The less said about Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, the better. It was a misfire from the go and even the charms of Christopher Reeve could make this watchable.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
(1987)
Genre(s): Adventure, Action, Science Fiction
Warner Bros. | PG – 90 min. | May 9, 2023
Date Published: 05/07/2023 | Author: The Movieman
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Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3¾/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Superman (CHRISTOPHER REEVE) foils the plot of terrorists by hurtling their nuclear device into outer space, but the bomb’s shock waves free the Kryptonian villain General Zod (TERENCE STAMP) and his henchmen Ursa (SARAH DOUGLAS) and Non (JACK O’HALLORAN) from their imprisonment. Traveling to Earth, they threaten the planet with destruction at the same time that Superman decides to renounce his superpowers in order to live a normal life as Clark Kent with his new love, Lois Lane (MARGOT KIDDER). Quick Hit Review: The Richard Lester cut of the sequel is only good I suspect because of what Donner shot and not so much the changes Lester made. Since the changes are, for the most part, minute, I’d say this is still a good movie even without Brando’s appearance. Here he’s replaced by Superman’s mom, Susannah York, which is an OK quick replacement as Brando sued the project but she doesn’t carry nearly the weight that Jor-El does when communicating with his son. In any case, the movie itself is serviceable but for all the flaws that might be in the Donner Cut in terms of what footage they were able to use, that is the version I will consider as the sequel and leave this as a fine alternate take. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2½/5 |
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Feature Commentary – Co-Screenwriter Mark Rosenthal has the unfortunate job of commenting for this sequel and he makes a go of it offering up its shortcomings and the reception it received. Superman 50th Anniversary Special (48:10) – Instead of a “Making-of” special like the other three movies, this one gets an overall look at the character and his incarnations in the media. For whatever reason, this was hosted by Dana Carvey and features more archival interviews. Deleted Scenes (31:02) – Here we get several scenes removed from the final picture and some of which fans believe would’ve made for a better picture overall. Personally, I’m not sure how much it would’ve helped but a few are admittedly half decent… I guess. There was one odd scene where Superman and Lois are flying and he lets go of her and somehow Lois is able to fly on her own! Um… ok. Theatrical Trailer (1:26) |
VIDEO – 4/5 |
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Superman IV flies against an obvious green screen and is presented here in the original 2.35 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 2160p high-definition transfer. The only thing this format does is make a cheap movie look even cheaper as everything is sharper so you can see where corners were cut. At least the color palette does make use of the 4K picture with bright colors throughout. |
AUDIO – 3¾/5 |
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The included Dolby Atmos track offers up decent dialogue levels, as best possible I suppose with the original sound design, and showcases the recycled score conducted by John Williams as conducted by Alexander Courage. |
OVERALL — 2¼/5 |
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The less said about Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, the better. It was a misfire from the go and even the charms of Christopher Reeve could make this watchable. |