Good review with one exception: when you said "Superman shouldn't get involved with politics," that wasn't a flaw of the movie, that was the whole point of the movie. That was the lesson that he learns, and the moral of the story. In the end he says "I thought I could give you freedom from war, but it isn't mine to give. ...but there will be peace. 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."
The point is that Superman movies shouldn't even touch the subject of politics at all. It's like a film about Superman taking drugs and learning the lesson that drugs are bad. A Superman film shouldn't go there in the first place.
The reason they did that is because in the previous films Superman never learned the consequences of messing with human history when he reversed time so the point of the film was for him to finally learn the consequences of getting involved with human history through nuclear man.
@@Scripture-Man You also need to put it in context of the time this was done. The Cold War was still going on, so the threat of nuclear annihilation was still very much a problem.
@@Scripture-Man I personally do not feel that the nuclear arms race is a political issue, but a matter of sanity and insanity... Superman as a character would feel a moral obligation to try to save his new home from the same fate that Krypton suffered, he even says this in the film, so it makes sense that he would give it a try and would have to learn a lesson in the process... I personally really like the idea attempt being human enough to make a mistake and not even realizing that he is doing so and in the process coming to terms with the idea that he actually is more human than he realized because of the error...
@@KarstensCreationsKC I agree. The last time I watched this, I re-evaluated the nuclear disarmament plot and decided that it was not a bad idea at all. I grew up in the seventies and eighties, and as a child I had very real fears of a nuclear war happening. I had several nightmares about it, and it would sometimes distract me even in school as I worried over it. The threat was very real and people today don't really get what it was like. I think Superman's message of peace at the end of the film is a very good one, and it is made even better in the deleted scene where Superman takes Jeromy over the continents to show how there are no borders, but only one Earth. The message was actually an inpiration that only Christopher Reeve as Superman could truly get across. It is a shame that the message was lost to a badly made film that everyone panned. Chris ' s heart was definitely in the right place!
At the ending when you said but I'm still glad he put on the suit for one more time to show the world he was still SUPERMAN and forever will be man that gave me goose bumps awesome review like always cheers!
Someone should do a massive re-edit (include deleted footage to flesh out the story so there are no plot holes & flesh out the characters/character development plus remove a lot of the really bad shots) of Superman IV and an upgrade of all the special effects (including the classic style of special effects, miniatures, opticals, etc & use modern CGI when necessary). They should make the version that should have been (to tribute Christopher Reeve). That is a version I'd pay to see (hear that Warner Bros, I'd pay to see Superman IV done right).....
Some Fella Amen to that, dude. Warner Bros., get your butts in gear, ransack the Cannon archives, find everything, and bring in people who know how to do a proper Superman film (Richard Donner)!
Greetings Some Fella! I like what you suggest. I hope a big film production will do it. There is this Sean Connery movie Never Say Never Again which a guy re edited its opening sequence and it was great!!! And that is done by an individual huh? What more if a big movie company fix Superman IV with a huge budget and honest passionate work?
Aaron Jimenez Warner Bros owns the rights to DC Comics and they own the character of Superman. If any studio is going to produce a redo on this film, it would have to be Warner Bros. Plus, unless they have the software or tools to remove all of the dirt, scratches, wax pencil marks, stains and all damage from the workprint footage, they will need to find a better source for those scenes, if one exists.
Sony Re-cut spiderman 3 years after to try and make it better. I bet a good editor with a cut here and another cut there, with some edits back in could make this much better.
I would like to see a full restoration of the 134 minute cut, with some new CGI effects added to finish off the unfinished effects shots. but that would never happen
Raymond Leggs stranger things have happened. If they can locate the footage from a source other than that workprint, add the remastered score written by John Williams and conducted by Alexander Courage, as well as a whole new visual effects team (ex. Rhythm & Hues, Digital Domain, ILM, Double Negative) supervised by the original effects supervisor Harrison Ellenshaw, and we have a reconstruction of the film that could have been.
You know that scene in "The Naked Gun" where two sports commentators are watching the stadium's highlights reel featuring a player becoming decapitated while trying to catch a ball? One commentator is staring open-eyed in disbelief, and the other is laughing hysterically. That's how I feel about this movie.
Christopher Reeve has and will always be Superman to me. Fine actor and a true professional. Check out Somewhere In Time if you haven't seen it. One of the great romance films of all time.
Removing that scene in Russian hurts the movie pretty severely I think. Superman saving even the leaders of Communist Russia is quite a bit thing for a movie in the 80s, wouldn't you say?
Oliver Harper For sure man for sure. The recording I had as a kid had those scenes included. I think you maybe didn't know that. The televised version of this movie in the USA was the one with the scenes restored. Not deleted scenes, but the tornado and Russian one
if you ask me, superman 4 has a great story so that's why I enjoy the film. personally, I am not bothered by graphics so I actually like this movie. I might be an idiot for this, but still just my opinion. 😊
Thomas Bicknell BvS has a good storyline. It was way better than Superman 3’s storyline. Say what you want about Doomsday, Luther Eisenberg, the Martha connection (which I think was a good idea), Jimmy Olsen being killed (like seriously I don’t see much of a connection with Jimmy), and the fight between the two. But at least it was something different of a Superman film without a message being forced down one’s throat.
@@RalphJr-xp3hp That's full of hog-crap and you know it. BvS had an abominable storyline with the malicious intent to deviate Superman's mythos in favor of Snyder's fanboyish ego for the B-Man. He made this to sabatoge the Superman franchise, and he succeeded with tragic consequences. The DCEU is getting a reboot. We're not gonna get another SM sequel, they're making 3 BM related movies coming soon and Snyder and his deviant DK crowd are to blame.
You are not an idiot. This is not a bad movie. It doesn’t deserve all the crap it gets. Of course it’s not as good as the first two. I like Superman 3 better, but I think it’s an ok movie. Christopher Reeve, gene Hackman and most of the cast are great. If they had the money for better special effects this movie would have been better. I give Superman 1 A plus Superman 2 an a Superman 3 b minus and Superman 4 a c plus.
Dude, seriously these montages you do in the opening and closing of your reviews are MUCH better then any trailer I've seen for these movies. They have girth to it and the pacing makes me interested in the content. Tron 82, Batman 89, Robocop especially. Even Total Recall. All of them to be honest. It's fucking great!
Bill Siard in “Smallville” Season Two. The episode “Rosetta” had Christopher Reeve appear as Dr. Virgil Swann, a scientist who tells Clark of his Kryptonian origin.
