Most fans knock the movies for being wrong or whatever, but there are only a slight few that actually attack Chris's acting and his impersonation of both Clark and Superman. Everyone I have met (or whose post I have read) says that he was perfect for this role. I wholeheartedly agree. I can't imagine anyone else in that role. Its like how some people feel about Michael Keaton and Batman, he IS the character.
I love those movies because they didn't use any cgi yet the way they made him fly seems more realistic they anything on The Matrix. I used to think that their stunt guys or whoever came up with some kind of innovation that allowed the flights to look natural. I heard recently that it was actually Chris who made it look real. He was a glider pilot or something and therefore had knowledge of wind currents or whatever (you would think that me being an engineer wold be able to describe this better). So, it was this knowledge that he used to manouver his body in that harness to fly in arcs rather than in straight lines.
His characterization of both Clark Kent and Superman was perfect. Many people on the messageboards have said this as well. He was able to give two unique performances as each character. This tall, powerful man was able to portray a meek, quiet man very convincingly. His characterization of Superman was dead on in my eyes and many others. He was a kind hero who could scare the crap out of criminals when he needed to. The emotion he showed was so powerful for this kind of movie. I mean who expects an actor playing Superman to show that much emotion. He obviously respected this role. This is something that is lacking in the modern superhero movies, a respect for the story as a story and not looked upon as some kids movie or the "director's interpretation". When Superman finds Lois' body and freaks out like that...man is that good!
His more recent work for his charity and advocacy of stem cell research makes him a real hero (a "super" man if you will). I disagree with the idea that he shouldn't be called a hero because "he had to live with this" and therefore what he did was just a response to it. I thought about what I would do in his position and you know what, I would never leave the house. This guy was all over. He had trouble speaking in the first couple of years because of the respirator, yet he still went up to speak in front of congress about stem cell research. True, if not for the accident he probably wouldn't have championed this particular cause, but he did seem to be the kind of person that would use his celebrity to help out somewhere else. I see a parallel world where he survived his accident and later used his celebrity for a children's charity, still being pinned as a "super" man.
He was great as this character and even greater as a real man, he will be sorely missed.