Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is a 1987 superhero film, the last of the Superman theatrical movies starring Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel. In this film, Superman battles Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) and his creation, a solar-powered evil clone of Superman called Nuclear Man.
Unlike the previous three movies, which were produced by Alexander and Ilya Salkind, the fourth movie was produced by Golan-Globus's Cannon Films, in association with Warner Bros.
Plot
Superman saves a group of cosmonauts whose ship has been thrown off course by a rogue satellite. Shortly after, his alter ego, Clark Kent, visits his hometown of Smallville to check on the now uninhabited family farm where he grew up. Venturing into one of the empty barns, he uncovers the space-capsule he was sent to Earth in, and removes from it a green-glowing, Kryptonian energy module. A recording left by his mother, Lara, states that its power can only be used once.
Unwilling to sell the land to a developer, Clark returns to Metropolis and transforms into Superman in order to stop a runaway subway train. Returning to the Daily Planet as Clark Kent, he learns that the newspaper has been taken over by Warfield, a tabloid tycoon who fires Perry White and hires his daughter Lacy (Mariel Hemingway) as the new editor. Lacy takes a liking to Clark and does her best to seduce him. As a result of her persistence, Clark agrees to go on a date with her.
Following the news that the United States and the Soviet Union may engage in nuclear war, Clark is conflicted with regard to how much Superman should intervene. Receiving a heartfelt letter written by a concerned schoolboy, Superman travels to the Fortress of Solitude, where he seeks advice from the spirits of his Kryptonian ancestors. Rather than interfere in human matters, they recommend he leave Earth.
After asking Lois's advice on the matter, Superman attends a meeting of the United Nations, telling the assembly that he will rid the Earth of nuclear weapons. Superman collects most of the world's nuclear stockpile in a gigantic net in high Earth orbit, then hurls it into the sun, destroying the warheads.
Meanwhile, Lenny Luthor breaks his uncle, Lex Luthor, out of prison with the aid of a remote control automobile. Returning to Metropolis, the pair steal a strand of Superman's hair that he donated to a museum, and use it to create a genetic matrix which they attach to one of the few remaining American nuclear missiles. After the missile is test fired, Superman intercepts the missile and throws it into the sun.
As the missile is enveloped by the star's intense heat and radiation, a glowing ball of energy is discharged which develops into a super-human (Mark Pillow). This "Nuclear Man" makes his way back to Earth to find his "father," Luthor, who establishes that while his "son" is indeed powerful, he will deactivate if isolated from the sun's rays or bright artificial light.
A battle ensues between Luthor's creation and the Man of Steel. After saving people all over the globe from Luthor's monstrous creation, Superman is forced to save the Statue of Liberty from falling onto Metropolis - during which time he is poisoned from a scratch by Nuclear Man's deadly, radioactive fingernails. Nuclear Man kicks his mortally wounded opponent into the distance with such strength that his red cape is torn away.
To Lois' disgust, The Daily Planet, now reformatted as a tabloid newspaper, publishes the headline, "Is Superman is Dead"? Lois indicates a desire to quit, and seizes Superman's recovered cape for herself. Also distressed at the headline (her father's idea), Lacy reveals to Lois that she cares for Clark and asks if she knows where he is. Lois ventures to Clark's apartment where she proclaims her love for Superman. Felled by radiation sickness, Clark staggers to his terrace, where he retrieves the Kryptonian energy crystal to heal himself.
Having developed a crush on Lacy, Nuclear Man threatens mayhem if he is not introduced to her. The newly-restored Superman agrees to take him to her in order to prevent anyone else from being hurt. Attempting to disable the villain, Superman lures Nuclear Man into an elevator, trapping and then depositing him on the dark side of the Moon. As the sun rises, Nuclear Man breaks out of his makeshift prison due to a crack in the elevator doors and Superman is forced once again to defend himself, this time on the Moon's surface. At the end of the battle, it appears as though Superman has been defeated once again, and he is driven into the ground by his opponent.
Lacy protests her father's sensationalist headlines, warning him that his stories are dangerous, and that newspapers are supposed to be about journalism. She is proven right, as Nuclear Man, having developed a crush on Lacy, kidnaps her and spirits her away. Superman claws his way out of the thick moon dust, and pushes the moon out of its orbit, casting Earth into an eclipse which nullifies Nuclear Man's powers. Superman returns Lacy to Earth, then recovers Nuclear Man and deposits him into the core of a nuclear power plant, where he becomes a plentiful energy source. Superman also recovers the fleeing Luthors - returning Lex to prison, and Lenny to Boys Town.
