Deep dive: Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

In 1987, Christopher Reeve appeared in what would be his final Superman movie, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. The film – directed by Sidney J. Furie – reunited many of the main players from the previous Superman films, including Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Marc McClure and Jackie Cooper, but was in no way a return to the heyday of the series.

Produced on a limited budget (around a third of what it cost to produce Superman: The Movie), the film suffered from appalling visual effects and poor creative decisions. When it arrived in cinemas, critics and audiences disliked it, and Superman IV was quickly regarded as one of the worst comic book movies of all time.

But is it really all that bad?

In this post I am going to discuss Superman IV: The Quest, offering up my thoughts and feelings about the movie. In order to do this, I am going to re-watch the film, and make comments in real time as I go along.

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Superman IV (1987)

*Presses play*

30secs – Thirty seconds into the film and it is already very apparent this movie has been produced on a much smaller budget than the three previous entries. The opening credits are whizzing past the screen in a similar fashion to how they appeared in Superman: The Movie (1978), but here they look very cheap and frankly awful.

3mins – As the credits conclude, the film opens in space, where a collection of Russian astronauts find themselves in trouble. This looks like a job for Superman (apparently he monitors things that happen outside of the Earth’s atmosphere).

4mins 30secs – Superman arrives in space and performs a rescue. This scene is largely fine, but it does feel rather underwhelming and rushed. It’s as if the film is keen to open with an action sequence, even if there is very little action on offer.

5mins 30secs – Back on Earth now and Clark Kent revisits the old Kent farm. His mother has passed away and he’s back to sort out her affairs and tie things up with the farm.

8mins – One thing I must say, is that Christopher Reeve continues to excel in the role of Clark. He’s a little less bumbling than in the previous films, but Reeve still makes him work.

11mins – Lex Luthor is back – having sat out of Superman III (1983) and he has a new scheme, which includes help from his nephew, Lenny, as played by Jon Cryer. Since appearing in Superman IV, Cryer went on to play a terrific version of Lex Luthor in the Supergirl TV series.

15mins – And now for some scenes at The Daily Planet. The old gang are back for this film (Lois, Jimmy, and Perry), but the paper has a new owner in the shape of David Warfield. 

17mins – Warfield’s daughter, Lacy is introduced. Lacy is the new love interest of this film. Although, I don’t know why anyone is bothering with the love angle by this point. Clark couldn’t be with Lois in Superman II, and he didn’t get together with Lana in Superman III, so there’s no chance he’s getting it on with Lacy.

21mins – Lacy is coming on to Clark, which seems very bizarre. With the exception of Lana Lang, no one is supposed to pay Clark any attention whatsoever. He is supposed to fade into the background. Even Lois ignored Clark until she figured out he was secretly Superman.

22mins – A letter has arrived at The Daily Planet addressed for the attention of Superman. A boy called Jeremy has written to Superman with a request: Rid the world of nuclear weapons. So, a fairly simple request then.

23mins 45secs – Jimmy Olsen is barely in this movie, but am I the only one who thinks he looks too old to still be in the same job? Surely he should have progressed up the ladder by now?

27mins 30secs – Clark is unsure how to respond to the letter, and this leads to one of the better ideas in this film. In order for Clark to get some much needed advice on the situation, he needs to speak to Lois. And this leads to Superman revealing his secret identity to his former love.

I’ll discuss why this ‘reveal’ is one of the better ideas in the film momentarily, but before I do I have to note how terrible the visual effects are. After Superman reveals his secret, he and Lois fly around the country in a call-back to a scene from Superman: The Movie, but the green screen work this time around is just rubbish.

29mins – The reason I believe the ‘identity reveal’ is one of the good decisions in this film, is because it demonstrates that Superman still needs Lois. Clark/Superman has been wrestling with his feelings concerning the letter and he knows he needs someone else’s opinion. By opening up to Lois – even if it is only briefly – he can get the right advice from someone he trusts. 

It’s just a shame the severe lack of budget hampers this whole thing. Plus, Clark has to wipe Lois’s mind with a Super-kiss (again), and this seems like a cop out. Could she not have simply retained the knowledge of his identity, but keep it to herself? These characters are much older than they were when they first met, so this could be some interesting, adult character growth.

31mins – Superman and Jeremy are heading to the United Nations building to talk about nukes. This should be an epic scene, but this clearly isn’t the United Nations building. This scene was filmed in Milton Keynes in the UK and it looks grim and underwhelming.

33mins 30secs – This next scene, where Superman addresses all the nations of the world regarding nuclear disarmament should also be a grand scene, but this feels very cheap. The only interesting aspect of this entire scene is the way in which everyone cheers when Superman says he will rid the world of nuclear weapons. This is the sort of thing which works well in these Superman movies.

Incidentally, if Superman had said he would rid the world of nukes in a modern film, he would now be painted as some kind of tyrant that wants to rule the planet. These old Christopher Reeve movies are filled with optimism, whereas newer movies are far more cynical.  

35mins 30secs – Superman is destroying all of the nuclear weapons… by throwing them into the sun. Is that really a good idea? Could this not destroy the sun and potentially kill all life on Earth? I guess this really is an optimistic film.

42mins – Luthor has put his latest scheme into effect, by creating Nuclear Man – a villain born from genetic material… that was launched into the sun. Jeez, is everyone trying to destroy the sun?

