Supergirl deserves it's own video. Loved Helen Slater as Supergirl when I was a kid and I haven't changed my mind since. It also bizarrely had Peter Cook in it!
I was never too keen on Supergirl as a kid, I think because it was kind of dark and scary. I haven't seen it for years, but think I need to re-watch it. Helen Slater looks like such a lovely, classy woman. Great casting. The chicks in these films were all lovely, beautiful and classy (Annette O'Toole, Mariel Hemingway).
Thank you Rowan for the mention with my VFX edits :) I do have a plan at some point to have Superman speech at the end, appearing on a big screen in times square :)
I feel like people who live outside of the UK aren't going to get just quite how funny the sentence "the city of Milton Keynes was used to stand in for metropolis" is
"Milton Keynes is a new city approximately halfway between London and Birmingham. It was built to be modern, efficient, healthy, and, all in all, a pleasant place to live. Many Britons find this amusing" - Good Omens
Rowan you are clearly one of the more engaging, forthright, and non confrontational channels out there covering this type of material. For which I am grateful. Superman IV is a tough watch, but does have some decent action sequences even if the SFX and edits fail them. While I had always hoped Brainiac would wind up BEING the computer in Superman III, they still could have went that way here. Having Brainiac lie dormant and invade various systems after the collapse of Gorman's machine and seek to bring about nuclear war among nations would have been cool. Leaving Superman in the middle to fix. While I enjoy Henry Cavill in the role, Reeve will always be my Superman. After his accident and all of the charity work and involvement he embraced with his condition I truly though if someone was going to walk again it would be him. I was crushed when he passed and felt a genuine sense of loss as a fan. Good news is we'll always have the Donner films, and the amazing junk yard scene to cherish.
I disagree… as a kid in the 80’s…. I grew up loving Superman 4 about as much as 1 & 2. I only realized much later as an adult that the production was much cheaper than the others. I still enjoy the movie more than Superman 3.
Superman 4 is not great as it is now, but we also know a much better movie still exists on the cutting room floor, and if any movie needed an extended cut, this is one of them.
The death of Cannon Films is quite ironic. They made a bunch of movies ranging from successful to mildly successful movies with low budgets to make over budgeted bombs such as Superman IV and Masters of the Universe
As a kid I always enjoyed this movie. The fight on the moon made me uncomfortable, seeing supes get literally beaten into the ground. It was one of those moments i felt something new and disturbing, similar to when Duke is killed/injured in the GIJoe movie.
Yeah plus priority 1: straighten the US flag. Priority 2: save world. ...Wait, leaning tower of Pisa should be wonky, US flag should be straight. Got it, cheers Supes.
this was the 1st Su;perman I saw and grew to love him through this movie. He was a good guy doing the right the yeah the moon fight was always disturbing as a kid Nuclear mans scream and the way he was hurting Superman hit me hard. I just loved Superman and this movie mad me a huge fan. Maybe I was a kid. Didnt understand what the adult fans wanted. RIP Chirtopher Reeve "Forever Superman"
@@tarrbrown3800 It needed a bigger budget and a better ending: Why did throwing Nuclear man into a machine cause lots of lights to turn on? Were the light switches all left on in the first place? Was there supposed to be a scene where there was not enough power for the lights? Can we have a shot of an office cleaner working in the dark, then saying "thanks Superman, I can now find my fucking mop". Some building manager now needs to go around turning the lights off! Superman IV: Fuck The Environment. Yay! ...sorry went on a rant.
You can be really proud of your work/your videos. English is not my mother tongue, so I would like to mention that I do not mean this in an arrogant or pretentious manner. I mean this as an honest compliment. Watching these is an awesome experience.
Superman 4 had the scope needed for a good Superman story, I think it was Reeve's best performance as the character. I watch it just for his acting in it.
Despite all the flack thos movie gets Superman 4 was the first movie i watched in the cinema. It's because of this movie that Superman was and still is my favourite superhero.
Kind of crushed that Supergirl didn't get it's own video as there's so much weirdness going on there that I love a whole video dive into the why those decisions were made. Always loved that movie for it's villain.
I'd forgotten so much. As an adult I dislike Superman and have no desire to see any movie with him in it. I do because I'm a shameless sci-fi nerd so of course you've got to see these movies at least once. But this series brought back a really special love I had for the first few movies that I'd completely forgotten. I was only 7 when I saw Superman but I believed in that character so strongly. It was flawless visually to my 7 year old eyes. It got me thinking, why don't I feel enormous nostalgia for him now? And I think Superman IV answered that question. That was the movie that poisoned it all for me. I distinctly remember now just turning my back on super hero movies in general. They'd let me down haha. But this series has really scratched any itch I had to revisit the movies. Incredibly well done and I largely agree with the points and opinions raised for all four movies.
Chris Reeve never found stardom post Superman in other roles and sadly this disaster did further damage to his career.. I am sure he would have found a way out of this if he could but he was contractually locked in. He had to know while shooting when the budget got stripped this was going to be a mess..
