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Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

  • 1987
  • PG
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
3.7/10
55K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,383
750
Gene Hackman, Mariel Hemingway, Jon Cryer, Christopher Reeve, Jackie Cooper, Margot Kidder, Marc McClure, and Mark Pillow in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
Trailer for Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Play trailer1:27
2 Videos
99+ Photos
QuestSuperheroActionAdventureSci-Fi

With the world on the brink of a nuclear war, Superman takes it upon himself to destroy all nuclear weapons. However, Lex Luthor creates Nuclear Man, a force strong enough to take down Super... Read allWith the world on the brink of a nuclear war, Superman takes it upon himself to destroy all nuclear weapons. However, Lex Luthor creates Nuclear Man, a force strong enough to take down Superman.With the world on the brink of a nuclear war, Superman takes it upon himself to destroy all nuclear weapons. However, Lex Luthor creates Nuclear Man, a force strong enough to take down Superman.

  • Director
    • Sidney J. Furie
  • Writers
    • Jerry Siegel
    • Joe Shuster
    • Christopher Reeve
  • Stars
    • Christopher Reeve
    • Gene Hackman
    • Margot Kidder
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    3.7/10
    55K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    4,383
    750
    • Director
      • Sidney J. Furie
    • Writers
      • Jerry Siegel
      • Joe Shuster
      • Christopher Reeve
    • Stars
      • Christopher Reeve
      • Gene Hackman
      • Margot Kidder
    • 362User reviews
    • 90Critic reviews
    • 24Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 6 nominations total

    Videos2

    Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
    Trailer 1:27
    Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
    Superman II: Special Edition
    Trailer 3:25
    Superman II: Special Edition
    Superman II: Special Edition
    Trailer 3:25
    Superman II: Special Edition

    Photos224

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    Top cast72

    Edit
    Christopher Reeve
    Christopher Reeve
    • Superman…
    Gene Hackman
    Gene Hackman
    • Lex Luthor
    Margot Kidder
    Margot Kidder
    • Lois Lane
    Jackie Cooper
    Jackie Cooper
    • Perry White
    Marc McClure
    Marc McClure
    • Jimmy Olsen
    Jon Cryer
    Jon Cryer
    • Lenny
    Sam Wanamaker
    Sam Wanamaker
    • David Warfield
    Mark Pillow
    Mark Pillow
    • Nuclear Man
    Mariel Hemingway
    Mariel Hemingway
    • Lacy Warfield
    Damian McLawhorn
    • Jeremy
    William Hootkins
    William Hootkins
    • Harry Howler
    Jim Broadbent
    Jim Broadbent
    • Jean Pierre Dubois
    Stanley Lebor
    Stanley Lebor
    • General Romoff
    Don Fellows
    Don Fellows
    • Levon Hornsby
    Robert Beatty
    Robert Beatty
    • U.S. President
    Bradley Lavelle
    Bradley Lavelle
    • Tall Marshall (Chain Gang)
    Mac McDonald
    Mac McDonald
    • Marshall 1
    Czeslaw Grocholski
    • Russian General 1
    • Director
      • Sidney J. Furie
    • Writers
      • Jerry Siegel
      • Joe Shuster
      • Christopher Reeve
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews362

    3.755.3K
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    Summary

    Reviewers say 'Superman IV: The Quest for Peace' is criticized for its poor special effects, rushed pacing, and incoherent plot. Despite these issues, some appreciate its nuclear disarmament theme and commend Christopher Reeve and Gene Hackman's performances. The film's low budget and production constraints are often cited as major factors contributing to its shortcomings, though a few find merit in certain scenes and the concept.
    AI-generated from the text of user reviews

    Featured reviews

    5darrenhutton2

    Is this film so bad?

    I have just watched the 89 minute cut of superman 4 and i've asked myself is this a stinker of a film or not and my answer to that is no i don't think it is.

    Why you ask when most of the world thinks it is well i shall tell you.

    Well it's world renowned that cannon were cheapskates and the budget was only 10 million on this film but that aside what Sidney j furie did with this film was i think a much better film than superman 3.

    I liked the story the acting i think was on par with the other films and i enjoyed the action scene's especially the fight around the world with the nuclear man and it kept me entertained however there are bad points about this film as much as it kept me entertained which included Lenny who was as about as much use in this film as a chocolate tea pot and "THE NUCLEAR MAN" what purpose does he serve in this film he is that bad that Gene Hackman has to voice him so i can only imagine Marc pillow was more wooden than a park bench and also when superman and nuclear man are fighting in space it's so obvious that they are on a blacked out stage.

    What really bothers me about this film is that somebody out there has the full 143 minute version and i think this is the problem with superman 4 the general public have seen a watered down version which in some places this film makes no sense where as the full version that was laughed at by critics in an advanced screening would make more sense than this version we have to put up with and lets face it the real critics are real movie fans who do not get paid for there views unlike these posh art house lovers who would dissect care bears the movie if they had the chance.

    In closing i would like to say two things about this movie (1) This film is voted one of the worst films of all time because we have a watered down version that makes no sense in places.

    (2)Warner brothers or cannon whoever has the rights to the full uncut version do the decent thing and give us the general public and superman lovers across the world the the right to view superman 4 the quest for peace in it's full uncut glory if not for us then let's have Christopher reeve doing what he does best in these films and entertaining us and believing that a man can really fly
    5richieandsam

    Such a shame!

    SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE

    OK... so everyone knows that this is the worst Superman movie ever made... but if you have not seen it in a while, you should watch it.

    It is still pretty rubbish, but it is not as bad as I remember.