I bet if canon or cannon (however it's spelled) didn't cut the budget it could have been an awesome movie. Despite the 3rd and 4th superman movies being failures in the box office Christopher reeve was the best thing about the movies. I thought he got shafted with the superman films. If budgets didn't get cut or there weren't any disputes with the director and the rest of the cast the 3rd and 4th movies would have been awesome. Christopher reeve fit the role perfectly and he played it perfectly. He deserved to have an awesome movie series.
They spread themselves too thin. Around this time they also were making Masters of the Universe and had purchased the film rights to Spider-Man. So instead of focusing on one big movie and give it a good budget, they tried to focus on three with minuscule budgets.
Tony DeCaro I agree. Cannon’s resources were spread too thin. If they had postponed “Masters of the Universe” and not purchased the film rights to “Spider-Man,” this film might not have been the disaster it was.
Fujimoose Superman 3 was not a failure at the box office it did extremely well , yes compared to the first 2 movies it didn’t make as much but nevertheless it was a success
Wonderful retrospective. I'm in such a small minority that truly believes there is an at least passable film in there somewhere. But the thing wasn't finished. Slapdash budgeting and half-baked production killed what should have rescued and extended the franchise into the early 90's. Of any film that could use a fanedit or the full Lucas treatment, this movie is the crown jewel.
I think it would been better visually, the story still had major problems. But the original idea for Nuclearman was to have a direct clone of Chris Reeve. So again you'd have two Supermen on screen. It would've been interesting. Definitely would have been a more enjoyable film if it had the money.
Really the same thing as Superman 3 even if they had the money to do it. Chris playing a good and bad version of himself.. Script was just bad.. Budget was worse..
@@PatTheBatmanFan Yeah, I always thought his character was supposed to be Bizzaro, and I wish they just called the end result Nuclear Man "Bizzaro" as well and had him in the Bizzaro suit. The same way I wish the super computer in Superman III was called Brainiac and the tar laced kryptonite was just shown to be red kryptonite. I never understood why they came so close to the comics and then made those small, weird changes.
I had an old friend who worked on Superman 4 and a few years ago i asked him about it. His take on it was that it was WB who messed the film up. They gave the rights to Cannon and then deliberately cut the budget and forced them to rush the production to make them look bad. He also said that Sidney J Furie was way out of his depth and suffered panic attacks. Often refusing to come out of his trailer and letting the First AD call the shots.
I work in MK and every time I drive past the train station I recite the end speech about wanting peace. Sometimes I break into Rocky IV's 'we all can change' speech by accident.
That deleted scene with Clive Mantel also has the theme song to the '80s children's BBC program Bric-a-Brac playing throughout the scene for some bizarre reason as well! See Saw - Bric 'A' Brac
Oliver Harper It was a weekday afternoon show in the early '80s, I was only about 2 or 3 when it was on myself. I just remember them showing off all these old toys on it that I really wanted :D
iT WAS A TEMP TRACK. ALEXANDER COURAGE DID PROVIDE A SCORE ORCHESTRATED FOR THAT SCENE, BUT DUE TO THE SCENE BECOMING DELETED AND THE PROTO-NUCULAR MAN SCRAPPED, THE MUSIC WAS NOT USED. DUE TO THE POOR QUALITY OF THE SCENE, THE TEMP TRACK WAS USED INSTEAD. JUST A BIT OF CLARIFICATION.
13:05 Superman: "You'd risk world wide nuclear war for your own personal financial gain!?" Lex Luthor: "Nobody wants war, I just want to keep the threat alive" I always loved this exchange. It was hilarious to me as a kid that didn't understand global politics, just for Hackman's delivery, and as an adult I realize how true it is, especially with weapons makers and arms dealers.
David Guy I think President Carter did too, and he was a nuclear engineer in the Navy. I think some people just can't pronounce it because of the shape of their mouth or something.
I grew up in the 1970s and "nukular" was always being said. At some point, I looked up the word in a dictionary and discovered that only "nuclear" was a word and that a whole lot of people just don't know how to say it. It was not a trend started by Superman IV.
This movie was not good. However, it was great to have all the key actors. There were some good scenes(as you mentioned), but it just suffered too many problems. The score was stellar though. The Box set is impressive. I do love blaring "The Nuclear Man Theme" out my car as I drive around, good stuff.
after hearing so many bad reviews of this film was nice to hear some good points on this film oliver superb review. I agree with most things you say but I do love this film i love the original cast returning I find it hard to dislike any of the reeve films
The Director’s Cut Consultants: Sidney J. Furie & Jim Bowers Producers: Matthew Reeve, Peter MacDonald & Aaron Price Editorial Consultant: Stuart Baird Image Restoration: MTI/Warner, Pacific Title Digital Audio Restoration: FSM Studios New VFX/Main & End Titles Supervised by Aaron Price VFX Consultant: Harrison Ellenshaw Special Thanks: • Paul Fishman and Re-Flex • John Williams • Oliver Harper • Peter Young • Mike Matessino • Lukas Kendall • The Warner Bros. Archives & • The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation Filmed in JDC Scope Color by Rank Film Laboratories Prints by Technicolor Remixed in Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD & THX Director’s Cut Soundtrack Available from La-La Land Records/WaterTower Music A Cannon Films/FSM Studios Production Distributed by Warner Archives
I love this Superman film because of its anti-nuclear-weapon message. I was happy with keeping the same actors. The main thing I disliked was the origin of Nuclearman. I’d have preferred him to be another alien, perhaps even a Kryptonian.
This movie was truly awful, but your review was (as I am finding all of them to be) stellar. Calling Lenny a hipster douchebag made me laugh out loud. As another poster mentioned, you should look up the documentary "Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Wild Untold Story of Cannon Films". It is very informative and great fun to watch.
+Anthony Delamont It's actually on Netflix now... so funny approach those crazy Israelis had towards making films for an American audience despite not quite understanding its pop social culture.
Yeah the commentary is very good!. like me as a kid i loved Superman IV but it doesn't take long to notice the cracks and cheapness on screen. I think most kids loved SIV.
I was nine years old, and wanted to love it. But, the low quality was just too obvious for me to completely enjoy. I did not enjoy Superman III, but watching Superman IV indirectly helped me realize how strong Superman III is.
why would Iiya Salkind sell his rights to superman to a slop factory like cannon/ golan globus he is as much to blame for the demise of superman as any one else!!
+alex brown not what i meant i meant he must of known cannon were known for cutting corners and would destroy superman like i said his as much to blame!
"The budget was cut.." Pretty much the story of anyone's life who made a movie for Cannon Films. The fact that 'Runaway Train' got made unscathed is a miracle.
