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Fantastic Four (1994)

 
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bulldogtrekker
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 8:21 pm    Post subject: Fantastic Four (1994) Reply with quote

The Secret "Fantastic Four" Film That No One Was Meant to See
Variety, By Matthew Chernov

BDT: Low-budget; try no budget. It does make you smile at some scenes.



When audiences see 20th Century Fox's "Fantastic Four" reboot this weekend, they'll likely assume that it's the third entry in the cinematic superhero saga. But a new documentary hopes to dispel that myth once and for all.

"Doomed: The Untold Story of Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four" reveals the baffling circumstances that led to the filming of an unreleased 1994 feature film starring Marvel's comic book quartet that was never meant to be seen publicly.

The story goes like this: In late 1992, three years after the success of Tim Burton's "Batman". producer Bernd Eichinger approached low-budget filmmaking maestro Roger Corman about making a movie based on the Fantastic Four. Eichinger, the German producer of "The Neverending Story", had acquired rights to the superhero team's story and needed to begin production immediately.

In short order, a professional cast and crew was assembled, sets and costumes were constructed and filming began at Corman's Venice Beach studios and around Los Angeles. The speed of the production was extreme even by Corman's standards, but the filmmakers believed this would be a major theatrical release and their efforts would be worth it.

The first hint of trouble came when Marvel's Stan Lee was asked at a 1993 comic book convention about what he thought of the film in production.

"I don't think much of it," Lee commented dryly.

Principal photography wrapped in a speedy 28 days, but the film languished much longer in post-production, without any sign that the producers intended to actually finish it. Hoping to salvage their work, director Oley Sassone and editor Glenn Garland struggled to complete the movie in secret by borrowing rolls of film and cutting new footage on the sly.

The cast hired a publicist at their own expense to help promote the film, and a major public screening was eventually scheduled in 1994 at the Minnesota's Mall of America. That premiere was cancelled at the last second, however, when the actors received a cease and desist order from the producers.

Virtually overnight, the 35mm negatives were confiscated and the film, much like the Invisible Girl herself, vanished. In time, the truth began to emerge. This version of "The Fantastic Four" wasn't supposed to see the light of day. The plan was to purposefully shelve it from the very beginning.

The deal between Marvel and Eichinger's Constantin Films was a purely contractual issue that allowed the producers to extend their option on the source material at a very low cost — as long as production began by December 31, 1992, after which Constantin would lose the rights. Corman himself may have been duped to some extent.

The cast and crew were stunned by the betrayal. They'd joined the project in good faith, but all the time and energy they'd invested was now pointless. Roger Corman's "The Fantastic Four" was a lie that just happened to be filmed, and remains unreleased to this day. Although trailers were shown at conventions in 1993, the movie itself never arrived — Marvel exec Avi Arad had bought the film to prevent it being released and has said he had the negatives destroyed.

Marty Langford, the director and editor of "Doomed", first learned of its existence in a 1993 issue of Film Threat magazine. "They ran an amazing cover story with the cast in full costume," he said. "That was when my excitement really began."

Eventually, a grainy bootleg copy of "The Fantastic Four" was leaked and began circulating among fans. Due to its extreme low budget and rushed shooting schedule, the film itself is often barely competent. Yet those limitations give it a cheesy charm all its own.

"I always thought there was a much bigger story there somewhere," Langford said. "So after waiting 15 years for someone else to tell it, I decided to do it myself."

As luck would have it, Langford's childhood friend Mark Sikes was the casting assistant on the Corman film, and joined the documentary as executive producer. "Mark still had the original sign-in sheets for all the actors who auditioned for it," Langford said. This included current Avenger Mark Ruffalo, who auditioned for the role of Dr. Doom.

Gathering the original cast proved easier than expected. "They were anxious to tell their story," Langford said. "But it became clear during our interviews that some of them hadn't completely healed from what happened back then."

With the Fox reboot opening Friday, Marvel is taking a hands-off approach to the documentary. "We kept expecting they would sue us at some point, but it didn't happen," said Langford.

Langford and Sikes even reached out to Lee, who declined to be interviewed for their film. "They know we exist, but they're taking the same stance that Disney took with Escape From Tomorrow by ignoring us."

The documentary, which American Cinematheque is screening in Los Angeles on Aug. 13, is distributed by Uncorked Entertainment. An eventual Blu-ray, VOD and limited theatrical release is planned to coincide with the reboot's video release sometime in January.

Langford's ultimate goal is larger than his own film finding an audience, however. "Our hope is that all of this attention might convince Marvel that the market is more than ready for the original Fantastic Four movie to finally come out."

LINK: https://celebrity.yahoo.com/news/secret-fantastic-four-film-no-one-meant-see-202738722.html


Last edited by bulldogtrekker on Mon Aug 28, 2017 8:29 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Pow
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 07, 2015 12:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's one cute Sue Storm.
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Randy
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 07, 2015 5:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have this movie (Roger Corman's Fantastic Four) in very high quality (almost DVD quality) along with a vcr quality trailer and have made a few DVD copies. If anyone want's a copy on DVD, just PM me.


