The Marvel Movies: The Fantastic Four (1994)

Roger Corman's unreleased 1994 version of "The Fantastic Four" is a legendary piece of work — the stuff of fanboy legend. In the pre-Internet age before every superhero property in the world had films and sequels, remakes and reboots, this film was a long-sought-after commodity in the fanboy community — available only, if you were lucky, as a grainy videotape at a convention or fan festival.

Of course, in today's age, it's a click away, making it difficult perhaps for someone who didn't live through it to understand the legend of this movie.

Of course, part of the film's appeal was its bad acting, cornball effects and general lack of quality.

The origin story is more or less accurate, highlighting the relationship between Reed Richards (Alex Hyde-White) and Victor Von Doom (Joseph Culp), scientist friends in college turned enemies when Victor's dangerous experiment goes awry, which turns him into the evil Dr. Doom.

Meanwhile, Sue Storm (Rebecca Staab) and her brother, Johnny (Jay Underwood), are, at the outset, kids with whom Reed and his pal Ben Grimm (Michael Bailey Smith) hang out.

This relationship causes a bit of a creepy vibe between Reed and Sue, especially when he revisits them 10 years later to find her a woman.

Speaking of strange relationships, Ben knocks over a blind woman (who, of course, turns out to be Alicia Masters [Kat Green], Ben's true love), breaks her glass statue, picks her up against her will and falls in love with her.

The rest of the film, of course, develops the rivalry between the Four and Doom, throwing in a secondary villain named the Jeweler for good measure.

Naturally, the action sequences can't, in a technical sense, approach those from the newer films, but there are at least a few actual fight scenes, and 1994's climactic battle is done in a much greater scale than its '04 counterpart. Not only do the FF have to deal with Doom, but Johnny has to take out a giant laser pointed at the Baxter Building in what is certainly a thrilling sequence — especially if you can imagine it done with today's effects.

Kind of makes 20th Century Fox look like a bunch of rank amateurs — being upstaged by Roger Corman of all people. Not to mention he did it a full decade earlier, with a fraction (of a fraction) of the budget.

And for their time, and especially given this film's budget, the effects are actually quite good. There aren't any extended effects shots throughout the film, but what is there doesn't look as bad as one may expect.

Simply by his presence, Culp is a much better Dr. Doom than was the sniveling pretty boy Julian McMahon in the 2004 "Four." Doom is the signature bad guy in the Marvel Universe and he's done justice here, as compared to the metrosexual corporate blandness McMahon phoned in for the character.

He actually has a great moment near the film's end when the villainous Jeweler, who has kidnapped Alicia Masters, is attacked by Doom. The Jeweler, thinking Doom is a hero, threatens Alicia with a gun, saying, "I'll kill her." Doom looks at him, steps back and says, "OK. Don't let me stop you."

The rest of the leads aren't anything special, ranging from benevolently stale to Dudley-Do-Right bland, but that's par for the course for this gang of goodie-goodies.

As you can imagine, the dialogue is schlock wonderful. Early on, Reed tells Ben, "Science is important to me." Ya think?

Also, an exchange at one point in the film:

Johnny: This is too easy. Ben: Yeah, don't you love walking into a trap? Reed: I don't know ... I've never done it before.

Yes, the acting is bad ... usually really bad, and the costumes look pretty ridiculous. As a whole, though, this is on par with your standard TV movie for the times. If you're a Marvel Comics fan in general, and an FF fan in particular, you must see this movie, if only for historical purposes.

Next Time...The modern era begins not with a bang, or a web shot, or a snikt, but with a ... blade.

Previous Marvel Movie Entries

Conan the Barbarian (1982) Conan the Destroyer (1984) Red Sonja (1985) Howard the Duck (1986) The Punisher (1989) Captain America (1990)