Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition - Part V

It's hard to believe that it's been 20 years since the release of "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace", the fourth cinematic installment in the Superman franchise and the final installment featuring the late Christopher Reeve in the title role. Of course, we are all aware of the turbulent production history this film had, the brutal sabotage and butchering of 45 minutes of footage from the film prior to its theatrical release, and the endless debates over the remaining footage, all of the archival production footage, and the many different theatrical trailers and TV spots containing numerous additional clips not shown in the final 89-minute U.S. theatrical version or the 93-minute European release. And yet, for what it's worth, with all of its bumps, bruises, and scabs along the way, "Superman IV" has generated a following of its own because of the film's sincere, if awkward and cheapjack, attempt to return to the spirit of the first film and because of its huge gaps in logic, storytelling, and, most importantly, footage.

The film's plot is simple and straightforward: Superman chooses to get involved in worldwide nuclear disarmament and manages to rid the world of its nuclear weapons. But his nemesis Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) has come up with a way that he believes will not only eliminate the Man of Steel but also keep the nuclear threat alive and profitable. Had this been handled by Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz, who were initially approached to consider bringing the franchise back on track after the critically drummed "Superman III", this film probably would have been successful. (Donner, of course, would go on to direct the first installment of the "Lethal Weapon" series, while Mankiewicz would helm a big-screen comic version of the long-running TV staple "Dragnet".) Instead, the film's story - conceived by Reeve and co-writers Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal ("The Jewel of the Nile" and "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country"), directed by Sidney J. Furie ("The Ipcress File" and "Iron Eagle"), and produced by Menahem Golem and Yoran Globus of Cannon Films (who purchased the rights from Alexander and Ilya Salkind) - was produced as cheaply as you can get on a shoestring budget. The film's budget was slashed all across the board, including the all-important visual effects that netted the first "Superman" film the coveted Oscar. It further had very little promotion in the media. And after the disastrous sneak preview screening prior to the film's release, the film itself was butchered, the remaining 89 (or 93, depending on which side of the Atlantic you lived) minutes slapped together, and the remaining footage shelved or quite possibly destroyed. The eventual result was an awkward, haphazard mess that drew viewers out of the story all too much, resulting in little to no character motivation or development at all. If the first three films were cinematic marvels, IV looked like the equivalent of a TV movie of the week. Despite its sincere attempt, "Superman IV" failed critically and commercially at the box office.

Yet there were some good elements about the film: Reeve back in the role, the interaction between Reeve and Hackman, Margot Kidder's return as Lois Lane, a new love interest for Clark Kent in Lacy Warfield (Mariel Hemingway), an interesting double-date scenario, and the musical score adapted by Alexander Courage from John Williams' original themes. Had this film been given a chance, and with the right amount of promotion and production values, it could have done well. But in the hands of a failing B-film studio who had too many irons in the fire at one time, "Superman IV" was never given top priority over any of Cannon's other projects, despite Reeve's attempt to keep everyone's morale alive.

Since that time many people, including Reeve, Furie, and Bryan Singer, among others, have relegated "Superman IV" to an alternate cinematic history (especially in the light of "Superman Returns", which also disavowed III in the process). Furie has refused to comment on it since then, even two decades after the fact. I know this for a fact; I tried to personally contact the man myself and never got a response. Reeve, in his later years, would admit to the problems with IV from storytelling, financial, and personal standpoints and refuse watching the 93-minute European cut of the film. But fans would not give up on it, nor would they give up on the whereabouts of the remainder of the film's footage. In 2005 hopes were elevated when it was discovered that the film's original camera negatives were in storage at Deluxe Film Labs in Denham, Middlesex, England. (Road trip!) Now with the release of the Deluxe Edition of "Superman IV" on DVD, issued as Disc 9 in the Ultimate Collector's Edition, Warner Home Video has opened up a huge door for the fans, giving them a glimpse into what might have been. However, like the final released product itself, this new DVD release lends very little support to the designated "Deluxe Edition" label and falls far short of fan expectations.

