I wonder if Cannon was seriously satisfied w/ the finished product? I mean they in effect, released an unfinished movie. Did they think that because they went through all of that effort in getting Christopher Reeve to come back that their jobs for the most part, were finished!? It's like all that they knew were cheap, schlocky B-movies so they had to apply that to supposed prestigious project like Superman too.

I'd heard for years that a bundle had been dropped on the Nuclear Man I battle scene. Admittedly what's been released is from just a work print (crude special effects and I really hope temp music), but it's some pretty weak bones to build the body of a scene on. Nuclear Man I meets his demise as a pinwheel firework, seriously?! They must have spent the "bundle" on cocaine and hookers.
I've read the shooting script, with some grandiosity, it could have made a decent film. But with the entire production feeling relegated to what feel like backlot sets, even if they pumped $50 million into the proposed Superman V, it would have looked awful centered on that scene.
I doubt Cannon would have invested millions of dollars for additional material built around the minimal Nuclear Man 1 footage. Chances are that would have been a subplot, and not the film's climax. Like the Superman/Clark Kent fight before he faced the supercomputer in SUPERMAN III. Looking at SUPERMAN IV, the footage of the first Nuclear Man certainly lifts right out, but maybe the script for 5 could have given the footage more weight, and connected it better to the overall story.
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Even cheaper looking than Superman IV.
I'd heard for years that a bundle had been dropped on the Nuclear Man I battle scene. Admittedly what's been released is from just a work print (crude special effects and I really hope temp music), but it's some pretty weak bones to build the body of a scene on. Nuclear Man I meets his demise as a pinwheel firework, seriously?! They must have spent the "bundle" on cocaine and hookers.
I've read the shooting script, with some grandiosity, it could have made a decent film. But with the entire production feeling relegated to what feel like backlot sets, even if they pumped $50 million into the proposed Superman V, it would have looked awful centered on that scene.
Looking back on it now, and I liked the film we got, Christopher Reeve should have risked the lawsuit and bailed.
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Cannon Films certainly had plans for a fifth, but they also intended to recycle a lot of the footage deleted from 4. So some people might actually think it was best the series ended with 4. I on the other hand am curious how such a film would have turned out.
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