Superman IV, the Quest for Peace
Superman IV, the Quest for Peace
With the promo ramp up on 'Man of Steel' in full swing, I thought it would be fun to take a look at the nadir of the last son of Krypton, Superman IV, The Quest for Peace. The film actually works on a 50's live action cartoon movie if one views it in that context, but fails utterly when compared to the iconic Superman movie from 1978 with Christoper Reeve, Marlon Brando, and Margo Kidder.
Superman IV, the Quest for Peace was made during a high stakes corporate take over of the superman series, Superman IV suffered post productions woes and lack of studio push for the film. The slashing of the budget of this Superman film is apparent with the weak visual effects and lackluster story line.
In a nutshell, Superman has decided to rid the world of nuclear war, and is now throwing ICBMs into the sun after addressing the United Nations. Enter Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) and his creepy nephew (Jon Cryer) somehow cloning Superman into a super nemesis Nuclear Man. Chaos ensues as Luthor is trying to keep and profit from the nuclear option for rogue nations. Adding to surreal element is the fact that Nuclear Man is physically played by Mark Pillow, but voiced by Gene Hackman (as Luthor). One wonders why they didn't shamelessly promote it as 'Two super foes by Gene Hackman!'..but I digress...
Superman is nearly mortally wounded by Nuclear Man, and with the timely arrival of Lois Lane inspirational speech and a green crystal from Krypton...Superman defeats Nuclear Man, and foils Luthor's plot. There's also an awkward subplot of a revamping of the daily planet, which mimics the film's core cast. Lois Lane is pretty much a throw away character which is somewhat jarring since the Lois/Superman romance is the crux of the first movie, and add the 'faux' romance of the new publisher's daughter played by Mariel Hemingway, shoe horned as a love interest for Superman/Clark Kent.
As you can imagine, this bungled film and negative profits pretty much ended Superman on the silver screen until Bryan Singer's uneven Superman Returns. Still, there is still much life in the iconic character and there is much excitement for the new take on the last son of Krypton, and despite the flaws in Superman IV, it is now a beloved cult film along with Liquid Sky, Monty Python and The Holy Grail, and the Monkee's acid film, Head.
Worth a look for fans of the superman character and cult movie fans.
With the promo ramp up on 'Man of Steel' in full swing, I thought it would be fun to take a look at the nadir of the last son of Krypton, Superman IV, The Quest for Peace. The film actually works on a 50's live action cartoon movie if one views it in that context, but fails utterly when compared to the iconic Superman movie from 1978 with Christoper Reeve, Marlon Brando, and Margo Kidder.
Superman IV, the Quest for Peace was made during a high stakes corporate take over of the superman series, Superman IV suffered post productions woes and lack of studio push for the film. The slashing of the budget of this Superman film is apparent with the weak visual effects and lackluster story line.
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| Luthor's plan of nuclear war for profit is foiled by Superman |
In a nutshell, Superman has decided to rid the world of nuclear war, and is now throwing ICBMs into the sun after addressing the United Nations. Enter Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) and his creepy nephew (Jon Cryer) somehow cloning Superman into a super nemesis Nuclear Man. Chaos ensues as Luthor is trying to keep and profit from the nuclear option for rogue nations. Adding to surreal element is the fact that Nuclear Man is physically played by Mark Pillow, but voiced by Gene Hackman (as Luthor). One wonders why they didn't shamelessly promote it as 'Two super foes by Gene Hackman!'..but I digress...
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| Superman fighting Nuclear Man on the moon! |
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| Superman's new love interest |
As you can imagine, this bungled film and negative profits pretty much ended Superman on the silver screen until Bryan Singer's uneven Superman Returns. Still, there is still much life in the iconic character and there is much excitement for the new take on the last son of Krypton, and despite the flaws in Superman IV, it is now a beloved cult film along with Liquid Sky, Monty Python and The Holy Grail, and the Monkee's acid film, Head.
Worth a look for fans of the superman character and cult movie fans.
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