Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is a 1987 British-American superhero film directed by Sidney J. Furie and written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal from a story by Christopher Reeve, Konner, and Rosenthal based on the DC Comics character Superman.[6] The film stars Reeve, Gene Hackman, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, Jon Cryer, Sam Wanamaker, Mark Pillow, Mariel Hemingway, and Margot Kidder.

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySidney J. Furie
Produced by
Screenplay by
Story by
Based on
Starring
Music byAlexander Courage
CinematographyErnest Day
Edited byJohn Shirley
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
  • July 24, 1987 (1987-07-24) (United States)
Running time
90 minutes[1]
Country
  • United States[2]
  • United Kingdom[3]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$17 million[4]
Box office$36.7 million[5]

It is the fifth installment in the Superman film series and a sequel to Superman III (1983). It is the first film in the series to not have the involvement of producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind.[7] The film also marks the final appearance of Christopher Reeve as the titular character.

Upon release, the film was widely lambasted by critics and fans alike, with many reviewers citing poor special effects, inconsistencies, and plot holes. Superman IV has often been named one of the worst films ever made. Another Superman film was not released until Superman Returns in 2006.

Plot

Superman saves a spaceship of Soviet cosmonauts whose space station was thrown off course by debris, then visits his home-town of Smallville as Clark. Now that his adoptive parents have died, Clark has inherited their now-unattended farm. In an empty barn, he uncovers the capsule that brought him to Earth and removes a luminescent green Kryptonian energy module. A recording left by his mother Lara states that its power can be used only once. After refusing to sell the farm to a mall developer, Superman returns to Metropolis, where he stops a runaway subway train after the conductor collapses at the controls.

After returning to the Daily Planet, Clark learns that the paper has been taken over by David Warfield, a tabloid tycoon who fires Perry White and hires his own daughter Lacy as the new editor. Lacy takes a liking to Clark and tries to seduce him; Clark agrees to go on a date with her. Following the news that the United States and the Soviet Union may engage in a nuclear arms race, Clark is conflicted about how much Superman should intervene. After receiving a letter from a concerned schoolboy, Superman travels to the Fortress of Solitude to seek advice from the spirits of his Kryptonian ancestors. They recommend that he let Earth solve its own problems or seek new worlds where war has been outlawed. After asking for advice from Lois Lane, Superman attends a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, announcing to the assembly that he will rid the planet of nuclear weapons. Various nations fire their nuclear warheads into space, which are collected by Superman into a giant net and then thrown into the Sun.

Meanwhile, young Lenny Luthor breaks his uncle Lex Luthor out of prison. Returning to Metropolis, Lex and Lenny steal a strand of Superman's hair from a museum and create a genetic matrix which Lex attaches to a U.S. nuclear missile. After the missile is test launched, Superman intercepts it and throws it into the Sun. A glowing ball of energy is discharged, which develops into a superhuman. This "Nuclear Man" makes his way back to Earth to find his "father", Lex, who establishes that while his creation is powerful, he will deactivate without exposure to sunlight. A vicious battle ensues between Lex's creation and Superman. While saving the Statue of Liberty from falling onto the streets of New York, Superman is infected with radiation sickness by a scratch from Nuclear Man's radioactive claws. Nuclear Man kicks Superman into the distance with such strength that Superman's cape falls off.

To Lois' disgust, the Daily Planet (which has been reformatted as a tabloid newspaper) publishes the headline "Superman Dead?", Lois indicates a desire to quit and seizes Superman's recovered cape for herself. Lacy is also upset and reveals to Lois that she cares for Clark. Lois ventures to Clark's apartment where she proclaims her love for Superman. Felled by radiation sickness, Clark staggers to his terrace where he retrieves the Kryptonian energy module and attempts to heal himself. Having developed a crush on Lacy, Nuclear Man threatens mayhem if she is not brought to him. The newly restored Superman agrees to take him to her to prevent anyone else from being hurt. Superman lures Nuclear Man into an elevator car, trapping him inside and then depositing it on the far side of the Moon. As the Sun rises, Nuclear Man breaks free due to a sliver of sunlight through a crack in the elevator doors and Superman is again forced to defend himself. At the end of the battle, it appears as though Superman has been defeated, as he is driven into the Moon's surface by Nuclear Man.

Nuclear Man forces his way into the Daily Planet and abducts Lacy, carrying her into outer space. Superman manages to free himself from the Moon's surface. He then pushes it out of its orbit, casting Earth into an eclipse, nullifying Nuclear Man's powers and leaving Lacy helpless in space. Superman rescues Lacy and returns her to Earth, then recovers Nuclear Man, who is now lifeless, and deposits him into the core of a nuclear power plant, destroying him. What had been Nuclear Man becomes electrical power for the entire electrical grid. Perry White secures a loan to buy a controlling interest in the newspaper, making David Warfield a minority shareholder and protecting the paper from any further takeovers. In a press conference, Superman declares only partial victory in his campaign, saying, "There will be peace when the people of the world want it so badly that their governments will have no choice but to give it to them". Superman also recaptures the fleeing Luthors. He places Lenny in Boys Town, telling the priest that Lenny has been under a bad influence and then returns Lex to prison.

