Critic Reviews
82
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
positive
17(81%)
mixed
4(19%)
negative
0(0%)
Showing 21 Critic Reviews
100
Boasts a smart screenplay by Robert Benton and David and Leslie Newman, striking cinematography by Geoffrey Unsworth (especially in the Smallville sequence), bright comic turns by Margot Kidder and Gene Hackman, and of course, that winning performance by Christopher Reeve in the title role. Believe a man can fly? You bet!
100
Superman is a pure delight, a wondrous combination of all the old-fashioned things we never really get tired of: adventure and romance, heroes and villains, earthshaking special effects, and -- you know what else? Wit.
100
If not the best superhero movie ever, it's definitely in the top 3. Reeve will forever be Superman to most of us.
100
Estimates of the movie's costs range between $35-and $70-million; whatever the price, it was not too much to pay. As gods go, Superman is one of the godliest; his movie is one of the best.
100
Magnify James Bond's extraordinary physical powers while curbing his sex drive and you have the essence of Superman, a wonderful, chuckling, preposterously exciting fantasy.
100
Manages to capture the pure heart and spirit of this comic book Americana.
100
This Superman alludes explicitly to its origins in the Depression-era comics, and Clark has a quaint 30s habit of using the phrase “Swell!” from his boyhood. Maybe now this movie looks quaint in the same way. But there’s still a surge of adventure and fun.
90
As tired as we are now of origins, Superman set the gold standard for such stories.
88
There's no doubt that it's a flawed movie, but it's one of the most wonderfully entertaining flawed movies made.
88
A movie that is pure escape and good, clean, unadulterated fun.
