The Fantastic Four (1994)

The unreleased Roger Corman-produced film The Fantastic Four, with Oley Sassone at the helm, begins by introducing four brilliant young minds: Reed Richards (Alex Hyde-White), Ben Grimm (Michael Bailey Smith), Johnny Storm (Jay Underwood), and his sister, Sue Storm (Rebecca Staab). As college students, Reed and Victor Von Doom (Joseph Culp) attempt to harness the power of a passing cosmic energy known as Colossus, but their experiment goes horribly wrong, leaving Victor presumed dead. Ten years later, Reed prepares to launch a new mission to space to try the experiment again, this time with Ben, Johnny, and Sue as his crew.

Their space mission, however, also ends in disaster. The Colossus energy wave bombards their ship, and they crash back to Earth. They miraculously survive, but now each possesses a superhuman power: Reed can stretch his body, Ben becomes the rock-skinned powerhouse The Thing, Johnny gains the ability to ignite into flame, and Sue can turn invisible. Meanwhile, Victor has secretly survived the original experiment and reemerges as the villainous Doctor Doom, now ruling a small country and bent on revenge.

As the four heroes begin to understand their powers, they also face increasing threats. Doom sends a mysterious figure known as the Jeweler to kidnap Alicia Masters (Kat Green), a blind sculptor who has fallen for Ben despite his monstrous appearance. Doom’s ultimate plan is to steal the heroes’ powers and use Colossus to gain control over the world. The team must now come together for the first time as the Fantastic Four to stop Doom and rescue Alicia.

This is the first time I’ve seen Roger Corman’s The Fantastic Four. I know—it was never released—but still. As a reviewer, I’m caught between two times. One in which CG effects barely existed and were way out of the price range of low-budget indie filmmaker Roger Corman, and at a time when Marvel superhero movies could be counted on one hand. The other is today, when studios throw hundreds of millions of dollars at a superhero film, and it earns around a billion dollars each.

The Thing battles villains in an action-packed moment from Roger Corman’s unreleased Fantastic Four film.

“The Colossus energy wave bombards their ship, and they crash back to Earth. They miraculously survive, but now each possesses a superhuman power…”

To say that Roger Corman’s The Fantastic Four is the best Fantastic Four movie leans a bit into nostalgia and definite superhero fatigue, but the film still has its share of fun. The fact that almost everything in the film is practical, from sets and costumes to special effects, reminds me of a time when I was enamored with “movie magic.” How did they do that? It’s cheesy, but still pretty cool. I miss those days.

It was also a time when no studio would put money behind a comic movie. Just to see the comics I read come to life was incredible. Yes, they fast-forward through dozens of issues, but we finally got our youth on screen. Indie filmmakers fulfilled the dreams of comic book fans. Let’s not forget Albert Pyun’s Captain America. Hollywood tried to do it in the golden era of cinema, but they were heroes in name only.

Silly costumes aside, at least Roger Corman told the story of Reed, Ben, Johnny, Sue, and Victor straight from the comic books and was only limited by the resources of indie filmmaking of the 90s. Reed and Sue fall in love. Ben and Alicia Masters explore the idea of judging a book by its cover, while Reed and Victor’s rift highlights the tragedy of friendship turned rivalry. Was there even a Jeweler villain? Can’t win ’em all.

Roger Corman’s The Fantastic Four is simply good old nostalgic fun. Sure, Hollywood could do better, but they won’t. What’s crystal clear is that when you don’t have the finances to make a half-a-billion-dollar movie of your favorite IP, you do it anyway and hope the owners of that IP won’t shut you down. Money aside, what ultimately prevails is the filmmakers’ earnestness in wanting to make a movie for the fans.