Perry White restores the previous Daily Planet decorations, much to Warfield's annoyance. During his absence, White has secured a loan with which to buy back the controlling shares of the newspaper, making Warfield a minority shareholder and protecting the paper from any further abuse.
In a press conference, Superman declares only partial victory in his campaign, saying, "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."
Cast
Mark Pillow as Nuclear Man
The character of Nuclear Man was originally Bizarro in the 1st draft of the script, but the rights were unavailable at the time, so they made a whole new character.[citation needed]
Production
The film itself
In 1983, following the mixed-to-negative reaction to Superman III, Reeve and the producers, father and son team Alexander and Ilya Salkind, assumed that the Superman films had run their course.[1] Reeve was slated to make a cameo in 1984's Supergirl but was unavailable; the film was a box office failure in the U.S. Four years later, Ilya Salkind sold the Superman franchise to Golan & Globus of Cannon Films.[2]
According to Reeve, Golan & Globus did not have a script in mind when they first approached him about doing the fourth installment; they simply wanted him to reprise his role. Reeve himself admitted in his autobiography Still Me that he really wasn't sure that he wanted to do another Superman film, especially if it was going to be treated as a farce, which had been the case with the third film, an approach that Reeve felt was disrespectful to fans and the source material. The new filmmakers then offered Reeve a deal he couldn't refuse – in exchange for starring in the fourth Superman film, they would produce any project of his choosing, and also promised him story input (there was also talk of having Reeve direct a fifth Superman film in case the fourth one proved successful). Reeve accepted, and in exchange, Golan & Globus produced the crime drama Street Smart[3][4], in order to give the film a more serious feel to distance itself from the previous film. Unfortunately, Golan & Globus had so many other films in the pipeline at the time that their money was spread too thinly to properly accommodate what became Superman IV: The Quest for Peace,[5] released in 1987, forcing the film's veteran director Sidney J. Furie to cut corners everywhere. The film was panned by critics and fans alike.
In Reeve's autobiography Still Me, he described filming Superman IV:
We were also hampered by budget constraints and cutbacks in all departments. Cannon Films had nearly thirty projects in the works at the time, and
Superman IV received no special consideration. For example,
Konner and
Rosenthal wrote a scene in which Superman lands on
42nd Street and walks down the double yellow lines to the
United Nations, where he gives a speech. If that had been a scene in
Superman I, we would actually have shot it on 42nd Street.
Dick Donner would have choreographed hundreds of pedestrians and vehicles and cut to people gawking out of office windows at the sight of Superman walking down the street like the
Pied Piper. Instead, we had to shoot at an industrial park in
England in the rain with about a hundred extras, not a car in sight, and a dozen pigeons thrown in for atmosphere. Even if the story had been brilliant, I don't think that we could ever have lived up to the audience's expectations with this approach.
Mark Rosenthal's DVD commentary pointed to this scene as an example of Cannon's budget slashing. According to Rosenthal, Reeve and director Furie begged to be able to film that sequence in New York in front of the real United Nations because everyone knew what New York and the United Nations was supposed to look like and that the Milton Keynes setting looked nothing like it. However Cannon refused. According to Rosenthal, they were "pinching pennies at every step" and that it was impossible to look at the location and think of it as the United Nations, but more rather a municipal auditorium, which is, according to Rosenthal, exactly what it was.
Rosenthal has also described the final film as Cannon stabbing Christopher Reeve in the back. He also revealed on the Deluxe Edition DVD that he and writer Lawrence Konner wanted Reeve to play Nuclear Man as well as his dual roles of Superman and Clark Kent in the film as they imagined the villain being a darker version of the hero in the cloning process. This would be financially expensive and was already explored in minor detail in Superman III so Cannon decided to hire Mark Pillow instead for the part of Nuclear Man in the final film.
According to Jon Cryer, who played Lex Luthor's nephew Lenny, Reeve had taken him aside just before the release and told him it was going to be "terrible". Although Cryer enjoyed working with Reeve and his on-screen uncle, Gene Hackman, Cryer claimed that Cannon ran out of money five months ahead of time and ultimately released an unfinished movie.
