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The Fantastic Four (1994):
Today I'm going to tell the world why the Roger Corman version of The Fantastic Four is my favorite. I don't want to disregard people of other opinions, but I think most people that absolutely hate this Fantastic Four movie have never seen another B movie. That's what this is. Obviously the effects and video quality aren't good enough for theaters. It's unfair to judge it for cheesy visuals or stock sound effects, because it never had the chance to be more. There are a lot of things that make a film good, and while I'm not even sure if this is a good film, it has a better story, it stays more true to the characters, and it is way more fun than either of the 2000s Fantastic Four movies.
Given the context, it's not horribly made. CGI in the early 1990s wasn't very good. There are a few classics like Jurassic Park or Terminator 2, but they are exceptions to the rule. The scale of the project was always minor. It was a rights grab. It was made for $1,500,000. Objectively, the production quality is better in newer versions, but that doesn't inherently make it better. While Corman is the name that always gets tossed around when discussing this, the actual director was Oley Sassone, who specializes in B movies that seem campy 20 years later but have a lot of heart and are entertaining. I've only seen one of his other works, the prison/kung fu movie Bloodfist 3, which I really enjoyed. These are fun people making fun movies, which I will always take over brooding people making dark and gritty movies for the sake of being dark and gritty.
The film opens with Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom working on an experiment in college. This is important. Doom isn't just a greedy businessman who becomes power hungry when he sees the Four's abilities, he is a friend of Reed. The two are good buddies, and frequently help each other out. When Victor gets scarred and is presumed dead from the experiment, I felt emotion. I also felt emotion when Reed was somberly reminiscing about his lost friend. It goes a long way to humanizing Victor, as well as giving a more direct tie to the Four and Doom. It's development. It's way more heart than we get in the 2005 version, where Doom is a 1 dimensional corporation man who wants money and wants to kill things that stop him from getting money. It's not just Doom that gets a better character, either. Ben's 2005 arc was that nobody liked him because The Thing looked ugly. He wanted to change back to normal, he does, and then he goes back on that out of obligation to help the others. Here, Ben's love interest is blind, so she loves him the whole way through. There's nothing corny done with it, like a climatic scene where she feels his skin. She just accepts him at face value. Because Ben has a sense of belonging before the third act starts, he feels inspired to come and help the other Four, because he sees love in the world and wants to help his family.
Susan and Johnny Storm aren't given very much to do, but they have a good dynamic that helps the Four feel like a family. These are people that actually love each other in that family way. There's nothing corny about it like the sitcom montage in the 2005 version, and there's nothing unnecessarily mean spirited about it like a lot of bad modern superhero movies. I also couldn't finish this review without mentioning the amazing score from David and Eric Wurst. It's light and fun or dark and deep depending on the scene, and both sides are great. The main theme is good, and there are a lot of really stellar piano instrumentals in the first act.
There are a few big negatives to name off. The biggest and baddest of the bunch is the subplot of diamond thieves. This character with no back story that I don't know or care about with nameless and faceless henchman is dumb and boring. It takes up way too much screen time, and the movie grinds to a halt anytime he's on screen. He steals a diamond essential to the space mission of the Four that Doom just steals from him anyway. They steal Ben's love interest, who Ben has to steal back in the only minute out of 20 where the diamond thieves felt like they were in the same movie. It's related to nothing, it's not entertaining, and it shouldn't exist. Doom's mask gives him a different voice, one that's hard to hear dialogue in a lot of the time. I didn't like that Susan had basically nothing to do in the third act except for getting married, and the catchphrases are really forced and annoying. The acting is definitely not good, but honestly it's not as bad as Jessica Alba was.
It's certainly flawed as a movie, but it's optimistic and fun, embodying everything that a pre-2000s superhero movie should be. It respects its characters and tells their origin efficiently without including dumb sex jokes or goofy sitcom cliches. The diamond thieve stuff is bad, but both other versions also had stupid side quests that completely derailed the second act. This isn't a masterpiece, but it is probably one of the better non-theatrical action movies available. Accept that you're getting something more like The Toxic Avenger than Marvel's The Avengers, look past that, and you can find a lot to enjoy.
