Superman IV - Die Welt am Abgrund

Its Supes versus Nukes for the fourth, much-derided Superman adventure often slated for its repressing low-budget, inferior special effects and a whole wad of plot holes and incoherence – thanks no doubt to the extraction of a whole fifty minutes, much of the film's middle portion. Yet, among the wreckage are signs that there was a good film in here somewhere, as our hero struggles to decide whether or not to intervene in human history and the character's rather touching realisation that he is not just a visitor to Earth. A nicely-toned return to the Lois-Clark-Superman relationship also could have rooted the film back to its glorious predecessors - bar number three - but once Nuclear Man shows up and the film's story is cut in half, all promise and potential disappears from the project and the audience is left with a strictly mediocre re-tread of Superman II.

In this 4th and final Chritopher Reeve Superman film, Superman tries to rid the world of nuclear weapons, only to find that Lex Luthor is back and ready to supply the world with these dangerous weapons. Oh, and he has a new sidekick: Nuclear Man!

Many people have given this a lower rating (understandably), but a 3 or 4 out of 10? It really is not that bad. The film is fun, fast-paced and very watchable. Some consider it the worst, but I did not find it any better or worse than part 3. Granted, parts 1 and 2 are superior (thanks Richard Donner) but I've seen many worse films than Superman 4.

Random thoughts: The double date scene was clever, but really annoying and completely pointless. If Superman would just reveal himself to Lois Lane he wouldn't have to find other girls on the side... although see below.

The idea of getting rid of nuclear weapons was very nice and a great social and political commentary. I agree getting rid of nuclear weapons would be a good move. But the film made this very unrealistic. The world cheers him on, when in reality the countries would protest. He invades a variety of countries and steals their to secret hidden weapons (not sure on the legality or logistics of that). And what is to stop someone from building these weapons all over again?

What happened to Lana Lang? At the end of part 3, it looked like Superman finally realized that Lois Lane is a loser and hooked up with Lana. But she is never seen or mentioned in part 4, despite working for the Daily Planet (at least as of the last film). What gives?

Does anyone else think Lex Luthor is getting a little tired? Did we really need 3 films with Luthor and one with a Luthor knockoff? What about Brainiac or Bizarro or the Eradicator or just about anyone else? Heck, General Zod is so much cooler than Luthor (with all due respect to Gene Hackman).

There's a scene where he rebuilds the great wall of China just by looking at it. What power did he use? Tractor beams from his nipples?

But anyway, this film is not as bad as many would have you believe, and if you've spent six hours on the first three, you might as well invest 90 more minutes in this series finale.

Superman Turns "Peacenik" could be another title to this film. Christopher Reeve remarked several times that this was his most "important" Superman movie. Being somewhat of a Liberal "peacenik," he was the kind you'd see out with a big "peace sign" at rallies against nuclear weapons.This movie had the kind of message that was dear to his heart.

Superman goes about trying to rid the world of nuclear weapons here, especially, of course when they get into the hands of villain "Dr. Luthor" (Gene Hackman). It was a nice message and, overall, a nice film. Unlike the other Superman films of the era, they didn't overdo the sappy romance with "Lois Lane" (Margot Kidder). They concentrated more on the story. Unfortunately, that story - even with good intentions - just wasn't all that memorable.

Ask anyone: people remember the first two Reeve Superman films a lot more than the last two. This one, and the third one with Richard Pryor, pretty much "bombed" at the box office, at least compared to the others.

It did not help that the producers of this movie were Golan-Globus films, guys that were known for their cheap and usually-sleazy exploitation films. "Superman" deserved better.

This is a truly frustrating film. Somewhere in this mess is a good film that isn't allowed to break free, haphazard and lazy direction from a mediocre director and two very lame scriptwriters make sure of that.

The idea in itself isn't bad. Superman becomes active in disarming the world of nuclear weapons but his arch nemesis Lex Luthor still holds a grudge against the Man of Steel and devices a plan to get rid of him; by creating a super villain of his own.

Reeve shares co-credit story this time around but he's not responsible for the terrible script. There are good things floating around but executed in the poorest manner. And what's more the special effects are terrible, I can't believe they saved money on that front. The film moves along too fast, clocking in at under 90 minutes and some interesting angles are not explored nearly well enough.

So what's good here? Well, Reeve of course. He IS Superman and once again delivers a fantastic performance and shows all too well that he's way too good for this film. Margot Kidder is good as well but her role is minimal and Jackie Cooper appears all too briefly. So that leaves Hackman. Of course it's good to see him, he's a very good actor, but one can't help but think he got a big paycheck and simply did what he had to and nothing more. He doesn't look too excited.

A wasted opportunity this film. Could have been very good but looks incredibly rushed and made without passion. But it's always good to see Reeve in flying action.

SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE pits the Man of Steel against Nuclear Man, Lex Luther's newest creation while ridding the world of nuclear weapons. This is easily the worst of the SUPERMAN movies, and it was doomed to fail right from the start. Cut from its original 134-minute version, it is full of plot holes resulting in a movie with some scenes that just don't make any sense, but even with the extra 45 minutes intact, the movie still wouldn't work because the special effects are cheap and ridiculous, and it shows. Unless you are a diehard fan of the Superman genre, this movie should be avoided.

1 out of 5