A great series. I never tire of retrospectives from this period. But these are of a very high quality. Looking forward to more. Please consider a deep dive into Terminator franchise. Like the Reeves films, even the less good ones have great ideas, perhaps poorly executed. T3/Salvation. Would love to hear your thoughts.
I liked Mariel Hemingway and her character, and the angle that she's interested in Clark, not Superman. Might have been interesting if they focused on her instead of Lois, most of whose material literally rehashes stuff from the first two films.
I'm sorry to say, but Superman 3 is a much better guilty pleasure than Superman 4. I cant get over the fact that Lex was able to cut a strand of Superman's hair with a hedge cutter.....lol
I was hoping for more on _Supergirl_ which I enjoyed (unlike _Superman III & IV)_ and bought on VHS. Oh, well. I guess the next stop is to explain why _Superman Returns_ was a one-off. Probably because they couldn't make a movie without Lex Luthor (or a Lex wannabe in _Superman III)._
_Superman IV_ is a travesty but - thanks to Christopher Reeve - it gave us the great crime thriller _Street Smart_ & launched Morgan Freeman's movie career.
I was 18, vacationing in Mexico, taking a nap in the hotel room. They had HBO and Superman 4 was playing. I had skipped the film in the theatres because, well, I was a teenager. I couldn't believe what I was watching. It was so bad. I swore I'd never watch it again.
Christopher Reeve is giving it his all in this film and Alexander Courage's Musical Score is really solid..... That's all the Genuine positives I've got to recommend this Schlocky picture, though it can be hilarious if you watch it with the right attitude.
As a kid this was the only Superman movie i had in VHS. The rest of the movies didnt run on TV for years.. so.. yeah this was my favorite until i saw the others years later. The same happened with Jaws. I only had Jaws 4 lol
@Angelo Cruz I have to disagree! Superman and it's sequels always aired on television especially in the late 80's and early to mid 90's. WPIX New York would often show the films back to back on the weekends! In recent years yes they aren't shown as much! 🦸📺🤗👍
@@SuperMarioBrosIII In Portugal, in the mid 90´s we had 3 channels and at the weekends most of the time only passed 007 movies or Rocky. Superman was a thing that aired like once a year
@@angelocruz525 Wow that would explain why you didnt see it much in your country. But here in the USA the films were always shown on tv through the 80s and 90s. Not so much these days however. Take care!😎🤠🙏👍
@DirectorWestfield he wrote the themes for Nuclear Man, Lacey's theme and Jeremy's theme for the 4th film they were then adapted and composed by Alexander Courage.
In late 1989, my family moved house to another town. On New Year's Eve, my parents were down in the previous house getting the last load into the rented truck, my brother was with them, and me and my sister were celebrating NY alone at my uncle's apartment (he was with my parents helping out as well). We rented a couple movies - An American Tail and...this one. Guess which one me and my sister actually enjoyed greatly...
Great analysis, insight and commentary as usual. Thanks. That being said when can we expect you to do these on more hard hitting sci fi works, like Encino Man and Bio-Dome.
I agree with your assessment re: music. I’m a (mostly) classically trained musician. I also spent time in marching band type situations. I remember thinking even as a teenager, that the music in superman 2 sounded to me, like it had been rearranged for a marching band and it drove me absolutely nuts. I’ve got no memory of Superman 3 other than the fact that I saw it in a theater with my dad. I held out hope for Superman 4 because the music sounded much better to me. Alas, that was just about all it had going for it.
I honestly can't wait for your Superman Returns video. I think it's such an underrated film and it got way more hate than it deserved. I thought Brandon Routh was a very good replacement for Christopher Reeve and had a lot of small mannerisms and speech patterns down to make himself more like Chris. And as much as Kevin Spacey is a human piece of trash, I liked him as Luthor.
From New York to Alberta to Milton Keynes. What a downward spiral this production went on. Im sorry but as a Brit when it was said Milton Keynes would double for New York I died
I find the whole nuclear disarmament side of it to be almost "Alan Moore-esque". I like the crossover between superheroes and politics. I am guilty of watching this movie more than once a year, with my Superman marathons and Cannon nights lol. Won't hear anything bad said about Death Wish III 👌
Say what you will about 4, but at least it tried to tell an emotional story, unlike 3, which was more interested in inserting comedy in a series that had been trying to be as dramatic and sincere as possible. I will take the genuine, if flawed, sincerity of 4 over the embarrassing comedy of 3, any day, no questions asked.
I never actually saw this movie; I remember the trailer and thinking this looked ridiculous! Number three was also a disappointment which probably didn’t help this one
Unlike Batman, where you can change the actor portraying the main character to keep the Batman film franchise going. With Superman. Not so much. 1983's Superman III was the film that killed the Superman film franchise. 1987's Superman IV: The Quest of Peace had proven the Superman franchise can't be rebooted.
