द फैंटास्टिक फोर

While I am not particularly a fan of superhero films, I decided to see this after I saw the documentary about this picture, "Doomed: The Untold Story of Roger Corman's the Fantastic Four". This film has gained legendary status, as it was completed...yet never officially released in any way. So how did I get to see it? Somehow a bootleg copy escaped and the film has been sold at comic book festivals. There also is currently a copy on YouTube...though if Twentieth Century-Fox wanted to, they could enforce their copyright and have it removed. So far...they've allowed it to stay posted.

Before I get to the review, I want to put this very low budget film in context. While technically speaking it looks like crap compared to superhero films today, back in the early 1990s superhero films were NOT the technical marvels they are today. Part of it is because CGI has grown by leaps and bounds since then. Part of it is that superhero films to that time (with the exception of "Batman" from 1989) looked really cheap and crappy. And, part of it is because the film only cost $1,000,000 to make...a pittance even back then. In this light, it's actually amazing that the film looks as good as it does! But be prepared...some of the special effects are far from being special!!

Here's the story in a nutshell. Some scientists create a space craft but its diamond cluster drive (?) is sabotaged and it causes the ship to crash. Somehow this crash causes the four astronauts to become the Fantastic Four and imbued them with superhero powers. Following this, the baddie who caused the wreck, Dr. Doom, tries his best to kill the Four.

Style-wise, this is much more like a comic book or kids film than the next generation of superhero pictures. It's far less serious and slight. This simply is how most such films at that time were made. Now I am not saying this is a great thing...but it's hard to expect a cheap film to somehow recreate the genre. Overall, it's watchable and entertaining...albeit a bit silly and slight as well. I cut this one a lot of slack for what it is...and I hope you do as well.

By the way, this film was shelved in a deal that gave the rights to the franchise to Twentieth Century-Fox. And, since that studio did NOT want two "Fantastic Four" films, they chose to shelve this cheap Roger Corman film. Incidentally, the Fox film cost about 100 times more...and reviews for that film are generally terrible! So, even if the Corman film isn't great, at least it wasn't that much worse and cost practically nothing!!

While this movie admittedly does not deserve a theatrical release, there's no reason I can see why it shouldn't be shown on TV, or get a straight-to-video release. There *are* worse movies. That said, it is overlong, and some of the dialogue is absolutely dreadful.

I watched this last night and was very disappointed...not because it was awful, but because it was quite good !!

I'd heard the rumours of this film for years and seen priced up bootleg copies at comics fairs and had assumed from its non-release status that it was going to be truly terrible, but taken as a glorified tv-movie I really enjoyed it. For those in the know, it is way better than some previous efforts, the Captain America or Justice League movies for example. The Thing in particular was very well done, and it is worth watching for the "It's Clobbering Time" line alone. Doctor Doom also looks exactly how you would want him to, and the whole film left me with an urge to dig up some reprints of the old Kirby Fantastic 4 comics I'd read as a kid.

I'd say any comic nerds (like me) looking for a fun hour and a half should definitely check this one out... just don't go in expecting spiderman !!

The only way to describe this Roger Corman produced flick, is to compare it to an episode of Power Rangers or VR Troopers, on a $1million budget. It is fast paced and fun, over the top and cheesy, and its short comings are there for everyone to see.

In all honesty the cast make the most of what they are given. Alex Hyde White has just the right dryness for the part of Reed Richards, and Rebbeca Staab is quite fitting as Sue Storm. The other characters are less well represented with Dr Doom being the worst offender, over acting as he does through the heavily cheap body armour. The realisation of The Thing and The Human Torch is quite good. The Things full body costume is similar to those used in the Turtles movies, and the Torch is brought to life via some slick animation. Oley Sassone actually gets the best out of the action scenes and coaxes a good atmosphere.

This is a movie worth seeing. It manages to capture a little of the heart of Marvel comics in ways that Captain America(1991) and The Punisher(1989) weren't able to. It is a petty that more money couldn't have been made available because as a representation of the F4 it isn't bad at all. Don't get me wrong, its no Superman The Movie, and this years Fantastic Four movie will rock. But the film is no Plan 9 or Gigli either, and is worth seeing at least once.

I don't know whether this movie was intended to be a comedy or not, but it sure made me laugh. Some of the highlights are: the Things orgasmic breathing when Alicia (who's spent about a minute and 15 seconds with him) tells him she loves him; The "epic" final confrontation between Mr. Fantastic and Dr. Doom; and the good Dr's histrionic line readings behind his welders mask (reminds me of the scene in "Hardware Wars" between Darth Vader and Princess Leia. ("What are you saying? I can't hear you!"). There is a sort of creepy, sex predator quality to Reed and Sue's relationship in the movie, but one detail they got right was the costuming. If you want to do the home version of MST3K, I can't think of a better movie.