Reeve's Superman or Bale's Batman

[The Batman]

I wanted to take the clear winners of the "Best Superman/Batman" portrayal threads and pit them against each other.

Which portrayal did you prefer? Who do you think did a better job at capturing the spirit of their respective character?

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Bale's Batman (but I'll take Reeve's Clark Kent over Bale's Bruce Wayne any day!).

 

[Eddie Dean]

Reeve as Superman and it's not even close

 

[Prison Mike]

Reeve as Batman vs Bale as Superman. Which would you want to see?

 

[Filmfreak]

Reeve is iconic but he also hasn't had serious competition in the role.

 

[Fincher]

Reeve as Batman vs Bale as Superman. Which would you want to see?

Neither, really, but I'd go with Bale. He's the better overall actor, and I'm relatively less particular about Superman.

 

[Frodo]

I'll give the diplomatic answer and say they're both good.

Reeve was great as the Public Superman, the private Clark/Kal El i.e the Clark who grows up in Smallville, Reveals his identity and begins a relationship with Lois ,and who talks to Jor El and Lara; and Bumbling reporter Clark Kent the act.

Bale was great as a Batman, Public Bruce Wayne, and the Bruce Wayne that Alfred, Rachel, and the audience see.

So I can't really say that one is better than the other since they're very different roles, in very different films ,made in very different contexts.

 

[Boom]

Reeve.

 

[OutOfBoose]

Reeve was perfect as both Clark and Superman. Bale was perfect as Bruce Wayne, but I didn't enjoy his Batman portrayal nearly as much. I'll go with Reeve, but I like the Nolan's trilogy a lot more than Reeve's Superman films.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Reeve embodied Superman perfectly.

It was one of the rare cases where I prefer the movie version over the comics.

That's how you know it's a classic portrayal.

I don't think any Batman actor has achieved that yet imo.

 

[Lantern Venom]

Bale without a doubt. Everything from the way his character looked, moved, and acted embodied Batman. Reeve was a stellar actor trying to do his best while hampered by the cheap costuming and effects of the 70s and haphazard Hollywood writing that made him do silly things like announce his weaknesses during an interview. Give me the darkness of the TDK trilogy over that old school silliness any day.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Reeve as Superman and it's not even close

This, every word of this.

 

[Iceman]

Reeve was the definitive Superman and set the ball rolling. Bale was also great but it's hard to beat history.

 

[Rorschach2012]

Reeve is unbeatable. Truly perfect for that role. Bale is excellent but not perfect.

 

[thangaran]

“General, would you care to step outside?“. I loved Bale as Batman but Reeve cannot be matched! That was seriously so perfectly delivered and acted. He absolutely crushed it as as the man of tomorrow!

it breaks my heart to think of Chris Reeve. Genuinely amazing actor and the tragedy of his life. He is the perfect Superman (and I’m a fan of Cavill as well)

 

[STARMAN]

As much as I love Bale I'm going to go with Reeve. I was always impressed how he was able to sell the suit, the effects and sometimes shaky material. He made even the weaker elements of those movies believable.

 

[Babillygunn]

I love Bale. He’s incredible. But Reeve was absolute perfection.

 

[Batmannerism]

I'll give the diplomatic answer and say they're both good.

Reeve was great as the Public Superman, the private Clark/Kal El i.e the Clark who grows up in Smallville, Reveals his identity and begins a relationship with Lois ,and who talks to Jor El and Lara; and Bumbling reporter Clark Kent the act.

Bale was great as a Batman, Public Bruce Wayne, and the Bruce Wayne that Alfred, Rachel, and the audience see.

So I can't really say that one is better than the other since they're very different roles, in very different films ,made in very different contexts.

