Review of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) by Jeff B — 27 Oct 2008

Somehow more childish than the 1940s Fleischer & Famous Superman cartoons that were aimed squarely at kids, the horribly miscalculated bomb The Quest for Peace created a cancer-causing fallout so tenacious that it wouldn't dissipate for nearly 20 years. It plays even poorer today. George Reeves' '50s iteration of the Man of Steel might prove to be classic television, but the staid silliness of the series hasn't aged well. That said, the entire run of that program looks positively naturalistic and ripped-from-the-headlines when compared with the insultingly over-the-top goings-on of Superman IV. With a villain so laughable that his appearance single-handedly turns the production into an outright comedy, Superman IV is riff-worthy from the word 'no.'.

In this painfully bad PG-rated sequel, the Man of Steel (Reeve) crusades for nuclear disarmament and meets Lex Luthor's (Hackman) latest creation, Nuclear Man.

Alexander and Ilya Salkind, the producers of the first three go-rounds, smartly chose to sit this one out. Gene Hackman, however, returns to cash a sizable paycheck and create a Solar-powered Superman clone with a perfectly coiffed mullet. That Superman creators Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel lived to see this dreck put the nail in coffin of a once-decent franchise is appalling...though certainly not as appalling as Warner Bros. not compensating them for creating an American icon...but a close second.

Bottom line: Nuclear Waste.