A new half-hour documentary on the making of “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace” has been posted on YouTube.
This all new British documentary about the locations and filming of “Superman IV” was painstakingly produced over an entire year, with the final result bringing together an impressive amount of behind-the-scenes information and footage.
Say what you will about this movie and part 3, but Chris Reeve was still bringing it. Some find his speech cheesy at the end of the movie, but I absolutely love it and it is just so Superman.
Well said sundevil82.
Although I never understood why some would think he was cheesy. I always saw him as classy, but I totally agree with you about Christopher Reeve as Superman in every movie.
Superman 4 will always have a special place in my heart because it was the first superman movie I ever saw in the theater. My parents tell me they took me to superman 3, but I certainly don’t remember that as I was 1 years old!
I saw them all in the theatres, but Superman 4 was the first I was old enough to go alone. I still love it every time Supes pushes the moon out of orbit.
My favorite part of that film was when Superman straightened the American flag on the moon.
I’m with both You and Randarh on THAT!! Pushing the moon was cool!! – The Flag stuff that just pure Americana Class! This film had such great and (unrealized) potential and I applauded what they tried to do but they did it too hurriedly (aka rush job). With just a few tweaks here and there and better budget for; over all production value, allowing the film and actors to breathe more, better special-fx and so forth and “Voila!” a real good movie, that might have saved it from being panned so harshly by critics at the time. “The Quest for… Read more »
I agree with you jer. There were some really good parts of the film and there were parts that needed some work.I do see how some parts were rushed. I also feel that this movie could’ve been a bit longer. I think there were some extended/deleted scenes that weren’t used for the film. I don’t know if it would’ve helped, but maybe it might have made the film longer and would’ve helped the film? However despite its flaws, I still could see the hart that went into making this film. Reeve was always true to the role of Superman. I… Read more »
I just wanted to correct myself.Even though I had said that in the fourth film I felt that his flight scenes weren’t as impressive as it was in previous films, I still enjoyed seeing him fly. It still looked as though he was defying gravity despite the special effects that the used for the film.
This documentary is really good. I still enjoy Superman IV. It was the first Superman film I watched in the theater.
I wish Superman really did get rid of all the nukes
As Superman The Movie is my fave film of all, this Superman film should’ve remained in the vaults. How Cannon films got a hold of rights to produce this mess, we’ll never know.
Yes, Reeve is brilliant as ever & so is Hackman with Kidder, McClure & Cooper playing their parts well. The music was good I thought as was some of the flying (take off following lava cooling with superbreath & flight out of Luthor jail at conclusion) but really the rest of it was poor following achievements of Salkind films.
What a pity.
Superman the movie is my favorite movie too.
Cannon films bought a package of movie rights and the Superman franchise was part of it. Cannon didn’t have a lot of money and CR didn’t know how little until things got under way. The special affects in 4 were absolutely rock bottom. Reeve did not want to play this character but was talked into it with certain guarantees of other movie parts. In an interview back then he said he didn’t even bother to work out for his role. So any high fives for this movie were only given because of it’s theme.(part of the deal was that Reeve… Read more »
I think I saw that interview on YouTube. Was it David Letterman he was on? I don’t remember what show it was.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g8AU2z_v4V4
According to this video, Reeve wrote the script. So I’m guessing the theme meant something to him.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=APeVihoDe6Q
I liked this link because Christopher’s advice to future superman actors is that Superman is a friend. I believe he was right. At superman’s core, he’s a friend.
I thought it was a good film, even though it does have some flaws.
After what was achieved in 1978, this film was full of flaws. Listen to the commentary on dvd along with the visuals & poor production. The opening titles give you an indication of what will follow & with the poor matte work as Superman flies to Russian spaceship, you begin to wonder what has gone wrong 5mins into film. The visuals continue to baffle me as terrible flying sequences continue, wires showing, harness & contraptions on view. The pity was that the music was great & the original cast gave it their all. Some flying sequences were very good but… Read more »
In my opinion I think they should start to use more wire work and blue screen and less cgi. It might help with the effect of flight. I don’t know if blue screen is still used, but I think it’s the best way to have Supeeman fly.Every time I see Superman the movie, I still find myself wondering how they made Superman fly. I know it’s wire work, but it still looks so real to me.
I know they did some wire work in BvS, there are some behind the scenes pics of Henry dangling mid air! I too prefer practical effects over excessive cgi. I loved the look of MoS because it had a more realistic look. I preferred that over the excessive cgi in both BvS and JL. I hope they return to that look for any potential Superman sequel. Also I always loved the slow and graceful take off of Christopher Reeve in the original films. He sold it so well. They also did similar take offs in the old Superboy show from… Read more »
“I always loved the slow and graceful take off of Christopher Reeve in the original film”
Me too. It always amazes me how they made Christopher look like he could defy gravity. Reeve,Donner, and the rest of the crew really did captured the hart, and the wonder of Superman.
Regarding Superman’s flight. In an interview many years ago with Donner, he had said that when it came to flight, we could have him coming and going like a jet or slowing things down and actuality making it appear that he had total control over his flying. They opted for that. When it came to 4, as mentioned, Cannon was so cash strapped that the special camera that was used to give Superman the great realistic flight scenes in the previous movies was not used. The end result of that was clearly seen in 4.