Superman does a lot in his newest adventure. Archvillain Lex Luthor, determined to make the world safe for nuclear arms merchants, creates a new being to challenge the Man of Steel: the radiation-charged Nuclear Man. The two super-powered foes clash in an explosive screen extranvaganza that sees Superman save the Statue of Liberty, repulse a volcanic eruption of Mount Etna, rebuild the demolished Great Wall of China and perform many more spetactular feats.Written by
Robert Lynch <docrlynch@yahoo.com>
Nuclear Power. In the best hands, it is dangerous. In the hands of Lex Luthor, it is pure evil. This is Superman's greatest battle. And it is for all of us.
In the original script, Superman was supposed to rebuild the Great Wall of China at super speed, but when money problems emerged, they had Superman use his "magical rebuilding power" (which had been completely made up for the film). It required only that Director Sidney J. Furie run the camera in reverse, rather than a complicated super-speed scene. See more »
Goofs
Nuclear Man descends into a volcano. While there may have been heat from lava for him to feed off, he would have no sunlight to reach the interior of the mountain. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Cosmonaut Captain:
[in Russian]
You can sing later comrade Sinatra.
Cosmonaut:
[in Russian]
Back at home they told me to sing in space.
See more »
Alternate Versions
The 94 minute version played theatrically in Australia, however all Australian video versions have been taken from the 90 minute North American print. See more »
In this 4th and final Chritopher Reeve Superman film, Superman tries to rid the world of nuclear weapons, only to find that Lex Luthor is back and ready to supply the world with these dangerous weapons. Oh, and he has a new sidekick: Nuclear Man!
Many people have given this a lower rating (understandably), but a 3 or 4 out of 10? It really is not that bad. The film is fun, fast-paced and very watchable. Some consider it the worst, but I did not find it any better or worse than part 3. Granted, parts 1 and 2 are superior (thanks Richard Donner) but I've seen many worse films than Superman 4.
Random thoughts: The double date scene was clever, but really annoying and completely pointless. If Superman would just reveal himself to Lois Lane he wouldn't have to find other girls on the side... although see below.
The idea of getting rid of nuclear weapons was very nice and a great social and political commentary. I agree getting rid of nuclear weapons would be a good move. But the film made this very unrealistic. The world cheers him on, when in reality the countries would protest. He invades a variety of countries and steals their to secret hidden weapons (not sure on the legality or logistics of that). And what is to stop someone from building these weapons all over again?
What happened to Lana Lang? At the end of part 3, it looked like Superman finally realized that Lois Lane is a loser and hooked up with Lana. But she is never seen or mentioned in part 4, despite working for the Daily Planet (at least as of the last film). What gives?
Does anyone else think Lex Luthor is getting a little tired? Did we really need 3 films with Luthor and one with a Luthor knockoff? What about Brainiac or Bizarro or the Eradicator or just about anyone else? Heck, General Zod is so much cooler than Luthor (with all due respect to Gene Hackman).
There's a scene where he rebuilds the great wall of China just by looking at it. What power did he use? Tractor beams from his nipples?
But anyway, this film is not as bad as many would have you believe, and if you've spent six hours on the first three, you might as well invest 90 more minutes in this series finale.
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In this 4th and final Chritopher Reeve Superman film, Superman tries to rid the world of nuclear weapons, only to find that Lex Luthor is back and ready to supply the world with these dangerous weapons. Oh, and he has a new sidekick: Nuclear Man!
Many people have given this a lower rating (understandably), but a 3 or 4 out of 10? It really is not that bad. The film is fun, fast-paced and very watchable. Some consider it the worst, but I did not find it any better or worse than part 3. Granted, parts 1 and 2 are superior (thanks Richard Donner) but I've seen many worse films than Superman 4.
Random thoughts: The double date scene was clever, but really annoying and completely pointless. If Superman would just reveal himself to Lois Lane he wouldn't have to find other girls on the side... although see below.
The idea of getting rid of nuclear weapons was very nice and a great social and political commentary. I agree getting rid of nuclear weapons would be a good move. But the film made this very unrealistic. The world cheers him on, when in reality the countries would protest. He invades a variety of countries and steals their to secret hidden weapons (not sure on the legality or logistics of that). And what is to stop someone from building these weapons all over again?
What happened to Lana Lang? At the end of part 3, it looked like Superman finally realized that Lois Lane is a loser and hooked up with Lana. But she is never seen or mentioned in part 4, despite working for the Daily Planet (at least as of the last film). What gives?
Does anyone else think Lex Luthor is getting a little tired? Did we really need 3 films with Luthor and one with a Luthor knockoff? What about Brainiac or Bizarro or the Eradicator or just about anyone else? Heck, General Zod is so much cooler than Luthor (with all due respect to Gene Hackman).
There's a scene where he rebuilds the great wall of China just by looking at it. What power did he use? Tractor beams from his nipples?
But anyway, this film is not as bad as many would have you believe, and if you've spent six hours on the first three, you might as well invest 90 more minutes in this series finale.