Review of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) by Antony G — 06 Dec 2011

Possibly the worst Superhero movie of all time. That's right the worst even with Ben Affleck's Daredevil & Jennifer Garner's Elektra amongst our mists. It possibly has the cheesiest villain ever, Nuclear Man.

He looks more like a band member from a German Soft Rock group than a Super Villain & sports a hairstyle George Michael & Princess Di would had been proud of. This movie was released two years away from the fall of the Berlin Wall & the ending of the Cold War so this movie has all the hallmarks of the Cold War at its peak & is laced with the paranoia of a nuclear war.

The name, The Quest For Peace, as it suggests has these morals running through its veins as the world at the time starts to throw off the shackles of a nuclear threat. Gone is the humour of the previous three films & the film suffers greatly from this.

Any humorous moments are left to Reeve's acting skills as he plays Clark Kent superbly once again as a bumbling, cumbersome geek. Despite her dislike & reluctance of her role of Lois Lane, Margot Kidder returns for more screen time than she did in the third film.

Once again after Marlon Brando's falling out its left to Susannah York as Lara' El to guide Superman through any trial & tribulations. Gene Hackman also returns as Lex Luthor & creates Nuclear Man to destroy Superman as he rids the world of all nuclear warheads.