Another scene cut from the film that should've stayed is Lacy preparing to leave Metropolis, since it shows the end of her character arc. Clark sees how much she's changed, especially given how she risked herself to help him stop Nuclear Man (another deleted scene), and entrusts the Kent family farm to her.
I don't know if anybody else noticed, but Clark seems to dress the same for the double date as for the Metro Club scene. If skillfully worked, he could be isolated from the lobby, as could Lacy, and put in the club.
There's some line in the movie about how the package that Luthor attaches to the missile has a computer inside that will sew him a costume. I can't believe I really thought the animated embryo that becomes Nuclear Man was cool when I was a kid.
The reveal of the title was much better than the one in the actual film. I presume it was taken from the Australian VHS preview? I believe that preview contained quite a bit of the deleted footage as well.
There was rumours about Warners wanting to get rid of Cannon, that info may have passed on to your friend. There were debates about control of cinema chains. Cannon owned a lot of theatres in the 80s. Clive Mantle ( Nuclearman 1) said he had no confidence in the man. Furie and Reeve refused to have trailers to save money on the production. Cheers for the info mate.
I really like your review as your been completely honest. Not just coming out saying its a load of rubbish. But actually giving proper reasons why it didn't do to well.
This was actually the first Superman film I saw. They ran a marathon when I was 7, back when I hated the character. Surprisingly, this film made me fall in love with Superman. I obviously realized just how awful and incomplete the film was as the years went by, but it will always hold a special place in my heart. Also, the DVD commentary with co-screenwriter Mark Rosenthal is very insightful and honest. Worth a look for anyone!
I actually think the concept of Superman growing concerned of a Cold War era nuclear arms race and raiding every nations’s arsenals of nuclear weapons to attempt to stop it, while Lex Luthor brokers deals to create a Nuclear Man to stop him could’ve been an interesting movie if done right.
Ollie, It’s been recently discovered that according to Sidney J. Furie, he did submit a full cut of “Superman IV” with the 2hrs 14min runtime to Cannon and Warner Bros before they decided to chop it to 90min (94 for international release).
Ah, Cannon. This company should never have been given the rights to any film that required a huge budget. Masters of the Universe is another film that springs to mind, when it comes too trying to hard with too little. The company could have pumped more money into some of their films, but they were notorious for spreading their cash too thinly over too many projects. Good review!
Someone once said "It's ok to love a bad film", and that's how I feel about Superman IV. It's a cheap B-Movie with a magnificent cast, and there's a lot of great scenes in the film which come direct from the on screen chemistry. As a whole it doesn't work, but it's still an enjoyable piece of brainless action. Also, I love Nuclear man. Or at least, his look. It's ridiculously 80s, and I love the dark mirroring of Superman's suit in Nuclear man with his black cape and boots.
@ Edward Teach Actually the actor who plays Vigo in Ghostbusters II (1989) is a fellow named Wilhelm Von Homberg who prior to acting was a boxer and a professional wrestler in his native Germany. Like Mark Pillow in Superman IV (1987) Von Homberg had his voice redubbed, by an un-credited Max Von Sydow. Reportedly no one from Columbia Pictures told Von Homberg about this and at the films première after discovering that his voice was redubbed, he left the cinema. I can see why you think that these two actors are the same though.
I can’t help but wonder if this film can still be saved by adding the scenes left out and fixing up the visual effects to make it at least an acceptable movie.
Great video! Superman 4 is a not even worth being in the bargain bin at a grocery store it's so bad, but it's a guilty pleasure of mine. Reeves gives an awesome performance as Superman and the music really elevates the scenes. Also, I for one actually enjoyed the fight between Superman and Nuclear Man
I'd love to see how history would have played out if the whole movie was released in the first place. The deleted scenes on the DVD have unfinished effects while the same scenes in foreign releases have them matching the rest of the film. And I'd love to see everything that we STILL haven't seen, like the Metro Club scenes.
And even so , I prefer Superman IV over Snyder movies any day. The "wall building vision" have more sense than the Martha crap. You have a great talent as editor! the movie looks much better with your cuts.
Superman IV is such a good film. It's an absolute classic and I can't figure why nobody can see it. It's amazing on every level. It's easily the best Superman film ever made.
What to say that hasn't been said in your comments already Olly..... Glad you revisited this just before Man of Steel, it'll all be fresh in your memory with the Geekvolution commentary. A lacklustre film which had so much potential but was ruined by a failing movie studio. I totally agree that even if it had a $20 million budget for effects, the story was still pretty weak and would've needed MAJOR rewrites. Thanks for sharing as always buddy!!
Great video. You touched on every point and made an accurate assessment of each one. Reeve did his part on all 4 movies and gave 100% but unfortunately the producers didn’t. If Donner was in charge both 3 and 4 would have been just as good as 1 and 2. Still glad they were made regardless though even though they didn’t measure up to the first 2 movies because it would have been sad to only see just 2 movies with the best Superman, Lois and Lex Luthor actors. No other actors have filled their shoes to date nor will they ever
You had no idea about the other villain?. Well you learn something new everyday or every week thanks to me! lol Yeah Chris deserved better the poor chap.
Thank you for this! It's very well done and I like your honesty! It's sad that Chris didn't get the help he deserved, even though he did try his best. Your ending is spot on! I'm also glad he wore the suit one more time and yes, he is and always will be SUPERMAN!
Ah yes, the film that could've been something a lot better than what it turned out to be. If only Cannon had not been involved. They had no business attempting a film like this. They should've stuck to what they knew and that was low budget Chuck Norris films and Michael Dudikoff action flicks. Their reach far exceeded their grasp in regards to this film and Masters of Universe. Ironically, Masters doesn't look too bad EFX wise compared to Superman IV. Most of the budget for IV was funneled into Masters and it shows.
Great retrospective again mate. I had no idea they used a different villain initially. And that club scene is completely new to me too. As a kid I enjoyed this film very much as it made up for the lack of villain superman could punch in the 3rd film. It's really only as you get older that you start to see the cracks. It really is shocking how poorly made this movie was. Christopher Reeve deserved better.
Am I the only one that thinks that the Nuclear Man could be a great villain with some tweaks? Really. Adjust his powers a bit, and his origins, and he could have been a fantastic antagonist.
The Lacey/Clark scenes have a very Cary Grant His Girl Friday feel to them. They are hands down some of the best stuff in the movie. Both Reeve and Hemingway looked like they were having a good time filming them and it shows. I just wish the stuff they did for the whole Metro Club sequence was included on the later DVD and Blu Ray sets as it looks like they were really having a blast from the still photos floating around on the net that show it.
Man we didn't care man about all that technical bull . In 1988 we watched this movie everytime is came on and continue to watch it. Christopher is SUPERMAN.
