User reviews

The only way to describe this Roger Corman produced flick, is to compare it to an episode of Power Rangers or VR Troopers, on a $1million budget. It is fast paced and fun, over the top and cheesy, and its short comings are there for everyone to see.

In all honesty the cast make the most of what they are given. Alex Hyde White has just the right dryness for the part of Reed Richards, and Rebbeca Staab is quite fitting as Sue Storm. The other characters are less well represented with Dr Doom being the worst offender, over acting as he does through the heavily cheap body armour. The realisation of The Thing and The Human Torch is quite good. The Things full body costume is similar to those used in the Turtles movies, and the Torch is brought to life via some slick animation. Oley Sassone actually gets the best out of the action scenes and coaxes a good atmosphere.

This is a movie worth seeing. It manages to capture a little of the heart of Marvel comics in ways that Captain America(1991) and The Punisher(1989) weren't able to. It is a petty that more money couldn't have been made available because as a representation of the F4 it isn't bad at all. Don't get me wrong, its no Superman The Movie, and this years Fantastic Four movie will rock. But the film is no Plan 9 or Gigli either, and is worth seeing at least once.

As long as you keep in mind that the production of this movie was a copyright ploy, and not intended as a serious release, it is actually surprising how not absolutely horrible it is. I even liked the theme music.

And if ever a flick cried out for a treatment by Joel (or Mike) and the MST3K Bots, this is it! Watch this with a bunch of smart-ass wise-crackers, and you're in for a good time. Have a brew, butter up some large pretzels, and enjoy.

Of course, obtaining a copy requires buying a bootleg or downloading it as shareware, but if you're here on the IMDb, then you're most likely savvy enough to do so. Good luck.

And look for my favorite part....where Dr. Doom informs the FF that they have 12 hours to comply with his wishes....and he actually gestures the number "12" with his finger while doing so....it's like "Evil Sesame Street"....hoo boy.

...and of course Mrs. Storm declaring "Just look at you....the Fanstastic Four" is just so heartwarming....you'll laugh, you'll cry.....

So if you love schlocky Sci-Fi, this one's Fantastic For you!

When HULK hit theaters in 2003, it wasn't long before DVDs of the old Incredible Hulk TV show popped up in an attempt to cash in on the craze. We saw a similar occurrence a year prior when Spider-Man cartoons appeared on DVD to coincide with that hero's big screen debut. Companies leap at the opportunity to ride on the financial coattails of a hot brand.

So the fact that this picture never surfaced on the shelves of Wal-Mart as its featured heroes clobbered the box office in the summer of 2005 says a lot. I guess everyone involved would just rather forget. To be fair, THE FANTASTIC FOUR is not as bad as everyone says. Let me rephrase that. It's not as unentertaining as all of its negative reviews might suggest.

Veteran television actor Alex Hyde-White (no, you don't remember any of his roles) leads the way as Reed Richards, the brilliant scientist who, along with his crew, gains bizarre powers after an outer space mishap. He's left with the ability to stretch and contort his body to outrageous lengths. His future wife, Sue Storm (Rebecca Staab), can suddenly turn invisible, while her brother, Johnny (Jay Underwood), may now ignite himself at will. Then there's poor Ben Grimm (Michael Bailey Smith), the lovable lug whose body morphs into a mass of craggy, orange rock.

Just as the friends are becoming accustomed to all of this, they are called upon to rescue the world from certain chaos. It seems Reed's old colleague Victor von Doom (Joseph Culp) is living up to his name, and that villainous Jeweler (Ian Trigger) isn't exactly helping old ladies cross the street, either. Can our heroes save the day? Of course they can; like any superhero movie, it's just a question of how and when.

What's striking about THE FANTASTIC FOUR is how amateurish it is in virtually every aspect. The dialog is so lame and tired it sounds like it was written by a junior high drama class. The acting is so unpolished it makes a third-rate afternoon soap opera look like Shakespeare. The special effects are surprisingly good considering the minuscule budget, but there are still some positively embarrassing moments. When The Human Torch fully ignites his body, for instance, the entire movie briefly turns into a cartoon. I can just hear that production meeting. "Oh, no one will notice. They'll be too intrigued by the action!" I mean really, a cartoon? At least give me a mannequin on fire held up by a string! Prior to that, the scene in which the foursome come to on earth after their spaceship crashes is pure teens-in-the-backyard fare. The crew simply found a field and lit a vaguely-spaceship-like object on fire. That's the only remnant of such a major disaster?

