Superman IV: Quest for Peace (1987) Comics Αφιέρωμα

director: Sidney J. Furie

writers: Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal

starring: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Jackie Cooper

genre: Action, Comics

There is really not a lot to say for this film but that it was a comlete waste of time. A badly financed film with some of the craziest ideas for a villain that by the end of this film you will feel depressed over how you wasted valuable time from your life.

The story is that Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) escapes from prison and has the ultimate plan to destroy Superman (Christopher Reeve). He takes a piece of Superman's hair mixes it with a "fetus" lets say and attaches it onto a missile which Superman throws into the Sun. The explosion then creates a being called Nuclear Man. Yes that is the name of the villain in the film and he's quite mind blowingly bad. At the same time Clark has to face the Daily Planet falling in the hands of a scandal newspaper owner and his daughter Lacy's (Mariel Hemingway) advances on him. If that wasn't enough. The whole world cant achieve world peace because of too many nuclear weapons and Superman is the only one who can do the job..

Just by reading the summary I've already clarified enough to how silly and bad this film is. There is really nothing much more to say except that they shouldn't have made the film if they didn't have the money and that they should have had more respect for the character and for continuity of the franchise. Quest for Peace should have been called Quest for a good reason to make another shitty film!

Personal Rating:

Review by Paul

Superman III (1983) Comics Αφιέρωμα

director: Richard Lester

writers: David and Leslie Newman

starring: Christoper Reeve, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder

genre: Comics

As I said in the first review of Superman I, the people handling the Superman franchise were a bunch of morons. Donner who made the first film and 75% of the second was fired. His replacement was Richard Lester who emphasized more on comedic gags then deep plots with an attractive story. With Donner gone, so did Hackman go and Lois (Margot Kidder) was pushed aside as well. With some of the people that made the first films big now gone how much better do you think the franchise could have gone?

In the third film Superman/Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) decides to return to Smallville to write a story while Lois (Margot Kidder) goes on a vacation to Bermuda. On Kent trip to Smallville he will see his old childhood friend Lana. There he will feel in love again and happy. Here is were the film is interesting. Now to the uninteresting part. Richard Pryor plays Gus a bum who gets a computer job. Touching the computer he realizes he has exceptional skills and steals money from the company. The president Webster (Robert Vaughn) finds out and makes a deal with him. Causing havoc where they can so they can manipulate the market to make greater profit. But there is only one person in there way. Should I say who?

Let me start off with the good. Kent going to Smallville wasn't a bad idea and making Lana into a love interest was a great idea. The chemistry between them is on par with the Lois and Clark dynamic. Also the way the film ends leaves hints to a possible love triangle scenario in the fourth film which would have been a marvelous idea. But as we all know, that didn't play out as it should have.

Now lets get into the bad. First the villains of the film are preposterous. The character of Webster is just a terrible replacement/ripoff of Luthor with once again terrible sidekicks. Then there's Richard Pryor one of the greatest stand up comedians of all time and not a bad actor who get the part of a computer genius that by touching a computer realizes he is a computer genius. I might say that right there is some very creative writing!

Besides the villains of the film, the other discrepancy the film has its is change of direction. The previous director Richard Donner had a more serious take on Superman that most audiences loved. Instead Richard Lester take on Superman is to put in more comedic gags that have nothing to due with continuation of the story or by any chance make any sense.

In the end Superman III was a failure at following the two first films. It wasn't a complete failure. It had a nice romance story and a good evil Superman subplot. But it was the start of the downfall of Superman films as the next one in the series destroyed all hopes for the franchise to continue.

Superman II (1980) Comics Αφιέρωμα

director: Richard Donner

writers: David and Leslie Newman, Tom Mankiewicz

starring: Christoper Reeve, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder

genre: Action, Comics

We continue our comic madness with Superman II, the definitive Superman film till now. And I'm talking about the Richard Donner directors cut, not the campy Richard Lester version. The sequel raises the stakes, continues themes from the first film and manages to have some very powerful filmaking and action scenes.

