Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

The Man of Steel crusades for nuclear disarmament and meets Lex Luthor's latest creation, Nuclear Man.

Director:

Sidney J. Furie

Writers:

Jerry Siegel (character created by: Superman), Joe Shuster (character created by: Superman)

Stars:

Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder

2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Reeve	...	Superman / Clark Kent
Gene Hackman	...	Lex Luthor / Nuclear Man (voice)
Jackie Cooper	...	Perry White
Marc McClure	...	Jimmy Olsen
Jon Cryer	...	Lenny
Sam Wanamaker	...	David Warfield
Mark Pillow	...	Nuclear Man
Mariel Hemingway	...	Lacy Warfield
Margot Kidder	...	Lois Lane
Damian McLawhorn	...	Jeremy
William Hootkins	...	Harry Howler
Jim Broadbent	...	Jean Pierre Dubois
Stanley Lebor	...	General Romoff
Don Fellows	...	Levon Hornsby
Robert Beatty	...	U.S. President

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

dc comics | superman character | perry white character | clark kent character | lex luthor character | 

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Taglines:

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.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Family | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

WB Home Entertainment - DVD site

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Russian French Italian

Release Date:

24 July 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Superman IV

Filming Locations:

M25 Motorway, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$15,681,020

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cannon Films, Warner Bros., Golan-Globus Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min 93 min (1987) 134 min (pre-release cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Supergirl (1984) is not mentioned anywhere during the film. The spin-off film was released between Superman III (1983) and this film. Christopher Reeve was originally going to make a cameo in the film, but passed.

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Goofs

When Lex is stealing Superman's hair, the hole for the 1 ton weight to fall through is revealed when the fake flooring on the base falls away too soon.

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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.

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Connections

Version of Supergirl: Stranger in a Strange Land (2013)

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Soundtracks

Nuke 1 Fight/Ashes
(uncredited)
Composed by Alexander Courage
Original Material Composed by John Williams

User Reviews

So bad, yet so watchable !

Superman 1 was such a classic movie, and 2 was almost as great - Superman 3 is not a great Superman movie, but as a piece of '80s American comedy / spoof it succeeds and has some very memorable scenes (notably Chris Reeve as the evil Superman). But Part 4 is just an awful film overall with few redeeming qualities. Reeve's admirable storyline works well, and the double date scene with Superman & Clark is very entertaining (similar to the style of Superman III). But it's when Superman IV tries to get serious and exciting in its action sequences that it fails miserably and becomes a cheesey, ridiculous farce that only succeeds in showing how pointless it was to make the film on such a small budget. The story's not bad and if Donner was directing and you had 100 million dollars you could do it now and create a great adventure movie with some classic comedy scenes and some exciting action sequences. But anyway, it's too late. For all its failings, every time you see it, it's still fairly watchable, mainly because you're always expecting it to magically be better this time around. It's not as bad as everyone makes out and far more creative and original on a 16 million budget than what Batman and Robin did with 100 million! If Batman and Robin's a 3 out of 10, then Superman IV's a 6 out of 10.