“Giant Leap For Mankind…”

Moon2

Moon3

Moon1

Christopher Reeve in 'Superman'

Another SUPERMANIA behind the scenes exclusive, this time from the Moon set at London’s Elstree Studios during the shooting of Superman IV: The Quest For Peace in 1986 –

Second-unit director Christopher Reeve presides over the setup for Superman’s visit to the site of the lunar landing having just disposed of his foe Nuclearman. In what was originally conceived and written as an epic, climactic battle between titans, this sequence, like so many more before it, would be compromised by budgetary restrictions. Though the action was well-staged the spectacle would be hindered by the black drapes in the background masking the stage wall.

Many of these oversights (such as wire removal) would be fixed by Warner Brothers for the Deluxe Edition Blu-ray release in 2011 but even back in 1987 audiences were shocked by the quality of the effects compared with previous entries.

Click here for a fascinating insight into the shooting of the scene from a recently restored Entertainment Tonight segment where Reeve speaks candidly about his aspirations for the finished film between clips of him directing in costume. However noble and sincere the intentions were to put the series back on track, reallocation of the budget to the plethora of other films on Cannon Films list would kill off the Superman saga and ultimately, the company itself just a few years later…