How many of y’all have seen Roger Corman’s 1994 epic “Fantastic Four” and, if you have, what do you think of it? I ask because I just saw it on Roku Channel “Area 52”, and was pleasantly surprised with the special effects (very good for a Corman film), the acting (nobody “phoned it in”), and most definitely their adherence to the storyline of the comic it was based on, especially the depiction of Doctor Doom. I would even say it stuck to the actual origin story much better than any of the bloated follow up movies.
Although co-produced under Roger Corman’s New Horizons and Constantin Film (which actually produces real films like Se7en, The Outsiders, The Princess Bride, and Dances With Wolves), it was directed by Oley Sassone, whose credits include five episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess, so you know he’s seriously legit. As noted, the story actually more or less follows the comic origins, certainly better than the nonsensical 2015 version, and the costumes are not terrible; Thing is actually as well articulated as the big budget versions (although Mr. Fantastic’s stretch effects are less than impressive).
Despite the fact that the actors are people you’ve probably never heard of (the most recognizable name is Joseph Culp, son of “That Guy from the Eighties” Robert Culp) they are all trained actors with real credits (mostly bit parts and TV episode guest appearances but it’s still work) and clearly thought they were making a ‘real’ movie. Given the budget of the film and the speed at which it was made, it is actually pretty impressive, especially compared to other Marvel-based efforts, e.g. the Albert Pyun Captain America movie from just a few years previous.
Say what you will about the Marvel Cinematic Universe with his fancy CGI effects, big name actors, character development and comedic sensibility, and overarching story spanning a decade of nineteen films, but the 1978 version of The Avengers really had heart:
The casting of Alan Alda as “Hawkeye” was really a stroke of genius!
The script was fairly faithful to the comics (mostly from John Byrne’s tenure).
The guy playing Doctor Doom was a horrible actor, but he had the perfect voice for a villain in an iron mask. The armor was obviously plastic, but they did a remarkably good job on the mask.
With the budget limitations, they could not have an army of robots. Instead, they had his soldiers dress in a uniform based on his tunic and cowl. I thought that was an acceptable kludge.
I unironically watched the old Captain America movie as a kid because he was my favorite super hero. I hated that it was the best I was going to get. It sucked so much and I really wanted to like it and couldn’t.
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers was the movie character I always wanted to see. Not Evil Knievil and his bitchin’ frisbee.
I might not remember their names right away but Alex Hyde-White (Reed Richards) and Jay Underwood (Johnny Storm) were very recognizable from many roles in the 80s and 90s. Alex is also the son of Wilfred Hyde-White the long time character actor. I think they are more notable than Robert Culp’s son.
Years ago, I was watching some movie or TV show, and one of the actresses looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I’d seen her. So I looked her up on IMDb. It was Rebecca Staab. And ever since then I recognize her other in roles.
I’ve not seen The Fantastic Four, but I read somewhere that it was never intended to be released. As the story goes, Corman owned the rights to make a Fantastic Four movie, but those rights would expire and revert back to the publisher if he didn’t make a movie within a certain timeframe. He made this version quick and cheap to keep the rights, but nothing in the contract said he had to release it.
Is that story confirmed in the documentary about it?
i remember reading about it in the old wizard mag that was for comic books and toy collectors and they had a few paragraphs on to and a couple of stills and I wondered why it never came out …
Years later Someone told me they’d seen a copy of it and well I didn’t miss much … funny thing is o wouldn’t of minded it since after reading his biography I thought he was rather fascinating … and (his movies were a hoot … )
A guy named Bernd Eichinger of Constantin Films had the rights. The rights were about to expire, so he hired Corman to make a quick-and-cheap film. They were about to release it to theaters, when Marvel suddenly decided to kill it. Stan Lee claimed it was never intended for release. Eichinger and Corman claimed otherwise.
Corman claims that the film was set to be released, and that Marvel had to buy out his contract, paying a substantial amount of money to stop the release.