jamesgandrew
Marvel's Fantastic Four has had three live action adaptations. Many however don't know of the earlier low budget attempt at bringing the group to the screen. This is partly due to it never being officially released
Constantin Films bought a ten year option for the rights to Marvel Comics. Since the ten year option was coming to an end, they quickly put together an adaptation of the Fantastic Four. Marvel, when seeing the film, were displeased and presumably destroyed the film prints and negative.Despite its low budget nature, this is honestly my preferred version of the Fantastic Four. The 2005 version is fun but flawed and don't get me started on the horrid 2015 'Fant4stic'. This one is closer to the comics and feels like a comic book film. It may be cheesy and quite lame at times, but it always kept me entertained.
Michael_Elliott
The Fantastic Four (1994) * 1/2 (out of 4) Early Marvel adaptation about a group of astronauts who are struck with cosmic rays, which turns them into the title characters. Pretty soon the superheroes have to battle Dr. Doom.THE FANTASTIC FOUR has become quite the legendary picture because Roger Corman basically agreed to make it but then the film was never released. There are countless documents out there about why the movie was never released but it would be best for you to watch the recent documentary DOOMED: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ROGER CORMAN'S THE FINAL FOUR. That documentary features interviews with the cast and crew and really gives one a great understanding of what happened with this film.Obvously, having now seen this version, the biggest problem is that they were trying to make a high-budget movie with a very small budget. Whenever you do that it's going to be obvious when things are hampered because of the lack of money. This here really comes across as a bunch of people getting together without the means of making a high-budget movie and they just do whatever it takes to get the job done. The problem is that the entire cheap look just makes the film seem more silly than anything else. It's almost like a made up movie so to speak. Having seen the documentary and knowing what happened, I really feel bad for the cast and crew.I'm really not sure who would enjoy this movie on its own terms. The history behind the film has made it a cult item and on that level it is slightly entertaining to watch. If you're familiar with what happened behind-the-scenes then it's interesting to watch everything play out in front of your eyes. The only problem is that it's just not entertaining or silly enough to work as camp.
poe-48833
In light of what's come since, this low budget effort is absolutely brilliant by virtue of a single virtue: it's true to the SPIRIT of the comic book, something that not one of the three subsequent Big Budget knockoffs managed to achieve. Had THESE guys had the kind of money the lesser filmmakers had, we'd no doubt be talking Classic. (This version boasts by FAR the best Ben Grimm we've seen to date, and the articulation of his mask alone makes it worth seeing.) The first 30 minutes or so could've benefited from some reworking, but, otherwise, this one's the one to see if you want to see THE FANTASTIC FOUR. (Many scenes are shot in semi-darkness, for obvious- budgetary- reasons, but, again, these guys weren't working with hundreds of millions of dollars.) It's not all smooth sailing, to be sure, but until somebody comes along with something better, this one'll do.
skullislandsurferdotcom
There's something good within this Roger Corman made-for-TV movie, but it's overshadowed by side-characters and situations more befitting to the Krofft brother's universe. Not a bad thing in itself, but the actors playing this famous comic-book team-up had a lot of potential for a much cooler outing than this. Alex-Hyde White plays the assertively brainy Dr. Reed Richards, who, along with fellow college genius Victor Von Doom (with that last name, he's bound to be a villain), attempt an experiment that fails miserably, "killing" Victor and sparing Richards.We then cut ten years later: Richards is joined by Johnny Storm, an over-the-top Jay Underwood, and one of the prettiest women this side of life, Rebecca Staab as Johnny's sister Susan, whose childhood crush on Richards has carried over – and it's mutual. And not forgetting Ben Grimm, portrayed with brawny charm by Michael Baily Smith.Long story short, once in space they're pummeled with mysterious cosmic rays, crash land on earth and while unaffected by that, they've acquired powers: Richards is a human rubber band, Johnny can make fireballs with his hand, Susan turns invisible, and Grimm's turned into a Thing made of rocks. The side-characters include a band of thieving freaks, resembling rejects from the H.R. Puffenstuff set; two vapid thugs; and the black-masked Dr. Doom himself – way too much screen time's spent on these while the titular superheroes, and their particular skills, are used less than sporadically until the very end: which rushes to a quick conclusion.Perhaps if there was a part two, we'd get more of what, and who, this movie's all about. Either way, Reed Richards and Susan Storm have great chemistry. The Thing, although resembling a costume, works fine as a sympathetic hero. And The Human Torch, eventually morphing into animation, looks neat as he battles a giant laser.But all this should have occurred less than halfway through for THE FANTASTIC FOUR to successfully live up to its title.For More Reviews: http://cultfilmfreakreviews.blogspot.com
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