--- title: "Superman II" year: 1980 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/superman-ii" fi1m_id: "superman-ii" imdb_id: "tt0081573" tmdb_id: 8536 wikidata_id: "Q267672" fi1m_score: 74 critics_score: 76 critics_reviews: 7 published: "2026-10-04T16:35:19.536239+00:00" updated: "2026-10-04T16:35:20.065882+00:00" region: "FR" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Superman II (1980) Directed by Richard Lester · 2h 07m · CNC TP · Science Fiction, Action, Adventure ## Identity Superman II - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/superman-ii - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** superman-ii - **IMDb ID:** tt0081573 - **TMDB ID:** 8536 - **Wikidata ID:** Q267672 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081573/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/8536, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q267672 **Fi1m score: 74** · Critics 76 from 7 reviews *In a sentence:* Terence Stamp takes over the planet without raising his voice; the film behind him cannot stop giggling > The second Christopher Reeve Superman film gives him three villains worth the trouble and a romance with Margot Kidder that is played straight. Richard Lester’s gags keep getting in the way, but there is a good deal here to enjoy. ## Synopsis Terrorists have planted a hydrogen bomb in a lift of the Eiffel Tower, and Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) is halfway up it when Superman (Christopher Reeve) arrives. He hurls the bomb into space, where the blast cracks open the Phantom Zone and frees three Kryptonian criminals: General Zod (Terence Stamp), Ursa (Sarah Douglas) and the mute Non (Jack O’Halloran). Finding that a yellow sun gives them Superman’s powers, they head for Earth. Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) breaks out of prison with Eve Teschmacher (Valerie Perrine) and goes looking for Superman’s secrets in the Arctic. Perry White (Jackie Cooper) sends Clark and Lois to Niagara Falls to pose as honeymooners for a story on the hotels, and Lois, watching Clark closely, begins to count the coincidences. ## Review *Superman II* has a simple idea and it is a good one: give Superman someone he cannot pick up and carry to prison. Three criminals from his own planet arrive with his powers and none of his manners, and for the first time the fights are between equals. Richard Lester directs, and Mario Puzo’s story, with a screenplay by David Newman and Leslie Newman, adds a second idea that is better still: a Clark Kent who would rather be a man than a god. The film also keeps stopping for jokes, and the jokes are the weakest thing in it. The villains carry it. Terence Stamp’s General Zod is a tyrant who finds conquest tiresome, and Stamp plays him at half volume, with a long stare and a voice that never lifts. Yvonne Blake and Sue Yelland dress the three in black from the throat down, no cape and no colour, so that against Christopher Reeve’s primary blue they look like mourners at a fairground. Sarah Douglas’s Ursa has a hungry smile and takes trophies from the men she hurts; Jack O’Halloran’s Non, who never speaks, has the dim patience of a large dog. Their arrival in a small American town, where a Sheriff (Clifton James) tries to arrest them, is the best sequence in the film. We laughed at Zod’s weariness and then stopped, because the joke is that he cannot be bothered to be cruel and is cruel anyway. Reeve is doing something harder than it looks. His Clark is a stoop, a pair of glasses and a voice half an octave higher, and when he straightens up in Lois’s hotel room at Niagara Falls the change is all in the shoulders. Margot Kidder plays Lois as a woman who has decided to find out and will not be talked out of it, and she is funnier and sadder here than in the first film. A scene in the Fortress of Solitude, John Barry and Peter Murton’s cathedral of crystal, with Susannah York’s Lara speaking from inside the ice, moved us more than we expected a film with a man in a cape to manage. It is about a son asking his dead mother for permission, and it is played without a single joke. The second half grows out of what is decided there, and we will not describe it. Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor escapes prison early and spends the rest of the film offering himself to whoever looks like winning. Hackman plays him as a salesman who has found a client he is slightly afraid of, and he seems to enjoy having less to do. Ned Beatty’s Otis is left behind at the prison, which is a loss. Valerie Perrine’s Eve Teschmacher gets a balloon and not much else. Then there is the comedy, and the comedy is where Lester and the film part company. Two cinematographers are credited. Geoffrey Unsworth’s footage has the soft, gauzy glow of the first film; Robert Paynter’s is harder and flatter, and John Victor Smith’s cutting puts the two side by side within single scenes. The long fight through the streets of Metropolis keeps cutting away from the Kryptonians to passers-by being blown along the pavement and a man on roller skates. Each gag is cheerful on its own. Together they tell us not to take any of it seriously, which is the opposite of what Stamp has spent an hour persuading us to do. We were impatient, then irritated, because the three in black deserved a better fight. Ken Thorne, credited with John Williams, reworks the Williams march, and it comes back brassier and thinner. Lester made *A Hard Day’s Night* and *The Three Musketeers*, and he has always liked a crowd and a pratfall. There the clowning was the point. Here it sits on top of a story about a man choosing between duty and a woman, and the two halves never agree about what film they are in. Donner’s [*Superman*](https://film.one/film/superman) took its own absurdity straight. Lester keeps winking at us, and we would rather he had not. At 127 minutes it is a little long, and the PG certificate is honest: there is nothing here a nine-year-old could not watch, though the small-town sequence may follow them to bed. See it for Stamp, for Kidder and for the Fortress, and forgive it the roller skates if you can. We mostly could. *Fi1m score 74, published 4 October 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is Superman II worth watching?