Why SUPERMAN IV THE QUEST FOR PEACE Fails!!!!

SUPERMAN IV 

THE QUEST FOR PEACE

Story by: Christopher Reeve, Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal

Director: Sidney J.Furie

Music by: John Williams

Music Adapted by: Alexander Courage

Producer: Menaheh Golan and Yoram Globus 

Associate Producer: Michael Kagan and Graham Easton

Visual Effects Supervisor: Harrison Ellenshaw

Director of Photography: Ernest Day, B.S.C

Production Designer: John Graysmark

Creator of Superman: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster 

Screen Play by: Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal

 

  

Have you seen SUPERMAN, the movie? It's one of the most popular movies that Warner Bros Studios made in the late 1970s. How about SUPERMAN IV THE QUEST FOR PEACE? Its one of the most disappointing films of the franchise to ever hit the late 1980s.

In my last blog, I did a review of JAWS2.  This time, I'm going to blog about SUPERMAN IV mainly because the reboot of SUPERMAN, called The MAN OF STEEL, is out now.  

You may not like my response, but I have an important critique regarding the quality of SUPERMAN IV.  It is really a disgrace, mostly because it is has really poor special effects, continuity mistakes, and other errors.

Storyline

Christopher Reeve, one of the most remembered actors of this franchise, once again, plays the beloved superhero of the film as Superman.  Reeve's character tries to bring world peace to earth and all of humanity by ridding the earth of its weapons of mass destruction, but Lex Luthor - played again by Gene Hackman - has other plans.  Luthor teams up with his idiot nephew to create a evil villain more powerful than Superman.

The overall story line of this film is not very realistic - or as logical as any superhero movie can be. For example, wouldn't Superman, who is bent on destroying military weapons, be perceived as an anti-hero by the government? Wouldn't he face problems with other governments around the globe in his "quest for peace"?  This obvious conflict is not even mentioned, much less addressed.   Is everyone okay with that? I'm not.

Background

First of all, let me give you a little history about this movie. Before production, the original budget to make this film was $36 million dollars, however, the studios eventually suffered financial problems and had to cut corners  to stay within the budget.  Ultimately, they slashed the budget to $17 million dollars.  The studios could not afford the original special-effects crew that worked with them on the first three films, and instead, had to use a inexperienced special-effects team. The result was a poorly made SUPERMAN IV.

Acting/ Casting

The acting by the main cast was not bad at all.  They did the best that they could with the script they were given.  If only the storyline would have been better...

Action Sequences/ Special Effects  

The action sequence, due to the poor special-effects in the film, are really a pain to see, mainly because every time you see Superman and other characters flying, you cannot help but notice that the lighting is off and that the image does not blend well with the background.  (See image below.)

Other scenes show characters being visibly supported by wires and cables.  Even one particular scene  -the fight on the moon - the background is obviously just black curtains -  appearing as outer space.  Wow!

Music

The famous composer John Williams is not involved in this film.  In the original movie he created outstanding music; however, for this film, he could not participate. Instead, John Williams suggested to the makers of the film another composer named Alexander Courage who has played similar music and could adapt the "Superman theme". The decision was made and Alexander Courage was hired for the job. Unfortunately, he created a poor adaptation.

Summary

It's a disappointment to know that this was the last movie that Christopher Reeve played the role of the Man of Steel.  It should have been his best movie.   After all, the three previous sequels were done well.  Instead, SUPERMAN IV had a poor storyline and bad cinematography.

Now I wonder how the reboot of SUPERMAN - THE MAN OF STEEL - is going to do.  Is it going to appeal to audiences everywhere? We'll have to wait and see.

I hoped you enjoyed my review.

 "That's a wrap!"

Charlie the pundit