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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Superman II

EMAIL PRINTWarner Bros. Pictures

5.2 User Score:

Universal acclaim

Based on 7 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 119 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-fi

Written by: Mario Puzo (also story)
David Newman
Leslie Newman
Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster (characters)

Directed by: Richard Lester

Release Date:
Theatrical: June 19, 1981
DVD: May 1, 2001

Running Time: 127 minutes, Color

Origin: UK

Summary

RATING: PG

Starring Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Sarah Douglas, Margot Kidder, Valerie Perrine, and Terence Stamp

A trio of Krypton villains threaten havoc on Earth, while Superman and Lois Lane are just becoming involved in a long awaited love affair -- an affair which may cost Superman his super powers. (Warner Bros.)

Also On Metacritic

FILM: Superman Returns Superman: The Movie

Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Chicago Reader Dave Kehr

With his perfect pacing, elegant narrative design, and depth of characterization, Richard Lester has made as good a matinee movie as could be imagined: it's a big, generous, beautifully crafted piece of entertainment, with the distinctive Lester touch in the busy backgrounds and the throwaway dialogue.

Read Full Review >

100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

It brings the fantastic into our everyday lives; it delights in showing us the reaction of the man on the street to Superman's latest stunt.

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100

Entertainment Weekly Staff (Not credited)

It boasts a more consistent tone, better special effects (such as villains throwing buses around like paper planes), and even an affecting love story.

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100

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

A marvelous toy. It's funny, it's full of tricks and it manages to be royally entertaining, which is really all it aims for.

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Variety Staff (Not credited)

Superman II emerges as a solid, classy, cannily constructed piece of entertainment which gets down to action almost immediately.

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TV Guide Staff (Not credited)

Poking fun at its American mythos, but never descending into camp comedy, this sequel makes for a wonderful time.

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ReelViews James Berardinelli

Superman II delivers on the promise hinted at in "Superman." Which is the better film? That's a hard choice to make, since both succeed in different ways.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 5.2 (out of 10) based on 119 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Steve W gave it a2:
You have got to be kidding me. The number #2 rated movie of all time?? It was OK for 1981, but just OK. By today's standard, the story is way too slow, and the characters too cheesy and simple. Unlike the other "greats," it hasn't stood the test of time. In my view, the 99 score shows a serious flaw with this system.

Joel W. gave it a9:
This film is fantastic. And even more so because it's a sequel. I think it's terrific. And I dont understand how anyone can say this is "Unwatchable" - have those users never seen "Grandma's Boy", "Club Dread" or "Going Overboard"? THEY'RE unwatchable!

Paul A gave it an8:
OK, keep in mind that the reviews used to calculte the 99 score are most likely from when the movie came out and not current reviews! when Superman 2 came out it deserved this score! Has it aged well? maybe not, but it's still a damn good movie, and for it's time it very much deserved it's universal acclaim, now can we please move on.

Eusebio P gave it a5:
Don't take me wrong, the movie is ok for a Saturday afternoon with nothing else to do... But the second place of the list!! This is madness!!

Thomas W gave it a4:
Look, people: if you know anything about statistics, most movies should not get more then about a 7 or less than about a 3. This is NOT a great movie, and I agree that the score it receives from metacritic is skewed by too few reviews, and it also seems to be the case that some viewers here are responding with fake responses to inflate the numbers... one word responses like "Incredible!!!!" are useless.

Derek K. gave it a4:
Ok for its time but doesn't age well. a bit soppy.

Byron L J. gave it a6:
Sure it's enjoyable in its own way, much like you wish you had a proton pack watching Ghostbusters, you wish you had those SuperPowers like Superman. I don't remember this film being even half as good as the Meta Critic Score leads one to believe.