Buy Superman IV - The Quest for Peace

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is a 1987 superhero film, the last of the Superman theatrical movies starring Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel. In this film, Superman battled Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) and his creation, a solar-powered evil clone of Superman called Nuclear Man.

Unlike the previous three movies, which were produced by Alexander and Ilya Salkind, the fourth movie was produced by Golan-Globus's Cannon Films, in association with Warner Bros.

The deleted footage on the Special Edition DVD includes:

* Clark having a nightmare involving the destruction of the planet Krypton when he was a baby. This included a voiceover by an uncredited actor who was supposed to play Jor-El, which was established by Marlon Brando in the first film. Due to the low budget and freefall into bankruptcy by Cannon Films, Marlon was not asked to return. Clark then wakes up late with a recorded telephone message from Lois telling him to get to work. A neighbor then greets Clark outside his apartment with her pet dog Godzilla tugging forcefully at Clarks' morning newspaper.
* Jeremy about to write his letter to Superman via The Daily Planet. In the theatrical cut, the schoolgirl that taunts him says "He doesn't even know what's going on." This was dubbed for the release. In this workprint, she really says "He's so spaced out, he wouldn't even notice."
* Superman answering Jeremy's letter in person at his School. Notice this was supposed to be a day or so later due to the delivery of the letter and all the school kids are in the same casual clothing as the day Jeremy first writes the letter.
* The creation of the failed Nuclear Man prototype with scenes of deflecting bullets, breaking an iron bar and unsuccessful flying abilities. The photo Lex shows the prototype of Superman was taken from the publicity stills department at Cannon Films as the shot of Christopher Reeve was taken at the end of the picture at the Prison Quarry where Superman tells Lex how he defeated the second Nuclear Man.
* A fight with Superman and the Nuclear Man prototype ensues outside The Metro Club. This ends in the destruction of the prototype being thrown into a electronic tower and is zapped into ashes. This features a product placement of Burger King in the background, which never had publicity in the theatrical cut.
* Lenny bringing Lex the black ashed remains of the prototype and explaining his plan of baking the remains in the core of the sun to one of his female colleagues. He kept the remains in a dustbuster during this scene.
* An extended flying sequence with Superman and Lois with more aerial footage and Lois flying past Thailand not featured in the theatrical cut.
* Extended footage of the "Around The World" fight sequence with Superman and Nuclear Man. The footage featured on the DVD is the tornado destruction in Smallville, with Superman saving a little girl, played by Christopher Reeve's real-life daughter Alex. (On the international VHS/LaserDisc and U.S. syndicated television releases, this footage is included in its entirety with finished music, visual, and sound effects).
* The attempted launch of a nuclear missile by Nuclear Man in Red Square, Russia. Superman is then punched into the clouds by Nuclear Man after he stops the missile. (On the international VHS/LaserDisc and U.S. syndicated television releases, this footage is included in its entirety with finished music, visual, and sound effects.)
* Lex's rise to power with his nuclear scheme. He convincingly negotiates with the armies to keep their missiles in standby due to the defeat of Superman by the second Nuclear Man. He makes a fortune from this plan which is shown in the final cut with the stacks of cash in his lair.
* Extra footage of Clark's rapid ageing due to the scratch caused by Nuclear Man in the middle of the film.
* A subplot which was not in the theatrical film regarding Nuclear Man's desire to destroy all mankind and return for Lacy, whom he has fallen for which was not mentioned in either the deleted scenes on the DVD or the theatrical cut. Superman also makes an appearance here and uses Lacy as a diversion to stop Nuclear Man. Lex and Lenny also feature prominently in the deleted footage.
* An extra scene of Nuclear Man coming back for Lacy in the Metropolis Tower, where she was originally hiding. This scene was supposed to take place after the fight between Nuclear Man and Superman on the moon.
* A farewell scene between Lacy and Clark, where he shares his very first kiss with someone other than Lois in the series.
* An alternative ending where Superman takes Jeremy up into space to show him that the planet is "One World." Also featured are the astronauts, waving to Superman and Jeremy, who appeared at the beginning of the film.

 

Plot

Superman begins the movie saving cosmonauts in Space when the ship loses oxygen. His alter ego, Clark Kent, later goes to his hometown of Smallville to check on his family's farm. He takes a crystal, the last one, actually. Its power can only be used one time, and that will be his last link with Krypton. When he returns to Metropolis, he learns that the Daily Planet has been taken over by a tabloid tycoon who fires Perry White and hires his sexy daughter Lacy (Mariel Hemingway) as the new editor. Lacy very soon takes a liking to Clark, and tries to seduce him by asking him to come to her office while she is sitting on her desk showing off her long, smooth legs. Clark tries to rebuff her advances, but she tricks him into going on a date with her.

