Which Jor-el do you Prefer???

[DACrowe]

Now, I came down hard on the side of Donner/Stamp for Zod. He was just so perfect for that role, it is not even funny.

But...even I have to admit that this is a toss up.

I think Crowe worked harder and really became the character. However, the way he was written in MOS lost some of the majesty and enigmatic qualities that I loved about Brando's take. Then again, a lot of that is Donner's vision and Williams' score.

For once, I will vote equal.

 

[herolee10]

The thing with Brando's Jor-el is that if you include the continuity from SII where he's featured in the donner Cut, then wow, Jor-el in some ways, comes off as a tyrant and as a bad father in general.

No parent should force let alone wish their child to live a life where they must be alone for the rest of his life. In some ways, that made Brando's Jor-el very evil in his own nature.

 

[Shazam]

The thing with Brando's Jor-el is that if you include the continuity from SII where he's featured in the donner Cut, then wow, Jor-el in some ways, comes off as a tyrant and as a bad father in general.

No parent should force let alone wish their child to live a life where they must be alone for the rest of his life. In some ways, that made Brando's Jor-el very evil in his own nature.

Really??

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Definitely Brando. He is this strange blend of humanism and divine. And that voice was godly. I don't care if he read his lines. He did that in Apocalypse Now too and he stole that movie.

His speech in the Fortress of Solitude in the first film is my very favorite scene of any superhero film. It was five minutes of pure bliss, like Moses speaking to the burning bush in The Ten Commandments. His speech when he sends off Kal-el is almost as good.

Crowe was good, but Brando was unbelievably fantastic.

 

[WarriorDreamer]

Despite the fact Marlon Brando is iconic in the part, I think Russel really rose to the plate and possibly stole the throne.

 

[jb007]

No doubting Brando's acting skills. Crowe enbraced and pushed Jor-El into a deeper character.

But, again it's all in the script.

 

[Dr Magneto Doom]

I know it's all about opinion and personal taste but to me it is clearly Russell Crowe who wins this argument. Brando was bland, boring and did not do much. Russell Crowe showed more emotion and was hungry for the role no matter how short it was.

 

[smallville fan]

Crowe's Jor-El actually did stuff in the movie unlike the Brando Jor-El. Looking at Marlon Brando's Jor-El he looked like he didn't want to be there at all and was kind of lazy about it too.

P.S. I'll do the which Superman is better thread

 

[Shazam]

Crowe's Jor-El actually did stuff in the movie unlike the Brando Jor-El. Looking at Marlon Brando's Jor-El he looked like he didn't want to be there at all and was kind of lazy about it too.

P.S. I'll do the which Superman is better thread

That sounds like a winner! t: LOL

 

[sf2]

i got a question.

didn't Jor-el ask Clark to revive Krypton on the planet earth too?
he didn't trust General Zod could do the job because he thought he was biased and would remain the monotonous of the krypton order.

 

[Indy Flash]

Crowe.

 

[TDK elbowstrike]

Russell Crow's Jor-El rides an alien space dragon. All other arguments are invalid!!!

 

[TDK elbowstrike]

But seriously, Brando is like the Humphrey Bogart of his generation, but his Jor-El was very cold and distant. Crowe's was very warm and you really felt the impending doom of his situation. You feel just as helpless as he does watching the first ten minuets of MOS. Hard choice, but I choose Crowe.

 

[Skrilla31]

I know it's all about opinion and personal taste but to me it is clearly Russell Crowe who wins this argument. Brando was bland, boring and did not do much. Russell Crowe showed more emotion and was hungry for the role no matter how short it was.

In other words, Brando was boring because he didn't know karate.

The original Superman film gave you more of a feel for Krypton and it's inhabitants. It's white. It's cold. It's sterile. No one is seen showing any compassion. Civilization has become so advanced and so evolved that they've lost their humanity.

The powers that be behind Man Of Steel thought the the only way to approach that same material was by FILLING THE SCREEN WITH ACTION! THE AUDIENCE IS GONNA BE BORED IF THERE ISN'T SOMETHING HUGE HAPPENING EVERY FIVE MINUTES! HUGE PLANETARY WARFARE! GIANT DRAGONFLIES! WEIRD AND UNIMAGINATIVE FANBOY TECHNOLOGY! CONSTANT BACKGROUND MUSIC! JOR-EL AND ZOD HAVE A FIGHT TO THE DEATH!

And yet despite all that, so much is sacrificed. Krypton looks like your run of the mill Star Wars prequel planet. It has no character. It's inhabitants don't feel much different than you and I other than the fact that they wear weird garbs. It has a yellow sun. There's no visual poetry. In Donner's movie you really got the sense that these people were being punished for their sins. You could literally see them being sucked down into Hell. It was the wrath of God. Snyder tells the story on such a superficial level that he robs the mythology of it's richness and it's depth. But it's okay, because he overcompensates by throwing pointless action up on the screen.

What does Jor-El's fist fight with Zod tell you about either character? How are the emotional stakes established and why does it have to result in a fist fight to the death? In what way does any of this service the story? The answer is it doesn't. It's just there to look cool. It's a Michael Bay movie without any of the fun.

 

[Shazam]

In other words, Brando was boring because he didn't know karate.

The original Superman film gave you more of a feel for Krypton and it's inhabitants. It's white. It's cold. It's sterile. No one is seen showing any compassion. Civilization has become so advanced and so evolved that they've lost their humanity.

