Fantastic Four (1994 film)

{{Marvel Database:Film Template
 * Image                  = Fantastic Four 1994 Poster.jpg
 * Aliases                =
 * Universe               = Earth-94000


 * Directors              = Oley Sassone
 * Producers              = Steven Rabiner, Roger Corman, Bernd Eichinger, Glenn Garland, Jan Kikumoto
 * ComicWriters           =
 * StoryWriters           =
 * ScreenplayWriters      = Craig J. Nevius; Kevin Rock
 * Musicians              = David Wurst, Eric Wurst
 * Cinematographers       = Mark Parry
 * Editors                = Glenn Garland
 * Distributors           = New Horizons
 * Running Time           = 90 min
 * Rating                 = PG
 * Budget                 = $1,500,000 (estimated)
 * Release Date           = 1994
 * IMDB ID                = 0109770


 * Previous Film          =
 * Next Film              =


 * Tagline                = Part muscle. Part elastic. Part fire. Part invisible. Together, it's clobberin' time!

Featured Characters: Supporting Characters: Villains: Other Characters: Locations: Items: Vehicles:
 * Appearances            =
 * {{Only|The Fantastic Four}}
 * {{Only|Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards)}} {{Joins}}
 * {{Only|The Thing (Ben Grimm)}} {{Joins}}
 * {{Only|The Invisible Woman (Susan Storm)}} {{Joins}}
 * {{Only|The Human Torch (Johnny Storm)}} {{Joins}}
 * {{Only|Alicia Masters}}
 * {{Only|Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom)}}
 * {{Only|The Jeweler}}
 * {{Only|Earth-94000}} (Reality)
 * {{a|United States of America}}
 * {{a|New York City}}, {{a|New York State}}
 * {{a|Manhattan}},
 * {{a|Baxter Building}}
 * {{Only|Cosmic Rays}}
 * {{Only|Doctor Doom's Armor}}
 * {{Only|Reed Richard's Rocketship}}


 * Plot                   = The film begins with Reed Richards (Alex Hyde-White) and Victor Von Doom (Joseph Culp) as close 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 present (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 like before when Reed was in college, only to be hit by cosmic rays by the same passing comet due to the diamond being switched with a fake one. 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 can stretch his arms, Sue can turn invisible, Johnny can make fire come out of his hand, and Ben has transformed into the Thing. They would then be taken into protective custody by the marines soon after. Later revealed to be Doom's men in military clothes, for everyone else thought they were dead. After escaping from the Doom's men, they 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 the Jewelers homeless men and join them in the Jeweler's underground lair.

Before all of that, Doctor Doom needed a diamond that Reed Richards was going to use to capture the comet's powers in space. Doom's henchmen waited outside the building for the right moment to go in, until the saw the Jeweler break in first. Doom would tell the two to let him take it since the Jeweler placed a fake one and felt it would be easier to obtain by finding the Jewelers lair and make a deal. All of this would be the reason for Reed and his friends to gain their powers, since the fake diamond couldn't hold the cosmic powers exposing the four to it instead. 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 (a character similar to the comics' Mole Man). 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 would then make a personal appearance to the Jeweler and grab the diamond by force, Doom held Alicia stating to kill her unless the Jeweler gave up the diamond, Ben as the Thing comes into the room only to somehow revert to human form. Thus causing Doom to shoot at him, Ben runs out onto the city streets only to shout out of anger for not able to do more. This would then cause him to turn back into the Thing and head back down to the lair and break Alicia free.

Meanwhile as Ben would free Alicia, a gun fight ensue with Doom and the Jeweler’s men. Doom would take the diamond, he would need the diamond to power a laser cannon that will destroy New York City. Ben would then return to his friends and by this time Reed had finally figured out who was behind they're kidnapping; who none other was Reed's college buddy Victor. Realizing that they are the only ones that can stop Doom, the heroes don the 1960s style Fantastic Four costumes and travel to Doom's castle to save the city.

At the castle, the Fantastic Four battles a series of Doom's military, while Reed has a final battle with Doom. Doom is defeated, possibly killed, but Johnny Storm has to transform into a CGI Human Torch to block the laser beam from destroying the city. The ending is interesting: it seems that Doom dies, but there is a direct clue to discover he is safe (we see his gauntlet moving).

Having saved the city, and deciding to dedicate themselves to fighting crime, the film ends with Reed and Sue marrying.

Alex Hyde-White, Jay Underwood, Rebecca Staab, Michael Bailey Smith, Ian Trigger, Joseph Culp
 * Cast                   =
 * Notes                  = 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.

{{YouTube|Fantastic Four - 1996 Trailer||406 }}

Controversy
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.

Reviews
In a list of the "50 Top Comic Movies of All Time (...and Some So Bad You've Just Got to See Them)," Wizard Magazine ranked this film higher than Batman & Robin, Steel, Virus and Red Sonja, all of which were released in theaters.


 * Trivia                 =
 * Links                  = * Marvel films
 * Trailer on YouTube

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