Superman 4 in theatres

[crown]

Is anyone old enough to have seen S4 in theaters?

What was it like?

Did everyone go into the theater PUMPED about a new Superman movie and then stumble out a mere 89 minutes later shocked and in a state of disbelief at the crap they saw?

Did people literally BOO every time the cardboard cutout of Reeve was hurled toward the screen like cheap dime-store vomit?

Did anyone walk out of the theater and ask for their money back?

I'm curious.

[Kamdan]

My cousin didn’t see it in the theater, but he clearly remembers loving it when it premiered on HBO. He thought the fight between Superman and Nuclear Man was like an extreme WWF wrestling match.

[atp]

I saw it in a cinema in 1988.

I don't recall thinking it was total crap at the time.

I remember noticing the comic-book font of the titles. And also remember Superman talking foreign languages with subtitles.

[crazy_asian_man]

Oct 21, 2019 0:41:33 GMT -5 crown said:

Is anyone old enough to have seen S4 in theaters?

What was it like?

Did everyone go into the theater PUMPED about a new Superman movie and then stumble out a mere 89 minutes later shocked and in a state of disbelief at the crap they saw?

Did people literally BOO every time the cardboard cutout of Reeve was hurled toward the screen like cheap dime-store vomit?

Did anyone walk out of the theater and ask for their money back?

I'm curious.

Yep. I was pumped even before with the Starlog magazine (the only source for science fiction/ superhero news at the time for fans) talked about how they were going to try to go back to the quality of STM- and that they got so many of the regulars & then reading the script early that I bought at a convention.... then being shocked first by the cardboard cutout.... but then moreso by the gutting of half of the story by the time it got to the end.

As heartbroken as I was by the last act of Superman 2, it was broken again by S4.

[crown]

Oct 21, 2019 11:27:58 GMT -5 atp said:

I saw it in a cinema in 1988.

I don't recall thinking it was total crap at the time.

I remember noticing the comic-book font of the titles. And also remember Superman talking foreign languages with subtitles.

Really?

You actually liked Superman 4 when you saw it?

Did you JUMP FOR JOY after the movie was over and start dancing around the cinema yelling "Nuclear Man is so cool..... Rawer! Destroy Superman!"

Didn't you realize something.. maybe SOMETHING.. was wrong when you entered the movie at 5:00PM and left at 6:29PM... I mean when the movie was over it was still daylight out!

[booshman]

I went to see it twice. Loved it, but then I was only 4. These trips to the cinema and the STM VHS in my house were no doubt the start of the obsession.

[crazy_asian_man]

Oct 22, 2019 19:26:02 GMT -5 booshman said:

I went to see it twice. Loved it, but then I was only 4. These trips to the cinema and the STM VHS in my house were no doubt the start of the obsession.

Thanks Booshman for making me feel RRREALLY old now. (jk)

[inebriated87]

I saw it; it was the only Reeve Superman movie I'd seen in a theatre, but I had seen all the others and especially loved II.

I think the audience was silent. If anyone had booed ... I'd be seeing a therapist to this day.

I was pretty excited until I saw the glittery opening titles, and at the age of 11 realised immediately how cheap they looked.
The comic book font used for the Superman logo in the titles also looked cheap.
The music sounded weak and cheap.
The cardboard cutout ... yeah.
My final memory was realising they had reused the cardboard cutout.
The rest made little impression it seems as I don't remember anything else.

It was crap, but I didn't want anyone else to think it was crap.

I wanted to be the only one who realised.

Maybe I SHOULD have seen a therapist.

[atp]

I felt worse after watching MoS than after S4

[crazy_asian_man]

Nov 1, 2019 14:50:08 GMT -5 inebriated87 said:

I saw it; it was the only Reeve Superman movie I'd seen in a theatre, but I had seen all the others and especially loved II.

I think the audience was silent. If anyone had booed ... I'd be seeing a therapist to this day.

I was pretty excited until I saw the glittery opening titles, and at the age of 11 realised immediately how cheap they looked.
The comic book font used for the Superman logo in the titles also looked cheap.
The music sounded weak and cheap.
The cardboard cutout ... yeah.
My final memory was realising they had reused the cardboard cutout.
The rest made little impression it seems as I don't remember anything else.

It was crap, but I didn't want anyone else to think it was crap.

I wanted to be the only one who realised.

Maybe I SHOULD have seen a therapist.