I agree with that, and I love Bale as an actor.
He captured Batman's rage and guilt, and was able to play 3 characters in one with seamless transitions. The one thing I can fault him on, is the other Bat voice, an acting choice that was just a bit much. With Reeve, he's simply perfection in the cinematic version ( although sadly not in parts of the Donner cut)

So, I'm going with Reeve overall partly on the strength of that one brief scene in Superman The Movie, where he nearly reveals himself to Lois, there's a complete physical and attitude transformation, it really is magic :



This is possibly the best acting in any cbm ever, with the interrogation scene between Bale and Ledger being a very close second.

Bale is a better actor all around but Reeve absolutely perfectly captured the essence of Superman in that one performance,which is why 40+ years later he's still the standard against which all are measured.

 

[SVSuperman]

If it weren't, for Reeves films, Nolan doesn't make the trilogy. He's been on record saying Donner was his influence!

 

[Mysteryman]

BOTH!

 

[LvtLeeTDK]

I agree with that, and I love Bale as an actor.
He captured Batman's rage and guilt, and was able to play 3 characters in one with seamless transitions. The one thing I can fault him on, is the other Bat voice, an acting choice that was just a bit much. With Reeve, he's simply perfection in the cinematic version ( although sadly not in parts of the Donner cut)

So, I'm going with Reeve overall partly on the strength of that one brief scene in Superman The Movie, where he nearly reveals himself to Lois, there's a complete physical and attitude transformation, it really is magic :



This is possibly the best acting in any cbm ever, with the interrogation scene between Bale and Ledger being a very close second.

Bale is a better actor all around but Reeve absolutely perfectly captured the essence of Superman in that one performance,which is why 40+ years later he's still the standard against which all are measured.

****ing hell that moment from 0:26 to 0:33. If you pause at those two moments you can see how different they are. When in Superman mode it feels like Reeves is much taller, his shoulder looks much more ... normal ? (It looks weird when he’s Clark Kent),etc.

I havent watch Superman but that clip is really really impressive.

 

[elgaz]

I agree with that, and I love Bale as an actor.
He captured Batman's rage and guilt, and was able to play 3 characters in one with seamless transitions. The one thing I can fault him on, is the other Bat voice, an acting choice that was just a bit much. With Reeve, he's simply perfection in the cinematic version ( although sadly not in parts of the Donner cut)

So, I'm going with Reeve overall partly on the strength of that one brief scene in Superman The Movie, where he nearly reveals himself to Lois, there's a complete physical and attitude transformation, it really is magic :



This is possibly the best acting in any cbm ever, with the interrogation scene between Bale and Ledger being a very close second.

Bale is a better actor all around but Reeve absolutely perfectly captured the essence of Superman in that one performance,which is why 40+ years later he's still the standard against which all are measured.

That was a great transformation by Reeve just through mannerisms.

Also this one, from about 25secs on

 

[Batmannerism]

****ing hell that moment from 0:26 to 0:33. If you pause at those two moments you can see how different they are. When in Superman mode it feels like Reeves is much taller, his shoulder looks much more ... normal ? (It looks weird when he’s Clark Kent),etc.

I havent watch Superman but that clip is really really impressive.

Yup. That's why Reeve is the king when it comes to superhero performance - the body language and posture for Clark and Superman are very different, which is all Reeve. I love this scene.

 

[B]

This thread is utter blasphemy. Christopher Reeve & it's not close.

His portrayal is iconic & he embodied the Clark Kent/Superman character perfectly for the times & tone of his film's. He is the standard for which all actors/actresses that portray superheroes are judged.

If they had cast anyone else in the role at that time, the entire landscape of comic book movies today would be completely different because Reeve was a big part as to why Superman 1 & 2 were so successful.

Christian Bale's portrayal, while very good overall, I don't think comes even close to reaching the same sort of level. He was fantastic as Bruce Wayne, but I didn't find his Batman particularly great. The perception of his portrayal is significantly aided by the fact that his films were extremely well written & directed.

 

[Peyton Westlake]

Bale can act, however he didn't show me that was the case in any of his Batman films.
He seemed off his game in my opinion in all 3 films.
Whereas Reeve hit it out of the park in the original Superman & Superman 2.
So to me its a no brainer Reeve is the clear winner between these 2 choices.