Score
Main article:
Superman musicGolan-Globus wanted Superman IV to carry a "music by John Williams" credit, but the composer's commitment to the Boston Pops Orchestra precluded him from accepting the project. Williams selected his longtime friend and collaborator Alexander Courage to score the film and agreed to compose new thematic material as needed. Recording of the score with the Symphony-Orchestra Graunke began in Munich, Germany on May 11, 1987. As the sessions progressed it became apparent that the players were not up to the challenge of some of the complex action cues. After the completion of recording on May 18, the sessions in Germany were canceled and the rest of the score was recorded with the National Philharmonic Orchestra at CTS Studios in England from May 23-June 2. Courage scored 100 minutes of music for the film and also recorded album versions of three new John Williams themes. A soundtrack album was prepared in 1987 by Cannon's musical advisor Jack Fishman, but it was aborted when most of the music selected for it (including three songs by his son Paul Fishman) ended up getting cut from the film. No music from Superman IV was released for over twenty years until the Film Score Monthly soundtrack label presented the complete score as part of their 8-CD anthology Superman: The Music (1978-1988) in 2008.
Reception
The film was released July 24, 1987, in the United States and Canada and grossed $5.6 million in 1,511 theaters its opening weekend, ranking #4 at the box office.[6] It grossed a total of $15.6 million in the United States and Canada.[7]
Of the four Superman films starring Reeve, this one fared the worst at the box office, and the series, as it turned out, went dormant for 19 years. Reeve's 1995 paralysis made the development of any further sequels involving him in the starring role impossible. Time Warner let the Superman feature film franchise go undeveloped until the late-1990s when a variety of proposals were considered (see: Superman film series#Failed projects), including several that would reboot the franchise with different versions of the characters and setting, rather than attempt to follow up on this film.
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 11% of 28 critics gave the film positive reviews.[8]
The film ended with the final line, "See you in twenty". In fact, it would be 19 years before the next Superman film, Superman Returns, would arrive at cinemas in June 2006. This film discarded the events of Superman III and IV, continuing where the first two installments left off, although most of Richard Lester's concepts in Superman II are jettisoned as well.
The first Nuclear Man from
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, played by British actor
Clive Mantle.
According to writer Mark Rosenthal's commentary on Superman IV: The Quest for Peace Deluxe Edition DVD released in November 2006, and the gallery of deleted scenes included on the disc, there are approximately 45 minutes of the film that have not been seen by the public after they were deleted following a failed Southern California test screening. In fact, the Nuclear Man that appears in the film is actually the second Nuclear Man Luthor created. Cut scenes featured the original Nuclear Man engaging Superman in battle outside the Metro Club and being destroyed by the Man of Steel. The first Nuclear Man was somewhat more inhuman-looking than his successor, and resembled vaguely in looks, and significantly in personality, the comic book character Bizarro. Luthor postulates that this Nuclear Man was not strong enough, and hatches the plan to create the second Nuclear Man inside the sun as a result. The comic book adaptation of the film, as well as the novelization, depicts these scenes and several photos of Superman's battle with the first Nuclear Man can be seen online. Three of the "lost" minutes, consisting of two scenes (the "tornado scene", in which Christopher Reeve's daughter Alexandra plays the girl swept away by the tornado; and the "Moscow" sequence, in which Superman stops a nuclear missile from being launched) were used in the international release by Cannon Films, and in the U.S. syndicated television version prepared by Viacom. At one point the producers of this film considered using all of this footage (and presumably shooting new footage) into a fifth film (see Superman Lives), but the poor box office performance of this film led that idea to be scrapped. Rosenthal commented on the DVD commentary that this showed just how out of touch Cannon was with reality.
The original 2-hour 14-minute preview version has never been seen outside its ill-fated Southern California test screening. There had been rumors that this version, including all the deleted scenes described above, of the film was shown only one known time, on the SFM Holiday Network in 1989. In actuality, another film that co-starred Christopher Reeve was shown on SFM, and this is where the misconception originated. A spokesman for SFM later confirmed that the full version never aired on television.
Warner Bros. confirmed in an early 2006 Internet chat room session that the lost footage was found, and approx. 30 minutes of the footage were included in a "deleted scenes" section of the 2006 DVD box set, Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition. The footage is presumably taken from an original workprint, as visual effects are not complete, music is consisted from stock elements and the first film's soundtrack, and the film is in a very rough state.
The deleted footage on the Special Edition DVD includes:
- Clark having a nightmare involving the destruction of the planet Krypton when he was a baby. This included a voiceover by an uncredited actor who was supposed to play Jor-El, which was established by Marlon Brando in the first film. Due to the low budget and freefall into bankruptcy by Cannon Films after the failed investment in Superman III, Marlon was not asked to return. Clark then wakes up late with a recorded telephone message from Lois telling him to get to work. A neighbor then greets Clark outside his apartment with her pet dog Godzilla tugging forcefully at Clarks' morning newspaper.
