MovieChat Forums > Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) Discussion > Who saw this in cinemas back in 87?

Who saw this in cinemas back in 87?

posted 11 years ago by bozo_500
47 replies | jump to latest

Who saw this back in the day? What are your memories - the anticipation of seeing it in the weeks/days before, the actually seeing it and how much a big deal was it where you were back then, the crowds, audience etc and after coming out of the cinema what were your thoughts and in the days/weeks that followed..

TQFP was a VERY big deal to me back in 87 - there hadnt been a new superman in AGES (as a kid time passes much slower so 4 years felt more like 10 years) there was no internet and i didnt have any money to buy magazines like Starlog so the first i knew of a superman IV was when i walked past the Cannon cinema (UK) and saw this poster in those plastic cases outside (note the superior crystal font:)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8154/7678329200_bfa4d8747c_b.jpg

as a huge huge fan of the series having seen II (my first time in a cinema) and III (& STM on tv only) i couldnt believe it..I had no idea they were making another let alone it being due out soon (i remembered Reeve having stated several times hed never do another after III in articles and tv interviews) . It just didnt make any sense!! how could i not know about this!?....

Initially I excitedly thought it was showing right there and then and was preparing to go in and see it but realised there was a 'Coming Soon' banner under the poster. I think I had to go in the cinema and ask when it was coming out and was told it was about a couple of months away and being really disappointed it was so long (think I remember being really annoyed thinking it was stupid to show the poster so long in advance).. So the wait was agony ..like waiting for xmas only wanting it more and when it eventually came out i saw it 4 times at the cinema (the most times id been to see any superman movie! each of the rest bar STM just saw once..maybe saw III twice I dunno) and thought it was amazing - the best one of all 4!

it was exciting, new, fresh, it was non stop action packed (even more than II - to which it felt like a true sequel)- it had a powerful scary supervillain (like the 3 villains but as one), there were fights in space (a first!) and on the moon (nice call back to II), superman got his ass kicked loses his powers and nearly dies (again similar to II), Lex was back and we got to see the fortress again (first time since II), the new Nuclear Man music was awesome..

i knew something was up with the FX as they seemed to reuse the same shot of a turquoise coloured superman flying toward the camera (crazy fact - SIV had the same budget as 'Aliens' the year before!)but it didnt affect my enjoyment one bit - neither did the whole Milton Keynes setting or the massive cuts - i had no idea about all that.

i had no idea it was reviled and was a flop (i mean i knew it wasnt as big a hit as star wars but i mustve thought it'll have been at least as big as the previous ones) i bought all the stuff - the Starlog poster magazine, the DC comic (which both confused me as there was a whole other Nuclear Man!)
http://www.supermaniv.com/Superman_IV_Merchandise/Superman_IV_Poster_Magazine/Superman_IV_Poster_Magazine_COVER.html
http://www.supermaniv.com/Superman_IV_Comic_Adaptation_Spanish/Superman_IV_Comic_Adaptation_English/Superman_IV_Comic_Adaptation_English_COVER.html
(seeing those on display in the window of the comic store I would go to was such a thrill)

I searched for a novel (as I had the SIII one) but couldn't find one. Years later I found it in a 2nd hand bookstore:
http://supermaniv.com/S4_Novelization/Superman_IV_Novel_COVER.html

i remember being quite disappointed there were no action figures

So back then in my mind it went best to worst - IV, II, III and lastly STM which i didnt like much as I thought it was abit long, the Krypton and Smallville bits were quite talky/boring to a kid as was the whole Supes and Lois romance, Lex was like an Adam West Batman villain, there wasn’t that much action aside from it turning into a 70s disaster movie, no supervillains and there wasnt any fighting! (But now I obviously appreciate it for the classic it is)

the question i was asking myself after IV was would Superman V (due in a couple of years with an all new cast joining Reeve according to the newspapers) be even more enjoyable than IV?!

it was a question id have to wait 20 years to be answered (just like superman promised at the end of TQFP)....and the answer was a resounding NO!! 

[–] lspear76 9 years ago

Saw this at the drive-in theater. It was my first time at the Drive-in. I knew something was wrong because Superman IV was not playing at any local theater (Eric Theater or AMC 4). I generally liked the movie, but felt something was a little off about it, the special effects, and how quickly it ended after Superman got his powers back. I had no idea things were cut from it until I was older.