Of course there wasn't a whole lot to work with in the script. There is a fairly coherent story here, but it's all so simplified. When Reed and Ben decide to go into outer space, they simply drop by the Storms' house and ask if they'd care to join them. Is it really that easy? Don't these sort of things require, oh, I don't know, years of training and expertise? Not in the world of these writers, who seemed to be inspired by the underrated genius on display in FULL HOUSE reruns. But as bad as that may be, nothing can compare to how painfully clichéd Dr. Doom is. He was pulled right out of those awful superhero cartoons from the 1960s, right down to the evil laugh and slamming his clenched fist down on the table to punctuate his remarks. No comic book, least of all Fantastic Four, has ever featured a villain so obscenely one dimensional.

Ultimately, THE FANTASTIC FOUR is saved from being a complete turkey because it's just so damn innocent. You can tell the people involved, as little talent or experience as they had, really tried. They didn't know the final result would be so embarrassing. They were under the impression that this was their big break, that people would flock to the theaters. It bears repeating that they had virtually no money to work with (and I'm sure half of that was eaten up by the cool Thing costume). All things considered, they did well, and for its many flaws, the finished product is a fair amount of fun for comic book fans.

I watched this last night and was very disappointed...not because it was awful, but because it was quite good !!

I'd heard the rumours of this film for years and seen priced up bootleg copies at comics fairs and had assumed from its non-release status that it was going to be truly terrible, but taken as a glorified tv-movie I really enjoyed it. For those in the know, it is way better than some previous efforts, the Captain America or Justice League movies for example. The Thing in particular was very well done, and it is worth watching for the "It's Clobbering Time" line alone. Doctor Doom also looks exactly how you would want him to, and the whole film left me with an urge to dig up some reprints of the old Kirby Fantastic 4 comics I'd read as a kid.

I'd say any comic nerds (like me) looking for a fun hour and a half should definitely check this one out... just don't go in expecting spiderman !!

While I am not particularly a fan of superhero films, I decided to see this after I saw the documentary about this picture, "Doomed: The Untold Story of Roger Corman's the Fantastic Four". This film has gained legendary status, as it was completed...yet never officially released in any way. So how did I get to see it? Somehow a bootleg copy escaped and the film has been sold at comic book festivals. There also is currently a copy on YouTube...though if Twentieth Century-Fox wanted to, they could enforce their copyright and have it removed. So far...they've allowed it to stay posted.

Before I get to the review, I want to put this very low budget film in context. While technically speaking it looks like crap compared to superhero films today, back in the early 1990s superhero films were NOT the technical marvels they are today. Part of it is because CGI has grown by leaps and bounds since then. Part of it is that superhero films to that time (with the exception of "Batman" from 1989) looked really cheap and crappy. And, part of it is because the film only cost $1,000,000 to make...a pittance even back then. In this light, it's actually amazing that the film looks as good as it does! But be prepared...some of the special effects are far from being special!!

Here's the story in a nutshell. Some scientists create a space craft but its diamond cluster drive (?) is sabotaged and it causes the ship to crash. Somehow this crash causes the four astronauts to become the Fantastic Four and imbued them with superhero powers. Following this, the baddie who caused the wreck, Dr. Doom, tries his best to kill the Four.

Style-wise, this is much more like a comic book or kids film than the next generation of superhero pictures. It's far less serious and slight. This simply is how most such films at that time were made. Now I am not saying this is a great thing...but it's hard to expect a cheap film to somehow recreate the genre. Overall, it's watchable and entertaining...albeit a bit silly and slight as well. I cut this one a lot of slack for what it is...and I hope you do as well.

By the way, this film was shelved in a deal that gave the rights to the franchise to Twentieth Century-Fox. And, since that studio did NOT want two "Fantastic Four" films, they chose to shelve this cheap Roger Corman film. Incidentally, the Fox film cost about 100 times more...and reviews for that film are generally terrible! So, even if the Corman film isn't great, at least it wasn't that much worse and cost practically nothing!!

