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This is a total geek post for fans of the Superman movies. Everyone knows that Superman: The Movie and Superman II were the best of the series (though I am in the minority of those who dug Superman Returns). Superman III went silly with Richard Pryor, but things really went wrong with Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.
For a variety of reasons, the fourth movie was outsourced to a cheapie studio, and the result was an unmitigated disaster. Once, we believed a man could fly. In this edition, due to budget cuts, not so much. The plot had something to do with Superman ridding the world of nuclear weapons. And trying to romance both Lois Lane and Mariel Hemmingway. In the mix were Gene Hackman, playing Lex Luthor like he'd been overcome with stupid, and Jon Cryer as an even stupider nephew of Lex. Luthor's plan was to clone Superman, and make his own version who would answer only to him.
The result was "The Nuclear Man" who inexplicably had a completely different appearance, and different powers. Worse, the movie was made incoherent by some drastic edits made just before it was distributed. As a comic collector at the time, I had the official adaptation, which included many scenes that did not appear in the movie. I always thought the movie stunk, but maybe it wouldn't have if those drastic cuts hadn't been made. I was wrong.
Below are the long-missing scenes. And as you will see, they wouldn't have made the movie any better. It was unsalvageable. Still, as a long time fan of even bad superhero movies, I was delighted to see the scenes at last. Hat-tip to Uncoached, where I found the first clip.
For a variety of reasons, the fourth movie was outsourced to a cheapie studio, and the result was an unmitigated disaster. Once, we believed a man could fly. In this edition, due to budget cuts, not so much. The plot had something to do with Superman ridding the world of nuclear weapons. And trying to romance both Lois Lane and Mariel Hemmingway. In the mix were Gene Hackman, playing Lex Luthor like he'd been overcome with stupid, and Jon Cryer as an even stupider nephew of Lex. Luthor's plan was to clone Superman, and make his own version who would answer only to him.
The result was "The Nuclear Man" who inexplicably had a completely different appearance, and different powers. Worse, the movie was made incoherent by some drastic edits made just before it was distributed. As a comic collector at the time, I had the official adaptation, which included many scenes that did not appear in the movie. I always thought the movie stunk, but maybe it wouldn't have if those drastic cuts hadn't been made. I was wrong.
Below are the long-missing scenes. And as you will see, they wouldn't have made the movie any better. It was unsalvageable. Still, as a long time fan of even bad superhero movies, I was delighted to see the scenes at last. Hat-tip to Uncoached, where I found the first clip.
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