Everyone soon learns that the United States and the Soviet Union may soon engage in nuclear war, threatening the survival of the planet. Before taking action, he departs to the North Pole to seek advice from the spirits of his Kryptonian ancestors at the Fortress of Solitude, who warn him to not interfere, but rather flee to other worlds where war is long forgotten. At a meeting of the United Nations, he tells the assembly that he is going to rid the Earth of all nuclear weapons. Over the next several days, Superman takes all the nuclear weapons and gathers them into a gigantic net in orbit above the planet. When he has almost all the weapons, he closes the net and tosses it into the sun.

Meanwhile, Lex Luthor's nephew Lenny helps break Luthor out of prison. The pair steal a strand of hair that Superman had donated to a museum, whereupon Luthor creates a genetic matrix from the strand of hair, and attaches it to the final American nuclear missile. After the missile is fired off into the air, Superman grabs the missile and throws it into the sun. A few moments after the missile explodes on the sun's surface, a ball of energy is discharged from the sun, which rapidly develops into a "Nuclear Man" (Mark Pillow). This Nuclear Man then finds his way to his "father" Luthor, who establishes that while he is indeed powerful, he will deactivate if isolated from the sun's rays or suitably bright artificial light. This resembles the Greek legend of Antaeus, a wrestler whose strength came solely from his bodily contact with the Earth.

A worldwide battle soon follows between Luthor's creation and the Man of Steel. While successfully saving the Statue of Liberty, Superman is injured by the radioactive nails of Nuclear Man. To Lois' disgust, The Daily Planet, which has been turned into a tabloid newspaper, blares the headline that Superman is dead. Lois indicates a desire to quit, and seizes Superman's cape for herself. Lacy begins to understand Lois' point, and tries to follow her. Lacy also reveals that she actually cares about Clark. Lois ventures to Clark's apartment. Felled by radiation sickness, Clark staggers weakly to the terrace of his apartment, where he retrieves the last benevolent Kryptonian crystal and uses it to heal himself.

Nuclear Man develops a crush on Lacy, and threatens mayhem if he is not introduced to her. Superman therefore agrees to take Nuclear Man to Lacy. In an attempt to disable the villain, Superman lures Nuclear Man into an elevator in the building, traps Nuclear Man in it, and pulls the elevator out of the building and flies to the dark side of the moon, heaving the elevator onto the ground there, not realizing that its doors are slightly open. As the sun rises, Nuclear Man breaks out of his makeshift prison and the two resume battle on the moon's surface. At the end of the battle, Superman is driven into the ground by his opponent.

Nuclear Man then returns to Earth. Meanwhile, Lacy begins to understand Lois' point, and warns her father that they've got to quit being so recklessly sensationalistic and irresponsible with the paper and it's media power. He tries to tell her more of his usual that the business of newspapers is business, but she angrily counters that "No, Daddy! The business of newspapers is journalism!" If they don't, she warns, a disaster is sure to follow. Mister Warfield scoffs at this, until Nuclear Man bursts in and abducts Lacy. He flies her into outer space (where she, strangely enough, is unaffected by the lack of breathable atmosphere and air pressure). Meanwhile, Superman pushes the moon out of its normal orbit, casting Earth into a solar eclipse which terminates Nuclear Man's powers. He then rescues Lacy from the arms of Nuclear Man, of whom he disposes by returning him to Earth and sealing him into the core of a nuclear power plant. Superman thwarts Lex and Lenny, returning Lex Luthor to prison while Lenny is taken to Boys Town.

Mister White comes in then, restoring the old decorations, to Mister Warfield's disgust. It is revealed that Mister White has been to the banks, gathering help in securing a loan to buy back the controlling shares of the Daily Planet, to protect it from any further abuse by making Mister Warfield a mere minority shareholder. Now that Mister White is the practical owner, the Daily Planet can return to being a serious paper, to the relief of Lois and Jimmy.

Later, in a press conference, Superman declares only partial victory in his peace campaign, saying "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." He then flies into space, smiling optimistically.

Weird Powers
This film shows the Man of Steel using several powers which had never been seen before in the films. Superman restores part of the damaged Great Wall of China by gazing at it, apparently using telekinesis. This power was never ascribed to Superman in the comics. The issue was avoided altogether in the comic adaptation, where Superman repairs the Great Wall manually. He uses the same ability during the street battle with Nuclear Man, when he lowers several suspended policemen to the ground just by looking at them.

The Nuclear Man

Cast Christopher Reeve Clark Kent / Superman Gene Hackman Lex Luthor Voice of Nuclear Man Jon Cryer Lenny Luthor Mariel Hemingway Lacy Warfield Margot Kidder Lois Lane Jackie Cooper Perry White Sam Wanamaker David Warfield Marc McClure Jimmy Olsen Mark Pillow Nuclear Man 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

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