Maybe This Can Hold You Over Until the Inevitable Reboot

OK, the special effects are hideous (even for a mid-90's Roger Corman film), and it's about as campy as the original 1960's comics, but I still enjoy this movie. Sue me.  The acting in it wasn't stellar, but it wasn't really bad either. It's reported that this movie was only made so it's production company could keep the rights to it for another five years and if that's the case, they did a pretty good job on their 5 dollar budget. Plus, they didn't take a classic villain that was just begging to be made into a movie character and completely destroy him. Like some other movies I could link to.




*SPOILER(S) AHEAD!* 


I thought adding the Mole Man Mole Man ripoff (here he is known as The Jeweler) sequence was a bit superfluous but other than that the movie really had a coherent plot and it was executed (relatively) well. The problem was, again, a 5 dollar budget and no desire at all from its studio to see it do well. Had they pumped more money into it for special effects (i.e. Mr. Fantastic stretching and the Human Torch burning/flying, maybe a better Thing suit?), and actually released it this movie probably would have made some money. Not much, but it would have been better than both Batman and Robin and Godzilla which came out around the same time (give or take a year or three). 


Longtime fans of the FF will notice that they got some of the powers wrong, and I'm sure that if the Interwebs had been around back then, the message boards would have been all a-titter about it. At one point Sue Storm disappears and two guys run through her to collide, Three Stooges style. At the beginning of the movie Johnny Storm sneezes and catches some bushes on fire. I don't remember that in any of the Marvel Anuuals. Maybe a What The...?. Also, why do sparks fly when The Thing gets shot with bullets? Is he made of flint? Doctor Doom looks kind of lame. Sorry to spoil it for you.


You may or may not recognize some of the cast members. The guy that plays Reed Richards had a guest shot on The West Wing several years ago, and Johnny Storm is none other than The Boy Who Could Fly! Also, keep an eye out for Mercedes McNab, everyone's favorite bitchy/whiny vamp from Joss Whedon's pre-sparkly era vampire show.


If you can find it at a comic convention or at some flea market booth, I'd drop the 10-15 bucks it'll cost ya so you can view another take on the whole Fantastic Four saga before the 2013 reboot comes out. Beware though, you'll probably be buying a copy of a copy of a copy of a VHS tape so don't be disappointed if the quality ain't great.


Go find this movie. Now.