Film #198 - The Fantastic Four (1994)
Okay, here’s where I may be bending the rules a bit. While I intended to only include theatrical films, I am willing to stretch the point for films that were intended for theatrical release only, for one reason or another, didn’t get one. One such case is the infamous 1994 film The Fantastic Four.
Now, I’ve already written a full review of the film, so I won’t take any time to repeat myself now. What I want to talk about for a bit is the despicable circumstances that put this film in the “unreleased” pile.
I understand the notion of shelving a film because it isn’t any good. Or even because a studio wanted to hold out for a better version. But what happened to The Fanastic Four is a bit more complex than the story I recorded in my earlier review. It seems that it wasn’t Constantin Films who wanted the film shelved. They had given the rights to Roger Corman and he was all set to finance an official release (he was apparently very curious about how well he could do with such a property). It was ultimately Marvel head honcho Avi Arad who decided to kill the film by exercising his right to buy Corman out.
Now, as I stated before, this is perfectly viable. I understand the money involved and the issue of how this lesser film could have hurt a bigger budget (and supposedly better) one. But I always thought that some day, when the ‘94 film could no longer hurt anybody, they would release it as a “lost film” or something. But this will most likely never happen. There will most likely never be any kind of official release of the film. Why? Because Arad had the original negative of the film destroyed. That’s right, destroyed. I mean, it’s one thing to put something on ice, even indefinitely. There’s always hope of a change of heart. Even George Lucas might one day be convinced to a release of The Star Wars Holiday Special. No matter how much he hates it, he wouldn’t destroy the master. But Arad had no such qualms, casually tossing away hundreds of man hours of work simply as a hedge against a potential future windfall. Thankfully, The Fantastic Four was leaked to fan circles before the master was destroyed, but there will never be an image good enough to release.
We lament the short-sightedness that led to the loss of over a hundred episodes of Doctor Who. We scramble for a scrap of film from the silent era. And Avi Arad willfully, intentionally destroyed a film that hundreds of people worked hard to make. It is an insult to those people and to anyone who cares about movies. It doesn’t matter that the film isn’t that good. Everything has value and should be treated with respect. The soulless films and throwaway comics that eminate from the “House of Ideas” these days illustrate just how hollow the heart of Marvel is these days. Arad’s actions show that it’s been eating away at the company for a long time. So this is one film I will always speak well of. It may have cheap effects, a pretty bad script and some wonky acting, but these were people who believed in what they were doing and that belief is evident on the screen. Even with its faults, The Fantastic Four is a work of art, something that Avi Arad obviously could not grasp.
For more on this story, see The Fantastic Four-Gotten.