Batgirl0202
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Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
This is it folks, the final Superman movie starring Christopher Reeve. Definitely my first time watching this...
After an obligatory opening action sequence in space where Superman saves some international astronauts, the film gets off to an oddly solemn start. We see Clark surveying the wreckage of his parents' dilapidated farm, in the first of several scenes that underscore how alone this version of Superman truly is. He finds one last Kryptonian crystal in the barn along with a recording from his biological mother, telling him that this is the final fragment from his home world, and that once he uses it he will be completely "alone". He later tells Lois (more on her momentarily) that she was the only person he's ever known whom he felt a connection with. And to make matters even worse, Clark is visited by a real estate agent who encourages him to sell the farm to a commercial interest, advising that he "can't stop progress". It's these mournful scenes of isolation and eerie prescience that make genre films like this so difficult to dismiss offhand. Moreover, seeing the hale and hearty Reeve in his prime, knowing what we know now about a life that can only be described as tragic, make these opening sequences almost more than I could bear...
I found The Quest for Peace to be the most satisfying Superman film since the second entry. While new director Sidney J. Furie possesses not one iota of Richard Donner's sense of majesty and grandeur (sorry but I still consider Superman II a Donner film), at least an earnest attempt is made to return to form. Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, and Jackie Cooper are all brought back, and to his credit, Reeve doesn't just phone it in (even though legend has it that he only agreed to return as a trade-off so he could make his passion project). Unfortunately, this also means a return to slapstick and, alas, more gaslighting of Lois. Clark reveals his identity to her a second time, only to wipe her memory of the event yet again! Or does he? Things are left ambiguous; does she remember or doesn't she? Does she only partially remember? I shudder to think of what this poor woman's therapy bills must look like...
Superman IV also continues that curious Reeve-era tradition of showing Superman, in his Clark Kent identity, bullying a human. From the diner encounter in the second film, to ex-jock Brad in the third film, to the personal trainer in the fourth, this version of Superman clearly isn't above showing us puny humans who's the boss from time to time. While it's true that all three of his victims were creeps or bullies themselves, this type of retaliation seems incongruous with the character. I guess audiences in the 70's and 80's really did have a higher tolerance level for this sort of thing...
If we're being honest here, the film itself is fun but nothing really special. However, there's an odd undercurrent of sadness to the proceedings that, once again, makes the movie difficult to discount. Unfortunately though, this has more to do with context than any evident skill in front or behind the camera. Compared to other contemporaneous franchises where many of the principals are still alive, it occurred to me while watching this how the Reeve Superman films are now primarily populated by ghosts. Richard Donner, Mario Puzo, the Newmans, Robert Benton, Alexander Salkind, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Richard Pryor, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Margot Kidder, Terence Stamp, Reeve himself... All gone now. I can only imagine for true fans of these films who watch them often, the act of revisiting these movies must just get sadder and sadder with each passing year...
When Reeve does his customary wave & devilish smile at the end of Superman IV for the very last time, I confess that the waterworks started to swell up. I enjoyed all these films to varying degrees but I honestly don't see myself returning to them again anytime soon
This is it folks, the final Superman movie starring Christopher Reeve. Definitely my first time watching this...
After an obligatory opening action sequence in space where Superman saves some international astronauts, the film gets off to an oddly solemn start. We see Clark surveying the wreckage of his parents' dilapidated farm, in the first of several scenes that underscore how alone this version of Superman truly is. He finds one last Kryptonian crystal in the barn along with a recording from his biological mother, telling him that this is the final fragment from his home world, and that once he uses it he will be completely "alone". He later tells Lois (more on her momentarily) that she was the only person he's ever known whom he felt a connection with. And to make matters even worse, Clark is visited by a real estate agent who encourages him to sell the farm to a commercial interest, advising that he "can't stop progress". It's these mournful scenes of isolation and eerie prescience that make genre films like this so difficult to dismiss offhand. Moreover, seeing the hale and hearty Reeve in his prime, knowing what we know now about a life that can only be described as tragic, make these opening sequences almost more than I could bear...
I found The Quest for Peace to be the most satisfying Superman film since the second entry. While new director Sidney J. Furie possesses not one iota of Richard Donner's sense of majesty and grandeur (sorry but I still consider Superman II a Donner film), at least an earnest attempt is made to return to form. Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, and Jackie Cooper are all brought back, and to his credit, Reeve doesn't just phone it in (even though legend has it that he only agreed to return as a trade-off so he could make his passion project). Unfortunately, this also means a return to slapstick and, alas, more gaslighting of Lois. Clark reveals his identity to her a second time, only to wipe her memory of the event yet again! Or does he? Things are left ambiguous; does she remember or doesn't she? Does she only partially remember? I shudder to think of what this poor woman's therapy bills must look like...
Superman IV also continues that curious Reeve-era tradition of showing Superman, in his Clark Kent identity, bullying a human. From the diner encounter in the second film, to ex-jock Brad in the third film, to the personal trainer in the fourth, this version of Superman clearly isn't above showing us puny humans who's the boss from time to time. While it's true that all three of his victims were creeps or bullies themselves, this type of retaliation seems incongruous with the character. I guess audiences in the 70's and 80's really did have a higher tolerance level for this sort of thing...
If we're being honest here, the film itself is fun but nothing really special. However, there's an odd undercurrent of sadness to the proceedings that, once again, makes the movie difficult to discount. Unfortunately though, this has more to do with context than any evident skill in front or behind the camera. Compared to other contemporaneous franchises where many of the principals are still alive, it occurred to me while watching this how the Reeve Superman films are now primarily populated by ghosts. Richard Donner, Mario Puzo, the Newmans, Robert Benton, Alexander Salkind, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Richard Pryor, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Margot Kidder, Terence Stamp, Reeve himself... All gone now. I can only imagine for true fans of these films who watch them often, the act of revisiting these movies must just get sadder and sadder with each passing year...
When Reeve does his customary wave & devilish smile at the end of Superman IV for the very last time, I confess that the waterworks started to swell up. I enjoyed all these films to varying degrees but I honestly don't see myself returning to them again anytime soon