The powers that be behind Man Of Steel thought the the only way to approach that same material was by FILLING THE SCREEN WITH ACTION! THE AUDIENCE IS GONNA BE BORED IF THERE ISN'T SOMETHING HUGE HAPPENING EVERY FIVE MINUTES! HUGE PLANETARY WARFARE! GIANT DRAGONFLIES! WEIRD AND UNIMAGINATIVE FANBOY TECHNOLOGY! CONSTANT BACKGROUND MUSIC! JOR-EL AND ZOD HAVE A FIGHT TO THE DEATH!

And yet despite all that, so much is sacrificed. Krypton looks like your run of the mill Star Wars prequel planet. It has no character. It's inhabitants don't feel much different than you and I other than the fact that they wear weird garbs. It has a yellow sun. There's no visual poetry. In Donner's movie you really got the sense that these people were being punished for their sins. You could literally see them being sucked down into Hell. It was the wrath of God. Snyder tells the story on such a superficial level that he robs the mythology of it's richness and it's depth. But it's okay, because he overcompensates by throwing pointless action up on the screen.

What does Jor-El's fist fight with Zod tell you about either character? How are the emotional stakes established and why does it have to result in a fist fight to the death? In what way does any of this service the story? The answer is it doesn't. It's just there to look cool. It's a Michael Bay movie without any of the fun.

That yellow sun bugged me!

 

[Kevin Smith]

In other words, Brando was boring because he didn't know karate.

The original Superman film gave you more of a feel for Krypton and it's inhabitants. It's white. It's cold. It's sterile. No one is seen showing any compassion. Civilization has become so advanced and so evolved that they've lost their humanity.

The powers that be behind Man Of Steel thought the the only way to approach that same material was by FILLING THE SCREEN WITH ACTION! THE AUDIENCE IS GONNA BE BORED IF THERE ISN'T SOMETHING HUGE HAPPENING EVERY FIVE MINUTES! HUGE PLANETARY WARFARE! GIANT DRAGONFLIES! WEIRD AND UNIMAGINATIVE FANBOY TECHNOLOGY! CONSTANT BACKGROUND MUSIC! JOR-EL AND ZOD HAVE A FIGHT TO THE DEATH!

And yet despite all that, so much is sacrificed. Krypton looks like your run of the mill Star Wars prequel planet. It has no character. It's inhabitants don't feel much different than you and I other than the fact that they wear weird garbs. It has a yellow sun. There's no visual poetry. In Donner's movie you really got the sense that these people were being punished for their sins. You could literally see them being sucked down into Hell. It was the wrath of God. Snyder tells the story on such a superficial level that he robs the mythology of it's richness and it's depth. But it's okay, because he overcompensates by throwing pointless action up on the screen.

What does Jor-El's fist fight with Zod tell you about either character? How are the emotional stakes established and why does it have to result in a fist fight to the death? In what way does any of this service the story? The answer is it doesn't. It's just there to look cool. It's a Michael Bay movie without any of the fun.

I agree. And WHY the yellow sun there? I hate that. What's wrong with red?

**** Goyer.

 

[AnneFan]

Brando is Brando but I thought Crowe was fantastic in MOS. Really good. I liked seeing him kick ass, swim around, etc. He did put Zod down in legit combat and was only killed due to watching his son depart.

 

[The Batman]

Jesus, Skrilla hit the nail on the head.

All these fanboys complaining about crystal Krypton. Well, at least Crystal Krypton stood out. Like Skrilla said, MOS Krypton looks like a generic planet from Star Wars. If you're going to replace the Cystals, at least replace it with something that is unique. And the actual destruction of the planet was much better done in STM.

 

[Gavan]

Well, at least Crystal Krypton stood out.

And it showed up in almost every other version of Superman made after those films until this one. Got old fast. It choked creativity.

Like Skrilla said, MOS Krypton looks like a generic planet from Star Wars.

So? Closer to what it really is in the comics.

If you're going to replace the Cystals, at least replace it with something that is unique.

No they can do whatever they want

 

[AnneFan]

I liked seeing something different for Krypton this time, too.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Just my two cents but I felt MOS Krypton was a sort of modern styled gee whiz/Buck Rogers type Krypton form the Silver age. There was a vibe and production design that screamed "this is the gestalt scif home of the ultimate gestalt scif hero."

I loved Brando. I don't see the phoning it in that others do. Crowe did bring it in the action opening and was effective as ghost AI Jor-el as well.

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

Crowe definitely

he played a badass Zod unlike Brando

 

[matt47]

I would NOT call the way man of steel made kryptons end dull! I was nearly in tears when lara was watching her planet die. I for one found that much better than watching donners jorel and lara for some reason running around while people are falling into the core of krypton.

I think the way krypton was made in man of steel was awesoms (minus the yellow sun, bur they did have two moons which was kewl ) i think the clothing and architexture was much better than briggt white clothes and ice.
But back to topic. I chose russels take on jor el mainly because, well, i could probably put this differently but, it he just felt more real and sincere. Like, when je was talking to baby kal i could see his sorrow more than brandos.
Hope that made sense.
Oh and i have a question! Does anyone think we will see more of jor el in the sequel? Correct me if im wrong but did his hologram get destroyed? (Sorry if its obvious but ive only seen the movie once ) thanks

 

[Super Kal]

just because something looks yellow in light, doesn't mean it is yellow...


our sun is a yellow star, but from a distance, it doesn't look yellow at all... it simply looks white. even when we see it through a special lens, it still appears with orange and red hues and tones. obviously, Krypton's sun in larger, and it's easier to see the color. it's apparent that it's a red giant because of the size.

 

[Jaxon]

Brando's performance was lazy, but Crowe acted the crap out of that role. Crowe really brought his A-game to the role, and I have to hand it to him, he can act.
His performance around the scene when he was talking to Lara and preparing to launch his son was a great acting talent who had completely bought into his role.