I think there was a good movie hiding beneath Superman 4's poor effects. Some further cuts and a remaster could definitely bring out the film's potential
@@johntoemilytransitionvlog9418 It is. As a standalone. Obviously doesn't sit well with 1 & 2 though. It is entertaining enough. But it's more a Richard Pryor movie than a Superman movie.
I don't agree. I think this movie is a gigantic trash-pile that nothing could have saved. Superman's almost threatening disarmament ultimatum which was supposed to be heroic and heartwarming comes off as fascist and cynical. Nuclear Man is a ridiculous joke who looks like a parody of a superhero from a gay porn and the film's naive idealism is in fact so stupid and childish, it comes off as morally and ethically bankrupt and disturbing. You can't fix a movie with a bad message. Nothing about this movie works aside from possibly the musical score.
I read the novelization over and over in primary school a good year before i got to see the movie, I was keen ass mustard. Then i finally got to see the movie. I don't think i read that book again.
Brilliant video, I have enjoyed all you're retrospective on Superman and I look forward to you're next one, thank you for all your retrospective on all the movies and TV shows from my childhood Ronan, they are brilliant and joy to watch. Paul from Ireland, 🍀🍀🍀
While it's not a good movie, I have a lot of affection for it. It was the first Superman movie I saw when I was little and I loved it. Christopher Reeve was brilliant and understood what makes Superman, Superman.
The opening titles were the beginning of disappointment - could even forgive the pre-credit sequence if they'd at least emulated S2 credits if not the spectacular and iconic 1978 sequence
It must be horrible to work on something you know is going to be a train wreck, and the only thing you can do is to try and make the explosion on impact smaller.
This was my introduction to Superman when I was a kid. I adored it! Yeah it’s awful but Reeve is perfect and the score is my favourite. Courage added some great new material.
Supergirl was bare-boned, but also refreshingly small scale. I acknowledge its flaws, but I still love it to this day, and it deserve a sequel, or at least a team up movie. Superman IV is watchable and fun, and it's one of those Sunday afternoon films rather than a Saturday night one.
There's a lot of vids on youtube talking about this movie's troubled production and the fact it's just not very good but when i was a child i absolutely loved this film and many scenes stayed with me for years after which is probably why i now enjoy watching all these documentaries on the film.
Golan and Globus also flirted with prestige films in the mid 80s, and a few of those are actually memorable, Runaway Train and Barfly maybe being their high water mark. But by the end of the decade, their rep was bad enough to make many folks in the industry run the other way from any project. Fun fact: Superman IV was not Golan's only foray into the superhero genre: they held the rights to Spiderman for a few years, and actually produced a low-budget Captain America movie as well.
The core concept of the movie (ridding the world of nuclear weapons) would have made for a darker, more nuanced, paternalistic Superman. This movie should be remade.
I love how in this and other movies, when a guy gets thrown into a reactor it just produces more electricity. People really need to be educated on nuclear power.
Superman IV was for whatever reason just about the only film of the series that ever played on my local tv stations back when I was a kid. It was on CONSTANTLY.
Love your videos! I feel confident you'll find time for the Blues Brothers one day - I just don't know if it'll come before or after Flight of the Navigator
Christopher Reeve actually met w John Byrne about the script Byrne gave him the same advice donner did stay away from real issue topics that Superman can actually stop
At least the failure of Superman IV and Masters of the Universe probably spared us the horror of seeing Cannon Films' Spider-Man movie get off the ground. That would've just been another disaster.
I have no doubt that Superman IV is a very bad movie. But when I was 10 I loved it so much because unlike the first Superman it actually had something resembling a real super hero battle at the end.
These retrospectives have been very entertaining and I can't wait for your views on Returns, which was the first Superman film I saw in the cinema. Keep up the great content.
Yes, I'm looking forward to his Returns review! Though that's where this will end for me. I have no interest in the Cavill film(s) which IMHO was vandalism of a beloved character.
I really enjoyed and still do enjoy supergirl. It was odd to find the internet discourse slamming it as a failure but I've always found it such an enjoyable film, peter o'toole and peter cook as well as the primary cast add such a depth to the piece I don't understand all the negativity.
Does anyone remember at one point in the late 1980's or early 1990s there had been talk of making a 5th film . Maybe it was just tash papers nonsense at the time I did see Superman 4 at the cinema and the only really remember thinking it was a really mixed up and repeating of ideas Also some child cried all the way through
@jw YES also titled Superman Reborn and Christopher Reeve would have directed it! But sadly it never reached fruition and in 1995 Reeves had the horse riding accident so plans for a 5th film were cancelled! 🤗🙄🎞📽
I know a lot of people just see this movie as a terrible movie but I would definitely recommend watching this with the directors commentary. You begin to really understand what happened to this movie.
This was definitely the one that we got the biggest kick out of as kids, especially the gonzo energy of Nuclear Man. As others have said, great commentary as always, Rowan. Hopefully Henry Cavill's recent statement means that we can expect to finally see a same-Superman true sequel for the first time in the 35+ years since Quest for Peace.
