Superman IV: The Quest For Peace/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Critical Research Failure: While overlooked at the time, modern audiences, as a result of countless crime dramas, are aware that only the root of the hair contains DNA, and thus Lex would get nothing of value from his theft of Superman's hair, as it can be clearly seen that he doesn't grab the root.
  • Funny Aneurysm Moment: A particularly horrifying example, where Clark Kent goes to a gym with Lois Lane and pretends to injure his back lifting weights. It's not a direct parallel, but the image of Christopher Reeve holding his spine and wincing in pain is very eerie.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: Superman tells Luthor at the end of the movie, "See you in twenty." The next live-action movie, Superman Returns, came out just one year shy of that length.
    • Lenny Luther seems like the prototype for Scott Evil.
  • So Bad It's Good: Superman IV is arguably funnier than Superman III; it has Narm in spades.
    • Arguable? Unintentional Comedy > Failed Gags every time.
    • The mere presence of Gene Hackman can make anything a little better.
  • Special Effects Failure:a human woman breathing perfectly fine in space' , as it was originally intended for her to be in the skies above Metropolis.
  • Took the Bad Film Seriously: Christopher Reeve had to have known that the Superman film franchise was on its last legs when he signed up (with stipulations) for Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. To note, Reeve would only take the film if several conditions were met, one of them being a strict anti-nuclear message. While other members of the cast understand how bad the script is (Gene Hackman was there for a check and Jon Cryer was camping it up), Reeve gives it his all and delivers the only emotionally honest performance in the film, which is especially evident in the scenes where he prepares to sell the Kent family farm, and the sequence where he delivers a stirring speech to the United Nations. It's enough to make the viewer wish that the film wasn't screwed over with the most ridiculous villain ever seen in a comic book film (Nuclear Man).
  • What an Idiot!: Apparently, no one in Metropolis bothered to install dead-man switches into their subway trains.