The Fantastic Four (film)

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For the 2005 Fantastic Four film, see Fantastic Four (film).
The Fantastic Four
Directed by Oley Sassone
Produced by Steven Rabiner
Roger Corman
Bernd Eichinger
Glenn Garland
Jan Kikumoto
Written by Comic Book:
Stan Lee
Jack Kirby
Screenplay:
Craig J. Nevius
Kevin Rock
Starring Alex Hyde-White
Jay Underwood
Rebecca Staab
Michael Bailey Smith
Ian Trigger
Joseph Culp
Music by David Wurst
Eric Wurst
Cinematography Mark Parry
Editing by Glenn Garland
Distributed by New Horizons
Running time 90 min.
Language English
Budget $1,500,000 (estimated)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Fantastic Four is an unreleased low-budget feature film completed in 1994. Created to secure copyright to the property, the producers never intended it for release — although the director and other creators were not informed of this fact. It was produced by Roger Corman (famous for his low-budget productions) and Bernd Eichinger (who also produced another Fantastic Four movie in 2005). The film was based on the popular comic book by Marvel Comics and featured the origin of the Fantastic Four and their first battle with the evil Doctor Doom and a mysterious Mole Man-like creature.

Contents

The film begins with Reed Richards (Alex Hyde-White) and Victor Von Doom (Joseph Culp) as University friends who decide to use the opportunity of a passing comet to try an experiment; however, the experiment goes wrong, leaving Victor horribly scarred. Sue and Johnny Storm are two children living with their mother, who has a boarding house where Reed lives. Ben Grimm (Michael Bailey Smith) is a family friend and college friend to Reed. The film then fast forwards to the early 1990s, where Reed, Sue (Rebecca Staab), Johnny (Jay Underwood), and Ben go up into an experimental space craft as again the same comet would pass by the Earth. They are hit by cosmic rays by the same passing comet due to a necessary diamond being exchanged for an imitation of itself. Reed would dedicate this mission for his friend Victor, believing he was dead years before.

Upon crash-landing back to Earth, the four of them soon discover that the cosmic rays gave them special powers: Reed's bodily structure has become elastic; Sue can become invisible; Johnny can generate fire on demand; and Ben has transformed into the Thing. They are later captured by Victor's men, who pose as soldiers of the Marine Corps. After escaping from Doom's men, the four scientists regroup at the Baxter Building, trying to decide what to do now that they gained superpowers. An angry Ben leaves the group to go out on his own, feeling that he has become a horrible freak of nature. Ben would be found by homeless men and join them in an illicit Jeweler's underground lair.

It is revealed that Victor von Doom had needed the diamond necessary to capture the comet's powers.The Jeweler would then give the real diamond to the blind artist Alicia (Kat Green) who was also kidnapped by homeless henchmen working for the Jeweler. The Jeweler wants Alicia to be his bride, with the diamond as his wedding present to her.

However, Doctor Doom and his henchmen locate the Jeweler's lair. Doom's henchmen first try to make a deal with him; but with no luck. Doom, displeased, seizes the diamond by force. Doom threatens to kill Alicia, whereupon Ben, as the Thing, comes into the room – only to revert to human form. Pursued by Doom, Ben runs out onto the city streets, frustrated at his helplessness. He is therefore changed into the Thing, whereupon he rescues Alicia.

A gun fight ensues between Doom and the Jeweler’s men. Doom takes the diamond to power a laser cannon that will destroy New York City. Ben returns to his friends; by now, Reed has learned that Victor was the mastermind behind their kidnapping. Realizing that they are the only ones that can stop Doom, the protagonists don costumes and travel to Doom's castle.

At the castle, the Fantastic Four battle a series of Doom's military. Reed has a final battle with Doom. Doom is defeated and possibly killed. Johnny becomes the Human Torch (shown via computerized animation) to stand between the laser cannon's shot and the city. He survives this, as does the city he wishes to protect. Thereafter, the Four dedicate themselves to fighting crime.

The film ends with Reed and Sue marrying.

A promo shot of the Fantastic Four
A promo shot of the Fantastic Four
Actor Role
Alex Hyde-White Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic
Rebecca Staab Sue Storm / The Invisible Woman
Michael Bailey Smith Ben Grimm
Carl Ciarfalio The Thing
Jay Underwood Johnny Storm / The Human Torch
Joseph Culp Doctor Doom
Kat Green Alicia Masters
Ian Trigger The Jeweler

Following the announcement of the cancellation of the film's release, a rumor spread that the studio intended this version of the Fantastic Four to be the film equivalent of an ashcan copy: they had the legal rights to create a film based on the Fantastic Four, but they were not ready to produce a big budget film. However, they needed to produce something or else they would lose the legal right to the characters. Apparently the studio misled everyone involved in the making of this film by letting them believe it was going to be a genuine release rather than a way to maintain their license on the property. Corman since confirmed that this was indeed the case.[1] [2]

  1. ^ Roger Corman interview on The Leonard Lopate Show (New York Public Radio), April 01, 2005
  2. ^ Interview with Roger Corman


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