Reception
The film was released July 24, 1987, in the United States and Canada and grossed US$5.6 million on its opening weekend, playing in 1,511 theaters, ranking #4 at the box office. It ended up grossing a total of $15.6 million in the United States and Canada.
Of the four Superman films starring Reeve, this one fared the worst at the box office, and the series went dormant for the following 19 years. Plans were made to do Superman V, but they never came to fruition. Reeve's 1995 paralysis made any further development of sequels, involving him in the starring role, impossible. Time Warner let the Superman feature film franchise go undeveloped until the late 1990s when a variety of proposals were considered, including several that would reboot the franchise with different versions of the characters and settings.
The film was universally panned by critics (the special effects were especially singled out). The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 10% of 30 critics gave the film positive reviews. The movie received a poor review by The New York Times. It fared no better with Variety. The Washington Post described it as "More sluggish than a funeral barge, cheaper than a sale at K mart, it's a nerd, it's a shame, it's Superman IV." In some cities, the film wasn't even screened for critics, even including Siskel and Ebert, who were based in Chicago. The film was voted in at number 40 on a list of 'The 50 Worst Movies Ever' by readers of Empire magazine.
Read more about this topic: Superman IV: The Quest For Peace
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“To the United States the Third World often takes the form of a black woman who has been made pregnant in a moment of passion and who shows up one day in the reception room on the forty-ninth floor threatening to make a scene. The lawyers pay the woman off; sometimes uniformed guards accompany her to the elevators.”
—Lewis H. Lapham (b. 1935)
“I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied modestly. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.””
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)