Superman IV

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.

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.

SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE

OK... so everyone knows that this is the worst Superman movie ever made... but if you have not seen it in a while, you should watch it.

It is still pretty rubbish, but it is not as bad as I remember.

The story is not that bad... Superman rids planet Earth of all the nuclear weapons, and in doing so unknowingly creates a super villain named Nuclear Man thanks to arch rival Lex Luthor.

The movie does star all the original cast, which surprised me. I knew Christopher Reeve was in it... and after reading his autobiography now know why. He said in the book that he only made it because the film studio wanted to make it and they said to him that they would only finance another movie he wanted to make if he made Superman IV. I will quote what he said in his book... "The less said about Superman IV the better."

Gene Hackman returns as Lex Luthor & Margot Kidder is back as Lois Lane. They all did good jobs as always, although Margot was a bit unsure in places. The other supporting cast were not great. Mariel Hemingway played the new boss of the Daily Planet. She was awful... not a great actress in this I'm afraid. But she was not the worst. Mark Pillow played Nuclear Man. Absolutely terrible. His acting was definitely the worst of the whole quadrilogy.

The effects in this film were so bad. You could see that the budget of this film was so much less than the other 3 movies made. Superman flying was so bad that Flash Gordon was more convincing... and speaking of Flash Gordon... Nuclear Man looked like him... but more camp! Nuclear Mans outfit was embarrassing... it was not much of a super villains outfit. It honestly was just a bad character through and through.

There are also some really bad scenes... there was a scene where a large chuck of the Great Wall of China gets destroyed and Superman fixes it just by looking at it and using some dodgy blue eye lasers. What the hell? Terrible. Also, there is a scene where Nuclear Man kidnaps a Lacy and takes her into space... WHAT? He drags her to space and not only does she not scream or even say anything, but she can breathe fine in space... erm... really? I know Superman was never meant to be realistic, but that is too much!

When I was a kid I was a big fan of the Superman movies... but I think my parents protected me from this disappointment, because I don't remember this film at all... I didn't see this film until I was an adult. Haha. Thanks Mum.

I will give this film 5 out of 10.

It's a shame about this film... it was a very disappointing ending to Christopher Reeves Superman career. But no matter what he will always be a legend.

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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.