Cavill said he wants the new Superman movies to be full of hope, optimism and joy. If that doesn't describe the Reeve films and the old comics, I don't know what does. Cavill has what it takes to become just as good a Superman as Reeve was if given the opportunity and the right scripts. I daresay I am looking forward to seeing more DC films with him in them, something I haven't really ever thought I'd say.
I've always thought that Superman 4 could be fixed (in its present state) by ending the film with Superman trapping Nuclear Man on the dark side of the moon then cutting to the speech at the UN.
@J.F.K.O the films played in heavy rotation on tv through the 80s and 90's maybe not so much in the 2000's. Plus I guess it depends on your age. Someone else also said they only remember seeing the 4th film on tv?🦸♂🙄🤔📺
I really enjoy these retrospectives, even if they're not movies or TV series I've seen. Would you ever cover something like Gerry Anderson's Space: 1999 or UFO?
I went to see this film as a 10-year-old SUPER fan of Superman, full of high expectations. But I was SUPER disappointed! I came out of the cinema on a big downer, telling my parents that it just didn't seem like a real Superman film. Back then, I didn't know why, but now I'm old enough to appreciate the nuances of film-making, I know that it's because the film is crap.
It's nice to see a review that doesn't just shit all over this. The nuclear story and the theme of interference vs self governance is/ or should be a great thing in Supe movie. The volcano sequence is perhaps the most comic-book in the whole franchise. Pretty awesome. I also like how N-Man just goes ballistic; the rotating van and flying FBI guy are also nice effects. Ever see the UK VHS? it had the tornado sequence and scene with Russian missile. Best version IMHO.
Great retrospective Rowan. However, I thought you might have ended the video with a discussion about Christopher Reeves tragic accident. Or will you be covering that in the next episode?
@@RowanJColeman Also weren't there plans for Superman 5? But all that got scrapped and never reached fruition! Reeve would have directed it? And sadly Reeve's horseriding accident in 1995 would also prevent him from being the man of steele ever again sadly. 🤔🤨🙄🧐
Superman returns wouldn’t have happened if not for a combination of the success of Lois & Clark The New Adventures of Superman on the small screen and Bryan Singer’s success with the X-Men
Cannons first Delta Force movie wasn't low budget. It was probably their most expensive film until then. It's pure shlock yes, but they saw it as their flagship movie.
![เปิดใจ “ต้นหอม ศกุนตลา” หลังโดนพาดพิงธุรกิจที่เคยทำ และผลกระทบทำถูกปลดฟ้าผ่า! | แฉ 24 ต.ค.67 [2/3]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vCi5OIqlxaE/mqdefault.jpg)
HELP THE CHANNEL GROW: www.patreon.com/rowanjcoleman
Supergirl deserves it's own video. Loved Helen Slater as Supergirl when I was a kid and I haven't changed my mind since. It also bizarrely had Peter Cook in it!
She and Linda Carter made me into a man
@@captainthruster9484 Who is "Linda" Carter??
"Leave this place and do no harm" ... Cheesy but i love Supergirl !
Agreed! Slater was perfect casting, and at least it did something different.
I was never too keen on Supergirl as a kid, I think because it was kind of dark and scary. I haven't seen it for years, but think I need to re-watch it. Helen Slater looks like such a lovely, classy woman. Great casting. The chicks in these films were all lovely, beautiful and classy (Annette O'Toole, Mariel Hemingway).
RIP Christopher Reeve you will be and shall be always our Superman in big screen.
Thank you Rowan for the mention with my VFX edits :) I do have a plan at some point to have Superman speech at the end, appearing on a big screen in times square :)
Glad to see you get a shout out Aaron.
Superman 4 really needs a makeover, there's such a better movie out there, I'm sure of it.
"...with many hoping this would be a triumphant return for the character as a blockbuster icon." Yeah, still waiting on that.
I feel like people who live outside of the UK aren't going to get just quite how funny the sentence "the city of Milton Keynes was used to stand in for metropolis" is
"Milton Keynes is a new city approximately halfway between London and Birmingham. It was built to be modern, efficient, healthy, and, all in all, a pleasant place to live. Many Britons find this amusing" - Good Omens
Milton Keynes is the grooviest city on Earth.
Imagine Superman III had used the script for Superman IV. That would have made for an epic movie
Rowan you are clearly one of the more engaging, forthright, and non confrontational channels out there covering this type of material. For which I am grateful. Superman IV is a tough watch, but does have some decent action sequences even if the SFX and edits fail them. While I had always hoped Brainiac would wind up BEING the computer in Superman III, they still could have went that way here. Having Brainiac lie dormant and invade various systems after the collapse of Gorman's machine and seek to bring about nuclear war among nations would have been cool. Leaving Superman in the middle to fix. While I enjoy Henry Cavill in the role, Reeve will always be my Superman. After his accident and all of the charity work and involvement he embraced with his condition I truly though if someone was going to walk again it would be him. I was crushed when he passed and felt a genuine sense of loss as a fan. Good news is we'll always have the Donner films, and the amazing junk yard scene to cherish.