Cast

Production

Development and casting

In 1983, following the mixed-to-negative reaction to Superman III, Reeve and the producers, Alexander Salkind and his son Ilya, assumed that the Superman films had run their course.[12] Reeve was slated to make a cameo in 1984's Supergirl but bowed out early on and the film was a box-office failure. Two years later, Ilya Salkind sold the Superman franchise to Golan and Globus of Cannon Films.[13]

Wes Craven was originally hired by Cannon Films to direct the film, but he and Christopher Reeve did not get along well and Reeve demanded that a new director be brought in.[14]

Filming

Production of Superman IV began in 1986.[15] In his autobiography, Still Me, Reeve described filming the movie:

We were also 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. For example, Konner and Rosenthal wrote a scene in which Superman lands on 42nd Street and walks down the double yellow lines to the United Nations, where he gives a speech. If that had been a scene in Superman I, we would actually have shot it on 42nd Street. Richard Donner would have choreographed hundreds of pedestrians and vehicles and cut to people gawking out of office windows at the sight of Superman walking down the street like the Pied Piper. Instead, we had to shoot at an industrial park in England in the rain with about a hundred extras, not a car in sight, and a dozen pigeons thrown in for atmosphere. Even if the story had been brilliant, I don't think that we could ever have lived up to the audience's expectations with this approach.

Rosenthal's DVD commentary cited this scene as an example of Cannon's budget slashing. According to Rosenthal, Reeve and director Furie begged to be able to film that sequence in New York in front of the real headquarters of the United Nations because everyone knew how they looked and the Milton Keynes setting looked nothing like them, but Cannon refused. According to Rosenthal, they were "pinching pennies at every step".

Superman's childhood home in Smallville was built on farmland outside Baldock in North Hertfordshire—even though the original set from Superman: The Movie was still standing in Canada.[16][17]

According to Jon Cryer, who played Luthor's nephew Lenny, Reeve had taken him aside just before the release and told him it was going to be "terrible". Although Cryer enjoyed working with Reeve and Hackman, Cryer claimed that Cannon ran out of money during the production and ultimately released an unfinished film.[18]

Score
Main article: Superman music

Deleted footage

According to writer Mark Rosenthal's commentary on the 2006 DVD, in the gallery of deleted scenes included on the disc, there are approximately forty-five minutes of the film that have not been seen by the general public. They were deleted following a failed Southern California test screening. In fact, the Nuclear Man that appears in the film is actually the second Nuclear Man that Luthor created. Cut scenes featured the original Nuclear Man (portrayed by Clive Mantle) engaging Superman in battle outside the Metro Club and being destroyed by the Man of Steel.[8] The first Nuclear Man was somewhat more inhuman-looking than his successor, and vaguely resembled in looks, and significantly in personality, the comic book character Bizarro. Luthor postulates that this Nuclear Man was not strong enough, and hatches the plan to create the second Nuclear Man within the sun as a result.[19]

Not all deleted scenes made it to the deluxe edition of the DVD, including a scene depicting Clark Kent visiting the graves of his foster parents. This scene was to have preceded the film's theatrical scene where Clark returns to Smallville to meet the contractor in hopes of selling or leasing the Kent farm. A deleted scene about Lacy Warfield's and Clark Kent's romance, showing them dancing in the Metro Club, was also not released on disc.[20]

Reception

Box office

The film was released July 24, 1987, in the United States and Canada, and grossed $5.6 million during its opening weekend, playing in 1,511 theatres and ranking #4 at the box office.[21][22] In the United States it made $15.6 million and $21.1 million internationally totaling its worldwide box office gross to $36.7 million .[23]

Of the four Superman films starring Reeve, The Quest for Peace fared the worst at the box office, and the series went dormant for the following nineteen years.[4] Reeve regretted his decision to be involved in the film, saying, "Superman IV was a catastrophe from start to finish. That failure was a huge blow to my career."[24] Plans were made to make a Superman V, but they never came to fruition.[25] Reeve's 1995 paralysis made any further development of sequels involving him in the starring role impossible. Time Warner let the Superman feature film franchise go undeveloped until the late 1990s when a variety of proposals were considered, including several that would reboot the franchise with different versions of the characters and settings. Eventually in 2006, a soft-reboot of the series, Superman Returns, was released.

