Superman IV: The Quest for Peace – Review

Years after the mess that was Superman III comes this sweet, sweet adventure. Mercifully, this is a shorter film than the last one, however the script is somehow just as bad as III. Viewer beware, but those doing the full run, well… enjoy! Honestly, I don’t even hate this one as much as most viewers, it’s only slightly worse than III. There are at least swooping credits, right?

Well, so hey, Lex Luthor (Hackman) is back, that must be a good sign right! What about Lois (Kidder)? Did she see the script and run off again? I guess this time she was contracted for a few more lines and scenes.

A Russian satellite flies through orbit, an astronaut singing as he repairs a part outside on a spacewalk. He is unfortunately blasted into space by floating debris, which also sends the station into a tumble. Superman (Reeve) zips in and rights everything to much joy for all those involved. Superman then fucks off to Smallville and the local blotchy patches of land there. He rediscovers his landing pod in his Pa’s barn, and gets a message from his birth mom.

Clark grabs her final gift: an energy module to be used but once, and wisely. He begins having odd visions immediately. The pod vanishes. Some guy Mr. Hornsby shows up with an offer to buy the land, but Clark doesn’t want another shopping center and instead holds out for another farmer. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor and his hair are also back in prison and he would like to get out. His escape plan is phenomenal.

Where is this all going, you don’t ask? Well, some more ridiculous humor, some kid calling out superman for failing to create world peace, and a Lex Luthor plot which creates his own strong flying baddie Nuclear Man (via the help of another space missile Superman throws into the sun). Nuclear Man wears an ugly costume, black cape, wannabe Fabio hairstyle and tan, as well as deadly long electric shock fingernails.

The tone is a bit less slapstick than part III, which helps, but the story goes nowhere exciting. The shorter runtime is the only big plus over the last one. It would also be very nice if Lex Luthor knew how to pronounce the word “nuclear.”

Whoever read the script and was like “Fuck yeah, that is Superman IV right there,” should probably have their life choices re-evaluated, though they probably also green lit Superman III.