Story follows the events of the first film with a lengthy recap. The imprisonment of the 3 deadly Kryptonians General Zod, Ursa and Non in the Phantom Zone. Floating in space, trapped the 3 prisoners are freed by the missile explosion in space from the first film. Free they see Earth and the chance again of ruling with their new powers. With their arrival to Earth, Superman faces the hardest challenge he will ever face. With imminent threat, luck will not be with him. As they the biggest threat will arrive to Earth, Superman will all ready be facing his other greatest challenge of remaining to be Superman or being in love.

What makes the film so much greater than the previous is its deep emotional story. What Superman has to go through is the ultimate challenge for himself. Its not the just the question why cant anybody beat Superman but what if Superman chose love before his duty? In the film he has that choice to make. A life like his stepfather envisioned for him with Lois or a life of solitude and commitment his real father Jor-El had wanted for him. Its a story with depth which the first film lacked and is only made better with a powerful scene in a diner to illustrate Superman undone and the incredible performance of Christopher Reeve.

But besides the serious stuff the action is also way above as well. Now punches are thrown, cool action scenes are shot and many more. Also another positive factor is the loss of Lex Luthor's sidekicks and his new interactions with the 3 criminal Kryptonians. Its just movie magic seeing Luthor con his way into getting Australia.

I enjoyed Superman II immensely. Its not perfect, it has some continuity issues and a repetitive ending mirroring the first film. Also the film has some terrible shots of a New York skyline at times which are quite noticeable. As if they didn't know the film is supposed to be a fictional place called Metropolis with no known landmarks. But even with that this is the best Superman film made that needs your attention.

"Come and kneel before Zod" - General Zod

Superman (1978) Comics Αφιέρωμα

director: Richard Donner

writers: David and Leslie Newman, Robert Benton, Tom Mankiewicz

starring: Christoper Reeve, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder

genre: Comics

For so long I still had never seen a Superman film in its full length except for latest film of the series. Now over the weekend i saw all four Superman films and glad that i did while I already had read a few Superman comics before hand. The first of them all might be the best Superman film, but it was a good start and a decent film.

The film doesn't follow the comic word by word but its does a good job of getting the spirit of who Superman is, his origin and the mythos. It shows us his origin on Krypton, his spaceship landing in Smallville, and his life as teenager with the Kent's in Smallville. Then the film turns its attention on a adult Clark Kent and his arrival at Metropolis and job at the Daily Planet. There he will meet the love of his life, his arch nemesis and then become the man his father wanted him to become a Superman amongst us.

Old fantasy films always make a bigger impact at a young age. Maybe if I had seen this young I would have a different opinion. but how could I if filled sometimes with so many bad ideas. Generally the production of the Superman films were handled by people that didn't know what the character was really about. Due to their handling silly ideas were place in, which did effect the first film greatly and then the later films even more. Richard Donner the director and his own screenwriter Mankiewicz tried the best they can to change the script and tone to a more serious film. They did accomplish that but not entirely.

The most evident problem with the film is Lex Luthor, the action and the coincidental events that take place in the film. With Luthor its no so much the take on Luthor himself or Hackman's performance but Luthor's sidekicks and place of operations. Why couldn't Luthor be in a huge office building being the CEO with evident power instead of him just proclaiming to be the criminal mastermind of th world. Thats not what Luthor was all about in the comics. But even more than that what mind boggled me was the choice of making him have sidekicks. Did he really need a goofy sidekick who is just stupid. Would the smartest man on Earth hire a moron? Then theres his girlfriend Miss. Teschmacher . The only reason she there is for eye candy and for the super-villain to have a woman to bang. The there's the action which is really plain and with no imagination. They get the point across that Superman can save everybody but that's just too easy. My complaint is that its not very entertaining. Last is the coincidences the film has. It annoyed me how when Superman reveals himself to the public it so happens to be with Lois being in a helicopter accident and saving on the same day Air Force One. What are the odds? Then there's at the end of the film where Luthor decides to shoot a rocket at the San Andreas fault for his diabolical plan. Who happens to be there at that exact moment? Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen that are covering the story. Again what are the odds..