I saw it three times at the local discount theatre it opened at.

Each time, the audience seemed more sheck-shocked than anything else. There are good scenes in it, but the cheapness and it being hacked to pieces to a point of not making any sense (it did to me, but I read the whole script first and knew what was missing) had to have disappointed. Everyone I assumed WANTED the movie to be good, so no booing was present. Just disappointment.

[crown]

CAM- Was it weird seeing an 89 min Superman movie?


When you left the theatre, was it still daylight out and did you decide to catch another movie since to finish out the evening?

[crown]

Nov 2, 2019 2:25:17 GMT -5 crazy_asian_man said:

Nov 1, 2019 14:50:08 GMT -5 inebriated87 said:

I saw it; it was the only Reeve Superman movie I'd seen in a theatre, but I had seen all the others and especially loved II.

I think the audience was silent. If anyone had booed ... I'd be seeing a therapist to this day.

I was pretty excited until I saw the glittery opening titles, and at the age of 11 realised immediately how cheap they looked.
The comic book font used for the Superman logo in the titles also looked cheap.
The music sounded weak and cheap.
The cardboard cutout ... yeah.
My final memory was realising they had reused the cardboard cutout.
The rest made little impression it seems as I don't remember anything else.

It was crap, but I didn't want anyone else to think it was crap.

I wanted to be the only one who realised.

Maybe I SHOULD have seen a therapist.

I saw it three times at the local discount theatre it opened at.

Each time, the audience seemed more sheck-shocked than anything else. There are good scenes in it, but the cheapness and it being hacked to pieces to a point of not making any sense (it did to me, but I read the whole script first and knew what was missing) had to have disappointed. Everyone I assumed WANTED the movie to be good, so no booing was present. Just disappointment.

Basically sums up my audience reaction to Superman Returns back in 06

[crazy_asian_man]

Nov 6, 2019 23:48:48 GMT -5 crown said:

CAM- Was it weird seeing an 89 min Superman movie?


When you left the theatre, was it still daylight out and did you decide to catch another movie since to finish out the evening?

The whole experience was kind of weird...

From the first titles itself, that looked a bit cheap- was fine overlooking that...

Then I literally almost fell out of my seat when the first flying Chris Reeve cardboard shot appeared--- and thought I was hallucinating...

Then when it went to the Smallville scene- it was great to see the same location as STM for the Kent farm.... but, again, the cheapness of the fx with the X-ray vision threw me a little, but I was really starting to catch on that the fx were gong to be REALLY cheap at this point.... but even so, I was going to be fine overlooking that...

Then- as each scene seemed to get cheaper and cheaper, I kept on thinking: 'well, I've waited this long for ANY Reeve Superman and cast- I'll just be happy that at least they're trying to treat it seriously.... even if the budget is $2"...

And- some scenes still survived on the cast and good intents- but as soon as the giant chunk of the script got lifted and suddenly Superman is at the building for no comprehensible reason whatsoever (I knew because of reading the full script beforehand)- I pretty much threw up my hands that it was a loser, because even if other audience members forgave the cheapness & the bad fx- I couldn't see them forgiving a movie that was cut down so much that all story sense goes out the window.

So.... it was heartbreaking sort of in a way how Superman 2 was heartbreaking to me in that the last portion of the movie just got screwed and didn't have to.

I remember just going home and being REALLY bummed at the series not being saved, but having a final nail in the coffin for Reeve Superman films.

[crazy_asian_man]

Nov 8, 2019 2:47:41 GMT -5 crown said:

Nov 2, 2019 2:25:17 GMT -5 crazy_asian_man said:

I saw it three times at the local discount theatre it opened at.

Each time, the audience seemed more sheck-shocked than anything else. There are good scenes in it, but the cheapness and it being hacked to pieces to a point of not making any sense (it did to me, but I read the whole script first and knew what was missing) had to have disappointed. Everyone I assumed WANTED the movie to be good, so no booing was present. Just disappointment.

Basically sums up my audience reaction to Superman Returns back in 06

Hm. Yeah, I have some friends that had that same reaction. I get it, but...

I wanted great superhero action, and it's not perfect, but much like Star Trek: Generations--- I respected the difficulty of the ambition (introducing and continuing an older movie at the same time)- and felt it was fantastic in enough areas that I forgave the weaker bits.

But, thought the sequel would have been fantastic. I'm hoping that Crisis kind of becomes a great 'final' wrap-up for SR.