Michael Shannon or Terence Stamp as Zod?

[Metallo]

It's a nonchalant kind of look where I think he's basically saying to her "you wanted to show them something more interesting? What did you think of that?" He's also giving off this vibe that he he thinks the military was easy to swat away.

It's funny but now that I think about it we see Magneto shoot Mystique the same kinds of looks in the X-Men films sometimes. The two relationships are very similar.

[Deleted]

YES. Wonderful observation. I loved their relationship in the X movies. When she goes normal in part three, it's almost heartbreaking.

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[atp]

This reminds me... What is Ursa's sexuality meant to be?

She generally acts like she hates men, which implies she is asexual or maybe a lesbian.

But occasionally there are glimpses of a relationship with Zod.

[eccentricbeing]

I always thought Ursa was desexualized like most women in the military.

[Metallo]

The only man she admires is the General. No other man measures up. I think it goes beyond love or even military loyalty. Zod has a hold on her thats stronger. She probably sees other men as weak. It would be an interesting story to explore in some kind of prequel story like a book or comic but that'll probably never happen.

Zods got Non and Ursa bent to his will like a dictator or cult leader. It's almost like a little cult of personality. They'd do anything he wants just to please him. The whole thing with he three of them moving as one is very interesting.

Keep in mind these movies came out after Jim Jones actually got a lot of people to willingly drink poison. Zods an evil man but there was a lot to draw on to create that evil at the time.

[crazy_asian_man]

The only man she admires is the General.

I know that was the idea under Lester...he says that she would do stuff, looking for approval from Zod- but I wonder what the backstory was (if there was one figured out) between the actors as to their past history, under Donner?

Ursa hated all men it seemed under Donner- presumably she wasn't all that crazy about Zod as well, but respected him? She's certainly not looking towards Zod for approval when she's enjoying killing the astronaut or kicking the secret service man around.

She seemed a lot more psychotic under the Donner footage- it was hard to figure out what was under the surface.

[Deleted]

Jun 27, 2013 19:24:00 GMT -5 Metallo said:

The only man she admires is the General. No other man measures up. I think it goes beyond love or even military loyalty. Zod has a hold on her thats stronger. She probably sees other men as weak. It would be an interesting story to explore in some kind of prequel story like a book or comic but that'll probably never happen.

Zods got Non and Ursa bent to his will like a dictator or cult leader. It's almost like a little cult of personality. They'd do anything he wants just to please him. The whole thing with he three of them moving as one is very interesting.

Keep in mind these movies came out after Jim Jones actually got a lot of people to willingly drink poison. Zods an evil man but there was a lot to draw on to create that evil at the time.

Read "The Last Days of Krypton" by Kevin J. Anderson. It's a novel, not a comic. It's in part a backstory for Zod, and his relationship with pseudo-Ursa (they couldn't use the name because of copyright I guess) is a big part of the book. It's well done.

As for Ursa and her hatred of men, this is how I see it in a psychological sense ... at some point in our lives, little boys and little girls think the opposite gender is gross. Cooties! No girls allowed clubhouses! But we all grew out of that. Ursa didn't. She's still a little girl. She didn't mature in this way. Her dislike of boys matured into an outright disgust of men. Thank you very much, don't forget to tip your waiter.

It's hard for me to pick which actor is better, because they were going for different characters. Sure, the same general basics, but there are a lot of differences in motivation, as already pointed out on this thread.

Stamp definitely had better dialogue. If you don't believe that, ask yourself how even people who don't follow this shit know "Kneel before Zod" okay?

I do like Shannon, though. I really liked him in "Premium Rush." It's an underrated little movie. He and Joe are great in it. Shannon kills me in the scene in the ambulance when he's admonishing Joe for saying adult words like douchebag and ranting on hearing the phrase "suck it" during prime-time TV when kids could be watching. Check it out.

[atp]

Just ordered The Last Days of Krypton from Amazon.

[Deleted]

I always assumed Ursa drank from the furry cup.


One thing I never liked about Zod's appearance in STM/SII was stamps hair, kinda slicked back. I watched a film the other day called 'In the company of Wolves' in which Stamp makes a brief appearance as Satan. Anyway I thought what if he looked like this in Superman, but with the same sort of armour Shannon's Zod had. I reckon that would be brilliant

[ChrisM]

Jun 28, 2013 7:29:51 GMT -5 @kris said:

I always assumed Ursa drank from the furry cup.


One thing I never liked about Zod's appearance in STM/SII was stamps hair, kinda slicked back. I watched a film the other day called 'In the company of Wolves' in which Stamp makes a brief appearance as Satan. Anyway I thought what if he looked like this in Superman, but with the same sort of armour Shannon's Zod had. I reckon that would be brilliant

In the Donner footage it really wasn't slicked back. I think that was mostly Lester's choice.


It's not the number of people a villain kills or how much they yell... it's the subtleties of their performance and the unspoken body language that really shapes the character's impact (Silence of the Lambs comes to mind as I type this). Nothing about Shannon was subtle... but I think a lot of that falls on the director and writers to mold.

[crazy_asian_man]

It's hard for me to pick which actor is better, because they were going for different characters.

That's true- totally different motivations, etc.-

I think that's why (for me) Stamp/Donner's Zod stands out--- he's just a unique character altogether. His character seems like he feels incredibly entitled and over the top--- but the performance isn't. It feels like there's a rich backstory hidden with Stamp's Zod- whereas with Shannon's group- it feels like everything is on the surface. I enjoy Shannon as a different kind of Zod, but Stamp's Zod is way more fun to quote.

[Metallo]

I actually prefer Zod's look in the Lester footage with the slicked down hair and a bit more grey showing in his hair and beard.

Stamps Zod was more like an aristocrat or nobility who was part of the military. Shannon's Zod seems like a straight military dictator or wannabe dictator when attempting his coup. Shannon's not going for that same kind of refinement. Stamps Zod doesn't hide behind noble or patriotic excuses. It's just clear he wants to rule be used he thinks he should.

[atp]

Jun 28, 2013 12:17:57 GMT -5 Metallo said:

Stamps Zod was more like an aristocrat or nobility who was part of the military.

Yep, you can see that in the way he holds himself while the TV reporter (Ursa's real-life husband, BTW) is talking. He stands up straight, shoulders back, neck held stiffly. Exactly like an aristocratic officer would do.

[atp]

Would Charles Dance make a good General Zod?

This is him currently, in Game of Thrones.

[Deleted]

Is that Benedict from Last Action Hero?

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[atp]

Never bothered seeing Last Action Hero, but yes, I believe it is.

[ye5man]

Jun 29, 2013 11:47:27 GMT -5 @ucfkevin said:

Is that Benedict from Last Action Hero?

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LAH: Is that the guy who calls Zorba the Greek something like a "Spaghetti slurping moron" when talking about doing a 180? Loved him in that flick

[atp]

Is Last Action Hero good or crap?

I never bothered seeing it, as I got the impression this was where Arnold jumped the shark.

[Deleted]

That's because it was a completely misunderstood and mismarketed movie. It's a hilarious parody of his past movies, and it's so well done that most people missed that it was, indeed, a hilarious parody. People took it seriously, so it bombed. I think it's fantastic, one of his best.

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[atp]

Jun 29, 2013 12:58:52 GMT -5 @ucfkevin said:

That's because it was a completely misunderstood and mismarketed movie. It's a hilarious parody of his past movies, and it's so well done that most people missed that it was, indeed, a hilarious parody. People took it seriously, so it bombed. I think it's fantastic, one of his best.

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If it's a parody of itself, does that mean I'd probably like it?

[ye5man]

Jun 29, 2013 12:55:55 GMT -5 atp said:

Is Last Action Hero good or crap?

I never bothered seeing it, as I got the impression this was where Arnold jumped the shark.

Though I do think it falls flat in places, its massively under-rated.



You won't like it ATP. It has a gormless kid with a retarded hairstyle!


Damn, I need to see it again actually.

[Deleted]

Jun 28, 2013 2:51:48 GMT -5 atp said:

Just ordered The Last Days of Krypton from Amazon.

If you enjoy Anderson, he's got another good book called "Enemies & Allies." It's a Batman/Superman team-up set during the 1950s Cold War era. It's damn good. Again, it's a novel, not a comic. It's funny. I just noticed that the cover of my Kindle copy has the S crest similar to the MoS crest, in that the top serif of the S connects to the right side. And this book has been out for a few years. Funny coincidence.

[Metallo]

I love Charles Dance. He makes every movie he's in (Alien 3, The Golden Child) better. Even he couldn't help that last Underworld movie though.

[atp]

Jun 30, 2013 11:31:48 GMT -5 Metallo said:

I love Charles Dance. He makes every movie he's in (Alien 3, The Golden Child) better. Even he couldn't help that last Underworld movie though.

Here's hoping he will be Ming in a new Flash Gordon movie soon.

[Metallo]

With the way Hollywoods going that's probably going to be crap. Either gritty realism that sucks the life out of Flash and co or some stupid modern big budget comedic slant like Lone Ranger and Green Hornet.