Christopher Reeve will always be Superman to me... I don't even know the actor's name who plays the new Superman, but everybody knew who Chris Reeve was back in the day!
I think this may have been the first bit of Superman related media I ever saw. I loved it back then and though I can see the movies flaws quite clearly, I still enjoy it. The main reason being, and I know this isn't an opinion shared by many, but I think Nuclear Man is really cool and could've been a truly great villain if they'd left in more of his character development. He had a great visual presence with the crackling energy all around him, he looked and sounded very threatening, caused a ton of destruction, and he effectively kicked Superman's butt all over town. That left a pretty strong impression on me, so I'm willing to look past the flaws and admire what could have been. You can still see one small hint of Nuclear Man's real character in that moment when he asks Luthor, "What do you fear?" and it's clearly a thinly veiled threat, even Luthor gets a bit flustered when he asks it.
Between ca. 1990-1993, there were some rumblings of Christopher Reeve returning for one more outing; the Salkinds had regained the movie rights, and I strongly suspect saw some of that sweet Batman movie money. I've seen different stories that circle around the same basic idea (Kandor and Brainiac, Superman "dying"), one version is that Reeve was really close to signing on the dotted line to both star and direct, he was just going to direct a new actor, or they were going to carry over Gerard Christopher from Superboy (who at 34 was getting a little old the "boy" part). Personally, I would have liked to see one more Reeve-starring film, but it's only a "what could have been..." now.
I love Alexander Courage's score for this film. I actually like it a lot more than Ken Thornes for II and III. It just has that oomph sound that Thornes doesn't for some reason.
Hi there, thanks for subscribing and for your insightful comments. For some reason all your comments go shoved into the SPAM section. Yeah Courage's score is fab.
Oliver Harper It's definitely one of the highlights of a film that had great intentions, but was held back by a limited budget and poor studio management. One day I would love to see a good fan edit of the film when WB manages to release the rest of the deleted footage that was not on the DVD or Blu Ray.
I'm not sure if Superman actually knew what woman Nuclear Man was referring to. He probably just knew he was gonna take that person against her will and Superman wasn't gonna have that. Just a thought.
Tyrant Gregcag the explanation lies in one of the deleted scenes. If you have either the 2006 DVD or the 2011 Blu-Ray set, the deleted scene titled “Red Alert” contains the explanation.
Id really like to see someone do a fan remaster of superman 4 with cleaned up sfx and audio and maybe some rearranging of the scenes to add in the edited out scenes
Talk about a good premise failing to live up to its potential. This was a perfect opportunity to inject some realism, and show how world governments would react to being forcibly disarmed by an alien. Despite his good intentions, this would have disastrous results, and would have been a REALLY good story if handled right.
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"...he put the suit on one more time, to show the world that he was still Superman and forever will be." So true
YES!
I am Jase he’s the one and only Superman. No other actor has or will ever measure up to Reeve
I am Jase to quote Richard Donner, “he was Superman from day one.”
@Nostalgia Poodle Henry Cavill can actually be really charismatic. He would have been a great Superman, but was let down by cynical garbage writing.
@@CerberusGX Bad writing, and also bad directing by Zack Snyder. I quite like Cavil, and I think he got a raw deal, because Man of Steel was awful.
Luthor's plan was brilliant. This movie destroyed Superman for years.
Ha ha! :)
lol
Lol!😂
lol
Arin Kambitsis he was down for almost 20 years before “Superman Returns” hit theaters in 2006.
Christopher Reeve will always be Superman in my heart. RIP.
Good review with one exception: when you said "Superman shouldn't get involved with politics," that wasn't a flaw of the movie, that was the whole point of the movie. That was the lesson that he learns, and the moral of the story. In the end he says "I thought I could give you freedom from war, but it isn't mine to give. ...but there will be peace. 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."
The point is that Superman movies shouldn't even touch the subject of politics at all. It's like a film about Superman taking drugs and learning the lesson that drugs are bad. A Superman film shouldn't go there in the first place.
The reason they did that is because in the previous films Superman never learned the consequences of messing with human history when he reversed time so the point of the film was for him to finally learn the consequences of getting involved with human history through nuclear man.
@@Scripture-Man You also need to put it in context of the time this was done. The Cold War was still going on, so the threat of nuclear annihilation was still very much a problem.
@@Scripture-Man I personally do not feel that the nuclear arms race is a political issue, but a matter of sanity and insanity... Superman as a character would feel a moral obligation to try to save his new home from the same fate that Krypton suffered, he even says this in the film, so it makes sense that he would give it a try and would have to learn a lesson in the process... I personally really like the idea attempt being human enough to make a mistake and not even realizing that he is doing so and in the process coming to terms with the idea that he actually is more human than he realized because of the error...
@@KarstensCreationsKC I agree. The last time I watched this, I re-evaluated the nuclear disarmament plot and decided that it was not a bad idea at all. I grew up in the seventies and eighties, and as a child I had very real fears of a nuclear war happening. I had several nightmares about it, and it would sometimes distract me even in school as I worried over it. The threat was very real and people today don't really get what it was like. I think Superman's message of peace at the end of the film is a very good one, and it is made even better in the deleted scene where Superman takes Jeromy over the continents to show how there are no borders, but only one Earth. The message was actually an inpiration that only Christopher Reeve as Superman could truly get across. It is a shame that the message was lost to a badly made film that everyone panned. Chris ' s heart was definitely in the right place!
Superman III "Many of the fans and cast members felt the movie didn't work"
Superman IV "Hold My Beer"
While both movies are bad, Id rather rewatch IV than III
I guess it takes someone as legendary as Christopher Reeve to say the word NUCLEAR correctly.
Yeah that kept bugging me too. Maybe there is a Q in the word nuclear in English broadcasting!
@@nickfuller20 Even Gene Hackman said it wrong during the movie.
Yes, I really despise it when people say "nukular", and they are everywhere!
At the ending when you said but I'm still glad he put on the suit for one more time to show the world he was still SUPERMAN and forever will be man that gave me goose bumps awesome review like always cheers!
Someone should do a massive re-edit (include deleted footage to flesh out the story so there are no plot holes & flesh out the characters/character development plus remove a lot of the really bad shots) of Superman IV and an upgrade of all the special effects (including the classic style of special effects, miniatures, opticals, etc & use modern CGI when necessary). They should make the version that should have been (to tribute Christopher Reeve). That is a version I'd pay to see (hear that Warner Bros, I'd pay to see Superman IV done right).....
Some Fella Amen to that, dude. Warner Bros., get your butts in gear, ransack the Cannon archives, find everything, and bring in people who know how to do a proper Superman film (Richard Donner)!
