Superman IV: Quest for Peace (1987)

 

For many Superman IV was the death kneel of Superman as a film franchise. Not only was it a commercial and critical disappointment but it is still considered to be the worst superman movie to date. Because of this film's failure, there would not be another theatrically released Superman movie until Superman Returns (2006). 

In this film, a little boy writes Superman asking him if he can get rid of all nuclear weapons. At first, he is hesitant about this because he vowed not to interfere with the world's politics. He eventually decides that the world is in so much danger that he should make an exception. Meanwhile Lex Luther intends to create a creature as powerful as Superman that will obey him by stealing a strand of Superman's hair. 

There is no way around it, this is a bad movie. While Superman III (1983) was a very flawed movie, it had its good points as well. This film has nothing to recommend about it. Its messaging is done with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. It also presents it in such an overly simplistic way, that it is hard to take anything that this movie is saying seriously. In its messaging this movie comes off as more of a cheap afterschool special than an actual theatrical superhero movie. The film also is very weak on the villain front. Lex Luthor here is presented in a very comedic fashion here. However not only does this make him not feel as much of a serious threat as in the previous films but the humor itself is not even close to funny. This movie also introduces his nephew, who is the most annoying character to ever appear in a superhero film. This character tries too hard to be a hip 80's teenager and fails miserably at it. The character is also played by Jon Cryer with what is easily the worst performance of his career. Nuclear Man (the creature Lex creates from Superman's hair) is incredibly bland and has such a silly look (that is much too overly 80's) that it hard to take him seriously. This film has the worst special effects of any Superman movie. The special effects definitely received a downgrade from the previous films, and I am no longer sure I believe a man can fly. These special effects make it hard to enjoy any of the action scenes at all. The subplot about a tycoon gaining ownership of Daily Planet is extremely cliché and predictable. Even the return of Christopher Reeve (Superman), Gene Hackman (Lex Luther), Marget Kidder (Lois Lane) and Jackie Cooper (Perry White).

In 1985 at the Cannes Film Festival the producers of the last three Superman movies (Alexander and Ilya Salkind) sold the movie rights to Superman to Cannon Films for $5 million. Cannon Films was known for producing such movies as The Last American Virgin (1982), Ninja III: The Domination (1984), and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984). Chrisopher Reeve was by this time tired of the role of Superman. However, Cannon Films was able to get him by promising that he could also make his passion project Street Smart (1987), which he hoped would prove that he was a classically trained actor capable of playing more than one role. Reeve was also given approval over the script and director. A script by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal (the team that had written The Legend of Billie Jean (1985) and The Jewel of the Nile (1985)) was written but the film still needed a director. Reeve originally wanted Ron Howard as the director but that didn't work out. Reeve even briefly thought about directing the film himself, despite having no directorial experience. Richard Donner (director of Superman the Movie (1978)) was even briefly approached but he turned it down. Wes Craven (who had recently directed Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)) was briefly assigned to direct but left due to creative differences with Reeve. Eventually Candian director Sidney J. Furie (Lady Sings the Blues (1972), Iron Eagle (1986)) was given the director's chair. 

Reeve would later state that the production of this film was “hampered by budget constraints and cutbacks in all departments. Cannon Films had nearly thirty projects in the works at the time, and Superman IV received no special consideration.” Nearly everyone working on the film noticed that they were not given the resources necessary to make this movie even look halfway decent. Though the film was approved at a $36 million budget over the course of production it was trimmed to $17 million. Even Jon Cryer who was fairly new to the movie industry noticed that the studio was not giving this movie the care and attention it should have had. Cryer stated “I just noticed little things, like the craft-service table got more and more meager. And they took less and less time every day. We would get props that were especially, uh, crappy.” Reeve would even tell Cryer in private “It’s an absolute mess.”

This movie originally ran at 134 minutes but after a disastrous test screening, it was trimmed down to only 90 minutes. This left gapping plot holes in this already extremely flawed movie. The film only grossed $15 million in its total domestic run. The film helped bring Cannon Films to financial ruin and hurt Reeve's career and the public opinion of superhero movies. Luckily for superhero fans a couple years later Tim Burton's Batman (1989) would help redeem the public opinion on these films. Chistopher Reeve would later state about Superman IV, “Superman IV was a catastrophe from start to finish. That failure was a huge blow to my career.” 

This still stands as one of the worst superhero movies ever made. Even with many superhero movies planned for the coming years, I doubt that will change anytime soon. 

Resources Used

https://www.joblo.com/what-happened-to-superman-iv-the-quest-for-peace/

https://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/superman-iv-the-quest-for-peace