12 Cool Things About ‘Superman IV: The Quest for Peace’

Published by MaxBro on Tagged Series

Ah, Superman IV, the final movie featuring Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel. A rousing magnum opus about the peril of the Cold War arms race and the promise of global nuclear disarmament. And the movie that single-handedly cast the Superman franchise into the Phantom Zone for almost 20 years due to its monumental level of suckitude.

At least, that’s what most people like to say about Superman IV. But after re-watching this movie twice (yes, twice) I am reminded that despite its obvious flaws (i.e. it shows a woman dangling in space without a spacesuit but somehow still able to breathe and not explode), there are still a bunch of cool things in The Quest for Peace that make it an entertaining flick. This is a Superman movie, after all–a certain level of coolness is immediately assured when it comes to movies about the dude with laser heat vision. IV could have had Big Blue flipping through a cook book and baking up some sweet apricot pie the whole time, and still been somewhat cool just because it had Superman in it.

Sadly, while Supes does not bake a pie in Superman IV, there are lots of other cool things that do happen:

1.) It’s Outta Here!

Remember that scene in the first Superman movie where teenage Clark Kent punts a football straight across Smallville? Well, football ain’t the only sport Clark can play like a pro. After turning down an offer from an evil Texan land developer (aren’t they all Texan?) to purchase the Kent farm, Clark cracks a baseball so hard it flies into outer space. This is after he pretends he’s bad at baseball by swinging and missing a pitch thrown by the evil land developer. That’s Clark for you, always making it look like he’s a phenomenal klutz so no one will think he’s Superman.

But I don’t know. If I saw someone hit a baseball into outer space I wouldn’t think he’s Superman, just a guy who’s taken a whole hell of a lot of steroids.

2.) Lenny’s Pimped Out Cadillac

After defeating the three Kryptonian super villains in the second film, Superman sends Lex Luthor back to jail where he receives a life sentence. Plus he has to work in a quarry breaking rocks apart. That’s a pretty stiff sentence, even for a criminal mastermind. But don’t think Luthor’s down for the count. He devises a plan for his nephew Lenny to break him out of prison using a decked out Cadillac that looks like something Elvis would have driven in his day.

Not only does this Cadillac come with a “Sound Surround 100″ (which for some reason involves huge trumpet-like sound amplifiers sticking out of the doors), it also comes equipped with a remote control. After tricking the prison guards into sitting in the car, nephew Lenny closes the doors, locks them inside, and sends them hurling into quarry. Now that’s breaking out of prison in style.

3.) Clark’s Suicide Jump

One thing I really liked about Superman IV is that it finally showed us Clark Kent’s apartment. In the second film Clark mentions how he only lives a few blocks away from Lois Lane, but we’re left wondering if that’s true or if he actually does has a place in the city.

Well, turns out he does, and it happens to lead out onto a balcony several hundred feet in the air. That’s a perfect set-up for a superhero who can fly, and also for a guy who pretends he’s committing suicide. That happens when Lois Lane visits Clark, who’s pondering whether or not he should rid the world of nuclear weapons as requested by Jeremy in his letter to Superman. Clark decides he needs a little fresh air, and walks out onto his balcony holding Lois’s hand. But instead of standing outside to chat things over he jumps off the side of the building with her.

Lois screams while she plummets to the ground, but then Superman appears out of nowhere to catch her and take her on another magical flight across the world. He even decides to play with her again and lets her “fly” on her own.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I always thought Superman was a little passive aggressive with Lois Lane. In the first movie he “accidentally” loses his grip on her hand, letting her fall through the air. Then in this one he terrifies her into thinking he’s killing her by jumping off a building. Then, to top it off, he drops her mid-flight where she falls helplessly until he catches her again. I bet Captain Marvel would never do that.

5.) Bag Full O’ Nukes

After Superman declares to the U.N. that he’s going to “rid the world of all nuclear weapons,” we’re left wondering how in hell he’s going to do it. Is he going to zip around the world at light speed collecting each and every missile? Nope. How about freezing every missile out of commission with his super breath? Wrong again. Okay, okay, how about collecting each missile into a super-sized fish net and then hurling them all into the sun? Ding, ding ding! You’re right!

6.) Super Strand

Over the course of four Superman movies, we learn an awful lot about the Man, er, “Dude” of Steel as Lex’s nephew Lenny calls him. We learn that despite years of comic book tradition detailing each of his powers, he it still somehow able to hurl a plastic shield at his enemies when needed. We learn that when Superman gets pissed he heads to the bar and shatters mirrors by flicking peanuts at them. But most importantly, we learn that even one strand of Superman’s hair is pretty damn strong.

So strong, that it gets its own display case at the Superman Museum, where it can be seen supporting a 1000 lbs of weight. But while the single strand of super hair would simply fascinate the average person, for Lex Luthor it represents a chance to get Superman’s Kryptonian DNA. With Supes’ DNA, Luthor can then build his own super-powered villain to help him rearm the world with nuclear weapons. That, or make one heck of an awesome super toupee.

7.) The Birth of Nuclear Man

While the special effects in IV lagged behind the ground-breaking ones made in the first Superman movie, the birth of nuclear man is still a decent sequence. After tossing the bag o’ nukes into the sun, Superman hurls another missile into our fiery neighbor. But Lex Luthor has placed a genetic Pandora’s box of sorts onto the missile that once incinerated by the sun unleashes an embryo that develops into Superman’s nemesis. Behold, the fright and power of Nuclear Man!