The film's transfer is identical to the previous 2001 DVD release, presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen format and your choice of English or French Dolby 2.0 sond. The picture itself is generally crisp and clean - almost too crisp, if you ask me, because of all the obvious scabs and wonds given to the final treatment of the film. In other words, too many matte lines covering (or not covering) lots of wires, wires, and still more wires all over the place. It's absolutely horrendous, and it doesn't make you believe anyone can fly. At times the visual effects cause the film's image to be washed out - this is not the fault of the film's DVD transfer but the film assembly itself. A whole lot of CGI love could be given to this film to at least make it look a little more believable.

In terms of supplements, there are very few supplements overall, but what we have here really does shed a light onto what might have been. First off, the film's U.S. theatrical trailer is recycled from the previous DVD release, with finished versions of two additional scenes not featured in the theatrical cut (which I'll discuss in further detail later).

One of the two major new supplements to this disc is a new running audio commentary with Mark Rosenthal, who discusses many of the film's production problems and story elements. Rosenthal is honest and to the point about the many issues Cannon Films and Warner Bros. had to face during its production, including the poor planning of many of the film's shot and confirming that Reeve unjustly bore the brunt of the negative backlash the film received and the problems that led to the cutting of 45 minutes of footage from the fiml's original 134-minute running time (which he confirms several times throughout the commentary). Rosenthal also points out interesting story elements that come into play throughout the film, including homages to "Dr. Strangelove", the then-current Cold War between the U.S. and Russia, and even a possible AIDS allusion to the film. (Of course, there's one thing that Reeve, Rosenthal, and Konner may have overlooked, and that's the fact that Lacy Warfield's obvious seduction of Clark Kent, despite its Cary Grant-like comic overtones, at times borders on workplace sexual harrassment, which upon recently viewing the film I finally picked up on - has anyone else noticed this element at all?) Rosenthal further posits an interesting question: in the post-9/11 world, would Superman have gotten involved in protecting Metropolis/New York City from terrorist attacks? And there's also an interesting point about who was initially considered for the part of the Nuclear Man, but I guess they thought fans wouldn't have wanted to see Christopher Reeve in a good Superman/bad Superman confrontation once again. Unfortunately, there are gaps at times in Rosenthal's commentary which could have been filled with more information about the film's production. Still, I have to give Rosenthal credit for delivering a decent commentary that sheds some interesting light.

The other major new supplement is the inclusion of some 30 minutes of deleted scenes from the film, presented in widescreen format and Dolby 2.0 sound. These cut scenes can be viewed either individually or in one continuous "play all" feature. All of these cut scenes were taken from a workprint version of the film, complete with temporary music and, in many places, incomplete visual effects, so the film's quality is obviously not as good as the remainder of the film. In these deleted scenes we get more footage of Reeve as Superman, which is always a good thing. We have more footage of Hackman, who at times is comic brilliant, at other times very shrewd and serious about his intention in playing the U.S. and Russian governments against each other - this significant scene could have beefed up the dramatic, yet ironically comic, element of the film.

A huge chunk of the film's most important scenes, which could have added about 15 minutes back into the film, are moments that flesh out some of the film's supporting characters, including Jeremy (Damien Maclawhorn) and Lacy, particularly in her growing attraction toward Clark. Two of the most important deleted scenes featured in this block involve Luthor's creation of the prototype Nuclear Man Mark I (played in these scenes by Clive Mantle). Portions of this sequence included in the U.S. theatrical trailer and one of the TV spots are obviously of finished quality, leads me to conclude that the scenes were cut after completion. While the first of Mantle's scenes is a very welcome addition, I for one have to admit that this scene was rightfully cut from the film. Given Mantle's "Bizarro"-like campy performance, not to mention the worst-looking codpiece in the history of cinema this side of Sting's metal thong in "Dune", this scene alone would have probably caused the film to be laughed off the screen right then and there. Had it been played with more seriousness, it could have been a big plus but instead winds up a big waste. This scene's deletion also affected the cutting of the second of Mantle's scenes, involving Superman's confrontation with Nuclear Man Mark I outside the Metro Club. Reports gave the budget for this battle at over six million dollars alone, which if handled properly could have been a big winner for the film. Of course, we go back to the problem once again of wires, wires, and more wires, and in one clip we can clearly see Reeve's stunt double being tossed through the sky in a poorly executed shot reminiscent of those not-so-hidden stunt doubles in the original "Star Trek" series. For some reason Warner Home Video chose to include the second portion of this sequence while omitting the humorous and romantic set-up involving Clark and Lacy's date at the Metro Club - I for one wish they could have included the rest of this sequence in its entirety. These deletions also affected the cutting of another scene involving Luthor afterwards.