[–] poplion 9 years ago

I saw it as part of a double feature running on a Saturday. The other movie was Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds In Paradise. Interesting combo! My grandmother took me to see it. I was 13. By that time, I had read a review in the local newspaper. It was given ZERO stars and the rating given by the film critic was "bomb." In addition, Siskel & Ebert made note that the movie was not screened for them to review on their show and they indicated that that was never a good sign. I kind of knew going in not to expect much but I kept saying that (unlike part III) Lois and Lex were in it so it couldn't be that bad. I had been a fan of the movies for a while and even had a poster from the movie on my wall (I think it was given away free with a bag of Chips Ahoy Cookies or something. I remember being embarrassed by the movie because it was probably just as bad as my grandmother expected going in. She did not let on. She was there to take me. She laughed at the predictability of some things in the movie (not in a mean way) and of course she dozed off. We did not stay for Nerds II. As bad as it was, something must have clicked because I watched it countless times when it started airing on cable. Yes, it does have a real so-bad-its-good quality!

[–] bozo_500 9 years ago

I remembered something about when I went to see SIV one of the times I went. I was lingering outside waiting to go in (maybe it was my 2nd or 3rd viewing :) and I overheard these two older boys discussing whether to go and see it or not. One was saying he wanted to see it and the other was trying to dissuade him. I remember him saying 'look Superman I and II were good but III and IV are crap' then the other one said 'oh so you've seen IV have you?' (maybe hed read a review of it or something). I think I remember the other boy saying they should go see whatever else that was on – maybe it was Jaws The Revenge or Police Academy 4 that were playing at the same time? Man I can still remember it clearly. Esp him saying 'I and II were good but III/IV were crap' (Superman obviously wasn't a 'cool' thing back in 87 at all) the other boy seemed quite agitated like he really wanted to see Superman but his mate was having none of it! (I guess like me he mustve been a big fan of the previous films) I remember I felt like going up to them and saying 'look you should go see Superman. Its awesome, better than II even!' I wonder if his buddy backed down and allowed him to see it or if he had to endure Jaws 4 or whatever he wanted to see. (I guess he couldve gone another time, but man Im trying to imagine that ahole kid telling me I couldnt go and see SIV at the time! Id have just about thrown him through the *beep* ing cinema walls Non style lol)

there were other things I remember about seeing it at that specific Cannon cin too. Just the popcorny smell of the place and where everything was situated in the cinema (as I said in a prev post the cin is no more now) The little Cannon booklets you could pick up that month had the iconic pic of Reeve from Superman The Movie flying toward the camera (I remember thinking why didnt they use one from IV?). Also there was a 'coming soon SIV poster in the ticket booth - http://supermaniv.com/Superman_IV_Promotion/Superman_IV_UK_Quad_Poster/01_Superman_IV_1987_UK_Quad_Poster_Christopher_Reeve_Gene_Hackman_Sidney_J_Furie.jpg. Wish id asked for that or one of the posters in the plastic cases. Maybe if youd asked to have one and theyd give you one when itd finished its run?

[–] freezedawg98 9 years ago

Back then if you were a kid and you didn't want to see the movie everyone else went to see, you were likely out of luck. That was back when at most you had about 4 to 5 other options and at least half of them were R rated, so you were going to be out of luck. Besides Jaws 4 was an even worse option than Superman IV.

[–] bozo_500 9 years ago

yeh maybe. I guess if hed been like '*beep* you im seeing superman you go see Jaws or whatever the *beep* you want' come Monday morning hed be known as 'Nuclear-Man' at school (and for the rest of his time there)

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Lexx-2 9 years ago

I saw this at Ballarat's Southern Drive-In around January/Feburary 1988, a few months shy of turning 7. I'd been insanely excited for the film, having seen ads for it in Melbourne's Sun newspaper in the months before. It was the top half of a double-bill with Masters of the Universe (also from Cannon), so it was like a million birthdays had come at once. Like the OP, I absolutely loved it on that first viewing, though certain things struck me as... Off. It was noticably shorter than the other films (and I grew up the extended cuts of I-III taped off the telly), and the opening titles seemed odd.

