Review of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) by Troy F — 20 Aug 2013

Say what you will, but I didn't hate Superman IV: Quest For Peace. In a matter of fact... I liked it more than Superman III. Superman IV is indeed pretty awful, but it has this campiness that makes it fun to watch, and this at least felt like a Superman film.

.. a film that had potential that went sour in many ways. I say this because that crap called Superman III was barely a Superman film, it was a Richard Pryor slapstick film with a few cameos by Superman.

NOW I'm not really defending this film you see, the problems are everywhere. Big plotholes, unmotivated and odd performances, terrible effects shots, lame action, absurd storyline, and just plain freaking cheap.

It's absolute trash, but trash I had some affection for. If this had been the film we got after the 2nd, I would've disliked it greatly. But honestly, being so let down by Superman III helped me to enjoy Quest For Peace so much more.

It can sometimes be laughably bad to a occasionally entertaining degree, it's badness at least grabbed my attention (ahem... Superman III made me sleepy), and acted like a Superman film that had potential.

.. even if that potential was blasted away... completely. So understand that I acknowledge this film's awfulness... but I simply couldn't hate it to the same degree most others did. Maybe it's my little soft spot for bad 80's films and poor production values, since I get a guilty pleasure out of them.

The first two films are gold classics, the third is bad and barely Superman with some occasional good moments but too flat out boring, and the fourth is just bad but with a some guilty pleasure and feeling more like Superman even if the final product was greatly poor.

Now if we only got a director's cut with the deleted footage inserted, that'd be interesting...