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:
“But in the reception of metaphysical formula, all depends, as regards their actual and ulterior result, on the pre-existent qualities of that soil of human nature into which they fall—the company they find already present there, on their admission into the house of thought.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)
“To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. A true conversion, a true Christ, is now, as always, to be made by the reception of beautiful sentiments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“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)