Yes, some studio definitely needs to do this… Like they did with the Donner Cut of Superman II, only more ambitious with CGI etc.
Greetings Some Fella! I like what you suggest. I hope a big film production will do it. There is this Sean Connery movie Never Say Never Again which a guy re edited its opening sequence and it was great!!! And that is done by an individual huh? What more if a big movie company fix Superman IV with a huge budget and honest passionate work?
Aaron Jimenez Warner Bros owns the rights to DC Comics and they own the character of Superman. If any studio is going to produce a redo on this film, it would have to be Warner Bros. Plus, unless they have the software or tools to remove all of the dirt, scratches, wax pencil marks, stains and all damage from the workprint footage, they will need to find a better source for those scenes, if one exists.
Sony Re-cut spiderman 3 years after to try and make it better. I bet a good editor with a cut here and another cut there, with some edits back in could make this much better.
I would like to see a full restoration of the 134 minute cut, with some new CGI effects added to finish off the unfinished effects shots. but that would never happen
Raymond Leggs stranger things have happened. If they can locate the footage from a source other than that workprint, add the remastered score written by John Williams and conducted by Alexander Courage, as well as a whole new visual effects team (ex. Rhythm & Hues, Digital Domain, ILM, Double Negative) supervised by the original effects supervisor Harrison Ellenshaw, and we have a reconstruction of the film that could have been.
"NO! DON'T DO IT- THE PEOPLE!!!"
THE PEEEEOOOOOPPPPPPLLLLEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"DESTROY SUPERMAN!"
Koldeman Didn't he say the same thing in Superman 2?
Right before he did that though he used his ice breath to cool off the fire from nuclear man so he did do something.
Lol That’s what Superman likely said upon the release of the film.
You know that scene in "The Naked Gun" where two sports commentators are watching the stadium's highlights reel featuring a player becoming decapitated while trying to catch a ball? One commentator is staring open-eyed in disbelief, and the other is laughing hysterically. That's how I feel about this movie.
LOL nice analogy
Christopher Reeve has and will always be Superman to me. Fine actor and a true professional.
Check out Somewhere In Time if you haven't seen it. One of the great romance films of all time.
Removing that scene in Russian hurts the movie pretty severely I think. Superman saving even the leaders of Communist Russia is quite a bit thing for a movie in the 80s, wouldn't you say?
***** oh definitely. Shows that Superman is here to protect everyone and not just the interests of others.
Oliver Harper
For sure man for sure. The recording I had as a kid had those scenes included. I think you maybe didn't know that. The televised version of this movie in the USA was the one with the scenes restored. Not deleted scenes, but the tornado and Russian one
if you ask me, superman 4 has a great story so that's why I enjoy the film. personally, I am not bothered by graphics so I actually like this movie. I might be an idiot for this, but still just my opinion. 😊
it's... not THAT bad. I enjoyed it, but for the the 'making fun of' factor. It's semi good. At least it's not BvS.
Thomas Bicknell BvS has a good storyline. It was way better than Superman 3’s storyline. Say what you want about Doomsday, Luther Eisenberg, the Martha connection (which I think was a good idea), Jimmy Olsen being killed (like seriously I don’t see much of a connection with Jimmy), and the fight between the two. But at least it was something different of a Superman film without a message being forced down one’s throat.
@@RalphJr-xp3hp That's full of hog-crap and you know it. BvS had an abominable storyline with the malicious intent to deviate Superman's mythos in favor of Snyder's fanboyish ego for the B-Man. He made this to sabatoge the Superman franchise, and he succeeded with tragic consequences. The DCEU is getting a reboot. We're not gonna get another SM sequel, they're making 3 BM related movies coming soon and Snyder and his deviant DK crowd are to blame.
You are not an idiot. This is not a bad movie. It doesn’t deserve all the crap it gets. Of course it’s not as good as the first two. I like Superman 3 better, but I think it’s an ok movie. Christopher Reeve, gene Hackman and most of the cast are great. If they had the money for better special effects this movie would have been better. I give Superman 1 A plus Superman 2 an a
Superman 3 b minus and Superman 4 a c plus.
No you're not..i enjoyed it as well...i also enjoyed street smart...cannon films are actually my favorite 80s movies...
Dude, seriously these montages you do in the opening and closing of your reviews are MUCH better then any trailer I've seen for these movies. They have girth to it and the pacing makes me interested in the content. Tron 82, Batman 89, Robocop especially. Even Total Recall. All of them to be honest. It's fucking great!
It's such a shame Reeve had to go out with this one :(
And to know how bad it would be during production. It's not even like he was shocked, in fact I read he never even saw it.
He got to pass the torch to Tom Welling on Smallville before he died, so I'd say his on-screen career ended on a positive note.
Bill Siard in “Smallville” Season Two. The episode “Rosetta” had Christopher Reeve appear as Dr. Virgil Swann, a scientist who tells Clark of his Kryptonian origin.
@@darthkurland I thought that was a really nice touch having Reeve appear like that.
They could've made a superman 5 but with the money this made that unfortunately was impossible
I love how Nuclear man is "born" complete with clothes and a cape lol
I bet if canon or cannon (however it's spelled) didn't cut the budget it could have been an awesome movie. Despite the 3rd and 4th superman movies being failures in the box office Christopher reeve was the best thing about the movies. I thought he got shafted with the superman films. If budgets didn't get cut or there weren't any disputes with the director and the rest of the cast the 3rd and 4th movies would have been awesome. Christopher reeve fit the role perfectly and he played it perfectly. He deserved to have an awesome movie series.
superman 3 was a disappointment but it did well in the box office
ActivistParrot Yeah I don't get it either. Superman 4 could have saved Cannon if they'd made it properly. Instead they just produced another bomb...
They spread themselves too thin. Around this time they also were making Masters of the Universe and had purchased the film rights to Spider-Man. So instead of focusing on one big movie and give it a good budget, they tried to focus on three with minuscule budgets.
Tony DeCaro I agree. Cannon’s resources were spread too thin. If they had postponed “Masters of the Universe” and not purchased the film rights to “Spider-Man,” this film might not have been the disaster it was.
Fujimoose Superman 3 was not a failure at the box office it did extremely well , yes compared to the first 2 movies it didn’t make as much but nevertheless it was a success
This film is terrible editing and effects, but i think this better than batman & robin, because in batman, they had many money to did a shit movie.
Lucas Diego I agree completely. With Batman and Robin, they just wanted to make a flashy kids film.
At least here, everyone kn front of the camera was sincere in their desire to make a good film.
