In the hype about upcoming Superman flick “Man of Steel”, I decided to watch one of the film in Superman franchise. No, not the 1978 one (which is, to me, the best superhero film of all time). It’s Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. The film was made by Cannon Films, the B-movie company with Hollywood budget. Most of Cannon films are very entertaining although the plot makes no sense at all, unfortunately, not this time.
It’s pretty hard to explain what’s going on in this film since there are many subplots here. So, to cut a long story short, Superman/Clark Kent has to deal with evil media tycoon, a girl who falls in love with him, nuclear wars, and Nuclear Man, the new Superman’s rival created by Lex Luther. But the weirdest part in the plot is the romantic-comedy subplot about relationship between Lois, Clark, and Lacy Warfield (a daughter of media tycoon who takes over Daily Planet). It’s like we have to watch Clark tries to balance his relationship between two women (of course, awkward moments happened during these scenes). It’s not the direction of Superman I want to watch, it’s the direction of Superman 1975 TV musical.
Also, it has an over-the-top message about nuclear war. According to this film, poverty, resources, envy, etc. are not the causes of war. The only reason why the war happened is because of nuclear weapon. So Superman decides to give a speech at the United Nation committee that he has to get rid of nuclear weapons to bring the peace on earth. Wow, this speech is kinda outdated by today standard, except for Mr. Kim Jong-il.
But, to put the nail in the coffin, the worst thing about this film is visual effects. Starting with opening credits, it’s the worst opening credits I’ve seen in my life! I’m pretty sure that they created this effects on the U-matic tape and when they put it in the film, they stretched the width of that opening. That’s why we see the superman logo in the fattest shape. Next, the superman flying shots are the same! We have to see the same shot over and over and over again in this film. To me, that’s an unintentional comedy. In fact, almost every shots that involve blue-screen effects are pretty awful in this film. Finally, the final climax scene in which Superman fights against Nuclear Man is just stupid. The idea of fighting in slow-motion makes unintentional comedy to viewers (including me), although the scene is supposed to be serious. It reminds me of “Moon Zero Two”, another film that has a slow-motion fighting scene in space.
Although I love so-bad-it’s-good movies like Howard the Duck or The Room, Superman IV is just plain bad. It’s not the worst movie I’ve seen for sure but it’s not an entertaining movie neither. The only reasons I can watch it through the end are Mariel Hemmingway and stupid Superman flying effects.
Score: 1.5/5
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