Film Review: Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

(source: tmdb.org)

Superhero films are nowadays seen as golden goose for Hollywood, but it nevertheless took decades for studio executives to come to that conclusion. Their scepticism was, however, quite justified, at least in light what had happened to the first modern superhero film series. Superman saga, which started very strongly in 1978, ended nine years with Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, film directed by Sidney J. Furie, which is now known as one of the most miserable and embarrassing failures in history of Hollywood.

Christopher Reeve for the fourth and last time appears in the role of Superman, heroic alien from planet Krypton who uses his superpower to help people of Earth while under the guise of nerdy Daily Krypton reporter Clark Kent. The newspaper has recently been taken over by ruthless media tycoon David Warfield (played by Sam Wanamaker) who wants to turn it into a tabloid and appoints his daughter Lacy (played by Mariel Hemingway) as editor. She falls in love in Clark Kent who, as Superman, has other issues to worry about. United States and Soviet Union have failed to reach understanding at the latest summit and opted to restart nuclear arms race. When a schoolboy publicly asks Superman to do something about it, he reacts by coming to United Nations and informing everyone that would collect all nuclear warheads from Earth and launch them towards Sun. This inadvertently serves sinister plans of master criminal Lex Luthor (played by Gene Hackman) who has escaped prison with help of his uncle Lenny (played by Jon Cryer) and swore to get revenge on Superman. He steals piece Superman’s hair from museum and uses its genetic material to create Nuclear Man (played by Mark Pillow), superhuman that with powers to match Superman’s and who draws all of his power from Sun.

Reeve originally didn’t want to appear in this role, thinking that the series had ran its course with underwhelming Superman III and that he should continue his career should take different direction. After The Cannon Group, film studio specialised in B-films, obtained the rights to series, its executives wanted Reeve to reappear as Superman and made offer generous enough to change his mind. Studio not only agreed to finance Reeve’s pet project, crime drama Street Smart but also allowed Reeve to take part in writing the screenplay, which he did in line with his own strong pacifist and anti-nuclear views. The final result, however, was utter disappointment at box office, among critics, and most importantly, among the fans of Superman.

It would be unfair to say that there aren’t any good things in this film. Reeve does solid job in the role of Superman, just as Margot Kidder in the role of Lois Lane, although the subplot that makes her rekindle the romance with Man of Steel seems recycled and underwritten. Mariel Hemingway is solid as Lois Lane’s romantic rival, although the role suffers from poor script. Composer Alexander Courage is more than adequate in the score that is within standards established by John Williams in the first film. Everything else is, however, disappointment. Reeve’s heart was on the right place, but his attempt to turn Superman IV into message film was contrary to the canon of the title character, which had been forbidden to dabble into politics and set Earth’s destiny, something that Superman agrees with at the end of the film. Director Sidney J. Furie, known for prolific but not particularly memorable filmography, was brought as replacement for bigger names and in this film it shows with style and production values that could have been adequate for television film, but not only for production of such stature.

Most of that is result of Cannon having serious financial problems at the time, which forced original budget to be cut in half. Superman IV was haphazardly made with great haste in English locations, with little consideration or time to deal with some questionable creative choices (like, for example, England instead of United Kingdom being named as member of United Nations). The most glaring flaw in the film is sorry state of special effects, that look abysmal even for 1980s standards and almost turn this film into unintentional parody of the entire series. But the worst decision made by Cannon was to slash running time by third, which removed too many important scenes and left too many gaping and unforgivable plot holes, especially during the final showdown between Superman and Nuclear Man. Superman IV ultimately ended status of Reeve as great star and it took almost two decades before the next Superman film. Reeve is still the best actor to play that character, but his last appearance in that role will fill many of his and Superman’s fans with sadness.

RATING: 2/10 (-)