World Gene Hackman or Kevin Spacey?

[\S/JcDc\S/]

Ah here ya go, did a search on youtube and found this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oB_D8OfC6E

About 3 minutes in you see a great first encounter with Lex

 

[\S/JcDc\S/]

Ah here ya go, did a search on youtube and found this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oB_D8OfC6E

About 3 minutes in you see a great first encounter with Lex

 

[KrypJonian]

Excellent example! One of my favourite moments! t:

And again, it all goes back to timing (quite literally in that moment, too): The sublime flair that Hackman has for dialogue and delivery echoes Sinatra at the height of his singing. THAT'S how good I find Hackman to be. Every moment is delivered with amazing style and precision.

Reading back through this thread just now, I see that someone termed Spacey as "bored". I couldn't agree more. He seemed to be just going through the motions. His I'm-really-cynical-and-above-everyone schtick has grown thin. Hackman has FAR more range. And consider: He didn't want to take the part on originally because he was afraid that it would tarnish his career as a serious actor, yet Donner won him round, and look at the result. Hackman has had a really diverse career, acting in some outstanding films like "Bonnie And Clyde", "The French Connection", "Superman", "Unforgiven" and "The Royal Tenenbaums", and completely transforming lesser films like "Mississippi Burning", "Crimson Tide", "Enemy Of The State" and "Heist".

Right on

Spacey's great, but his Luthor doesn't beat Hackman's

 

[Ceb-Man]

Kevin Spacey was my favorate Lex. He had more of an darker edge.

 

[Afsheen]

Ah here ya go, did a search on youtube and found this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oB_D8OfC6E

About 3 minutes in you see a great first encounter with Lex

Yeah good stuff I really don't care who the actor is, john shea, michael rosenbaum, kevin spacey, i think theyre all very capable to be lex luthor, hackman on the other hand i don't think it's within his range. either way im going with rosenbaum, he's got the look... as far as being evil and edgy i think he's got the upper hand on shea (keywords "i think") im going to do some youtube digging and find more of shea, but i definitely pick rosenbaum over spacey and hackman. But i think spacey has a LOT of room for improvment.

 

[KrypJonian]

If Hackman's Lex was written like Spacey's I think Hackman would have pulled it off way better, IMO

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

Spacey. Not to say the movie was better. Just more Luthor-ish in my opinion.

 

[theMan-Bat]

Lyle Talbot.

 

[CK17]

Wait, wait, wait....Spacey played Luthor?

LOL, Hackman for me.

 

[GremlinZilla89]

Spacey. Hackman wasn't even menacing in a campy silver age way.

Spacey needed better writing, but there were shades of ruthless business man Lex I love so much in his portrayal. Plus, a lot of his dialogue is the best thing in the movie. His Prometheus speech to Kitty about gods....pure Lex.

 

[Caped Wonder]

Both for different kinds of Lex Luthor. But I like the Lex from the comics, and Spacey is closer to that. So...Spacey, only by a little bit. I suppose it helps that I'm one of the 27 people living that actually likes SR.

 

[747]

Hackman, by miles and miles for me. I love him in STM.

 

[Indy Flash]

Its easy, Hackman.

 

[NolanDCU]

Flip a coin.

Both don't play my ideal version of the character of Luthor, I'm not a fan of the tongue in cheek silver age version of any of these characters. Both are fantastic actors.

I guess if I had to pick, I'd go Hackman in S:TM but he had much more to do in that film. With that said, Spacey at least had fleeting moments where he was very vicious and convincing as a contemporary Lex.

 

[Duke]

I like Hackman's comedic portrayal of Luthor, but I also liked Spacey's more dark tone too. I voted for Hackman's version.

 

[Rorschach2012]

Hackman's portrayal was one of the worst parts of the original Superman movies. It was half bad writing/half his portrayal. Spacey all the way, he was one of the best things about Superman Returns, I was excited about him returning. In fact, I was excited about Routh returning. It's too bad they never made a sequel to that with Brainiac.

 

[dru-zod2501]

Hackman's Lex was a certified criminal genius whose intellect was really one of the strongest weapons anyone could wield against Superman.

Spacey Lex was a caricature of Hackman, recycling plots and stealing info. He was a glorified con man. But as a major bonus he was truly bald.

I gotta go with brains over bald on this one.

 

[Steamteck]

Personally, I hated them both for Luthor.

 

[bluerayer]

Rosenbaum.

 

[BH/HHH]

Best live action Luthor's in order

1) Rosenbaum
2) Sherman Howard
3) Gene Hackman
4) Kevin Spacey

I have never seen the guy in the serials so can't comment on him, but even though Spacey's bottom
I liked him alot in the role. Infact I've liked all 4 live action Luthor's.