Superman IV: The Quest For Peace
1987
Director: Sidney J. Furie
Starring: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder,
Mariel Hemingway, Jon Cryer, Marc McClure, Jackie Cooper, Mark Pillow
Rated: PG
The Dude of Steel! Boy are you gonna get it!
~Lenny
With the Salkinds removed from the equation, as rights were
transferred to Canon Films, it was a much easier task to get everyone back for Superman IV. Christopher Reeve, who claimed he was hanging
up the cape after III, was allowed to
help create the story. With him fully on
board other players like Hackman and Kidder (in full capacity this time) were
easy to coax back. I’m guessing they
wanted to wash away memories of III or possibly too many cooks in the kitchen
with Superman’s love interests being the reason Lana Lang is nowhere to be
found.
Superman IV has
some problems, but the biggest one is budgetary restraints. The film went into production expecting a $36
million budget, only to get a $17 million one instead. However, I must applaud them, they still went
all in with it and tried not to let the budget prevent them from telling the
story they wanted to tell. The movie’s
effects look very cheap and pretty crummy throughout the film, but considering
what the filmmakers are going for and the amount of ambition that seeps through
the entire runtime, I’m able to respect it more. This is the case for me, I’m guessing not for
most.
The Quest For Peace,
unlike the previous film, has something to say here. Whether it’s clumsily handled or doesn’t
quite work like it should, its there and the story sticks to it. Throughout the film we’re treated to a “What
if” story about Superman interfering with global affairs. Would it do anything? Should he really keep his nose out of
it? Superman does interfere, believing he
will rid the Earth humanity’s evil. He’s
far off, for he learns that those up to no good will always find away and it’s
up to the people of the planet to handle it, not him. Meanwhile, there’s also an interesting plot
going on at the Daily Planet. A new
majority shareholder comes in and is keen on selling papers as opposed to
reporting the truth. It brings about a
debate about journalistic integrity, being old fashioned, staying current and
trying to keep the paper industry alive.
This plot actually gives Perry White an active role in something for the
first time in the entire series. The issue
is hitting him right close to home and he takes major stance against and
actually is present throughout. Its nice
to see the character live up to what has only been stereotyped and built on
reputation.
Now, the issues above sound grand, but please remember, this
is a PG film and the troubles are handled in a very family-kid friendly
fashion. If you’re looking for something
rather deep it’s not there. But it’s
admirable that the filmmakers are thoughtful and trying to bring something to
the table here and attempting to build more of a story than a super strength
alien from outer space punching and lifting things.
Some crappy flying effects aside, the film sails on pretty
good for the first half. It isn’t until
Neutron Man appears that things dip a little south to the credits. Mark Pillow is quite terrible, but they have
the bizarre choice of having Hackman dub his lines. He’s just quite awful himself. It’s cool to have Superman vs. another type
of Superman man, but really we saw this in Superman
II. And the fact that he’s kinda
cloned from Superman, is just like Superman
III. Neutron Man’s appearance also
makes the film more effects heavy, showing its hand with its budget even more. But really, he’s just the film’s “Goon”, just
a poor one.
There was a feeling and thought I had throughout this
viewing of Superman IV. I hadn’t seen the film in probably 7
years. This is the perfect
representation of a Superman from the 1940s.
It’s got Superman involved in world events, a big goofy sci fi villain
and a very screwball comedy aspect present in the entire picture. It starts off in Smallville as a very
different film, but once we’re back in Metropolis, it just starts right
off. I kind of really liked this feeling
and was able to appreciate the film more and overlook a lot of issues this film
has because of this feeling.
Okay okay. I’ve
probably caught you off guard as I’ve said nothing really bad about this
despised film that bombed at the box office, causing Superman 5 not to happen
as well as a live action Spiderman film.
Well, Superman flies humans into space and they don’t die or burn up in
the atmosphere. That’s beyond dumb. Lenny is a bit ridiculous, but we did accept
Otis before. There’s plenty. The movie could’ve been worse though. This movie was trimmed to a tight 90
minutes. They don’t ask you to stick around
for 2+ hours. It’s a story that never
drops your attention and is over quickly.
They cut over 30 minutes from the film.
All of it pretty stupid. There
was a whole Proto-Neutron Man created before Neutron Man and he’s a bumbling
mistake. Something akin to Superman III quality and it brings
nothing to the table. Everything they
cut was deservedly so. So instead we get
a tighter more watchable film.
Superman IV: The Quest
For Peace is the end run of the original cannon of Superman films. And it feels complete at the end. Christopher Reeve would be involved in a
devastating horse riding accident in the 90s, rendering him fully paralyzed, thus
sealing any hopes of continuing this franchise with him as Superman. And he was Superman. When I and many others think of Superman
whether it be comics, tv, movies, he’s the image that comes to our mind. It was a big and sad day when new broke of
Reeve’s accident. It was such big news
that a special ticker ran across television shows nationwide reporting the
incident. Nobody could believe what had
happened. And it was because it happened
to Superman that made its impact such a tragedy. Every time I think of what happened to
Christopher Reeve, I swell up with some sadness. I was young, a kid and he was such a big
figure to a lot of us.
Sorry to end this one on a downer of sorts, but its
definitely part of the Superman story (and the Superman Curse). Superman himself would leave a big hiatus on
the big screen. In the meantime we were
treated to a short lived Superboy series
and in the 90s Lois & Clark: The New
Adventures of Superman. The Moonlighting-esque Lois & Clark featured my all time favorite Lois Lane, played by
Teri Hatcher. And, then finally another
Superman film came…do you know what that was?
You’ll find out next time!
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