Critical reception

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 11% of 46 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average score is 2.83/10. The consensus reads: "The Superman series bottoms out here: the action is boring, the special effects look cheaper, and none of the actors appear interested in where the plot's going."[26] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 24 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[27]

The film received a poor review by Janet Maslin of The New York Times, although she wrote that Kidder's portrayal of Lois Lane was "sexy, earnest".[28] It fared no better with Variety.[29] The Washington Post described it as "More sluggish than a funeral barge, cheaper than a sale at Kmart, it's a nerd, it's a shame, it's Superman IV."[30] Several critics disliked the special effects.[31][32][33]

The film was voted number 40 on a list of 'The 50 Worst Movies Ever' by readers of Empire magazine.[34] It was also nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards, Worst Supporting Actress for Mariel Hemingway (lost to Daryl Hannah for Wall Street) and Worst Visual Effects (lost to Jaws: The Revenge).[35]

Comic book adaptation

In late 1987, DC Comics prepared a comic book adaptation of Superman IV, scripted by Bob Rozakis and pencilled by Curt Swan and Don Heck.[36] This edition included different dialogue from the film and incidents from the deleted scenes of the movie. In place of a voice-over from Lara in the early scene involving Superman finding the mysterious crystal, there is a projection of Jor-El himself, much like in the first film. The comic book features a battle with the failed prototype of Nuclear Man resembling Bizarro, and an around-the-world fight with the second Nuclear Man. The adaptation has an alternate ending with Superman and Jeremy flying above Earth, observing that the planet is, in reality, just one world, rather than the divided world one sees on a man-made map. In the adaptation, Jeremy is seen in orbit with a space-suit but in the deleted footage he is not wearing any protection of any kind, as was Lacy Warfield when she was rescued from the second Nuclear Man by Superman. The alternate ending appears in the Deluxe Edition DVD, incorporated in the deleted footage section. There was also a book novelization written by Bonnie Bryant, in which scenes based on deleted footage are included. The novelization was released in 1987, along with the premiere of the film.[37]

References
  1. "SUPERMAN IV – THE QUEST FOR PEACE (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. July 9, 1987. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  2. afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=57838
  3. "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)". British Film Institute. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  4. Mills, Bart (1987-01-02). "And Now . . . Mighty 'Superman Iv' To The Rescue". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
  5. "The Numbers Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)". The Numbers. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  6. Kehr, Dave (1987-07-27). "It's A Bird, It's A Plane -- It's A Bad Film". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
  7. Easton, Nina J. (1990-02-01). "'Superman' Lawsuit Trial Date Set for April 16". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  8. Williams, Owen (2013-06-21). "What happened to Superman IV's Nuclear Man? - Yahoo Movies UK". Uk.movies.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
  9. Murphy, Steve (2001-06-14). "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace". IGN. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  10. Beck, Marilyn (1986-06-26). "Margot Kidder Flies Back To Superman". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  11. "Superman IV: the Quest for Peace (1987)". NYTimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
  12. "And Now . . . Mighty 'Superman Iv' To The Rescue - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. 1987-07-27. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
  13. "UGO's World of Superman — Superman Movies: Superman IV: The Quest For Peace". UGO Networks. 2006. Archived from the original on October 4, 2008. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  14. Lee Goldberg & David McDonnell (September 1986). "Wes Craven's Deadly Doubleheader". Fangoria. No. 57. pp. 50–53, 64.
  15. Lambie, Ryan (24 November 2014). "A Pilgrimage to the Filming Locations of Superman IV". Den of Geek. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  16. Richard Dobson: On Location, fast-rewind.com (without date).
  17. Behind The Scenes – The Kent Farm…, supermania78.com 13 April 2010.
  18. "Jon Cryer takes your iReport questions". CNN.com. 2012.
  19. Lentz, Harris M. (February 1989). Science fiction, horror & fantasy film and television credits supplement: through 1987. McFarland. p. 598. ISBN 978-0-89950-364-6. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  20. "Superman Homepage - Superman on Television". Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  21. Arts, ' (1987-08-11). "Weekend Box Office". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-09.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  22. "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
  23. "The Numbers Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)". The Numbers. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  24. Andersen 2008, p. 38.
  25. Zink, Jack (1990-03-04). "Fifth Superman Movie In The Works". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  26. "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
  27. "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  28. Maslin, Janet (1987-07-25). "Movie: 'Superman IV: Quest for Peace'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-08.
  29. "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace". Variety. 1987-01-01. Retrieved 2010-08-25.
  30. Howe, Desson (1987-07-31). "'Superman IV: The Quest for Peace' (PG)". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
  31. Patridge, Tim. "Superman IV: Special Effects Review". Superman Cinema. Dharmesh. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
  32. Russell, Candice (1987-07-25). "Superman IV Just Too Tired To Fly". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
  33. O'Hara, Helen; Plumb, Alastair; De Semlyen, Phil. "The 50 Worst Movies Ever". Empire. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
  34. "The 50 Worst Movies Ever". Empire magazine. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  35. Wilson, John (2005). The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 0-446-69334-0.
  36. "Superman IV Movie Special (1987) comic books". Mycomicshop.com.
  37. "Superman IV Novelization". Paxholley.ne. 2013.
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