- Jeremy about to write his letter to Superman via The Daily Planet. In the theatrical cut, the schoolgirl that taunts him says "He doesn't even know what's going on." This was dubbed for the release. In this workprint, she really says "He's so spaced out, he wouldn't even notice."
- Superman answering Jeremy's letter in person at his school. Notice this was supposed to be a day or so later due to the delivery of the letter and all the school kids are in the same casual clothing as the day Jeremy first writes the letter.
- The creation of the failed Nuclear Man prototype with scenes of deflecting bullets, breaking an iron bar and unsuccessful flying abilities. The photo Lex shows the prototype of Superman was taken from the publicity stills department at Cannon Films as the shot of Christopher Reeve was taken at the end of the picture at the Prison Quarry where Superman tells Lex how he defeated the second Nuclear Man.
- A fight with Superman and the Nuclear Man prototype ensues outside The Metro Club. This ends in the destruction of the prototype being thrown into a electronic tower and is zapped into ashes. This features a product placement of Burger King in the background, which never had publicity in the theatrical cut.
- Lenny bringing Lex the black ashed remains of the prototype and explaining his plan of baking the remains in the core of the sun to one of his female colleagues. He kept the remains in a dustbuster during this scene.
- An extended flying sequence with Superman and Lois with more aerial footage and Lois flying past Thailand not featured in the theatrical cut.
- Extended footage of the "Around The World" fight sequence with Superman and Nuclear Man. The footage featured on the DVD is the tornado destruction in Smallville, with Superman saving a little girl, played by Christopher Reeve's real-life daughter Alex. (On the international VHS/LaserDisc and U.S. syndicated television releases, this footage is included in its entirety with finished music, visual, and sound effects).
- The attempted launch of a nuclear missile by Nuclear Man in Red Square, Russia. Superman is then punched into the clouds by Nuclear Man after he stops the missile. (On the international VHS/LaserDisc and U.S. syndicated television releases, this footage is included in its entirety with finished music, visual, and sound effects.)
- Lex's rise to power with his nuclear scheme. He convincingly negotiates with the armies to keep their missiles in standby due to the defeat of Superman by the second Nuclear Man. He makes a fortune from this plan which is shown in the final cut with the stacks of cash in his lair.
- Extra footage of Clark's rapid ageing due to the scratch caused by Nuclear Man in the middle of the film.
- A subplot which was not in the theatrical film regarding Nuclear Man's desire to destroy all mankind and return for Lacy, whom he has fallen for which was not mentioned in either the deleted scenes on the DVD or the theatrical cut. Superman also makes an appearance here and uses Lacy as a diversion to stop Nuclear Man. Lex and Lenny also feature prominently in the deleted footage.
- An extra scene of Nuclear Man coming back for Lacy in the Metropolis Tower, where she was originally hiding. This scene was supposed to take place after the fight between Nuclear Man and Superman on the moon.
- A farewell scene between Lacy and Clark, where he shares his very first kiss with someone other than Lois in the series.
- An alternative ending where Superman takes Jeremy up into space to show him that the planet is "One World." Also featured are the astronauts, waving to Superman and Jeremy, who appeared at the beginning of the film.
Ownership and rights
As a result of prior contracts, different entities own different components of Superman IV. Warner Bros. co-produced the film and handled North American theatrical distribution, while Cannon Films handled distribution outside North America. Due to legal snags, the film was not issued on DVD for many years until WB bought back key rights to the film, thus allowing it to be released on DVD in the U.S. in 2001. The international DVD rights were not settled until 2005 and WB has since released IV outside the U.S. on home video. WB also handled worldwide distribution of IV when it was reissued in late 2006 as part of the 14-disc Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition box set.
CBS Paramount Domestic Television (owners of the television rights to Cannon's library, and successor company to Viacom Enterprises) formerly held television rights to the film—coincidentally, CBS Paramount Television had also been the successor-in-interest to the TV division of Paramount Pictures, the studio that released the 1940s Superman cartoons made by Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios. Then, in 2006, television syndication was assumed by Warner Bros. Television Distribution--since it and ION Media Networks announced a deal that provided the rights to broadcast movies and classic TV shows from the Warner Bros. library on the ION Television network. The ION deal included TV rights for Superman IV and its predecessor Superman III. Finally, in 2009, Paramount re-assumed its partial rights to "IV" due to its part-ownership of the Cannon library for certain media (US only), and as of the present time television syndication is handled on Paramount's behalf by Trifecta Entertainment & Media.