    The story is not that bad... Superman rids planet Earth of all the nuclear weapons, and in doing so unknowingly creates a super villain named Nuclear Man thanks to arch rival Lex Luthor.

    The movie does star all the original cast, which surprised me. I knew Christopher Reeve was in it... and after reading his autobiography now know why. He said in the book that he only made it because the film studio wanted to make it and they said to him that they would only finance another movie he wanted to make if he made Superman IV. I will quote what he said in his book... "The less said about Superman IV the better."

    Gene Hackman returns as Lex Luthor & Margot Kidder is back as Lois Lane. They all did good jobs as always, although Margot was a bit unsure in places. The other supporting cast were not great. Mariel Hemingway played the new boss of the Daily Planet. She was awful... not a great actress in this I'm afraid. But she was not the worst. Mark Pillow played Nuclear Man. Absolutely terrible. His acting was definitely the worst of the whole quadrilogy.

    The effects in this film were so bad. You could see that the budget of this film was so much less than the other 3 movies made. Superman flying was so bad that Flash Gordon was more convincing... and speaking of Flash Gordon... Nuclear Man looked like him... but more camp! Nuclear Mans outfit was embarrassing... it was not much of a super villains outfit. It honestly was just a bad character through and through.

    There are also some really bad scenes... there was a scene where a large chuck of the Great Wall of China gets destroyed and Superman fixes it just by looking at it and using some dodgy blue eye lasers. What the hell? Terrible. Also, there is a scene where Nuclear Man kidnaps a Lacy and takes her into space... WHAT? He drags her to space and not only does she not scream or even say anything, but she can breathe fine in space... erm... really? I know Superman was never meant to be realistic, but that is too much!

    When I was a kid I was a big fan of the Superman movies... but I think my parents protected me from this disappointment, because I don't remember this film at all... I didn't see this film until I was an adult. Haha. Thanks Mum.

    I will give this film 5 out of 10.

    It's a shame about this film... it was a very disappointing ending to Christopher Reeves Superman career. But no matter what he will always be a legend.

    For more reviews, please like my Facebook page:

    https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ordinary-Person-Movie- Reviews/456572047728204?ref=hl
    6gavin6942

    The End of an Era... for Christopher Reeve

    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.
    2Xstal

    The Paradoxical Son...

    Lex Luthor makes escape from his stone jail, nephew Lennie makes assist avoiding bail, after decisions have been made, ridding the earth of atomic tirade, the man of steel will not accept, the world can fail. But Lex has a cunning plane to go all nuclear, as he creates a warrior, thermo-peculiar, although just like, photo voltaics, if the sun's gone he's just static, and so this fission brings derision and just flails. In the end you cannot take in all the trash, what was once spectacular has lost its class, taking an audience for fools, breaking all cinematic rules, the producers clearly had a neck, that was made of brass.
    MovieReporter

    A lot of promise and potential wasted

    Its Supes versus Nukes for the fourth, much-derided Superman adventure often slated for its repressing low-budget, inferior special effects and a whole wad of plot holes and incoherence – thanks no doubt to the extraction of a whole fifty minutes, much of the film's middle portion. Yet, among the wreckage are signs that there was a good film in here somewhere, as our hero struggles to decide whether or not to intervene in human history and the character's rather touching realisation that he is not just a visitor to Earth. A nicely-toned return to the Lois-Clark-Superman relationship also could have rooted the film back to its glorious predecessors - bar number three - but once Nuclear Man shows up and the film's story is cut in half, all promise and potential disappears from the project and the audience is left with a strictly mediocre re-tread of Superman II.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Christopher Reeve publicly regretted his involvement in the film. He wrote in his memoir, "Superman IV was a catastrophe from start to finish. That failure was a huge blow to my career."
    • Goofs
      (at around 1h 20 mins) Lacy Warfield is able to survive in space without a space suit.
    • Quotes

      Superman: Once more, we have survived the threat of war and found a fragile peace. I thought I could give all the gift of the freedom from war, but I was wrong. It's not mine to give. We're still a young planet. There are galaxies out there. Other civilizations for us to meet and to learn from. What a brilliant future we could have. And there will be peace. There will be peace when the people of the world want it so badly that their governments will have no choice but to give it to them. I just wish you could all see the Earth the way that I see it. Because when you really look at it, it's just one world.

    • Alternate versions
      Post-2001 VHS and DVD prints have the opening 1999 Warner Bros. Pictures logo and closing Warner Bros. Pictures logo at the end while the Blu-ray has the opening and closing 2003 variants.
    • Connections
      Edited from Superman (1978)
    • Soundtracks
      Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
      By Jerry Lee Lewis

      Written by Curly Williams (uncredited) and Sunny David (uncredited)

      Courtesy Charley Records

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    FAQ26

    • How long is Superman IV: The Quest for Peace?Powered by Alexa
    • Which characters were adapted from the Superman comic books?
    • How could Lex Luthor cut a piece of Superman's hair?
    • How did Superman construct that big net to hold all of those nukes in?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 24, 1987 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Russian
      • French
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • Superman IV, en busca de la paz
    • Filming locations
      • Aldwych Underground Railway Station, Surrey Street, Aldwych, Westminster, Greater London, England, UK(on location)
    • Production companies
      • Cannon Films
      • Warner Bros.
      • Golan-Globus Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $17,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $15,681,020
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $5,683,122
      • Jul 26, 1987
    • Gross worldwide
      • $30,281,020
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 30 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Stereo
      • Dolby Atmos
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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    Gene Hackman, Mariel Hemingway, Jon Cryer, Christopher Reeve, Jackie Cooper, Margot Kidder, Marc McClure, and Mark Pillow in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
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