Review of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) by Eobard T — 11 Jun 2015

Going into SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE, I was totally prepared for this to be an unwatchable mess. To my surprise, this was a Superman film that actually dared to be about something. Yes, the special effects are cheesy and the worst of the series. Yes, Lex Luthor is back as the villain of the week, and Nuclear Man is one of the stupidest villains I've ever seen. But, one thing sets this apart from the other entries in the series: this is a Cannon film, with all that implies. Cannon Films are best known to me as the home of several of Chuck Norris' early titles, and they're known for schlocky, low-budget stinkers that are "so bad they're good." While I wouldn't quite put SUPERMAN IV in that category, there are a number of elements that, given a bigger budget, could have made this an awesome film. Even still, it's very watchable and certainly more entertaining than SUPERMAN III.

The basic plot has Superman campaigning for worldwide nuclear disarmament. There's also trouble at the Daily Planet as a rich businessman tries to take it over and turn it into a vehicle for sensationalism as opposed to real journalism. However, Lex Luthor is back on the scene and isn't about to let Superman eliminate a lucrative business and creates Nuclear Man to take him on.

First, the good, which is actually more than you would think. The story this time is a marked improvement over the silly one in SUPERMAN III. Christopher Reeve has a story credit on SUPERMAN IV, and I have a feeling that he was instrumental in the direction the film took. Addressing nuclear disarmament and war profiteering (to a lesser degree) was/is a timely subject, and particularly so in 1987 when the Soviet Union was on the brink of collapse. Granted, the bulk of this message is contained in two speeches that come off as straight-faced moralizing, but the fact that they tackled the issue at all is commendable. I also liked how Superman is treated as a more international hero than a purely American icon. Here we get to see Superman rescue people (who aren't Lois) in other countries besides the US. In terms of technical details, despite being a Cannon film the production values aren't too bad. Even the acting is perfectly fine (with one huge exception). In fact, most aspects of the production are acceptable except...

The special effects, due to the low budget, are pretty awful. In particular, the flying sequences and fighting in space were very bad. Still, all of this is understandable when you consider who produced this film. What I didn't care for at all was Nuclear Man and Jon Cryer, who plays Lex Luthor's nephew. While he played a fun, quirky character in PRETTY IN PINK, Jon Cryer was absolutely risible here, and his character was annoyingly stupid. He also affects this accent which just adds to how much I hated the character. His presence made me long for Otis and Mrs. Teshmacher. Then there's Lex Luthor's latest creation, Nuclear Man, who his birthed when a missile carrying a strand of Superman's hair explodes in the sun. If that origin wasn't bad enough, his appearance was also ridiculous. Fortunately they had the foresight to dub Gene Hackman's voice over the muscle-bound non-actor who played Nuclear Man. The last thing I'll comment on is the length of the film. Basically, it could have stood to be a little longer and develop the high-minded themes that it dared to address.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at how watchable SUPERMAN IV turned out to be. By no means would I consider this a "good" movie, but its heart is in the right place. It might have been hampered by a reduced budget, rendering the special effects more dated and cheesy than its predecessors, but the story and themes are an improvement from the overly silly SUPERMAN III. It also has a certain B-movie charm that allows you to overlook the sub-par production values. Bottom line, I'd sooner rewatch SUPERMAN IV than SUPERMAN III, but it still doesn't hold a candle to the first two.