8.) Superman Corks Mt. Vesuvius!

At least, I think it’s Mt.Vesuvius. After Nuclear Man freezes Superman in space with his super breath (how a being born from the sun would have the power to freeze something is beyond me, but anyway) he spins into a volcano somewhere in Italy and causes a massive eruption.

Oh, no! It’s Pompeii all over again. But then Superman arrives with a most ingenuous plan. He slices off the top of a nearby mountain with his laser heat vision, and then uses it like a champagne cork to stop the volcano from spewing any more lava. Next he swoops down into the endangered city, where lava is pouring everywhere, and freezes the molten rock with his super breath. If you ask me, FEMA could certainly learn a few things from Superman about disaster relief. Like, when there’s a disaster it helps if you show up and put forth some effort in preventing as many people from getting hurt as possible.

9.) Nuclear Man Steals the Statue of Liberty

Since IV symbolizes the struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, it only makes sense that certain national symbols get involved. After screwing around with Mt. Vesuvius, Nuclear Man decides to do something truly heinous–steal the Statue of Liberty and drop it in the center of New York Ci–er, Metropolis. Yes, Metropolis. Good thing Superman gets there in time to stop Lady Liberty from crash landing into Manhattan.

This is not the first time some super-powered thug has messed with an American monument. Remember in Superman II when Zod, Non and Ursa thoughtlessly alter Mt. Rushmore to look like them? Nothing gets my patriotic blood flowing like seeing American symbols in jeopardy. Go America!

10.) Nuclear Man Has Radioactive Press-On Nails

For a being created from Superman’s own DNA with the aid of the sun, Nuclear Man has a lot of powers with which to fight the Man of Steel. He’s got super strength, super freeze breath, the power of flight, the power to shoot laser beams out of his eyes, and this weird power where a blue laser comes out of his hands that allow him to lift objects through some form of telekinesis. But his best power by far are his super long and super scratchy radioactive press-on nails. I’m talking about these babies:

Don’t think for a moment those bad-ass nails are just there for show. While Superman busies himself returning the Statue of Liberty to Ellis Island Nuclear Man flies behind Supes’ and scratches his neck.

Pretty nasty, huh? After giving a heart-tugging whimper, Superman falls to the ground at the feet of Lady Liberty. Seeing his foe infected with radiation poisoning, Nuclear Man takes advantage and punts Superman into the sky. It’s then we see the saddest thing ever from all the Superman movies combined–Superman’s cape falling over top the torch of the Statue of Liberty.

Even though IV ranks at the bottom of the Superman movies, the shot to the right gets me every time. I can see why in the Death of Superman series they showed his cape torn and tattered on the cover of the final issue. Superman’s cape is practically a symbol of America itself.

11.) Superman Moves the Moon

Without a doubt, this is the absolute best sequence in the movie. Following his radiation scratch, Superman recuperates for a spell with the aid of that famous green crystal from Krypton. The one that Jor-El placed with special care in the space ship that carried baby Kal-El to Earth all those years ago. Well, ol’ Greenie comes through again, and in no time Superman returns to form to confront Nuclear Man in one last standoff.

But Mr. Man (I guess that would be his last name) isn’t going down without a fight. A fight on the moon, to be precise. Like two cage wrestlers battling it out in the old WWF ring back when the WWF was cool, Supes and Nuclear Man wage an epic fight on the surface of our lunar neighbor. All seems lost when Lex’s crazed creation gains the upper hand and drills the Man of Steel into the soft dust of the moon. But moments later Superman emerges with a final plan to rid the world of the menace of Nuclear Man: move the moon in front of the sun to cause an eclipse. As we learn earlier in the film, when not exposed to the sun Nuclear Man just becomes a lifeless object. This gives Superman the chance to defeat him by taking his body and tossing it into a nuclear reactor core. There, the potential energy in Nuclear Man’s cells causes an overload in the core, creating a surplus of energy in several nearby cities

I think out of all super-powered things Superman does in the first four movies, moving the moon ranks a second to him spinning back the earth to save Lois Lane. It’s just one of those things only Superman can do. Sure, Spider-man can save someone from falling off a building. Batman can save a city from disaster. And the Hulk can bust a lot of stuff up and fight an entire army of soldiers. But only Superman can move the moon, or reverse the spin of the earth.

12.) Superman’s Prophetic Words

Even though at the time Christopher Reeve was well aware that IV might ruin his acting career, conventional wisdom suggested that a fifth Superman movie lay in the works. But until Quest for Peace tanked at the box office, not even Reeve himself would have guess it would be almost 20 years before Superman returned to the big screen. So it makes Superman’s final words to Lex Luthor after returning him to the rock quarry all the more eerie and prophetic: “See you in 20.”

But those aren’t Superman’s best final words. Before the guards lead Lex away he stops and asks Superman, “Is the world going to be vaporized?” This was not so much a question related to the movie plot, but a general question the whole movie itself was trying to answer in regards the real world Cold War. Superman’s answer: “No, it’s as it always was. On the brink. With good fighting evil.”

Just two years after Quest for Peace premiered in theatres the Berlin Wall fell. Two years after that the Soviet Union effectively disintegrated, and the threat of global nuclear war diminished mightily. The threat remains alive, but not nearly as frightening as it had been before. It’s good to know that at least as far as fictional characters go, Superman’s fighting on our side.

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January 10th, 2008

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