Meanwhile, all other theatrical and television rights in certain territories, including partial copyright, are owned by MGM/Sony/Comcast (successors-in-interest to Cannon Films).
Special powers
This film shows the Man of Steel using several powers which had never been seen before in the films. Superman restores part of the damaged Great Wall of China by gazing at it, apparently using telekinesis. This power was never ascribed to Superman in the comics. The issue was avoided altogether in the comic adaptation, where Superman repairs the Great Wall manually. He uses the same ability during the street battle with Nuclear Man, when he lowers several suspended policemen to the ground just by looking at them.
Comic book adaptation
In late 1987, DC Comics prepared a comic book adaptation of Superman IV, scripted by Bob Rozakis and pencilled by Curt Swan and Don Heck. This edition includes different dialogue from the movie and incidents among the deleted scenes of the movie. The comic book features a battle with the failed prototype of Nuclear Man and an around the world fight with the second Nuclear Man. The adaptation even has an alternate ending with Superman and Jeremy flying above Earth, observing the planet being just one world. In the adaptation, Jeremy is seen in space with a spacesuit but in the deleted footage he is not wearing any protection of any kind, like Lacy Warfield when she was rescued by Superman from the second Nuclear Man. The alternate ending appears in the Special Edition DVD, but it was incorporated in the lost footage section.
References
- ^ *Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler worked on the ideas for a fourth Superman movie throughout much of 1984. Registering the title Superman IV: The Man of Steel, the two producers assigned David Odell to come up with a storyline that would incorporate Brainiac, Bizarro and Mr. Mxyzptlk, and they talked with Lewis Gilbert (The Spy Who Loved Me) about taking over the reigns of director from Richard Lester. They also had a meeting with Dallas star John James about his taking over the role of Superman from Christopher Reeve. A summer 1986 release date was planned and Tom Selleck was considered as Brainiac with Dudley Moore as Mxyzptlk. Following the poor box office response to Supergirl and Santa Claus The Movie, Ilya Salkind decided it was time to sell the rights and all plans collapsed.The Superman rights were bought off the Salkinds by now, which was a good thing, as they had used up most of Chris' goodwill. They had effectively sacked Margot Kidder from her role as Lois Lane after she publicly spoke against them.
- ^ Unfortunately, the new owners, "Golan and Globus", who owned the cinema chain "Cannon" were known in Hollywood for making ultra cheap movies, often selling distribution rights to a movie while it was still in production to help finance productions. They angered Hollywood in 1987 when they paid Sly Stallone $12 million to star in the abysmal Over the Top, which upped every other star's fee. Stallone was at the top of his game in 1985 after the gigantic successes of both Rambo 2 and Rocky 4. He then went on to make 2 films for Cannon: Cobra and Over the Top - both bombed spectacularly. The vibes were bad about Chris making a fourth Superman movie with them. Like the Bond series, the Superman films were known for their first class productions.
- ^ As mentioned, he had agreed to star in the role on the acceptance that he would make another movie first. He chose ultra low budget, gritty, Street Smart about a magazine reporter who fakes up a story about a pimp, only for the DA to accuse him of writing about a murder suspect. It was to give Morgan Freeman his first OSCAR nomination, as the pimp and give him major exposure, which opened many doors for him. But unfortunately, Chris was panned in the role for been "Bland" and the film bombed. As you know, Freeman went on from strength to strength. After reviewing various scripts, Reeve suggested the storyline of Superman becoming involved in the global political issue of nuclear warfare.
- ^ Reeve had contributed to the script and came up with the theme of the movie of Nuclear disarmament after narrating a PBS TV show on World Peace.
- ^ As with the previous films in the series, Superman IV was filmed extensively in England, with the new town of Milton Keynes being used (somewhat incongruously) to represent several locations within Metropolis, including the UN building. Shooting also took place in London. The production started well, until WB discovered the unscrupulous Golan and Globus were siphoning money from the project to their native Israel, and bringing in ultra cheap labour for the likes of set builders for the movie. Incensed, WB pulled the plug on financing and the money soon ran out. They released it anyway.
- ^ "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=superman4.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
- ^ "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=superman4.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
- ^ "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/superman_iv_the_quest_for_peace/. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
External links
