Damn, just...damn. I tried for as long as possible to delay having to review this, but sadly the time has come. Here we are on the next part of the Road to Superman (2025), and it's undoubtedly the worst part.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is a comic book movie and the final installment of the original Superman film series. The Cannon Group Inc. and Golan-Globus Productions worked on the movie with Warner Bros. yet again distributing. The story was written by Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal, and shockingly enough Christopher Reeve, with Sidney J. Furie directing.
The story is, after hearing that the U.S. and the Soviet Union may engage in a nuclear arms race, Superman decides to step in and put a stop to it. However a lot of black market arms dealers aren't happy this but Lex Luthor says he has a plan to not only put a stop to it, but also has something or someone that can kill The Man of Tomorrow for good.
- Negatives
Oh boy, unsurprisingly there's a lot of negative things to say about Superman IV. Like for instance, the special effects. Oh sweet baby Jesus, these effects! They're awful. The blue screen is the worst it's ever been. If you weren't impressed with blue screen from the previous movies, you're not gonna like what you see from this. And if that's not bad enough, when they don't have a special effect to use, they'll just obviously re-use previous shots. More specifically, this shot of Superman flying into the camera 👇.
I counted, they use that shot six times. Although with this level of cheapness we really shouldn't be too surprised. During this time Cannon was slashing the budget to this because of their financial crisis. Which begs the question, why did Warner Bros. continue working with Cannon? They had to have known about the production and all of its problems. You're making a Superman movie, you can't cheap out on the budget! Especially when you've got a multitude of flying and fight scenes!
Now let's move onto the villains. First off Lex Luthor, who yet again wants to kill Superman. Basically it's the same shit but different day with him. I get it, Luthor is Superman's main rival. But he was used twice already. There's other villains they could've used that debuted prior to the first Reeve film. Villains like Atomic Skull, Intergang, Metallo, or Parasite. And if an overly re-used bad guy wasn't enough, we've got Nuclear Man. 1) He might as well just be Bizarro what with the whole Lex cloning Superman thing. 2) He's got the worst weakness ever. What it is? Shade...I kid you not. Just get him in the shade and then even you, a simple no superpowered human can easily kick his ass. It's that simple.
The last thing I'll criticize is the story. Holy hell the story! It's just all over the place. First it's about a race to nuclear warfare and how nukes are bad, then it's finished...I think? Then Superman makes a speech about how it'll go away, even though that hasn't been a critical plot point for a majority of the movie. Then there's multiple subplots. Like the Kent farm being sold. It's a one and done scene so what was the point? The Daily Planet is being bought and sold. It's brought up, never talked about again, and isn't brought back until the very end of the movie. Then there's a love triangle among Clark, Lois, and Lacy (the daughter of the guy who bought the Daily Planet). It's so forgettable I had to constantly remind myself it was a thing when writing this review. Not to mention but there's always inconsistencies. The biggest example is at one moment you have to wear a space suit when in space, makes sense. But when Lacy is kidnapped by Nuclear Man and taken into space with no space suit at all, she's perfectly fine! I guess she's half Kyptonian or something? So yeah...it's just a mess of a story.
- Mix
I've got absolutely nothing...just move on.
- Positives
Christopher Reeve's performance. He's the only saving grace.
I hate Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and I'll always hate it.
My final rating is, Awful!
Thankfully this'll be the last time I ever have to talk about it. That's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Nov 28th, for my review of the newest animated DC movie, Watchmen: Chapter II. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
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