Les Quatre Fantastiques

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.

As long as you keep in mind that the production of this movie was a copyright ploy, and not intended as a serious release, it is actually surprising how not absolutely horrible it is. I even liked the theme music.

And if ever a flick cried out for a treatment by Joel (or Mike) and the MST3K Bots, this is it! Watch this with a bunch of smart-ass wise-crackers, and you're in for a good time. Have a brew, butter up some large pretzels, and enjoy.

Of course, obtaining a copy requires buying a bootleg or downloading it as shareware, but if you're here on the IMDb, then you're most likely savvy enough to do so. Good luck.

And look for my favorite part....where Dr. Doom informs the FF that they have 12 hours to comply with his wishes....and he actually gestures the number "12" with his finger while doing so....it's like "Evil Sesame Street"....hoo boy.

...and of course Mrs. Storm declaring "Just look at you....the Fanstastic Four" is just so heartwarming....you'll laugh, you'll cry.....

So if you love schlocky Sci-Fi, this one's Fantastic For you!

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.

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 !!