"In the end, Superman 4 is not just a disappointment, but a deep tragedy."
I disagree… as a kid in the 80’s…. I grew up loving Superman 4 about as much as 1 & 2.
I only realized much later as an adult that the production was much cheaper than the others.
I still enjoy the movie more than Superman 3.
Superman 4 is not great as it is now, but we also know a much better movie still exists on the cutting room floor, and if any movie needed an extended cut, this is one of them.
The death of Cannon Films is quite ironic. They made a bunch of movies ranging from successful to mildly successful movies with low budgets to make over budgeted bombs such as Superman IV and Masters of the Universe
Superman's Budget was cut in half midway through production.
Superman IV: The Quest for an Audience
You nailed that title. 😀
Superman IV: The quest for cash
Loved this series. I grew up watching the Superman movies. 1, 2, and 4 are my favorites despite four's weak points I liked the villain.
As a kid I always enjoyed this movie. The fight on the moon made me uncomfortable, seeing supes get literally beaten into the ground. It was one of those moments i felt something new and disturbing, similar to when Duke is killed/injured in the GIJoe movie.
Yeah plus priority 1: straighten the US flag. Priority 2: save world. ...Wait, leaning tower of Pisa should be wonky, US flag should be straight. Got it, cheers Supes.
this was the 1st Su;perman I saw and grew to love him through this movie. He was a good guy doing the right the yeah the moon fight was always disturbing as a kid Nuclear mans scream and the way he was hurting Superman hit me hard. I just loved Superman and this movie mad me a huge fan. Maybe I was a kid. Didnt understand what the adult fans wanted. RIP Chirtopher Reeve "Forever Superman"
@@tarrbrown3800 It needed a bigger budget and a better ending: Why did throwing Nuclear man into a machine cause lots of lights to turn on? Were the light switches all left on in the first place? Was there supposed to be a scene where there was not enough power for the lights? Can we have a shot of an office cleaner working in the dark, then saying "thanks Superman, I can now find my fucking mop". Some building manager now needs to go around turning the lights off! Superman IV: Fuck The Environment. Yay! ...sorry went on a rant.
You can be really proud of your work/your videos. English is not my mother tongue, so I would like to mention that I do not mean this in an arrogant or pretentious manner. I mean this as an honest compliment.
Watching these is an awesome experience.
I thought Superman IV was absolutely brilliant. Perfectly done. The greatest film ever made.
(Quit lookin' at me like that. I was nine.)
Superman 4 had the scope needed for a good Superman story, I think it was Reeve's best performance as the character. I watch it just for his acting in it.
You've watched it more than once? 🙄
Despite all the flack thos movie gets Superman 4 was the first movie i watched in the cinema. It's because of this movie that Superman was and still is my favourite superhero.
Kind of crushed that Supergirl didn't get it's own video as there's so much weirdness going on there that I love a whole video dive into the why those decisions were made. Always loved that movie for it's villain.
I'd forgotten so much. As an adult I dislike Superman and have no desire to see any movie with him in it. I do because I'm a shameless sci-fi nerd so of course you've got to see these movies at least once. But this series brought back a really special love I had for the first few movies that I'd completely forgotten. I was only 7 when I saw Superman but I believed in that character so strongly. It was flawless visually to my 7 year old eyes. It got me thinking, why don't I feel enormous nostalgia for him now? And I think Superman IV answered that question. That was the movie that poisoned it all for me. I distinctly remember now just turning my back on super hero movies in general. They'd let me down haha. But this series has really scratched any itch I had to revisit the movies. Incredibly well done and I largely agree with the points and opinions raised for all four movies.
Golan and Globus. Your mark of quality right there. Oh boy....
Chris Reeve never found stardom post Superman in other roles and sadly this disaster did further damage to his career.. I am sure he would have found a way out of this if he could but he was contractually locked in. He had to know while shooting when the budget got stripped this was going to be a mess..
A great series. I never tire of retrospectives from this period. But these are of a very high quality. Looking forward to more. Please consider a deep dive into Terminator franchise. Like the Reeves films, even the less good ones have great ideas, perhaps poorly executed. T3/Salvation. Would love to hear your thoughts.
I liked Mariel Hemingway and her character, and the angle that she's interested in Clark, not Superman. Might have been interesting if they focused on her instead of Lois, most of whose material literally rehashes stuff from the first two films.
3:15 "trying to cash in on trends" sounds like Disney these days.
I'm sorry to say, but Superman 3 is a much better guilty pleasure than Superman 4. I cant get over the fact that Lex was able to cut a strand of Superman's hair with a hedge cutter.....lol
I love 💕 Superman 3
Watch for Mariel Hemmingway flying and breathing in space!
