Movies - Superman IV: The Quest For Peace

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	Movies - Superman IV: The Quest For Peace

Superman IV: The Quest For Peace is a 1987 film, the last of the Superman theatrical movies starring Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel. In this film Superman battled Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) and his creation, a super-powered evil clone of Superman called Nuclear Man.

Unlike the previous three movies, which were produced by the Salkinds, the fourth movie was produced by Golan-Globus' Cannon Films, in association with Warner Bros.

Tagline: Nuclear Power. In the best hands, it is dangerous. In the hands of Lex Luther, it is pure evil. This is Superman's greatest battle. And it is for all of us.

Plot

The Daily Planet is the victim of a hostile takeover when it is taken over by David Warfield, a man who owned a number of tabloid newspapers, and who converts the Planet into a loud, exaggerating, trashy tabloid, and puts his daughter Lacy in charge as publisher.

Superman/Clark Kent learns that diplomatic relations between the United States and the Soviet Union are reaching a point where the two powers might resort to force to settle their disputes. Superman soon receives a letter from a child begging him to take care of the threat posed by nuclear missiles. At the Fortress of Solitude, Superman talks to the spirits of the Kryptonian council members. They tell him not to interfere with the humans, and that he should leave Earth - that there are places he could go where war is only a distant memory.

For a time, Superman is torn about what to do. He visits Lois as Clark, and goes for a walk with her on his penthouse garden, and walks right off the building with her, then reveals himself as Superman to her. They circle the world, he says he's come to a decision, then helps Lois forget about the dual identities.

At a meeting of the United Nations, he tells the assembly that he is going to rid the Earth of all nuclear weapons. Over the next several days, Superman takes all the nuclear weapons, and gathers them into a gigantic net in orbit above the planet. When he has almost all the weapons, he closes the net and tosses it into the sun.

Meanwhile, Lex Luthor's nephew Lenny helps break Luthor out of prison. The pair steals a strand of hair that Superman had donated to a museum (holding up a heavy weight). Luthor creates a genetic matrix from the strand of hair, and attaches it to the final American nuclear missile. After the missile is fired off into the air, Superman grabs the missile and throws it into the sun. A few moments after the missile explodes on the sun's surface, a ball of energy is discharged from the sun, which in a few minutes turns into Nuclear Man. Nuclear Man (though powerless if isolated from the sun's rays or suitably bright artificial light) finds his way to "daddy", Luthor.

Superman, meanwhile, finds himself struggling with his dual identities via his dates with Lois (in his Superman persona) and Warfield's daughter Lacy (in his Clark Kent persona). Suddenly, Superman hears a screeching sound coming from Lex Luthor. The Man of Steel is once again lured into Luthor's hideaway, only this time he is introduced to Nuclear Man. A worldwide battle soon follows between Lex's creation and the Man of Steel. Superman is injured by the poisonous hands of Nuclear Man. The Daily Planet, to Lois' disgust, blares the headline about Superman being dead.

Near death at his apartment, Clark is visited by Lois, who has to pick the lock to Clark's apartment because Clark is so sick, he can't get up to open the door. Lois begins to break down in Clark's presence as she praises Superman for all the good that he's done thus far, and tearfully awaits his return to Metropolis. As she leaves, she instructs Clark that if he hears or sees Superman, to give him a package. The package is Superman's cape, which fell off during his scuffle with Nuclear Man. Therein contained is also a crystal - the last remaining crystal from Krypton. This crystal revives Superman and his powers return. He then goes off to face Nuclear Man one last time.

Nuclear Man develops a crush on Lacy Warfield. He goes off to the Daily Planet to find her. Superman cuts him off at the pass and tries to thwart his attempt. Nuclear Man threatens that if Superman does not tell him where Lacy is, he will hurt the surrounding onlookers. Chaos ensues. Nuclear Man begins to wreak havoc in front of the Daily Planet, hurling people to and fro, and throwing vehicles all over the place. Superman agrees to take Nuclear Man to Lacy. In an attempt to disable the villain, Superman lures Nuclear Man into an elevator in the building, traps Nuclear Man in it, and pulls the elevator out of the building and flies to the moon, heaving the elevator onto the ground there. Superman doesn't realize the doors have opened a crack. As the sun rises, and Superman is raising an American flag that had fallen over (the work of Non in Superman II?), Nuclear Man breaks out of his makeshift prison and the two resume battle on the moon's surface. At the end of the battle, Superman is driven into the ground by his nuclear-charged opponent.

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