Besides all that, for a 1978 Superman film its not that bad. For the first film to give us a incredible Superman with Reeve, a very cool origin in the start and an great chemistry between Lois and Clark then thats all I need to be covered. May not have been the best Superman film but is good film nonetheless.

"You will bow down before me Jor-El! I swear it! No matter that it takes an eternity! You will bow down before me! Both you and then one day your heirs!" - General Zod

Comics Αφιέρωμα

Due to the recent release of two big comic book films Kick-Ass and Iron Man 2 i thought it would be a good time to do a Comics Αφιέρωμα. There will be a couple of lists, recommendations for anybody interested getting into comics and maybe some reviews. Enjoy!

Horror Αφιέρωμα Epilogue

Are first Αφιέρωμα ends, I am to say that there will be more in the future, with various movie genres and with more reviews. I might got stuck a bit with the zombie side of Horror but those were the ones closest to my heart and that i know still most people haven't seen. Hope you enjoyed the little Αφιέρωμα and will leave you with my own personal list of favorite horror films that demand your attention!

• Dawn of the Dead


• Psycho


• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari


• Alien


• Silence of the Lambs


• The Exorcist


• Halloween


• The Fly (Original and Remake)


• The Shinning


• The Evil Dead I & II

P.S. If there is any special demand for any other kind of Αφιέρωμα that you would like us to do, send us your suggestions and we will consider them.

House on Haunted HIll (1959)

director: William Castle

writer: Robb White

starring: Vincent Price

genre: Horror

Was in a little luck last weekend. Caught this horror b-movie classic on Cine+ and it so happened to fit perfectly to the Horror Αφιέρωμα and will be the last review of it. Ι wasn't really impressed by the film, was excepting a little more but i did enjoy the different manner of film making they had back in the 50's.

The story if you haven't guessed already is about a haunted house. The rich Fredrick Loren (Vincent Price) and his wife have this devilish plan to invite 6 strangers into the mansion and to whoever survives the night to get 10,000 dollars each. But his plan has evil in its root and contains secrets between this rich couple. All will not be pleasant for this bunch of people trapped in House on Haunted Hill.

Back in the day when special effects were not at the forefront, innovation and lots of preparation and imagination took place to make a very good film. Things had to seem as if they were apart of the background. Blend in with the rest of the film. Today you see too much of the effects trying to stand out and in consequence look terrible and fake. Thats one of the attributes of this film that i liked so much its ability of being subtle with visual effects and going for very well creepy and scary shots that the film does pretty well.

The effects, the great performance by Vincent Price and of the rest of the cast made the film at least not be a bore. Also the story wasn't bad or steeped illogic crap. But thats were we get to the bad part. The story once it gets going it suddenly resolves too quickly. As the mystery gets thicker to who is at fault and what is really going on in the house the film is about almost over. I was scratching my head and wondering did they really think that was enough to settle the story. The sudden ending without a proper resolution to the story and really leaving us with no good hint about the happenings occurring in the house were a major letdown. A remake could do so much just on the mystery factor but the 1999 remake proved it was just a big pile of sh**.

Out of this relic i got another one of Vincent Price's great performances and an intriguing horror mystery experience that even due to its faults, wasn't boring and only was 75 minutes long. Recommended only to people curious for old horror films and to fans of the legend Vincent Price.

Horror Αφιέρωμα

Saturday is Halloween and because of this special occasion we decided to review some horror films. Its always the right time for blood and guts and scary movies when its Halloween. Some of the films will either be classics or horror films that are close to our hearts.