Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
Director
Sidney J. Furie
Cast
Christopher Reeve,
Margot Kidder,
Gene Hackman,
Jackie Cooper,
Marc McClure,
Jon Cryer
Genre
Action,
Adventure,
Science Fiction
With global superpowers engaged in an increasingly hostile arms race, Superman leads a crusade to rid the world of nuclear weapons. But Lex Luthor, recently sprung from jail, is declaring war on the Man of Steel and his quest to save the planet. Using a strand of Superman's hair, Luthor synthesizes a powerful ally known as Nuclear Man and ignites an epic battle spanning Earth and space.
Tampa Bay Times
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace doesn't attempt to disguise its sentiments - no more so than Greenpeace - but neither does it lose the campy spirit of the 1978 original. Although never as stylish as the first movie, it shows verve and a modest wit. Superman IV is not as funny as the first sequel, but it isn't as violent, either. [27 July 1987, p.1D]
The New York Times by Janet Maslin
Threadbare as it's beginning to look, the Superman series hasn't lost its raison d'etre. There's life in the old boy yet.
Miami Herald
Superman IV works rather well as a children's movie. It even has a line or two for adults -- though not, one hastens to qualify, enough to actually warrant adult attendance. [25 July 1987, p.B1]
Chicago Tribune by Dave Kehr
Superman IV is a pathetic appendage to the series, a dull, shoddy film that makes the minimal 1950s TV series seem rife with production values by comparison. [27 July 1987, p.10C]
Variety
The earlier films in the series were far from perfect, but at their best they had some flair and agreeable humor, qualities this one sorely lacks. Hackman gets a few laughs, but has less to work with than before, and everyone else seems to be just going through the motions and having less fun doing so.
Washington Post by Rita Kempley
Superman IV, except for a glitzy new villain named Nuclear Man, is one of the cheesiest movies ever made. It's so grainy and grossly envisioned, it seems filmed on pulp. Superman's crystalline Arctic palace looks as if it's made of no-deposit-no-return soda bottles, and his suit of primary colors has ring around the collar.
Chicago Reader
By ordinary movie standards it's awful, but fans of cinematic dementia should have fun for about half an hour.
Empire by William Thomas
Predictably awful fourth installment.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Jay Scott
This one is a big, big disappointment. [27 July 1987]
Los Angeles Times by Michael Wilmington
Sequels to big-budget popular hits usually end up super-slick, shallow and inflated. But this one isn't even super-slick; it's shallow and deflated...The overall effect is of a story atomized and dying before our eyes, collapsing into smashed pulp, ground down into big-budget Kryptonite ash. [27 July 1987, p.1]
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