The Fantastic Four (1994):
Today I'm going to tell the world why the Roger Corman version of The Fantastic Four is my favorite. I don't want to disregard people of other opinions, but I think most people that absolutely hate this Fantastic Four movie have never seen another B movie. That's what this is. Obviously the effects and video quality aren't good enough for theaters. It's unfair to judge it for cheesy visuals or stock sound effects, because it never had the chance to be more. There are a lot of things that make a film good, and while I'm not even sure if this is a good film, it has a better story, it stays more true to the characters, and it is way more fun than either of the 2000s Fantastic Four movies.
Given the context, it's not horribly made. CGI in the early 1990s wasn't very good. There are a few classics like Jurassic Park or Terminator 2, but they are exceptions to the rule. The scale of the project was always minor. It was a rights grab. It was made for $1,500,000. Objectively, the production quality is better in newer versions, but that doesn't inherently make it better. While Corman is the name that always gets tossed around when discussing this, the actual director was Oley Sassone, who specializes in B movies that seem campy 20 years later but have a lot of heart and are entertaining. I've only seen one of his other works, the prison/kung fu movie Bloodfist 3, which I really enjoyed. These are fun people making fun movies, which I will always take over brooding people making dark and gritty movies for the sake of being dark and gritty.
The film opens with Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom working on an experiment in college. This is important. Doom isn't just a greedy businessman who becomes power hungry when he sees the Four's abilities, he is a friend of Reed. The two are good buddies, and frequently help each other out. When Victor gets scarred and is presumed dead from the experiment, I felt emotion. I also felt emotion when Reed was somberly reminiscing about his lost friend. It goes a long way to humanizing Victor, as well as giving a more direct tie to the Four and Doom. It's development. It's way more heart than we get in the 2005 version, where Doom is a 1 dimensional corporation man who wants money and wants to kill things that stop him from getting money. It's not just Doom that gets a better character, either. Ben's 2005 arc was that nobody liked him because The Thing looked ugly. He wanted to change back to normal, he does, and then he goes back on that out of obligation to help the others. Here, Ben's love interest is blind, so she loves him the whole way through. There's nothing corny done with it, like a climatic scene where she feels his skin. She just accepts him at face value. Because Ben has a sense of belonging before the third act starts, he feels inspired to come and help the other Four, because he sees love in the world and wants to help his family.
Susan and Johnny Storm aren't given very much to do, but they have a good dynamic that helps the Four feel like a family. These are people that actually love each other in that family way. There's nothing corny about it like the sitcom montage in the 2005 version, and there's nothing unnecessarily mean spirited about it like a lot of bad modern superhero movies. I also couldn't finish this review without mentioning the amazing score from David and Eric Wurst. It's light and fun or dark and deep depending on the scene, and both sides are great. The main theme is good, and there are a lot of really stellar piano instrumentals in the first act.
There are a few big negatives to name off. The biggest and baddest of the bunch is the subplot of diamond thieves. This character with no back story that I don't know or care about with nameless and faceless henchman is dumb and boring. It takes up way too much screen time, and the movie grinds to a halt anytime he's on screen. He steals a diamond essential to the space mission of the Four that Doom just steals from him anyway. They steal Ben's love interest, who Ben has to steal back in the only minute out of 20 where the diamond thieves felt like they were in the same movie. It's related to nothing, it's not entertaining, and it shouldn't exist. Doom's mask gives him a different voice, one that's hard to hear dialogue in a lot of the time. I didn't like that Susan had basically nothing to do in the third act except for getting married, and the catchphrases are really forced and annoying. The acting is definitely not good, but honestly it's not as bad as Jessica Alba was.
It's certainly flawed as a movie, but it's optimistic and fun, embodying everything that a pre-2000s superhero movie should be. It respects its characters and tells their origin efficiently without including dumb sex jokes or goofy sitcom cliches. The diamond thieve stuff is bad, but both other versions also had stupid side quests that completely derailed the second act. This isn't a masterpiece, but it is probably one of the better non-theatrical action movies available. Accept that you're getting something more like The Toxic Avenger than Marvel's The Avengers, look past that, and you can find a lot to enjoy.