Christopher Reeve (1952-2004) was an American actor and director. Reeve is best remembered for playing Superman in 4 movies from 1978 to 1987. He appeared in other critically acclaimed films such as 1984’s The Bostonians, 1987’s Street Smart and 1993’s The Remains of the Day. Sadly, Reeve was left quadriplegic after being thrown from a horse during an equestrian competition in 1994. His IMDb page shows 47 acting credits from 1974 to 2006. This page will rank 20 Christopher Reeve Movies in 6 different statistical categories. Television roles were not included in the rankings.
Christopher Reeve Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Christopher Reeve Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
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Hi
I’ve been away for a while. I always liked Christopher Reeve in the Superman movies and always thought he was the best. It’s a pity he never really got the chance to expand his range as he was a great actor, especially in the Bustonians. I remember the time of his awful accident in 1995, people really felt sorry for him. He seemed to be blessed with a great wife. She looked after him until he died and sadly, she died also a year later of cancer.
I remember at the time, Robin Williams was a close friend, and he helped contribute to his medical care.
As a young actor he toured with Katharine Hepburn in a play and he claimed she was a real hard task master, but she was fair.
Christopher Reeves showed he was a Superman both on-screen and off-screen after his accident, when he showed great strength, nobility and resilience in dealing with his paralysis, tirelessly raising awareness and funding for spinal chord injuries.
Reeves was ideal for the role of Superman/Clark Kent, and I doubt we will see any-one so closely identified to the role as he was any time soon. Then again, I must admit that apart from the X-Men and some of the Spiderman films, I am not that much into the new superhero movies.
Unfortunately, apart from the Superman movies, Reeves had relatively few memorable roles, but he certainly showed that he was capable of handling more serious and dramatic material. Of the films listed, I have seen Deathtrap, Somewhere in Time and Remains of the Day, so with the 4 Superman films, that’s a total of 7. Not impressive, but I have also seen Reeves in the TV movie, The Great Escape Part II: The Untold Story, where he succeeds in bringing justice to the 50! Now that was a super heroic feat if every there was one! RIP Christopher Reeves.
Hey PhilHoF17….I agree with your first paragraph 100%. I also agree that Reeve was born to play Superman…..the perfect look….the perfect acting style…..the perfect combination of fictional character and real life actor.
I love his role in Deathtrap….not as good as Sleuth….but pretty close. Caine is excellent in both of them….I imagine….a new Deathtrap is coming in the new future….only this time the Caine and Reeve roles will be played by actresses.
I saw his television movie, Rear Window….but I never saw The Great Escape Part 2…I will have to check that one out in the future.
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Good stuff.
Watching the Superman films now is always tinged with sadness over what happened to Christopher Reeve. Tragic events.
Anyway looking at the chart I’ve seen 7 of the 20 films listed – Superman 1-4, Switching Channels, Village of the Damned and Somewhere in Time.
Superman the Movie still remains one of my top favorite superhero movies 40 years later! Superman II is also a great deal of fun. Good to see them top the UMR chart.
Superman the Movie was a monster hit, adjusted for inflation it must be nearing a billion dollars worldwide. Considering it was released in the 1970s when such films were considered kiddie fare, the gamble paid off handsomely.
It wouldn’t have worked without the inclusion of huge stars like Brando and Hackman. Back when movie stars were still a big attraction for audiences. Now they couldn’t care less who’s in the latest movies. I think Tom Cruise is the only bankable movie star left.
A nice tribute Bruce. Vote Up!
Hey Steve….thanks for the Christopher Reeve visit, comment and tally. Your 7 seen, is exactly half of my total. I have seen all of your 7 with the exception of Village of the Damned. I would highly recommend Above Suspicion. A murder thriller that has an excellent game of cat and mouse between Reeve (the killer) and Joe Mantengna (the cop). It has one of the most memorable endings. Sadly I could not find a trailer for it….but I did find the ending….which taken out of context is not nearly as impressive when you know the story.
