I recently watched "Superman IV" for the first time since...well, 1987, I guess. How time flies.
I thought the first half-hour was actually pretty good - not luminous, but fine. The hostile takeover of the Daily Planet is interesting, and I enjoyed Superman's moral dilemma about the nuclear missile situation (some reviews suggest that Superman is all gung-ho about disarming the world; in fact, he's initially quite reluctant to do so).
But after that decent first half hour, the movie pretty much falls apart. The Daily Planet storyline is resolved abruptly and unconvincingly - I simply can't accept that Muriel Hemingway's character undergoes a total conversion from yellow journalist to an editor with integrity. What exactly inspires this change of heart, besides the fact that she's hot for stumbling, stupid Clark Kent?
The nuclear missile plot is also glossed over. I'm not exactly sure why Superman decides to abandon his disarmament mission; just because Lex Luthor's given him some trouble, suddenly he's not in favor of world peace? The movie simply doesn't explore his decision-making processes thoroughly enough.
Another strangely underdeveloped plot line is the sale of the Kent farm. In an early scene, we find out that a "big developer" is interested in buying the farm, but Clark would prefer to sell it to a small-time farmer. This is actually a pretty nice segment, pleasingly reminiscent of the first film, but it comes to absolutely nothing, as the sale of the farm is never mentioned again. Huh?
Some of these plotting problems doubtless arise from the fact that about 40 minutes were chopped out of the film before its release. However, I've heard that a lot of the missing footage is devoted to action, so it probably plugs relatively few of the aforementioned plot gaps. Anyway, what really matters is that the theatrical release is semi-incomprehensible.
The special effects are another big minus for the film. For example, the same terrible "green screen" shot of Superman flying toward the audience is reused about eight times, and it's so bad that you didn't even want to see it once. I know this film had a limited $17 million budget, but for goodness' sake, I've seen better special effects done on much smaller TV budgets.
And yet...and yet...I can't bring myself to hate this movie. At a mere 90 minutes, it's much pacier (and more sincere) than the plodding, dreadful "Superman III." Also, it's nice to see Margot Kidder and Gene Hackman back in substantial roles after they were basically ignored in the previous film. Hackman's performance as Lex Luthor is always pretty funny, even if he's playing it on auto-pilot; I particularly enjoy the moment when he lights his cigar using Nuclear Man's radioactive aura.
I don't even object to the presence of Mariel Hemingway, who is strangely sexy in this movie - though somehow I feel obliged to point out that an actress with a one-scene cameo as a teacher is actually the prettiest woman in the whole thing.
Even the much-maligned special effects have a certain campy charm. And, you know, Nuclear Man is cool in certain dumb ways; he gives Superman a tough fight, which makes him at least somewhat interesting. He looks ridiculous, of course, but I don't really sweat his mullet as much as everyone else does. (When are we going to get over this whole childish mullet obsession, anyway?)
Despite this praise, I should note that, toward the ending of the movie, Nuclear Man flies into space carrying Hemingway...and she survives, despite the fact that she's not wearing a space suit. That complete lack of realism, attention to detail, whatever you want to call it - I guess that's typical of the whole movie. But I still get a laugh out of it.
I thought the first half-hour was actually pretty good - not luminous, but fine. The hostile takeover of the Daily Planet is interesting, and I enjoyed Superman's moral dilemma about the nuclear missile situation (some reviews suggest that Superman is all gung-ho about disarming the world; in fact, he's initially quite reluctant to do so).
But after that decent first half hour, the movie pretty much falls apart. The Daily Planet storyline is resolved abruptly and unconvincingly - I simply can't accept that Muriel Hemingway's character undergoes a total conversion from yellow journalist to an editor with integrity. What exactly inspires this change of heart, besides the fact that she's hot for stumbling, stupid Clark Kent?
The nuclear missile plot is also glossed over. I'm not exactly sure why Superman decides to abandon his disarmament mission; just because Lex Luthor's given him some trouble, suddenly he's not in favor of world peace? The movie simply doesn't explore his decision-making processes thoroughly enough.
Another strangely underdeveloped plot line is the sale of the Kent farm. In an early scene, we find out that a "big developer" is interested in buying the farm, but Clark would prefer to sell it to a small-time farmer. This is actually a pretty nice segment, pleasingly reminiscent of the first film, but it comes to absolutely nothing, as the sale of the farm is never mentioned again. Huh?
Some of these plotting problems doubtless arise from the fact that about 40 minutes were chopped out of the film before its release. However, I've heard that a lot of the missing footage is devoted to action, so it probably plugs relatively few of the aforementioned plot gaps. Anyway, what really matters is that the theatrical release is semi-incomprehensible.
The special effects are another big minus for the film. For example, the same terrible "green screen" shot of Superman flying toward the audience is reused about eight times, and it's so bad that you didn't even want to see it once. I know this film had a limited $17 million budget, but for goodness' sake, I've seen better special effects done on much smaller TV budgets.
And yet...and yet...I can't bring myself to hate this movie. At a mere 90 minutes, it's much pacier (and more sincere) than the plodding, dreadful "Superman III." Also, it's nice to see Margot Kidder and Gene Hackman back in substantial roles after they were basically ignored in the previous film. Hackman's performance as Lex Luthor is always pretty funny, even if he's playing it on auto-pilot; I particularly enjoy the moment when he lights his cigar using Nuclear Man's radioactive aura.
I don't even object to the presence of Mariel Hemingway, who is strangely sexy in this movie - though somehow I feel obliged to point out that an actress with a one-scene cameo as a teacher is actually the prettiest woman in the whole thing.
Even the much-maligned special effects have a certain campy charm. And, you know, Nuclear Man is cool in certain dumb ways; he gives Superman a tough fight, which makes him at least somewhat interesting. He looks ridiculous, of course, but I don't really sweat his mullet as much as everyone else does. (When are we going to get over this whole childish mullet obsession, anyway?)
Despite this praise, I should note that, toward the ending of the movie, Nuclear Man flies into space carrying Hemingway...and she survives, despite the fact that she's not wearing a space suit. That complete lack of realism, attention to detail, whatever you want to call it - I guess that's typical of the whole movie. But I still get a laugh out of it.