Review of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) by Alasdair B — 04 Jul 2014

Superman and Superman 2 were massive hits. They were uplifting, funny, and had something special about them. Superman 3 was a major drop from awesome to boring and heartless. "Superman 4: A Quest For Peace'' is even worse.

First of all there were a few things I liked about the film. The original score was nice to hear. The film opens with Clark returning to his old farm home. This was a solid opener for the film, but it goes downhill. The characters are all stupid. Mainly Mr. Luther's new partner in crime. We'll call him "Weird Hair Kid''.

The film contains: dumb cops, dumb remote control cars, a strand of Superman's hair holding up 1,000 lbs, and a ton of rehashing from the first film.

The acting first of all is okay, however, you can tell Reeve and Margot aren't really giving it their all at times. Probably due to the awful script.

Back to the positives: Their is some better comedy this time around compared to the lifeless forced comedy of the previous installment. Clark is more bubbly as he was in film one, and their is a great scene between him, Lois and that other girl. Gene Hackman does a decent job as Luther as always, but he gets annoying after he mentions how genius he is so very many times. Their are some classic throwbacks that make you smile. It felt more like a Superman movie than 3 did.

Now for the really ugly: First off, the special effects are unacceptable. The first two films had awesome practical effects with great action. They put so much effort into it. This time, they were lazy. Terrible fight scenes and really bad green screen. Special effects were much more advanced at this time they should have made them better.

Next we have the side characters. The kid Jeremy cannot act. Luther's is stupid, and then theirs Nuclear Man...

Their are so many illogical moments. Superman can speak Russian and Spanish?? Humans can breathe in space if flown up by a Nuclear man? Lois Lane can fly? Superman has powers he never had like rebuilding walls? Oh and he can use his mind to move things, AND use the Force???

In short, Christopher Reeve's final Superman is not super, but rather dry, uninspiring, and stupid, despite its occasional laugh and throwbacks. 2.3 stars.

One hugely bothering thing was that Superman said he doesn't represent any one country. We must all unite. Superman used to be America's hero!