SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE depicts a world at the brink of nuclear war. As Superman is trying to decide if he should intervene or allow Earth to run its course, he decides to take every nuclear weapon on the planet and throw them into the sun. After Lex Luthor escapes from prison, however, he attaches one of Superman’s hairs to a nuclear missile, causing a “Nuclear Man” to form when the hair is exposed to the sun. After battling multiple times, Superman moves the moon to block sunlight from hitting Nuclear Man, leaving him without a source for his powers. Superman takes Nuclear Man to a nuclear power plant, where his body begins to provide free, infinite energy for all of Metropolis.
Any fans of the Superman film series will notice: this film is an amalgamation of the three previous films. SUPERMAN IV lacks any original plot, impeding this film from standing as anything besides an equation of elements of the previous films.
Superman battling a physical manifestation of his fears sounds thrilling, but it feels pointless watching it in every film. Plot points and battle sequences are recycled to the point where audiences can watch any of the previous films twice instead of watching SUPERMAN IV, and still get the same sense of accomplishment.
It’s disappointing enough to see a reused story beaten to a pulp, but paired with the minimal effort put forth by the cast causes Superman IV to be distanced from any opportunity to be entertaining. The cast seems to understand that this film isn’t going to be another SUPERMAN (1978), so their interest in playing these characters with the same amount of heart and gusto is thrown out the window. Margot Kidder’s Lois Lane doesn’t attempt to articulate half of her lines, and Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor, despite it being the most important element of the film, can’t find a way to pronounce nuclear correctly.
Honestly, listening to Gene Hackman may be the most frustrating fact about the movie. I mean, it’s one word, right? You would think that they would have made sure that Gene Hackman can properly say nuclear before making the villain Nuclear Man. He even says nuclear over 30 times in the film. Not once was someone like, “Umm.. Hey. He’s not saying that word correctly.” I’m getting frustrated again just writing about it.
Apart from the surrounding characters, there seems to be a physically visible toll on Christopher Reeve’s performance as Superman. What was once an innate presence as the beloved Man of Steel became an actor, now ten years older, searching for the reasoning behind a character he brought into fruition. He knows that the film is going to be a poor addition to the series, but his performance still shows the amount of effort that he put into filling the massive shoes of this character. Isn’t that, itself, as Superman as Superman can get?
Surrounding these actors and actresses, however, are sets and effects that reflect just how poorly this film’s budget was spent. SUPERMAN (1978) and SUPERMAN II revolutionized the portrayal of flying and aerial fighting in film, but SUPERMAN IV abandons these tactics for cheaply designed shots of characters hanging around on wires who don’t even act as if they are flying high in the air. At one point during the film, Superman must stop the Statue of Liberty from falling on top of New York City. What is actually depicted looks like a photoshopped picture of the Statue of Liberty being slowly dragged across the scene on top of a group of screaming citizens. SUPERMAN IV, which had 10 years of time to advance in special effects, is a visually obvious step down from the first film.
SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE does not live up to the expectations set from the previous three films. But in a way, if Superman had stayed in the spotlight of quality superhero films, there wouldn’t have been as much room for other franchises to take flight. Every small domino in the endless set that is superhero films has led us to where we are today. Despite it’s long list of disappointments and downfalls, SUPERMAN IV is in this history forever. So, we need to embrace both the successes, as well as the failures. SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE isn’t just a scarily uncomfortable film filled with B-Movie effects and heartless acting, but it’s also one of the last puzzle pieces put into place before the next great DC franchise: the Batman films!
Written by William Staton, Retro Reviewer -- Click to read William's posts
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