Movie Review: ****Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

 This movie poses the question, should a super being impose peace, nuclear disarmament in this case, on the world.  In this case Superman (Christopher Reeve) takes on this task.  However in this case, Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) has escaped prison again, helped by his nephew, Lenny (John Cryer). Luthor is determined to clone Superman.  He does this using the sun, which gives him the power of the sun creating Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow).  

In the mean time at the Daily Planet things are not going well.  There has been a hostile takeover by David Warfield (Sam Wanamaker) who is into sensational headlines and stories even if not quite true.  Perry White (Jackie Cooper) is let go and Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) eventually quits.  Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure) hangs on.  Lois Lane rekindles her flame with Superman, encouraged by Superman.   Warfield's daughter Lacy (Mariel Hemingway) ignites a flame with Clark Kent.  Clark Kent and superman go on a double date with Lois and Lacy which makes for some trickery back and forth.  However the date is interrupted when Luthor send a message to Superman on a frequency only he can hear.  He entices Superman and introduces him to Nuclear Man.  This leads to an interesting fight, and Superman being sickened, perhaps with nuclear energy from the sun.  The outcome is very much in doubt, as long as the sun shines Nuclear Man has the advantage.

In the mean time White has bought up the shares of the company, and comes back with his own take over, kicking Warfield out.  Superman concludes that peace should not be forced, but come from the people themselves.

This movie has an interesting conclusion.  The Superman movies all fall short in terms of special effects.  They did not have the computer generated features that are available now.  However within their technology limits they do pretty well.  

Movie Review: *** Superman III

 This is the only Christopher Reeve Superman movie without Lex Luthor.  Instead he goes up against Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn) who is an entrepreneur.  He teams up with a computer expert, Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor).  He also has a couple women helping him, Vera (Annie Ross) and Lorelei (Pamela Stephenson).  They access a satellite and with that they manipulate the weather.

There is also less Lois Lane and the newspaper characters as Clark Kent returns to Smallville for his class reunion, and rekindles a flame with Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole) and out duels Brad (Gavav O' Herlihy) for her affections.

So Gorman designs a super computer, but the three villains take it over and kick him out.  In bread into the computer is it analyzes an opponents weaknesses, and is able to counter.  When superman confronts the computer, the computer takes over one of the women and becomes self sufficient.  It is no longer dependent on electricity and becomes independent.  Superman has to trick the computer to save the world.

Movie Review: ****^Superman (1978)

 Superman/Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) is sent to earth by his parents (Marlon Brando and Susannah York) as his planet, Krypton is due to explode.  They send him to earth, where differences is gravity will give him super powers.  There he is adopted by the Kents (Glen Ford and Phyllis Thaxter).  When his father dies, he moves to New York and becomes a reporter.  There he works with Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), photographer Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure) and his boss Perry White (Jackie Cooper).  Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) is a criminal boss and mastermind.  He is intent and igniting a nuclear bomb to create an earthquake so California with drop into the sea.  This will propel his properties in the desert to be seaside property.  

He figures out Superman.  He is from another planet, and vulnerable to kryptonite.  He uses this to incapacitate Superman and launch his two nuclear bombs.  However Luthor is betrayed by his girl (Valerie Perrine).  She released Superman, who in turn saves his friends and the world.