I was hoping for more on _Supergirl_ which I enjoyed (unlike _Superman III & IV)_ and bought on VHS. Oh, well. I guess the next stop is to explain why _Superman Returns_ was a one-off. Probably because they couldn't make a movie without Lex Luthor (or a Lex wannabe in _Superman III)._
_Superman IV_ is a travesty but - thanks to Christopher Reeve - it gave us the great crime thriller _Street Smart_ & launched Morgan Freeman's movie career.
I was 18, vacationing in Mexico, taking a nap in the hotel room. They had HBO and Superman 4 was playing. I had skipped the film in the theatres because, well, I was a teenager. I couldn't believe what I was watching. It was so bad. I swore I'd never watch it again.
Superman IV: the Quest for Piss
Christopher Reeve is giving it his all in this film and Alexander Courage's Musical Score is really solid.....
That's all the Genuine positives I've got to recommend this Schlocky picture, though it can be hilarious if you watch it with the right attitude.
As a kid this was the only Superman movie i had in VHS. The rest of the movies didnt run on TV for years.. so.. yeah this was my favorite until i saw the others years later. The same happened with Jaws. I only had Jaws 4 lol
@Angelo Cruz I have to disagree! Superman and it's sequels always aired on television especially in the late 80's and early to mid 90's. WPIX New York would often show the films back to back on the weekends! In recent years yes they aren't shown as much! 🦸📺🤗👍
@@SuperMarioBrosIII In Portugal, in the mid 90´s we had 3 channels and at the weekends most of the time only passed 007 movies or Rocky. Superman was a thing that aired like once a year
@@angelocruz525 Wow that would explain why you didnt see it much in your country. But here in the USA the films were always shown on tv through the 80s and 90s. Not so much these days however. Take care!😎🤠🙏👍
Minor correction but John Williams actually composed the Nuclear Man Theme along with Lacy’s Theme but otherwise declined to return.
@DirectorWestfield he wrote the themes for Nuclear Man, Lacey's theme and Jeremy's theme for the 4th film they were then adapted and composed by Alexander Courage.
@@SuperMarioBrosIII Forgot about Jeremy’s Theme! Otherwise you’re correct that Courage adapted and conducted.
In late 1989, my family moved house to another town. On New Year's Eve, my parents were down in the previous house getting the last load into the rented truck, my brother was with them, and me and my sister were celebrating NY alone at my uncle's apartment (he was with my parents helping out as well). We rented a couple movies - An American Tail and...this one. Guess which one me and my sister actually enjoyed greatly...
Great analysis, insight and commentary as usual. Thanks.
That being said when can we expect you to do these on more hard hitting sci fi works, like Encino Man and Bio-Dome.
I think most people would rather drink from a .45 caliber straw than watch Bio-Dome willingly.
I agree with your assessment re: music. I’m a (mostly) classically trained musician. I also spent time in marching band type situations. I remember thinking even as a teenager, that the music in superman 2 sounded to me, like it had been rearranged for a marching band and it drove me absolutely nuts. I’ve got no memory of Superman 3 other than the fact that I saw it in a theater with my dad. I held out hope for Superman 4 because the music sounded much better to me. Alas, that was just about all it had going for it.
These retrospectives are awesome and entertaining, thanks for all the work that goes into them
I honestly can't wait for your Superman Returns video. I think it's such an underrated film and it got way more hate than it deserved. I thought Brandon Routh was a very good replacement for Christopher Reeve and had a lot of small mannerisms and speech patterns down to make himself more like Chris. And as much as Kevin Spacey is a human piece of trash, I liked him as Luthor.
From New York to Alberta to Milton Keynes. What a downward spiral this production went on.
Im sorry but as a Brit when it was said Milton Keynes would double for New York I died
I find the whole nuclear disarmament side of it to be almost "Alan Moore-esque". I like the crossover between superheroes and politics.
I am guilty of watching this movie more than once a year, with my Superman marathons and Cannon nights lol. Won't hear anything bad said about Death Wish III 👌
Say what you will about 4, but at least it tried to tell an emotional story, unlike 3, which was more interested in inserting comedy in a series that had been trying to be as dramatic and sincere as possible.
I will take the genuine, if flawed, sincerity of 4 over the embarrassing comedy of 3, any day, no questions asked.
I never actually saw this movie; I remember the trailer and thinking this looked ridiculous! Number three was also a disappointment which probably didn’t help this one
Totally agree with every word! The spirt is there but just not done well!
Unlike Batman, where you can change the actor portraying the main character to keep the Batman film franchise going. With Superman. Not so much. 1983's Superman III was the film that killed the Superman film franchise. 1987's Superman IV: The Quest of Peace had proven the Superman franchise can't be rebooted.
That was Superman 4 ended franchise not 3.
