was the deal with that whole memory-erasing kiss thing?

It was a Deus ex machina, similar to the ending in the first movie.

Basically, the "super-kiss" was a power created to solve the problem of Lois knowing Superman's secret. I can't say that I particularly liked it.

[The Starchild]

One of the things I always liked about Superman IV is that it becomes pretty clear that Lois never actually forgot anything as a result of that kiss, she just went along it.