(It's clobberin' time!)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 22, 2017 2:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Here's a deal for ya! The trailer and the movie for the film which was made by producers who had no intention of release it!

Hollywood is weird . . . Rolling Eyes
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_____________ Fantastic Four (1994) Trailer


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_________________ THE FANTASTIC 4 (1994)


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
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Eadie
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 10:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Marvel’s Cancelled 1994 Fantastic Four Movie Is Now On YouTube To Watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN0FoR_FlZg (1 h 30m 54s)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 11:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Thanks, Eadie! This looks like a better version than the one I posted. Very Happy

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Custer
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 3:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I remember it being part of the overnight film show at a London comics convention, many years ago... most of us watching were of the "too cheap to buy a hotel room" variety.

The comment on the YouTube page "It's like porn version of 'Fantastic Four' but without porn" does seem fair. "A film adaptation of the characters, The Fantastic Four, was completed in 1994 by producer Roger Corman. The film was not released to theaters or on home video, but it has since been made available through bootleg video distributors. It was made because Constantin Film owned the film rights and would have lost them if it failed to begin production by a certain deadline, a tactic known as creating an ashcan copy. According to producer Bernd Eichinger, Avi Arad had Marvel purchase the film for a few million dollars." is what Wikipedia has to say. Smile
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 4:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I just had a funny thought will looking at the picture below. Very Happy

The grinning faces of these young actors and the semi-comical look of Ben Grimm suddenly gave me the idea for a new Broadway show, somewhat similar in style to A Chorus Line — a backstage story about the performers and the rehearsals for a play their planning to put on.

This play would be a called —


Fantastic Four: The High School Musical!

"A group of talented high school students in the 1970s rehearse for an original musical they wrote about the Fantastic Four, while dealing with adolescent hopes, dreams, romance, and personal problems."





~ Steven Oxman of Variety says ~

A tuneful romp about youth, hero worship, romance, and teenage angst — all rolled into three hours of high-stepping fun, with a cast of fresh-faced newbies as the students, along with several veteran Broadway stars as the faculty members and puzzled parents! Four Stars
★★★★
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Custer
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 14, 2018 10:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alex Hyde-White, the son of Wilfred Hyde-White, played Mister Fantastic: "Hyde-White is regarded by many comics fans as the best embodiment of the character, who has since been played by Ioan Gruffudd and Miles Teller," Wikipedia comments. While it looks as if he has moved over to the production side of things now, his list of credits is pretty impressive from our point of view - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Babylon 5 (season 2, episode "In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum"), Biggles: Adventures in Time, Voyagers!, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (season 2), and the original Battlestar Galactica, to name but a few...
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 30, 2018 7:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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IMDB has 11 trivia items for this movie. Here’s a few of the ones I found the most interesting, in the blue text. Very Happy
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In an interview with Kevin Smith, Stan Lee said that, unbeknownst to its cast and crew, this movie was never intended to be released. It was made only because the studio that owned the rights to make a "Fantastic Four" movie would have lost those rights if it didn't begin production by a certain date.

Note from me: What a rotten thing to do to a film crew. I mean, like . . . damn. Sad

Mark Ruffalo auditioned for the role of Doctor Doom. He eventually ended up playing Bruce Banner in Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Note from me: I'm sure Mark would have been a great Dr. Doom, but I actually like the way Julian McMahon played him in the 2005 version, despite the fact that Stan Lee said he did NOT like that version of the character.

Frankly I could never take the character in the comics seriously. The baggy medieval outfit and the clunky mask were just not appealing.

At first, Marvel denied that this film ever existed. When they were confronted with the footage in the film's trailer, they said it was a pilot for a TV show that was never commissioned. They reluctantly admitted its existence several years later, after the film found its way onto the internet via a bootleg VHS copy.

Note from me: This sounds a bit like the silly behavior of a certain high-ranking politician who occupies an office which is nether round nor square. It's sort of in between those two shapes . . . if you catch my drift. Very Happy

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Custer
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 01, 2018 10:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not round or square? A kind of egg-shaped office, do you mean? That sounds really weird... Shocked
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 01, 2018 8:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I still eagerly await the clash of titans: The Thing & The Incredible Hulk in the Marvel/Disney cinema.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 05, 2024 8:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

My first impression was that the Hulk would win if the battle was a matter of pure brute force.

The Hulk has a weight-and-reach advantage. And strength wise, I think the Hulk has an advantage as well. He can literally leap into the air and travel for miles, despite his great weight!

Is that something we've seen Ben Grime do to the same degree? I'm not sure.






However, we all know that the Hulk is not known for formulating complex battle strategies. Bruce Banner is a brilliant scientist, but when he gets Hulk-afied his intellect is greatly reduced — or at least overridden by his innate rage.

Ben, however, was an astronaut and an engineer with several degrees, and his intelligence was not altered when his body was transformed into the Thing.

For that reason, Ben's intelligence would give him an advantage in a battle IF it took place in an environment that allowed Ben to plan complex maneuvers and use objects on the scene.






Think of it this way: In a battle which take place in a complex environment, Jackie Chan has an advantage over an opponent much larger and stronger, if the opponent is much less skilled and imaginative than Jackie.



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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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