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Superman IV: The Quest for Peace , a review by Tom

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Warner Home Video (United Kingdom) Director: Sidney J. Furie Writing: Jerry Siegel (Original Characters By), Joe Shuster (Original Characters By), Christopher Reeve (Story By), Lawrence Konner (Story By), Mark Rosenthal (Story By), Lawrence Konner (Screenwriter), Mark Rosenthal (Screenwriter) Length: 90 min. Video: Widescreen 2.35 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo, French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, German: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Spanish: Dolby Digital 1, Portuguese: Dolby Digital 1, Hungarian: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Polish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Thai: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: Chinese, Danish, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Swedish, Turkish

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Stars:
Christopher Reeve as Superman/Clark Kent
Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor
Jackie Cooper as Perry White
Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen
Jon Cryer as Lenny

Plot:
Christopher Reeve not only dons the title hero's cape for the fourth time but also helped develop the movie's provocative theme: nuclear disarmament. To make the world safe for nuclear arms merchants, Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) creates a new being to challenge the Man of Steel: the radiation-charged Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow). The two foes clash in an explosive extravaganza that sees Superman save the Statue of Liberty, plug a volcanic eruption of Mount Etna and rebuild the demolished Great Wall of China. Your quest for excitement is over.

Awards:
Nominated:

Golden Raspberry Awards (1987)		Worst Special Visual Effects (Harrison Ellenshaw and John Evans)
Golden Raspberry Awards (1987)		Worst Supporting Actress (Mariel Hemingway)

Extras:

• Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Scene Access
• Trailers

Better than I remembered, but still the worst of the original Superman movies. Suffering from bad special effects, low budget and a silly story. But it has some scenes which I enjoyed.
The movie strayed too much from being a more serious movie and gets quite comicy. Going even so far as taking a human into space without problems.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on August 20th, 2011)

The Muppets, a review by Dragonfire

The Muppets

I have been wanting to see The Muppets since I first heard that the movie was being made, even before I knew what it would be about.  I did have a few concerns at first about Jason Segal being involved at first.  He is one of the main characters and he co-wrote the script.  Then I remembered that he had talked about growing up loving the Muppets...he put references to the Muppets into Forgetting Sarah Marshall..and his character even wrote a musical to be performed with puppets.  So I got past my concern pretty quick.  After seeing the movie, I think he was a really good choice.  I think his love of the characters shines through.  It also looks like he had a ball being in a movie with the Muppets. 

I have loved the Muppets since I was little.  I have seen all the Muppet movies, including the ones made for television.  While I admit that some of them haven't been as good as the classic Muppets, I still enjoyed them overall.  As I saw more trailers - the trailers made for this movie were great with how they spoofed all kinds of other movies - I got more anxious to see the movie.  By the time I went to see it on opening day, my expectations were high.  I was also more excited than I have been for a movie..even Harry Potter.  Part of that is because for so long, it looked like there wouldn't be anything new with the Muppets, let alone a movie released to theaters again.  The movie is wonderful.

The story is fairly straight forward and not the most original, but I think it works for the movie.  It sets up and deals with the fact that the Muppets have been gone from performing for years.  I like that they get back together to try to save the Muppet Theater.  So many of the Muppet characters were back, and some that haven't done much for a long time get to do more.  My favorite characters are true to how they were in the Muppet Show and the first Muppet movies.  Some of them have slightly different looks - from a different hairstyle or outfit - and the legs of several of them are seen too.  There is heart to the movie, and I did get emotional more than once watching it.  There are some sad moments, but overall, the movie just made me really happy.  I felt that a few scenes, including one of the new songs, were touching.  There is decent humor and only one thing that is gross humor..Fozzy makes fart shoes.  I thought that was stupid in the trailer and I wasn't that fond of them in the movie..though when they turn up again later, they did make me laugh. There are several new songs, including a big production number within the first few minutes of the movie.  The songs all work really well for the movie and I loved them.  Rainbow Connection turns up, another scene that got me emotional.  Camilla and the other chickens even sing a song while wearing sequined outfits.  That part is hilarious.  They are just singing in clucks, but it is clear what song they are performing.  It would have been nice if they had done a Pigs in Space segment.  Dr. Strangpork and Link Hogthrob were around in some scenes.  Other characters from the Muppet Show that haven't been seen much since then are also back like Wayne and Wanda, Uncle Deadly, and Thog.  I love that so many of the Muppets are in the movie, though some of them don't have as much to do.  It was also nice to see the Muppet Theater again, and the backstage area.

Gary and Mary are good main human characters.  They are sweet and innocent and Jason Segal and Amy Adams are wonderful in the parts.  Chris Cooper is great as Tex Richman, the villain of the movie who wants to tear down the Muppet Theater to drill for oil.  Walter is a new Muppet character.  I wasn't sure about a new Muppet being introduced, but he works wonderfully in the movie.  He is Gary's brother who fell in love with the Muppets when he discovered them.  Walter is kind of a super Muppet fan.  He fits in really well with the Muppets.

I absolutely loved this movie and I'll probably see it at least one more time in the theater.  The movie is wonderful and definitely worth seeing, especially for fans of the Muppets.



I did get a review posted on Epinions.

The Muppets



(From The Muppets on December 3rd, 2011)

"Due South" marathon, a review by Tom

3.11 Asylum (1997-11-16)
Writer: Paul Haggis (Created By), Paul Quarrington (Writer)
Director: George Bloomfield
Cast: Paul Gross (Constable Benton Fraser), Callum Keith Rennie (Stanley "Ray" Kowalski), Beau Starr (Lt. Harding Welsh), Camilla Scott (Inspector Margaret Thatcher), Tony Craig (Detective Jack Huey), Tom Melissis (Detective Dewey), Ramona Milano (Francesca Vecchio), Gordon Pinsent (Fraser Sr.), Dean McDermott (Constable Turnbull), Wayne Robson (Damon Cahill), John Evans (Gus Fillion), Kurt Reis (Eddy Herndorff), Joe Pingue (Sandor), Scott Wickware (Brian Kilrea), Jennifer Dean (Officer Tibbet), Ravinder Toor (Andreas Volpe), Catherine Swing (Shelley Byron)

I like how Ray and Turnbull have to interact with each other.

Rating:

(From "Due South" marathon on January 3rd, 2010)