A few months later, my parents bought me the film on Beta (!), and I was most aggrieved to find that it was even shorter on tape, with the tornado and Russian missile sequences missing. Around this time, they also got me the poster magazine, which confused me even further with all this talk of a "Nuclear Man I" who wasn't in either version of the film I'd seen, along with lots of other bits that weren't in it!

As I revisited the film, I became more and more conscious of all its problems, and the clarity of DVD and Blu-Ray only makes the production gaffes all the more apparent. Nonetheless, when I bought the giant 14-disc steelbox set of all the Superman films (to that point) in 2006, the very first thing I did was pop on the long-lost deleted scenes. Sure they weren't all included (no visit to the Kent grave, and no Metro Club dance scene), and they were presented in unfinished form with fake scratches (reportedly to discourage fan edits), but it was STILL a thrill to finally see these scenes after reading about them for nearly twenty years!

For all its myriad faults, I have a lot of nostalgia for Superman IV, and if they ever do a Donner Cut style reconstruction of the 134min cut, I'll buy it in a heartbeat!

[–] bozo_500 (13105) 4 years ago

seeing SIV and MOTU as a double bill does sound amazing , and yeah i got the silver steel box dvd set (since replaced with the bluray set)

[–] stevenackerman69 9 years ago

Well, in those days I was a teenager and would probably go to a film that teens would like (did see the fourth Police Academy in a theater). But today, being older and more of a wiser moviegoer, I know not to waste time and money on crap films.

[–] bozo_500 9 years ago

but..but Superman IV was awesome! (yes Hackman did receive a big payday - I fact I remember reading somewhere in an interview he was asked 'why are you doing SIV?' and he said 'you mean aside the $2 million?'))

[–] stevenackerman69 9 years ago

I had thought of seeing it then, but decided to see Spaceballs instead. Then the film came and went. Seeing it on cable, I could see why: It was only 90 minutes and basically some of the same stuff from the second Superman-the evil villians who have Superman's powers fight him and Superman wins. Also, the flying of Superman and Lois is from the first film. Amazing that Ned Beatty and Valerie Perrine didn't appear in this-guess they were smart enough to realize it wasn't worth it. Why Gene Hackman did it must've been a big paycheck for his ass.

[–] bozo_500 9 years ago

i remember being quite disappointed there were no action figures

lol check out these custom figures. id have KILLED for something like that back in '87!
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=nuclear+man+custom+figure&safe=strict&biw=1265&bih=650&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwic95_lncDLAhXL1hoKHdi2A3YQsAQIIg

(ones on ebay now - anyone got a spare $230 lol)
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/CUSTOM-NUCLEAR-MAN-FIGURE-SUPERMAN-/271948871113

[–] stevelashway 9 years ago

My birthday is July 25th, this came opened July 24th. I wanted to go see it for my 14th birthday. My friends made me go see Summer School, which opened that weekend also. (yes my "friends" didn't go to the movie I wanted to, on my birthday!) To this day, I wish I could have seen this in theaters!! But I read articles in Starlog magazine, and REALLY wanted to go!

[–] bozo_500 9 years ago

Sounds like you needed some new friends back then.

[–] bozo_500 8 years ago

shame these reminiscing seeing in cinema threads will soon be no more 😖

[–] bozo_500 (13105) 6 years ago

Anyone beat seeing it 4 times in the cinema?

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

Yeah, I saw it, with a friend who had a HUGE fangirl crush on the Reeve Superman (she had excellent taste). We knew the reviews were bad, but we didn't give up that easily. Hey, we'd managed to enjoy parts of "Superman III", we were tough old die-hard fans by then!

I've rarely been so disappointed by a movie, in all my years of filmgoing. My first doubts came during the overture, which notably lacked verve, and everything went downhill from there. I was squirming in my seat by the end. I don't think I've ever been able to watch that mess since, not that anyone wants to show it.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

I saw it when I was a little kid.

We visited the cinema hoping to see An American Tail but there were no screenings so we ended up seeing this instead.

I can't really recall what I thought of it at the time (I was so young), but I now have some affection for it as a camp so-bad-it's-good classic.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7699) 6 years ago

I was only a year old when this came out. Unlike others I actually liked it. Way more entertaining than Part 3.

[–] millsey72 (10244) 2 years ago

No one is going to admit they saw this in the theaters