Fiction vs. Fiction: Superman IV- The Quest for Peace

 Two books in one month- too bad this isn't Middle School.  I'd get a prize if it was.

Instead, my reward is getting to watch Superman IV yet again.

Being an Adult kind of sucks sometimes.

This is the showdown between...

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This was also written by the Author of Superman 3's Book.

What's the Same?

This is a Novelization, so the Plot is untouched.  That said...

Canon Films was going through financial difficulty and basically had to sell the distribution rights to Warner Bros just to finish making the Film.
They also slashed the budget (some say in half).

Oh, and they also cut anywhere between 30-45 minutes from the Film before release!
So, the Book is based on the Script and not the final Film.

Are you already lost?  I don't blame you.

In short, some stuff here is not in the final Film, but its original cut.  So...

What's Different?

Like the other Book, some stuff is tonally darker.  There's just much less here.

For instance, the Film shows (above) that the Guards survived Luthor's escape.  The Book doesn't.

In the Book, Lex steals a hair donated by Superman to work on a creation.  He unties it.
In the Film, he cuts it with bolt cutters...despite the fact that it could somehow hold 1,000 lbs!

The final Film cut almost all of the stuff after Jeremy pleads to Superman to stop potential nuclear war.

The Scene where Superman actually meets him at Schol- cut after the bad Screening.

It's available online- obviously.

In addition, there's a big chunk of the Story that was cut entirely.

After they steal Superman's Hair (more on that later), they make a clone...that sucks.

It fights Superman (which is somehow worse in the final Film) and dies.
Lenny then takes the goop (which is just dust in the Film) and they make the more famous and less terrible version.

In the Book, one of Lex's arm dealer pals stashes the stuff on a missile that Superman is going to toss into the Sun.
In the Film, he (a famous criminal) dresses like Patton, gets on a base and does it himself.

Is this worse than when Pryor did it in Superman 3?

In the Book, Superman battles the creation around the World and it wrecks the Great Wall of China.
The Book just says that 'he fixes it.'

In the Film, he...shoots blue lasers that reverse the footage?!?

There's a reason that the Film is viewed as too silly.

In the Book, N. Man wounds Superman and he's weakened.  A shot from him sends Superman flying away, leaving...his costume behind.  Is he...naked now?

In a rare improvement, the Film has the CAPE be left behind and recovered.

There's also a Scene that is not in the Novelization (but I guess in the Script).
In it, Clark reveals his identity to Lois, talks about what he should do with the nukes and... then mind wipes her again with a kiss.

B.B. was right to cut this.

Lastly, the Finale plays out mostly the same.  The Book describes NM turning into a missile.
The most the Film can do (in a cut bit) is a yellow ball of energy.

Final Thoughts

The Novelization is a pretty good version.  It is the full version, so you get all of the context and things make sense.

Well, make sense in a very relative sense that is.

It was clearly written for a younger Audience as well, as every Chapter is about 4-6 pages long.  It makes for a quick read though, letting me do a second one this Month.

Simple, but fun.

What is Better?

The Book.

The Movie- in its proper form- is a mess in so many ways.  When you cut 45 minutes out of a 2-hour or so Film, things are going to be confusing.

It is still the story of Superman IV, so, set your expectations appropriately.