Superman IV - The world on the brink
| Movie | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| German title | Superman IV - The world on the brink | ||
| Original title | Superman IV - The Quest for Peace | ||
| Country of production | UK , USA | ||
| original language | English | ||
| Publishing year | 1987 | ||
| length | 86 minutes | ||
| Age rating | FSK 6 | ||
| Rod | |||
| Director | Sidney J. Furie | ||
| script |
Christopher Reeve , Lawrence Konner , Mark Rosenthal |
||
| production |
Menahem Golan , Yoram Globe |
||
| music | Alexander Courage | ||
| camera | Ernest Day | ||
| cut | John Shirley | ||
| occupation | |||
| |||
| chronology | |||
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Superman IV is a 1987 British science fiction film starring Christopher Reeve . It's the fourth installment in the Superman film series and was produced by Cannon Films . The film opened in German cinemas on March 24, 1988.
action
While Clark Kent continues to save the world as Superman and a. saves the crew of a Russian space station from death, his archenemy Lex Luthor is still stewing in prison and is assigned to quarrying work. Only with the help of his nephew Lenny can the gentleman crook break out and devote himself to his only true goal: to eliminate Superman once and for all.
Clark is challenged twice. First of all, the "Daily Planet" is bought up by the windy David Warfield , who wants to turn the traditional newspaper into a revolver . Perry White is dismissed as editor-in-chief, but Warfield's daughter Lacy moves to his post and immediately takes a liking to Clark, whom she immediately throws herself at the neck - much to Lois Lane's displeasure .
As Superman, he is drawn into the political power games surrounding the issue of disarmament . Triggered by a failed summit meeting and the concern of a little boy, the Kryptonian hero decides to give a speech at the UN General Assembly . He immediately followed up this address with actions and removed all nuclear weapons on earth and hurled them into the sun for destruction. However, this is the chance Luthor has been waiting for. Together with Lenny, he had stolen a hair of Superman's from an exhibition and synthesized a biomass from it, which he had attached to one of the nuclear missiles. When Superman hurls the rocket into the sun, a creature with superhuman abilities emerges with the help of solar radiation from the biomass: Nuclear Man , who draws his power from the sun and is a slave to Luthor.
It comes to a battle between the two titans, which is fought around the world. Nuclear Man causes hurricanes, destroys parts of the Great Wall of China , causes a volcanic eruption, activates a Russian long-range missile during a military parade in Red Square and throws the Statue of Liberty towards the pedestrian zone. Superman can repel all the attacks and undo the destruction. In the end, after a devastating counter-attack, he gets the short straw and loses his cape, which remains hanging on the torch of the Statue of Liberty.
Lois immediately goes to see Clark that is okay. She finds him seriously ill at home. After returning his cape and using a kryptonian emergency power source, Superman can reactivate himself. The Nuclear Man has now set out to win Lacy over. However, Superman can confront him and take him in an elevator cabin to the dark side of the moon , where the Nuclear Man is without power or strength. But when a ray of sunshine struck him through a crack in the cabin, he beats Superman into the surface of the moon and brought Lacy into space. The Kryptonian mobilizes all his strength again and can lock Nuclear Man in the (light-free) nuclear reactor of a nuclear power plant , where he is safe for all time and also contributes to the generation of electricity.
In the end, Perry White buys back the Daily Planet, which is again the number one newspaper in Metropolis . Superman gives another speech in which he explains that although he will help the people, it is not his job to keep world peace - the people have to do that themselves. On the way home he can meet Lex Luthor and Lenny; He delivers Lex to prison immediately, Lenny goes to a Christian training facility.
criticism
Like its predecessor, the film received mostly negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes , only 12% of the 43 reviews were positive. On Metacritic , the film achieved a Metascore of 22 based on 10 reviews.
“The fourth episode of the series of films based on the well-known comic strip series is aimed at the - mainly young - audience with a well-meaning message, but ultimately only follows rough clichés. Little more than a carelessly staged string of set pieces. "
Awards
- Mariel Hemingway was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Best Actress in 1988 .
- The film's special effects also received a nomination for the Golden Raspberry.
backgrounds
- The film is considered the worst of the series by fans. On the one hand, this is because Warner Brothers sold the rights to the Cannon Group after the commercial flop of Superman III - The Steel Flash . On the other hand, the main actors were made several concessions in order not to jump out of the project. Christopher Reeve was given a say and writing rights on the script, Gene Hackman received a bye for the lead role in another film of his choice.
- Superman IV was partly shot in England . The scenes in the UN building were made in and around the city of Milton Keynes because the producers refused to pay for expensive filming in New York City .
- Superman IV was actually 134 minutes long in the original. The film was finally shortened to 90 minutes, because the scenes thus obtained wanted to be used for the then planned fifth part Superman V - The New Superman . Another reason was that the then financially troubled Cannon Group cut the film budget from 36 to 17 million US dollars in order to save money (among other things by reusing special effects).
- Superman IV , although it was made at the height of the disarmament debate, was a commercial flop like its predecessor, which is why the planned fifth Superman film was never made. At the same time, the Cannon group overturned the project to include a Spider-Man film that was also planned .
- Attempts were made to direct the previous Superman directors Richard Donner and Richard Lester . However, both refused.
- In the removed scenes there was one that revealed that there were actually two Nuclear Men . The scene with the runaway long-range weapon during the military parade, where Superman saves several Russian generals and state secretaries , was also removed for the US version .
- For Nuclear Man actor Mark Pillow, his participation in the film was his only film role to date.
- During his closing speech, Superman used phrases from former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower .
Comic
The film was released in 1988 by DC Comics as a comic version , which was published in the same year by Ehapa-Verlag in its then superman series Der neue Superman in the number 3/88 in German.
Web links
- Superman IV - The Quest for Peace in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Superman IV - The Quest for Peace at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Superman IV - The World on the Edge at Metacritic (English)
- Superman IV - The world on the brink in the online film database
- Superman IV - The world on the brink in the German dubbing index
Individual evidence
- ↑ Superman IV - The World on the Edge at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- ↑ Superman IV - The World on the Edge at Metacritic (English)
- ↑ Superman IV - The World on the Edge. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ The New Superman; 1988: No. 3. www.comicguide.de , 2019, accessed on October 7, 2019 .
