LogFAQs > #910350704

Superman IV: Quest for Peace (1987)
Nominated by: Xeybozen

Widely considered one of the worst superhero movies ever made, I can't possibly make this one worse, so let's skip over what doesn't work on this movie and try to make something click.

I actually like the idea of nuclear nonproliferation driving the narrative of this film, so I'm going to go in a very weird direction. The film opens with Clark still working for the Daily Star, now owned and operated by George Taylor. The Star has recently purchased WGBS-TV, and Clark's old flame Lois Lane has been offered an investigative position on the coveted primetime news hour, which she accepts, bringing Jimmy Olsen with her to the paper-turned-news-station so she can be closer to Steve Lombard. Clark, meanwhile, has been confiding in Steve for months. The two have been investigating the status and fate of Lex Luthor.

Superman has never worked closely with a nuclear-powered object, and for the first time, he is put to the test when a Soviet space vessel armed with a nuclear core ruptures in space. While attempting to save the pilots, he is exposed to the core and is weakened. Suddenly, another superhuman arrives to rescue both Superman and the cosmonauts. This character lands on Earth to a sudden surge of news attention, and introduces himself as the Nuclear Man (played by Michael Biehn). Superman actually experiences a bit of jealousy as time has caused people to take him for granted. Nuclear Man, claiming to be an alien from a world destroyed by nuclear war, clearly comes to Earth with a goal - he wants to end the construction and proliferation of any nuclear weapon. People begin to flock to his doctrines he presents after he demonstrates some miracles of technology that help end drought and famine in third world countries.

Lois, too, seems enamored with the Nuclear Man. This causes jealousy to also boil in Steve, and he convinces Superman to investigate the Nuclear Man's claims. Instead, Superman finds that maybe Nuclear Man is a better hero than he. He certainly has a wider variety of powers, and if the world is going to be left in better hands with Nuclear Man, perhaps he should work with him. They develop a tenuous relationship as Steve tries to investigate further. Superman publicly has an argument with Nuclear Man, calling his attitude "fascistic" before publicly flying away. After weeks with no public Superman appearances, Steve discovers a very small serial number on one piece of technology Nuclear Man uses to create a miracle in the Sahara Desert. As world leaders begin to turn over their nuclear arsenals to Nuclear Man, Steve discovers that the serial number traces back to technology from Morgan Edge's island. On the island, he finds Nuclear Man being given injections by Morgan Edge's personal doctor, Emil Hamilton. Hamilton kills himself rather than reveal his motives, and the island begins a sequence of chain reaction during which Steve is barely rescued by Superman.

After a tussle with Nuclear Man where Superman is clearly outclassed, Superman begins to have doubts after Nuclear Man provides a couple piercing insights into Superman's own history as a Kryptonian. Superman believes Steve, and they try to convince Lois that Nuclear Man isn't what he appears. Lois has been working as a glorified PR rep for Nuclear Man, and Nuclear Man has made romantic overtures to her, and she just doesn't believe them. But in an intimate moment, we see Nuclear Man becoming more erratic. His eyes glow green and his skin flakes off a little bit on his hands.
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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful