SUPERMANIA is pleased to report that progress continues on the Superman IV trading card project now that designs have been refined by SuperFan Alexei Lambley-Steel to better match cards from the era (In the late ’80’s card numbers were relegated to the rear and titles were changed to uppercase!), while the descriptive card backs telling the story (written by myself) are currently at the halfway point.
As we are presenting the set based on an idealized version of the the film in its complete, uncut form, the story is being adapted using both the DC Comics Special and the novelisation by B.B Hiller. This presents the opportunity to use images from cut scenes while filling in the gaping plot holes from the theatrical version in an attempt to make it a coherent whole. While my archive of quality stills is used in its entirety, Alex and I agreed the only way to convey the story properly was to use screengrabs, the first excellent results of which we present above.
Stay tuned for further updates of this exciting project..!
Hot from SuperFan Alex Serpa comes these pristine vintage Japanese VHS video tapes in original cases –
Though in NTSC format Alex reliably informs me “The picture quality on the tapes is amazing … for VHS that is – surpassing any of the British/U.S. VHS. The print is so clear and the colors vibrant”.
Many thanks to Alex for sharing this find and be sure to check out his incredible quartet of websites devoted to the Superman movie series…
Happy new year SUPERMANIAc’s – My one resolution for 2012 is to remain dedicated to bringing you the best of Super-ephemera and what better way to start than a picture exclusive?
These scarce 8×11 images are a combination of studio portraits, behind the scenes and deleted scenes from Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. From the top – one of a rare series of studio portraits never before seen in its entirety, an on-set candid of Christopher Reeve holding a taxi aloft, between takes on location in Milton Keynes, England, and a shot from the excised scene where Nuclearman II elevates cars during the Metropolis street battle.
More to come!
Continuing world-renowned storyboard artist Martin Asbury’s illustrations for the action sequences of Superman IV, depicting the sequence of shots for the erupting Volcano in Italy and subsequent plug with a mountaintop sheared off with Superman’s heat vision…
Rare global press coverage from the shooting of Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, the first (and last) of the series to be made entirely on location in England.
The cast & crew had assembled in the sports grounds of the Woughton campus of the Sir Frank Markham School in Milton Keynes, England. in late 1986 to shoot the closing moments of the picture under the direction of Sidney J. Furie. The facility had apparently been chosen due to the school being one of the few with American Football on the curriculum and used in return for a new set of kit for the team.
Ironically, the scene was excised entirely from the final cut of the film and thought lost until its final discovery and release (in workprint form) in the Deluxe Edition DVD from 2006. From the top – article from Weekend magazine UK, double-page spread from Spain, oversized article from the Australasian Post and Japanese pictorial.
Thanks to SuperFan Chris King for the assembly of these scans of my original articles! Click on images for larger size…