** *Superman II* is worth watching for anyone who wants to see Christopher Reeve's Superman fight someone his own size, and we scored it 74. Terence Stamp's General Zod, Margot Kidder's Lois and a quiet scene in the Fortress of Solitude are the reasons to see it. Richard Lester's gags, including a man on roller skates during the Metropolis fight, keep undercutting them. **How long is Superman II, and what is it rated?** *Superman II* runs 2h 07m and is rated TP by the CNC in France. It is a science fiction and action film. **Where can I watch Superman II in France?** *Superman II* is available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from €2.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **What should I watch after Superman II?** After *Superman II*, try [*Flash Gordon*](https://film.one/film/flash-gordon) (1980, Fi1m 70): The same year, the same silliness, and nobody pretending otherwise for a second. Then [*The Incredibles*](https://film.one/film/the-incredibles) (2004, Fi1m 88): A superhero family hiding in the suburbs, and the best argument for secret identities on film. ### Reviews we read (7) - **Empire**, Chris Hewitt (85/100, inferred): The critic calls it one of the most exciting comic-book films and says it earns a place in the classic canon. They praise its physical-effects action and its human, dramatic focus on Superman, Lois and Clark. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/superman-ii-review/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Martin Gold (85/100, inferred): Gold gives the sequel an enthusiastic verdict, praising its entertaining blend of romance, thrills, comedy and effects. He especially singles out the climactic battle between Superman and the Kryptonians as a visual highlight. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/superman-ii-1980-movie-review-original-1236308889/) - **Radio Times**, John Ferguson (4/5): Ferguson considers it probably the strongest Christopher Reeve Superman film in terms of plot. He praises Richard Lester’s playful direction and the film’s strong supporting cast. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-uv4ro5/superman-ii/) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (3/4): Ebert finds the film entertaining and an improvement on its predecessor. He singles out its humor and Christopher Reeve’s performance as particular strengths. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/superman-ii-1981) - **The New York Times**, Janet Maslin (70/100, inferred): The review presents the film as an entertaining follow-up. It singles out the film’s abundance of tricks, though the page text is unavailable to confirm further details. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/19/movies/superman-ii-is-full-of-tricks.html) - **Time Out**, DP (70/100, inferred): The review suggests a positive verdict despite the film feeling less grandiose than its predecessor. It praises the combination of the original’s casting and visual style with Richard Lester’s wit. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/superman-ii) - **Eye for Film**, Stephen Carty (65/100, inferred): Carty finds the flawed, divisive sequel still has plenty to offer. He especially praises the chemistry between Reeve and Kidder and the inventive four-way battle. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/superman-ii-film-review-by-stephen-carty) ## Details - **Director:** Richard Lester - **Director:** Richard Lester - **Screenplay:** Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman - **Story:** Mario Puzo - **Cinematography:** Geoffrey Unsworth, Robert Paynter - **Editor:** John Victor Smith - **Music:** Ken Thorne, John Williams - **Production design:** John Barry, Peter Murton - **Costume design:** Yvonne Blake, Sue Yelland - **Producer:** Pierre Spengler - **Cast:** Christopher Reeve as Superman / Clark Kent; Margot Kidder as Lois Lane; Terence Stamp as General Zod; Sarah Douglas as Ursa; Jack O'Halloran as Non; Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor; Ned Beatty as Otis; Jackie Cooper as Perry White - **Runtime:** 2h 07m - **Certificate (CNC):** TP - **Release (France):** 17 June 1981 - **Genres:** Science Fiction, Action, Adventure - **Budget:** $54 million - **Box office:** $216 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3BkmYsz6-s ## Where to watch in France - Amazon Prime Video: rent €2.99, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: buy €7.99, uhd *Checked 2026-10-04.* Also available in: AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, HK, HR, ID, IE, IN, IT, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, TH, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Saturn Awards 1982: Best Science Fiction Film (won) ## If you liked this - *Superman* (1978): Donner’s original: slower, more solemn and sure of itself, with Reeve at his gentlest. - *The Three Musketeers* (1973): Lester’s swordfights are brawls with jokes, and here the clowning is the whole point. - *Spider-Man 2* (2004): Another sequel about a hero who would rather quit, with a train fight that still stands up. - *Flash Gordon* (1980), Fi1m 70: The same year, the same silliness, and nobody pretending otherwise for a second. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/flash-gordon.md) - *The Incredibles* (2004), Fi1m 88: A superhero family hiding in the suburbs, and the best argument for secret identities on film. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-incredibles.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/superman-ii