I think there was a good movie hiding beneath Superman 4's poor effects. Some further cuts and a remaster could definitely bring out the film's potential
@Latest Obssesion Superman 3 is good movie
@@johntoemilytransitionvlog9418 It is. As a standalone. Obviously doesn't sit well with 1 & 2 though. It is entertaining enough. But it's more a Richard Pryor movie than a Superman movie.
@@DudeSilad I agree.
I don't agree. I think this movie is a gigantic trash-pile that nothing could have saved. Superman's almost threatening disarmament ultimatum which was supposed to be heroic and heartwarming comes off as fascist and cynical. Nuclear Man is a ridiculous joke who looks like a parody of a superhero from a gay porn and the film's naive idealism is in fact so stupid and childish, it comes off as morally and ethically bankrupt and disturbing. You can't fix a movie with a bad message. Nothing about this movie works aside from possibly the musical score.
@@the-NightStar Superman 4 is bad movie.
I read the novelization over and over in primary school a good year before i got to see the movie, I was keen ass mustard. Then i finally got to see the movie.
I don't think i read that book again.
Brilliant video, I have enjoyed all you're retrospective on Superman and I look forward to you're next one, thank you for all your retrospective on all the movies and TV shows from my childhood Ronan, they are brilliant and joy to watch. Paul from Ireland, 🍀🍀🍀
The Quest For A Piece Of The Action. It should've been Cannon's official mantra
While it's not a good movie, I have a lot of affection for it. It was the first Superman movie I saw when I was little and I loved it. Christopher Reeve was brilliant and understood what makes Superman, Superman.
The opening titles were the beginning of disappointment - could even forgive the pre-credit sequence if they'd at least emulated S2 credits if not the spectacular and iconic 1978 sequence
Very cool thanks for doing this and sharing!
It must be horrible to work on something you know is going to be a train wreck, and the only thing you can do is to try and make the explosion on impact smaller.
This was my introduction to Superman when I was a kid. I adored it! Yeah it’s awful but Reeve is perfect and the score is my favourite. Courage added some great new material.
It was the first Superman movie I saw as well. I loved it, no matter how bad of a movie it is lol.
@@MyPisceanNature Yup! I can't believe Nuclear Man scared me as a kid. He reminds me of a dodgy male stripper now!
Supergirl was bare-boned, but also refreshingly small scale. I acknowledge its flaws, but I still love it to this day, and it deserve a sequel, or at least a team up movie.
Superman IV is watchable and fun, and it's one of those Sunday afternoon films rather than a Saturday night one.
The behind-the-scenes story(ies) is far more _entertaining_ than the film itself. Enough said.
There's a lot of vids on youtube talking about this movie's troubled production and the fact it's just not very good but when i was a child i absolutely loved this film and many scenes stayed with me for years after which is probably why i now enjoy watching all these documentaries on the film.
Golan and Globus also flirted with prestige films in the mid 80s, and a few of those are actually memorable, Runaway Train and Barfly maybe being their high water mark. But by the end of the decade, their rep was bad enough to make many folks in the industry run the other way from any project.
Fun fact: Superman IV was not Golan's only foray into the superhero genre: they held the rights to Spiderman for a few years, and actually produced a low-budget Captain America movie as well.
Runaway Train is a brilliant movie.
The core concept of the movie (ridding the world of nuclear weapons) would have made for a darker, more nuanced, paternalistic Superman. This movie should be remade.
I love how in this and other movies, when a guy gets thrown into a reactor it just produces more electricity. People really need to be educated on nuclear power.
Superman IV was for whatever reason just about the only film of the series that ever played on my local tv stations back when I was a kid. It was on CONSTANTLY.
I think the Ruskie's must have hacked your local TV station.
Love your videos! I feel confident you'll find time for the Blues Brothers one day - I just don't know if it'll come before or after Flight of the Navigator
And the sequel
Love these. Though are you skipping those other interpretations, namely Superboy and Loos and Clark tv shows?
Christopher Reeve actually met w John Byrne about the script Byrne gave him the same advice donner did stay away from real issue topics that Superman can actually stop
Sounds like they should've hired Harve Bennett and Nicholas Meyer. They could stretch a budget and STILL produce a masterpiece
Great video and wow you are on a role! Thanks for the great work!!!
At least the failure of Superman IV and Masters of the Universe probably spared us the horror of seeing Cannon Films' Spider-Man movie get off the ground. That would've just been another disaster.
I have no doubt that Superman IV is a very bad movie. But when I was 10 I loved it so much because unlike the first Superman it actually had something resembling a real super hero battle at the end.
These retrospectives have been very entertaining and I can't wait for your views on Returns, which was the first Superman film I saw in the cinema. Keep up the great content.
Yes, I'm looking forward to his Returns review! Though that's where this will end for me. I have no interest in the Cavill film(s) which IMHO was vandalism of a beloved character.
I really enjoyed and still do enjoy supergirl. It was odd to find the internet discourse slamming it as a failure but I've always found it such an enjoyable film, peter o'toole and peter cook as well as the primary cast add such a depth to the piece I don't understand all the negativity.