45mins – For anyone less than familiar with the deleted material from this movie, Superman IV originally featured two Nuclear Men in the story. The first was more of a Bizarro-like character, played by Brit actor, Clive Mantle (pictured here).

Mantle shot scenes for the movie, but everything to do with this first Nuclear Man was removed from the finished picture. There are no references to the character at all, so unless you are aware that he is missing from the film, you would have no idea he was ever supposed to be there. 

If you have a copy of the film on Blu-ray, you can watch a couple of scenes with Mantle’s Nuclear Man. The character is rough around the edges and not particularly endearing, so it was probably for the best he was not included.

56mins – I should note, the core actors in this film are fine, but they all seem a little muted and uninspired. I get the feeling they know what type of movie they are making and it makes them feel less than enthused about the situation.

1hr – Superman and Nuclear Man engage in combat, leading to the partial destruction of the Great Wall of China. But don’t worry, folks, as Superman has just rebuilt it… simply by looking at it! This is cost-cutting at its finest. Instead of having Superman rebuild the wall using his speed and strength, it simply rebuilds itself by use of a Super-stare!

1hr 2mins 30secs – The fight scene between Superman and Nuclear Man has reached embarrassing levels of awfulness, with Nuclear Man clawing at Superman with his radioactive nails.

1hr 3mins 30secs – If the claw scene wasn’t bad enough, what comes next surely is! Nuclear Man has just picked up the Statue of Liberty, so he can throw it at the some nearby citizens. This is the single worst visual effect in the entire movie.

If the money wasn’t available to make any of this material work, then these scenes shouldn’t be here. I would rather watch a small scrap between Superman and Nuclear Man than something that looks this bad.

1hr 8mins – After the mess of the Statue scene, now it’s time for a nice, more intimate scene with Lois and Clark. A scene which suggests Lois hasn’t completely forgotten everything she knows about the Clark/Superman connection. This scene works very well. There should be more scenes like this in the movie.

1hr 13mins – OK, so here is a plot point which appears to have come out of nowhere – Nuclear Man is suddenly obsessed with Lacy Warfield. Superman is also not surprised by this development. It feels like scenes are missing here. Which they probably are. Various scenes were snipped from this movie due to budget issues.

1hr 16mins – After another dreadful fight scene, which largely involved Superman standing in a doorway shouting to the left of the screen (honestly, he just shouts at his adversary off screen), the Man of Steel has taken Nuclear Man into space!

1hr 17mins – Superman and Nuclear Man are fighting on the Moon. The only benefit of this scene is that it requires very few visual effects and looks more realistic than any of the scenes set on Earth.

1hr 20mins – Lacy Warfield is now in space, without any adequate protection. The lack of oxygen doesn’t seem to be causing her any harm. Oh well, suck it up love, the film is nearly over.

1hr 24mins – Superman is giving a speech to the world (from Milton Keynes) and he has water in his eyes. You might be fooled into thinking he is getting quite emotional over his own words, but in reality the wind is causing Christopher Reeve’s eyes to water! This is how bad this film is. There wasn’t enough money in the budget to re-film this scene, on a less windy day.

1hr 26mins – As the film draws to a close, Nuclear Man is defeated, Luthor is back in prison, Perry White is back in charge of the Daily Planet, and Superman takes to the skies, in what looks like a piece of footage reused from one of the previous films. It is very clear the sheen has fallen off this particular run of films. Such a shame.

*Presses stop*

I was born at the beginning of the 1980s, and I remember the Christopher Reeve Superman movies being a huge deal throughout the decade. But I also remember Superman IV being a forgotten entry.

No one cared for this movie when it came out and it pretty much sank without a trace – and for good reason, Superman IV is bad. It was bad in 1987 and it’s still bad now.

The movie was produced by Golan-Globus/Cannon Films on next to no budget and it shows. Everything looks either rushed or put together on a shoestring.

If you are going to make a Superman movie, and certainly one that follows Superman: The Movie (1978) and Superman II (1980), you have to put the money in place to back up the project. If not, then it’s pretty clear the film is riding on the success of the past, with little to no investment in its future.

Due to the lack of funding, the effects in this movie look dreadful, the sets and wardrobe look run-of-the-mill, and most of the location shooting is laughable. The actors spend most of this movie looking disinterested (not that anyone can blame them), and worst of all even Christopher Reeve looks tired, despite his dependable performance.

The only saving grace of Superman IV is the script, which isn’t bad. There are hints the script could have worked, under the right circumstances, and I do feel had the financial backing been in place this could have been a radically different picture; but that’s the only positive I can offer this film. Superman IV is a monumental disappointment. 

Superman IV cuts corners to save money, and the end result is a film which feels threadbare and unfinished. And by all accounts it was, with large chunks of the picture never seeing the light of day (around 45 minutes).

While Superman: The Movie is one of my all-time favourite films, Superman IV is most certainly at the other end of the scale. It had potential, I honestly believe that, but it just didn’t have the backing to turn it into something (anything) worthwhile.

A sad end to what started off quite ‘Super’. Anyway, in addition to the four Christopher Reeve movies, two other films are connected to this series: Supergirl (1984) and Superman Returns (2006), neither of which star Reeve, but are set in the same universe.

And if that wasn’t enough, Reeve and Supergirl star Helen Slater get a cameo in 2023’s The Flash. Although, the cameo is via some CGI nonsense, and it’s frankly quite bad.

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Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this deep dive into Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. For more posts be sure to check out the recommended reads below.