Film Review: Superman III/Superman IV: The Quest For Peace

When it comes to reviewing films, some just don't need another rating. Take the original Superman film. It's an all time classic, and in my opinion the greatest super hero/comic book films ever. Nothing has ever matched it. But who needs yet another review telling you that? So I am skipping talking about the original here.

I am also skipping the second. So much has been said about the two different cuts. I actually watched the Richard Lester cut and the Richard Donner on consecutive evenings, with the films re-release on Blu Ray, and found the latter a much more coherent view. It's a shame it was never released back in 1980, it may have saved the franchise from where it was headed...

It had been about 5 or 6 years since I saw Superman's 3 and 4. In hindsight did the series just get worse and worse? Actually, not quite.

Superman III actually retained Richard Lester as director, but that doesn't help its cause. Seemingly more intent on 'wacky' slapstick humour (the entire opening sequence is fucking excruciating to watch, and I never swear in reviews) over what made the first (and to some extent) the second films what they were. Pratfalls such as people falling in holes, and cakes splatting in peoples faces just didn't even raise a smile.

Talking of not raising a smile, there was the decision to include Richard Pryor in the film. Now, I'm not someone who has seen any of his stand-up films, or any of his stuff with Gene Wilder, but this guy was meant to be a comedian right? Because, as Gus Gorman, the hard up computer expert that falls in with villain Ross Webster (a bored ridged looking Robert Vaughn) nothing he does is even slightly amusing. A scene where he is in the background on skis just mumbling bullshit to himself is probably the nadir of the entire film (and, by default the series.)

Allegedly due to vocally disapproving of the producers decision to fire Richard Donner, Margot Kidders screen time as Lois Lane is whittled down to less than five minutes, at the start and end of the film. It's a noticeable absence, although the Smallville storyline is a good idea.

As always, Christopher Reeve gives everything he has to the role, the guy was so committed in the face of everything around him being terrible, and typically he is the only good thing in the film. Playing 3 characters, Superman, Clark Kent and Evil Superman (created when Kryptonite and erm...tobacco tar are combined) he excels in all, and the Evil Superman stuff and climatic battle between him and Clark Kent is most entertaining scene in the movie, and is over too quickly and we are returned to the god-awful Pryor and his shameless mugging. Superman III is a travesty of a film.

But everyone seems to think that Superman IV: The Quest For Peace is the worst of the lot, but after the third installment it's actually an improvement. It's not brilliant, don't get me wrong but Gene Hackman is back as Lex Luthor (helped out of jail by his young nephew Lenny, played by Jon Cryer), the tone of the film is more serious and it actually deals with some pretty weighty issues - nuclear disarmament, the role of newspapers in world affairs and how what they print can affect peoples opinions, and Kidder has a proper role as Lois Lane again (and is part of one of the films highlights, the double date scene with Clark Kent and Superman.)

But, as I said it's not brilliant. After the films budget was cut in half, most of the exterior scenes were shot in Milton Keynes. And once you know that fact, you can notice. I swear I recognised a building in one scene.

The films running time (a very short for the series 90 minutes) was clearly the victim of severe editing, with the Luthors seemingly the victim of most of them. You can't help but think Hackman should have been in a lot more scenes, and if you consult the deleted scenes, you can see he was at one point.

Another negative is the villain, Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow, who never acted again after this), complete with huge mullet and dangerous long fingernails (afraid so), the whole character is quite the joke, and not in a Superman III way.

It's mostly quite a bizarre watch, what with the Milton Keynes factor, the shonky sets that seem to be have been done on the cheap also, and even little things like seeing Jim Broadbent play a French bad guy in a small role. It all seems quite surreal at times.

But none of the negatives in the film come close to matching the train wreck of III, and again Christopher Reeve put his all into his performance, and gives some great impassioned Superman speeches (Reeve himself actually came up with some of the story, so it was obviously close to his heart) but it would have been nice to see what would be his last appearance as The Man Of Steel be in a stronger film.

But, after the critical mauling and lack of box office interest, the Superman franchise disappeared, not to be seen again for 19 years...

Superman III
*
An absolute mess of a film, with needless slapstick 'comedy', terrible villains and the horrific decision to cast as seemingly coked up non actor as second lead. Superman III is not big, funny or clever, but scrapes one star for Christopher Reeve's multi-faceted performance.


Superman IV: The Quest For Peace
**
Nowhere near as bad as III, or as most people make out. Sure it's not brilliant, and at some moments it feels like a rather vivid hallucination, but it's a solid story, even if it's been hacked down in the editing suite. And again, it's all about Christopher Reeve as Superman that saves it.