Wonderful retrospective. I'm in such a small minority that truly believes there is an at least passable film in there somewhere. But the thing wasn't finished. Slapdash budgeting and half-baked production killed what should have rescued and extended the franchise into the early 90's. Of any film that could use a fanedit or the full Lucas treatment, this movie is the crown jewel.
Superman's response when he found out this movie was being made "Stop don't do it the people"
Well, with the editing at the beginning and end of this vid, you managed to achieve the impossible: make Superman IV look like a great film!
I think it would been better visually, the story still had major problems. But the original idea for Nuclearman was to have a direct clone of Chris Reeve. So again you'd have two Supermen on screen. It would've been interesting. Definitely would have been a more enjoyable film if it had the money.
I was under the impression Clive Mantle's character was supposed to be a version of Bizarro.
They already did that in Superman 3 so I didn’t mind having nuclear man look different because he is a mix of Superman, a nuclear bomb, and the sun.
Really the same thing as Superman 3 even if they had the money to do it. Chris playing a good and bad version of himself.. Script was just bad.. Budget was worse..
@@PatTheBatmanFan Yeah, I always thought his character was supposed to be Bizzaro, and I wish they just called the end result Nuclear Man "Bizzaro" as well and had him in the Bizzaro suit. The same way I wish the super computer in Superman III was called Brainiac and the tar laced kryptonite was just shown to be red kryptonite. I never understood why they came so close to the comics and then made those small, weird changes.
I had an old friend who worked on Superman 4 and a few years ago i asked him about it. His take on it was that it was WB who messed the film up. They gave the rights to Cannon and then deliberately cut the budget and forced them to rush the production to make them look bad. He also said that Sidney J Furie was way out of his depth and suffered panic attacks. Often refusing to come out of his trailer and letting the First AD call the shots.
The Director of Superman IV was Sydney J. Furie who previously did the high-flying action film Iron Eagle.
Ryan Kadlec I really wish that he had been given a bigger budget to help with the filming and VFX work.
And the sports comedy *Ladybugs* ⚽
#stayindoors
#alliknowisigotalotofballs
His best film was The Ipcress file with Michael Caine
I work in MK and every time I drive past the train station I recite the end speech about wanting peace. Sometimes I break into Rocky IV's 'we all can change' speech by accident.
That deleted scene with Clive Mantel also has the theme song to the '80s children's BBC program Bric-a-Brac playing throughout the scene for some bizarre reason as well!
See Saw - Bric 'A' Brac
well done Larry!. I never knew that. I don't think I saw that show as a kid.
Oliver Harper
It was a weekday afternoon show in the early '80s, I was only about 2 or 3 when it was on myself. I just remember them showing off all these old toys on it that I really wanted :D
iT WAS A TEMP TRACK. ALEXANDER COURAGE DID PROVIDE A SCORE ORCHESTRATED FOR THAT SCENE, BUT DUE TO THE SCENE BECOMING DELETED AND THE PROTO-NUCULAR MAN SCRAPPED, THE MUSIC WAS NOT USED. DUE TO THE POOR QUALITY OF THE SCENE, THE TEMP TRACK WAS USED INSTEAD. JUST A BIT OF CLARIFICATION.
@@SB992REBORN , I sincerely hope that your use of the word "nucular" was just a touch of sarcasm.
Heh, "bizarre". I see what you did there
13:05 Superman: "You'd risk world wide nuclear war for your own personal financial gain!?"
Lex Luthor: "Nobody wants war, I just want to keep the threat alive"
I always loved this exchange. It was hilarious to me as a kid that didn't understand global politics, just for Hackman's delivery, and as an adult I realize how true it is, especially with weapons makers and arms dealers.
Superman IV:The Quest for Common Sense
Tagline:You will believe a Woman can breathe in space!
Ha ha! So true, but my little daughter loves Superman because of this movie so I sit through it for her.
LOL!
John Jones I always thought that was a silly part when she is in space and still breathing when in the real world she would of died instantly
Evidently, the scene was originally meant to take place in the skies of Metropolis.
Why they changed it is beyond me
Say it with me: "new-clear....new...CLEAR. NEW CLEAR MAN."
This movie is the reason everyone says "nucular" instead of "nuclear" nowadays.
i effin hate it when people say "nucular". even President Bush used to say that!
David Guy I think President Carter did too, and he was a nuclear engineer in the Navy. I think some people just can't pronounce it because of the shape of their mouth or something.
I grew up in the 1970s and "nukular" was always being said. At some point, I looked up the word in a dictionary and discovered that only "nuclear" was a word and that a whole lot of people just don't know how to say it. It was not a trend started by Superman IV.
Someone should re edit the movie and release it in honour of Christopher Reeves. I'd pay to see it done right.
Russel Mulcahy re-edited Highlander 2. Perhaps he could do a similar treatment with this movie. Assuming he's a Superman fan, of course.
johnthughes1978 Hell, the film needs to be completely redone in order to be done right.
I think this is the movie that should be need a real restoration, today tech could perhaps fix man of that bad CGI. :-)
As far as reviews go, this is spot on. Well done mate. Great video.
This movie was not good. However, it was great to have all the key actors. There were some good scenes(as you mentioned), but it just suffered too many problems. The score was stellar though. The Box set is impressive. I do love blaring "The Nuclear Man Theme" out my car as I drive around, good stuff.
after hearing so many bad reviews of this film was nice to hear some good points on this film oliver superb review. I agree with most things you say but I do love this film i love the original cast returning I find it hard to dislike any of the reeve films
The Director’s Cut
Consultants: Sidney J. Furie & Jim Bowers
Producers: Matthew Reeve, Peter MacDonald & Aaron Price
Editorial Consultant: Stuart Baird
Image Restoration: MTI/Warner, Pacific Title Digital
Audio Restoration: FSM Studios
New VFX/Main & End Titles Supervised by Aaron Price
VFX Consultant: Harrison Ellenshaw
Special Thanks:
• Paul Fishman and Re-Flex
• John Williams
• Oliver Harper
• Peter Young
• Mike Matessino
• Lukas Kendall
• The Warner Bros. Archives
&
• The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation
Filmed in JDC Scope
Color by Rank Film Laboratories
Prints by Technicolor
Remixed in Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD & THX
Director’s Cut Soundtrack Available from La-La Land Records/WaterTower Music
A Cannon Films/FSM Studios Production
Distributed by Warner Archives
I love this Superman film because of its anti-nuclear-weapon message.
I was happy with keeping the same actors. The main thing I disliked was the origin of Nuclearman. I’d have preferred him to be another alien, perhaps even a Kryptonian.
This movie was truly awful, but your review was (as I am finding all of them to be) stellar. Calling Lenny a hipster douchebag made me laugh out loud. As another poster mentioned, you should look up the documentary "Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Wild Untold Story of Cannon Films". It is very informative and great fun to watch.