Another major subplot involving the second Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow) attempting to start a nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia, and Superman's successful diversion, is included. Again this is another scene that upon viewing was obviously near completion, as many of the visual effects and flying shots are of finished quality. With a little more love given to the visual effects, and a few more insert shots, this five-minutes scene could have remained in the final film and been a winner. (Portions of this scene were included in the Australian theatrical trailer for the film.) In addition, the film's final optimistic scene of Superman and Jeremy flying over the skies of the Earth could have remained in the film, giving the appropriate coda this film so badly deserved.

Furthermore, we have workprint versions of two scenes familiar to American viewers since 1990: Superman averting a tornado in the Midwest (identified on the DVD as "Smallville") and saving Russia from a potential nuclear disaster. Both of these scenes were first shown in syndication courtesy of Viacom, which sourced the original 1988 VHS release of the film and the two cut scenes for the basis of the broadcast. These cut scenes were also included in Tohokushinsha Home Video's Japanese laserdisc of the 93-minute European theatrical cut issued by Cannon Films. Yet all we get on this DVD are their incomplete workprint counterparts - why is that? Everyone knows fully well that the finished versions of these scenes exist in one form or another, and on the Japanese laserdisc the Dolby audio and widescreen video quality is far superior to their workprint counterparts. At the very least Warner Home Video could have sourced the European version for these scenes and restored them into the context of the film.

For that matter, completed versions of other snippets from cut scenes have appeared in different trailers and TV spots for the film but were not included on the DVD. For example, in both the Australian trailer and one of the U.S. TV spots, there is a prominent clip of Luthor asking Superman, "Isn't that (the second Nuclear Man) adorable?" This leads to the question of the existence of the master camera negatives for all of the cut footage included on the DVD as well as the remaining cut scenes that have yet to see the light of day. It's just baffling. I have to give Warner Home Video credit for releasing a lot of the cut scenes to begin with, though the quality and quantity could have been a lot more than what we received. And why only 30 minutes of cut scenes, why not all 45 minutes? In addition, Warner really took a huge step back in not featuring all of the different domestic and international trailers and TV spots on the new DVD, though we know for a fact that a number of them exist.

In addition, any and all production footage filmed in 1986-87, which exists in various sources and forms, could have formed the basis for a production documentary on the making of the film, complete with interviews with cast and production team members, which this DVD sorely needed. (Attempts were made to contact Mark Pillow for his participation in the "You Will Believe" documentary, which were unsuccessful. Whatever happened to him, by the way?) Not to mention that the international version of this release reportedly contained a joint audio commentary with Konner and Rosenthal, as well as a featurette on what the film could have been like had the 134-minute version been given a chance - as of this writing, nothing has been confirmed on either of these features.

To call this new version of "Superman IV" a Deluxe Edition isn't warranted here. To be honest, this is no more deluxe than any single-disc release of a typical DVD title with just a couple of extras thrown in, especially when we know of the wealth of material that's out there pertaining to this film. With the first two films, "Superman Returns", and the Richard Donner Cut of "Superman II" receiving great DVD treatment, this new version of IV is a major missed attempt at giving the fans what they have longed for over the past 20 years, a more complete picture. There's still a number of missing pieces to the puzzle, most notably the lost 15 minutes of footage, the master camera negatives to all of these scenes, and, sadly, Christopher Reeve himself. And my opinion of this DVD is the same as my first opinion when I first saw the film on that hot summer day in July 1987: that's it? I can only hope that down the road someone - whether Michael Thau, Mike Matessino, Robert Harris, WETA Digital, Digital Domain, or whomever - will give this film the proper love and treatment it rightfully deserves and writes the final fitting chapter to this troubled film. Superman and Christopher Reeve fans everywhere really deserve that release and not this one.

Next time around: Bryan Singer brings the Man of Steel back after a 19-year hiatus, with my thoughts on "Superman Returns" on Discs 10 and 11. See you then!