I figured Supes would be your favorite…I have always been a bigger fan of part 2….though both are fun movies to watch. I will not mention parts 3 and 4. Good points about Superman and the inclusion of Hackman and that other guy…..lol. I agree…Tom Cruise…almost 40 years later is one of the few bankable movie stars left….though I think the other Tom ….Mr. Hanks is pretty close to him.
Good feedback as always.
HI BRUCE Thanks for the response. I’ve done the transfer. Couldn’t let Flora sit here all on her own!
One of the earlier Superman players, George Reeves, died tragically at the age of 45 of gunshot wounds, officially listed as caused by suicide, and when George’s near-namesake Chris Reeve had the accident that made him a Quadriplegic and undoubtedly led to HIS premature death at the age of 52 some movie industry observers claimed that there was a “curse of Superman” operating.
The above table faithfully records how the grosses for Chris’ Superman flicks dropped away. IMDB credits him with a net worth of $3 million at the time of his death in 2004 and worth $4 million in today’s dollars. Brando was paid $3.7 million [plus a %] for a top-billed cameo in Christopher’s 1st Superman film in 1978. That Brando fee would be worth almost 15 million in today’s dollars and industry accountants reckon that ultimately Marlon’s fee and % after a 1983 out-of-court settlement was worth some $40 milion in today’s money.
Of the 4 Reeve Superman films Chris was top billed in only the last two [despite being the out and out lead in all 4] and as the table above shows those were the 2 lowest grossers by far. IMDB credit Christopher with 9 acting wins and 13 noms
Hey Bob….you beat me to the punch…..I was just about to move your comment here…..and here it is. The first two Supermans (correct plural?) both had tragic endings. I was recently watching a You Tube video on the Unbreakable trilogy….and they said the scene in Unbreakable where the son wants to shot Bruce Willis, proving he is Superman was based on a situation with George Reeves and a young fan that wanted to shot Reeves.
There are lots of conspiracy theories on Reeves passing…..one involves Eddie Mannix….heck two or three involve Mannix….Mannix in my world is the “MGM ledger man”. He has been played on screen a few times…Josh Brolin in Hail Caesar, Bob Hoskins in Hollywoodland and a character in a Gore Vidol novel called Myron.
I remember when I first heard the news of his accident….it did not seem possible….like a really bad joke. The way he handled that horrible life changing event is even more impressive than his movie career. Besides, Superman his movie career never really took off (a pun there if you look hard enough). He does have some non-Superman movies I really enjoyed…Deathtrap (a sister movie to Caine’s Sleuth), Above Suspicion (he played the bad guy in his last role before his injury) and Street Smart (that is the movie that actually made Morgan Freeman a star). Good information on his movies….I bet his was only top billed in a few of his movies….though Somewhere in Time is a movie many many people love…..is one of those top billed movies. Superman 4 is probably the worst comic book movie ever made….even getting top billed was probably not a good reason to even make that one.
Thanks for the feedback.
HI BRUCE
Thanks for the feedback. I was unaware of most of the additional information that you have given. I too liked Above Suspicion. I never saw Deathtrap but it seemed to attract a lot of controversy because Chris and Sir Maurice allegedly kissed on screen.
I’ve never been a fan of superheroes except for the classic TV series Batman starring Adam West. As such, I’ve never seen the Superman movies.
I’ve only seen 3 Christopher Reeve movies. I enjoy all of them. In order of preference:
Deathtrap
Remains of the Day
Noises Off
Hey Flora….I have seen 14 of his movies….or 70%. Of the three you have seen….I liked all of them….but especially Deathtrap. I was talking to George V. yesterday and he was not sure if he had seen it….that DVD is going to work with me today.
The Reeves movies I would recommend to you would be his television re-make of Rear Window (a perfect role for him after the accident) and Above Suspicion…..he plays an injured police officer who commits a murder. The cat and mouse game between Reeve and Joe Mantegna is awesome…and the conclusion is one of the best endings ever!
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