People hated Superman IV: The Quest for Peace when it arrived in theaters on 24 July 1987. And that means I have to defend it. Kinda.
To be honest, I don’t mind people hating this film. I just think it is odd that they loved Superman and Superman II. All these films are just silly fun.
And this is my general issue with superhero films. People take them way too seriously. I don’t get it! If I were bit by a radioactive spider, there are any number of things I might do. But I would not dress up like a spider! And in the case of Superman, we can see his face! People joke about the Clark Kent glasses, but that’s not really it. Rather, no one realizes he is Superman because of his shyness, halting speech, and posture. But I know from experience that if you get a bit of booze in me, I can be the life of the party. When this happens, no one says, “Hey! Where did Frank go?!”
This is not to put down films like The Dark Knight. But can’t we all agree that we are just pretending to take this stuff seriously? It is no less silly than any of the Christopher Reeve Superman films. But it isn’t surprising because at the time people did take the first two films seriously. And that’s why they were so unhappy about Superman III and really unhappy about Superman IV.
Consumers of narrative art make a deal with it: set up the world and I’ll go with it. This is one reason people hate “It was all a dream!” endings. They break the deal.
And maybe Superman IV does break the deal. It doesn’t do it with itself. From the very first sequence in the film, it is clear that this film is going in the Batman TV series direction. And it is certainly no sillier than the previous film.
With all that in mind, I think Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is an enjoyable romp. And you can watch it now for free:
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) poster via Wikpedia under Fair Use.
