After watching again by James Gunn Superman trailer In recent weeks, I’ve been on a Superman high. To continue this, I decided that while Building Lego at ChristmasI will watch everything again Christopher Reeve Superman movies. Movies I’ve seen before—I’m too old to see IV in theaters—but haven’t watched the series again in decades. What I found was one of the fastest declining franchises I can think of, although I believe history has two of those films reversed.

Everyone will agree that the 1978 film by Richard Donner Superman a classic. It is so unique and full of memorable scenes that it remains one of the greatest superhero films of all time. Clearly, this is the best of the bunch. Superman II is a step down for some but it is a good completion of the story of the movie, giving us a full circle of Clark Kent and Lois Lane character and wrapped in the whole General Zod thing.

Then I popped up Superman III and immediately I knew it was a bad decision. It begins with Richard Pryor’s character in an office without a job. He then, miraculously, became the greatest computer hacker in the world. Clark Kent returns to Smallville and bonds with an old classmate. Pryor and his evil boss make fake kryptonite which is basically a cigarette and it inexplicably turns Superman into an asshole. Then we have to watch him be an asshole for a long time. In the end, Superman fights himself, becomes normal again, and fights the computer hackers while also inexplicably forgiving Pryor’s behavior. It is, frankly, a big piece of shit.

Superman III I’m really angry. If I wanted to watch a Richard Pryor movie, I would have done that. It is clear that Richard Pryor is the only star of a Superman movie, not the other way around. It misunderstands the characters, never develops a dramatic plot, is filled with all kinds of out-of-place gags, and works better as an anti-smoking ad than anything else. This worries me a lot because as I see Superman and Superman II some times in recent years, I don’t remember III or IV as well. All I remember is, I think, IV is the worst of the bunch. So when I started it, I was more than a little hesitant.

Going in with low expectations, I really found it Superman IV: The Quest For Peace to be superior to Superman III. It’s still terrible—let’s not forget that—but at least it’s trying to be one Superman movie. He falls in love with Lois Lane, along with Margot Kidder for the entire film. Lex Luthor has a new plot and Gene Hackman returns for the entire film. Superman must fight an otherworldly supervillain in Nuclear Man. And the character works towards the prosperity of the whole world. These are all things that feel important, one way or another, in the DNA of a Superman movie.

Of course, this all happens too quickly, and none of the actors — except for the always wonderful Reeve — care one bit about what they’re doing. Superman IV the events of the other movies are forgotten, it doesn’t look good, it feels too small for the franchise, and the action set pieces are terrible. This is a bad, bad movie. But this is a step up from the abomination of the previous one.

When the movie ended (Superman IV is also about 45 minutes shorter than the previous three, mercifully, though there are many reasons for that), I am quite confident in my rankings. One is one, two is two, four is three, and three is four. It actually feels like an almost flawless list. So, when I looked at Wikipedia and Rotten Tomatoes to see that Superman III better regarded—though not by many—than IVI was a little surprised. Obviously that was the narrative I had in my head going in but watching two bad movies back to back, after a good first and a good second, I feel like history is wrong. Superman III horrible in every sense of the word while The Search For Peace terrible, while at least trying to be a Superman movie. And that puts it over the top.

Fortunately, Warner Bros. there is a perfect palate cleanser for these two atrocities. No, not the unofficial sequel Superman is back from 2006. We mean Super/Man: The Story of Christopher Reeve, an extraordinary documentary about man and character. that might actually be the best Superman movie out there.

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