+Anthony Delamont Thanks Anthony. I have seen Electric Boogaloo. You can find a review on my Channel.
+Anthony Delamont It's actually on Netflix now... so funny approach those crazy Israelis had towards making films for an American audience despite not quite understanding its pop social culture.
Oliver Harper regarding Golan and Globus, Golan died in 2014. May whatever God he believed in have mercy on his soul.
I wish Richard Donner would have directed Superman 4 it would have been tremendous!
be nice to see a completed version.
Mark Pellow's introduction arrival as Nuclear Man, glowing in Lex's hideout, has that He-man "I have the Power." Element.
Yeah the commentary is very good!. like me as a kid i loved Superman IV but it doesn't take long to notice the cracks and cheapness on screen. I think most kids loved SIV.
I was nine years old, and wanted to love it. But, the low quality was just too obvious for me to completely enjoy. I did not enjoy Superman III, but watching Superman IV indirectly helped me realize how strong Superman III is.
why would Iiya Salkind sell his rights to superman to a slop factory like cannon/ golan globus he is as much to blame for the demise of superman as any one else!!
+alex brown not what i meant i meant he must of known cannon were known for cutting corners and would destroy superman like i said his as much to blame!
"The budget was cut.." Pretty much the story of anyone's life who made a movie for Cannon Films. The fact that 'Runaway Train' got made unscathed is a miracle.
Another scene cut from the film that should've stayed is Lacy preparing to leave Metropolis, since it shows the end of her character arc. Clark sees how much she's changed, especially given how she risked herself to help him stop Nuclear Man (another deleted scene), and entrusts the Kent family farm to her.
"The most important thing in a Superman story, the visual effects."
I'd have thought the most important thing in a Superman story is the story...
Steve Perrin it’s one of the most important things in a Superman story.
I don't know if anybody else noticed, but Clark seems to dress the same for the double date as for the Metro Club scene. If skillfully worked, he could be isolated from the lobby, as could Lacy, and put in the club.
I love your reviews - they're very ego free and direct.
"Margot Kidder, bless her, was looking a big haggered." Lol
Still would though.
I always liked how when Nuclear Man was born he was already wearing his costume lol
Of course!
There's some line in the movie about how the package that Luthor attaches to the missile has a computer inside that will sew him a costume.
I can't believe I really thought the animated embryo that becomes Nuclear Man was cool when I was a kid.
The reveal of the title was much better than the one in the actual film. I presume it was taken from the Australian VHS preview? I believe that preview contained quite a bit of the deleted footage as well.
i think when Oliver Harper makes the trailers there like 10x better than the original almost most of the time.
There was rumours about Warners wanting to get rid of Cannon, that info may have passed on to your friend. There were debates about control of cinema chains. Cannon owned a lot of theatres in the 80s. Clive Mantle ( Nuclearman 1) said he had no confidence in the man. Furie and Reeve refused to have trailers to save money on the production. Cheers for the info mate.
I really like your review as your been completely honest. Not just coming out saying its a load of rubbish. But actually giving proper reasons why it didn't do to well.
This was actually the first Superman film I saw. They ran a marathon when I was 7, back when I hated the character. Surprisingly, this film made me fall in love with Superman. I obviously realized just how awful and incomplete the film was as the years went by, but it will always hold a special place in my heart. Also, the DVD commentary with co-screenwriter Mark Rosenthal is very insightful and honest. Worth a look for anyone!
Thank you very much Christopher!.
I actually think the concept of Superman growing concerned of a Cold War era nuclear arms race and raiding every nations’s arsenals of nuclear weapons to attempt to stop it, while Lex Luthor brokers deals to create a Nuclear Man to stop him could’ve been an interesting movie if done right.
Ollie,
It’s been recently discovered that according to Sidney J. Furie, he did submit a full cut of “Superman IV” with the 2hrs 14min runtime to Cannon and Warner Bros before they decided to chop it to 90min (94 for international release).
Don’t you think that claim warrants investigation?
Yes I know about this, I mentioned this piece of trivia in my Supergirl Bluray review.
Oliver Harper don’t you believe that Furie’s claim warrants investigation?
Specifically, by Warner Bros themselves.
Ah, Cannon. This company should never have been given the rights to any film that required a huge budget. Masters of the Universe is another film that springs to mind, when it comes too trying to hard with too little. The company could have pumped more money into some of their films, but they were notorious for spreading their cash too thinly over too many projects. Good review!
the headline in the newspaper should have had single quotes. Guess no one in the production
gave a damn about A.P. style either
Watched it last night - For everything it had against it - i still can enjoy this film for what it is.
Someone once said "It's ok to love a bad film", and that's how I feel about Superman IV. It's a cheap B-Movie with a magnificent cast, and there's a lot of great scenes in the film which come direct from the on screen chemistry. As a whole it doesn't work, but it's still an enjoyable piece of brainless action. Also, I love Nuclear man. Or at least, his look. It's ridiculously 80s, and I love the dark mirroring of Superman's suit in Nuclear man with his black cape and boots.
Cheers Nick. Yeah if the effects were more polished and a few more scenes were put back in it would be very watchable to many.
@ Edward Teach
Actually the actor who plays Vigo in Ghostbusters II (1989) is a fellow named Wilhelm Von Homberg who prior to acting was a boxer and a professional wrestler in his native Germany. Like Mark Pillow in Superman IV (1987) Von Homberg had his voice redubbed, by an un-credited Max Von Sydow. Reportedly no one from Columbia Pictures told Von Homberg about this and at the films première after discovering that his voice was redubbed, he left the cinema.
I can see why you think that these two actors are the same though.
I can’t help but wonder if this film can still be saved by adding the scenes left out and fixing up the visual effects to make it at least an acceptable movie.
Lacey breathing in space absurd. Fast forward a few decades and Princess Leia is absolutely fine flying about out there for a bit ...
Great video! Superman 4 is a not even worth being in the bargain bin at a grocery store it's so bad, but it's a guilty pleasure of mine. Reeves gives an awesome performance as Superman and the music really elevates the scenes. Also, I for one actually enjoyed the fight between Superman and Nuclear Man
I'd love to see how history would have played out if the whole movie was released in the first place. The deleted scenes on the DVD have unfinished effects while the same scenes in foreign releases have them matching the rest of the film. And I'd love to see everything that we STILL haven't seen, like the Metro Club scenes.
My parents took me to see this in the theatre. i was 15... We left and snuck in 5 mins into Robocop.. mom was pissed.. me and dad loved it!!
