Woah Byrne was involved with Superman IV: The Quest for Box Office Reciepts?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
bozo_500 — 9 years ago(September 12, 2016 05:48 AM)
Woah Byrne was involved with Superman IV: The Quest for Box Office Reciepts?
Here's my question and JB's response from the old boards:
ME:
I have to say, though the movie on the whole is forgettable, the little speech Christopher Reeve gives at the end, talking about why he was wrong to think he could rid the world of its nuclear problems is really quite wonderful. It underscores how Reeve owned that character and why he casts such a long shadow in the role. It's sad that the film he had the most input into turned out to be such a disaster. Still, this was a beautiful moment in an otherwise unremarkable cinematic experience.
JB:
About the only thing I can take credit for and that obliquely is that speech at the end. Originally, Chris had wanted Superman to successfully rid the world of nuclear weapons, and I'd pointed out to him that it was really not a good idea to have the audience come out of the theatre into a world that was very much not the one they had just seen in the movie. So it became a "lesson for Superman" movie, instead of what was originally envisioned.
(Reeve also wanted Superman to die in that movie but that's another story!)
Beyond that, my involvement came down to meeting a couple of times with Reeve and the appointed screenwriters, batting around some ideas, and writing a couple of screen treatments, neither of which were used in any part. (One became "The Earth Stealers" graphic novel, the other I discarded.)
http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5399&PN=0&TPN=3 -
wallacesawyer — 9 years ago(October 01, 2016 11:44 AM)
How true is that? Last I heard Reeve took the role because Cannon would fund a project of his choosing, and if SUPERMAN 4 did well, he would've been given the chance to both star in and direct SUPERMAN 5. Did Reeve suddenly want Superman to die upon reading the finished script?
http://www.freewebs.com/demonictoys/ -
wallacesawyer — 9 years ago(October 02, 2016 09:58 AM)
Reeve said in his autobiography that his career as an A list actor died after the failure of both Superman IV and Street Smart.
To be honest I never took him for an A-list actor outside of playing Superman.
http://www.freewebs.com/demonictoys/ -
bozo_500 — 9 years ago(October 02, 2016 11:15 AM)
If hed done a few blockbusters outside superman (maybe some Arnie, Mel, Gere's stuff - check Reeves bio for stuff he turned down) in place of some the arty low budget stuff/plays (like the Jackman, Bale and even cavill have done big movies outside of their superhero stuff - not just focused on low budget arty stuff like Reeve did) then hed have probably been a full on A list star throughout the 80s and maybe the 90s onward even. As it was he was sort of A list for about 5 years 1979-84 - due to Superman being so huge. but Superman IV in 87 was like he last attempt at a big blockbuster and after that disaster it was like he said in his autobio. so it was mainly STVHS and tv movies and the odd cinema release - abit like the action stars of today do Willis, JCVD etc (although its possible hed have had a comeback in the 90s/00s like Travolta if he hadn't been injured (maybe as an older action hero with acting chops like Liam Neeson) - or maybe even played Superman again like Ford in Indy/Star Wars, Sly Rocky6 etc which could've revived his career)