I concur; while it holds no candle to Superman (1978) or II (1980, 1981) Supergirl is a masterpiece compared to III or IV.
Excellent professional reviews/retrospectives on your channel. Thank you 👍
Does anyone remember at one point in the late 1980's or early 1990s there had been talk of making a 5th film .
Maybe it was just tash papers nonsense at the time
I did see Superman 4 at the cinema and the only really remember thinking it was a really mixed up and repeating of ideas
Also some child cried all the way through
@jw YES also titled Superman Reborn and Christopher Reeve would have directed it! But sadly it never reached fruition and in 1995 Reeves had the horse riding accident so plans for a 5th film were cancelled! 🤗🙄🎞📽
I know a lot of people just see this movie as a terrible movie but I would definitely recommend watching this with the directors commentary. You begin to really understand what happened to this movie.
In hindsight, I can't believe I went to see this in the theater. Then again I went to go see Batman and Robin a decade later so there's that
WOW, I have been a member for 12 months where does the time go.
This was definitely the one that we got the biggest kick out of as kids, especially the gonzo energy of Nuclear Man. As others have said, great commentary as always, Rowan. Hopefully Henry Cavill's recent statement means that we can expect to finally see a same-Superman true sequel for the first time in the 35+ years since Quest for Peace.
Cavill said he wants the new Superman movies to be full of hope, optimism and joy. If that doesn't describe the Reeve films and the old comics, I don't know what does. Cavill has what it takes to become just as good a Superman as Reeve was if given the opportunity and the right scripts. I daresay I am looking forward to seeing more DC films with him in them, something I haven't really ever thought I'd say.
I really liked Superman 3 and 4 when they came out, I was a small child at the time though, lol.
I've always thought that Superman 4 could be fixed (in its present state) by ending the film with Superman trapping Nuclear Man on the dark side of the moon then cutting to the speech at the UN.
i didn't even know there was a 3 and 4 :P guess they weren't good enough to be shown on tv when i was a kid
@J.F.K.O the films played in heavy rotation on tv through the 80s and 90's maybe not so much in the 2000's. Plus I guess it depends on your age. Someone else also said they only remember seeing the 4th film on tv?🦸♂🙄🤔📺
I really enjoy these retrospectives, even if they're not movies or TV series I've seen. Would you ever cover something like Gerry Anderson's Space: 1999 or UFO?
This is the one I’ve really been waiting for!!
You left out the unusual choice of having Patti Labelle's manicurist do Nuclear Man's nails......
I went to see this film as a 10-year-old SUPER fan of Superman, full of high expectations. But I was SUPER disappointed! I came out of the cinema on a big downer, telling my parents that it just didn't seem like a real Superman film. Back then, I didn't know why, but now I'm old enough to appreciate the nuances of film-making, I know that it's because the film is crap.
It's nice to see a review that doesn't just shit all over this. The nuclear story and the theme of interference vs self governance is/ or should be a great thing in Supe movie. The volcano sequence is perhaps the most comic-book in the whole franchise. Pretty awesome. I also like how N-Man just goes ballistic; the rotating van and flying FBI guy are also nice effects.
Ever see the UK VHS? it had the tornado sequence and scene with Russian missile. Best version IMHO.
Another awesome video! Thanks for your work!!
The first film i ever saw at the cinema.
I was 10.
Still love the cinema, its the only place to see new films
Picture of Mark Rosenthal is wrong. Wes Craven was never hired for the project.
Nostalgia but man of Steel is the actual rebirth of a possible franchise, yet WB manage to fuck that up as well
As a kid I was just happy to see superman on the big screen again but yeah, even then as a young cinephile I was slightly incensed.
Great retrospective Rowan. However, I thought you might have ended the video with a discussion about Christopher Reeves tragic accident. Or will you be covering that in the next episode?
That will be in the next video.
@@RowanJColeman Also weren't there plans for Superman 5? But all that got scrapped and never reached fruition! Reeve would have directed it? And sadly Reeve's horseriding accident in 1995 would also prevent him from being the man of steele ever again sadly. 🤔🤨🙄🧐
A great watch. Thank you
Always enjoy your videos.
One of my favorites in Elementary school!
Superman IV is not the worst superhero film. That award goes to 1997's Batman and Robin.
Superman returns wouldn’t have happened if not for a combination of the success of Lois & Clark The New Adventures of Superman on the small screen and Bryan Singer’s success with the X-Men
That money they slashed from the budget went to Masters of the Universe.
Cannons first Delta Force movie wasn't low budget. It was probably their most expensive film until then. It's pure shlock yes, but they saw it as their flagship movie.
Always interesting to learn about a movie that goes well OR goes bad
Superman 4 is my favourite 😂
Are you ill? Sounds like someone isn't taking their medication.
I like three much more than four when I was a kid.
Superman IV : The Vengeance of Lennart Luthor !
The budget for this went to Masters of the Universe.