And even so , I prefer Superman IV over Snyder movies any day. The "wall building vision" have more sense than the Martha crap.
You have a great talent as editor! the movie looks much better with your cuts.
Yes, the way he's cut these scenes together makes the movie look really good!
Superman IV is such a good film. It's an absolute classic and I can't figure why nobody can see it. It's amazing on every level. It's easily the best Superman film ever made.
I will include it in my next series of retrospectives mate.
I really want to see the cut with the tornado scene in, infact I'm sure that was in it when I watched it as a kid on the BBC.
What to say that hasn't been said in your comments already Olly.....
Glad you revisited this just before Man of Steel, it'll all be fresh in your memory with the Geekvolution commentary. A lacklustre film which had so much potential but was ruined by a failing movie studio. I totally agree that even if it had a $20 million budget for effects, the story was still pretty weak and would've needed MAJOR rewrites. Thanks for sharing as always buddy!!
Superman 4: The Quest For Pronouncing Nuclear Correctly.
lol
Great video. You touched on every point and made an accurate assessment of each one. Reeve did his part on all 4 movies and gave 100% but unfortunately the producers didn’t. If Donner was in charge both 3 and 4 would have been just as good as 1 and 2. Still glad they were made regardless though even though they didn’t measure up to the first 2 movies because it would have been sad to only see just 2 movies with the best Superman, Lois and Lex Luthor actors. No other actors have filled their shoes to date nor will they ever
Funny you mention that, I've started work on Superman Returns today!.
You had no idea about the other villain?. Well you learn something new everyday or every week thanks to me! lol Yeah Chris deserved better the poor chap.
Thank you for this! It's very well done and I like your honesty! It's sad that Chris didn't get the help he deserved, even though he did try his best. Your ending is spot on! I'm also glad he wore the suit one more time and yes, he is and always will be SUPERMAN!
Ah yes, the film that could've been something a lot better than what it turned out to be. If only Cannon had not been involved. They had no business attempting a film like this. They should've stuck to what they knew and that was low budget Chuck Norris films and Michael Dudikoff action flicks. Their reach far exceeded their grasp in regards to this film and Masters of Universe. Ironically, Masters doesn't look too bad EFX wise compared to Superman IV. Most of the budget for IV was funneled into Masters and it shows.
And the end says it all "I am still Glad he put on the suit one more time to show the world he was still Superman and forever will be"
AMEN!!!
We need to see a un-cut version of Superman 4 the quest for Peace the 143 minute restored on Blu-ray.
Great retrospective again mate. I had no idea they used a different villain initially. And that club scene is completely new to me too. As a kid I enjoyed this film very much as it made up for the lack of villain superman could punch in the 3rd film. It's really only as you get older that you start to see the cracks. It really is shocking how poorly made this movie was. Christopher Reeve deserved better.
Am I the only one that thinks that the Nuclear Man could be a great villain with some tweaks? Really. Adjust his powers a bit, and his origins, and he could have been a fantastic antagonist.
Loy Turns
NUCLEAR MAN
vs
FREDDY KRUEGER
I would listen to Oliver read the phonebook!
haha cheers Scott!
I knew after seeing this in 1987 that I should’ve seen La Bamba instead.
The Lacey/Clark scenes have a very Cary Grant His Girl Friday feel to them. They are hands down some of the best stuff in the movie. Both Reeve and Hemingway looked like they were having a good time filming them and it shows. I just wish the stuff they did for the whole Metro Club sequence was included on the later DVD and Blu Ray sets as it looks like they were really having a blast from the still photos floating around on the net that show it.
Man we didn't care man about all that technical bull . In 1988 we watched this movie everytime is came on and continue to watch it. Christopher is SUPERMAN.
Christopher Reeve will always be Superman to me... I don't even know the actor's name who plays the new Superman, but everybody knew who Chris Reeve was back in the day!
I think this may have been the first bit of Superman related media I ever saw. I loved it back then and though I can see the movies flaws quite clearly, I still enjoy it. The main reason being, and I know this isn't an opinion shared by many, but I think Nuclear Man is really cool and could've been a truly great villain if they'd left in more of his character development. He had a great visual presence with the crackling energy all around him, he looked and sounded very threatening, caused a ton of destruction, and he effectively kicked Superman's butt all over town. That left a pretty strong impression on me, so I'm willing to look past the flaws and admire what could have been. You can still see one small hint of Nuclear Man's real character in that moment when he asks Luthor, "What do you fear?" and it's clearly a thinly veiled threat, even Luthor gets a bit flustered when he asks it.
Between ca. 1990-1993, there were some rumblings of Christopher Reeve returning for one more outing; the Salkinds had regained the movie rights, and I strongly suspect saw some of that sweet Batman movie money. I've seen different stories that circle around the same basic idea (Kandor and Brainiac, Superman "dying"), one version is that Reeve was really close to signing on the dotted line to both star and direct, he was just going to direct a new actor, or they were going to carry over Gerard Christopher from Superboy (who at 34 was getting a little old the "boy" part). Personally, I would have liked to see one more Reeve-starring film, but it's only a "what could have been..." now.
A bad Chris Reeve Superman is still 100 times better than any so called good Superman these days, including MOS.
I love Alexander Courage's score for this film. I actually like it a lot more than Ken Thornes for II and III. It just has that oomph sound that Thornes doesn't for some reason.
Hi there, thanks for subscribing and for your insightful comments. For some reason all your comments go shoved into the SPAM section. Yeah Courage's score is fab.
Oliver Harper It's definitely one of the highlights of a film that had great intentions, but was held back by a limited budget and poor studio management. One day I would love to see a good fan edit of the film when WB manages to release the rest of the deleted footage that was not on the DVD or Blu Ray.
I'm not sure if Superman actually knew what woman Nuclear Man was referring to. He probably just knew he was gonna take that person against her will and Superman wasn't gonna have that. Just a thought.
Tyrant Gregcag the explanation lies in one of the deleted scenes. If you have either the 2006 DVD or the 2011 Blu-Ray set, the deleted scene titled “Red Alert” contains the explanation.
Thanks for posting this. It was informative and I feel like it is an accurate telling of the pros and cons of the movie.
As with all the other Reeve films, the wire work was the best that has ever been done. He really looks like he's flying.
He's still the best Superman.
Id really like to see someone do a fan remaster of superman 4 with cleaned up sfx and audio and maybe some rearranging of the scenes to add in the edited out scenes
Talk about a good premise failing to live up to its potential. This was a perfect opportunity to inject some realism, and show how world governments would react to being forcibly disarmed by an alien. Despite his good intentions, this would have disastrous results, and would have been a REALLY good story if handled right.