I am almost a two decade old human who's been reading comics most of my life. I'm not a huge fan of the Fantastic Four, but I'm fairly familiar with them. In 1994, Roger Corman (B-movie legend) produced the first, I think, feature length Fantastic Four film. The result was such pure schlock that it was never given a release. Still, copies exist, mostly on the net and at conventions. If you're looking for a laugh and can find a copy do yourself a favor and check this thing out.

The film basically retells the FF's origin and an encounter with Doctor Doom and a villain named The Jeweler, essentially the Mole Man with a penchant for petty larceny. As is the case with these comic book movies, everything has to tie into everything, so the FF play a vital role in Dr. Doom's creation, and he and the Jeweler play a vital role in theirs.

First, I'd just like to mention that despite everything that went bad in this movie, I actually sort of liked the guy that played Doom. He doesn't get many decent lines, but when he does he hits them. The armor looks pretty good too.

As for the rest...it's a dirty, dirty mess. Bad plots, bad acting, bad effects, bad everything basically. Boos especially to Jay Underwood, bringing new meaning to the word overacting as Johnny Storm. He's not overacting, he's ultracting.

As for the FF, well they all sort of look right, and Sue's played by a very attractive actress, but they just don't seem like a real team. For one thing they have no reason for Sue and Johnny to go into space. In an early section Ben and Reed go to visit the two, Johnny's like 8 and Sue's about 12. It only stands to make their eventual romantic pairing a helluva lot creepier. The Thing costume looks more reptilian than anything else, not very rocky, and the only time the Human Torch is really a Human Torch he looks like the Silver Surfer tinted red.

I could type for hours, but I think the scene that best sums it up is a climactic encounter featuring the aforementioned not-so-Human Torch. He's racing a laser beam, and he eventually destroys it with a punch. Yes, a punch. A laser beam. With a punch. Then he flies around and goes "Yippeee!" a whole lot, whereupon the camera tilts down and he flies back TOWARD EARTH. Evidently Reed the intellectual forgot to inform Johnny that fire doesn't exist in the vacuum of space. This and many other scenes operate like Looney Toones, if the character doesn't know they are over a cliff, they don't fall.

I laughed, I cried, I was glad it was never released.

OK this is not a good film, it seems it was never meant to be. Cheesy special effects, bad music, campy dialog make for a "made-for-tv-on-a-shoestring" look and feel. And Don't get me started on the costumes for Doom and the FF. It's still a better FF movie than the overblown 20th Century Fox version. At least in this one, Doom is a halfway competent villain instead of a corporate raider. The whole explanations of the powers made me want to laugh, the idea that the colossus radiation gave them powers based on their subconscious fears? Thats bad writing in the extreme. If you are willing to accept a direct from the old cartoon transfer to live action, give it a look. After all, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Too bad Mystery Science Theater 3000 never got a hold of this film, they might have made it worth watching.

There's so, so very much going on here. The cast's contributions are mostly characterized by overacting that's brazen if not daring. It's hard to pinpoint just one or two examples because there are so many, but the sheer exuberance Jay Underwood embraces as Johnny Storm is astonishing - and more wild than this is Michael Bailey Smith's delivery of a line as Ben Grimm invites the Storms into space. Transitions and editing at large are often downright zany. The special effects are actually pretty decent, provided that you accept they're somewhere between twenty and thirty years out of date for 1994. To that point, the production values at large are peculiar: sure enough, this has the look and feel of any picture Roger Corman may have made in the 50s or 60s, yet this came along a good few decades after the filmmaker first rose to prominence. And we're just getting started, because in every regard there were choices made in making 'The Fantastic Four' that represent a great host of myriad oddities and contradictions. At times it's like it wanted to embrace the cartoonish revelry of, say, Adam West's Batman, or Joel Schumacher's 'Batman and Robin,' but lacked the resources to do so.

There are elements of the plot that just aren't explained, like what qualifications Sue and Johnny could possibly have to join Reed and Ben on their pivotal journey. While the powers of the Storms are very well established in cultural history, in this movie we see how, for both, a couple of their abilities are never touched upon at all until they suddenly become relevant to the climax. No explanation is forthcoming for how Doom goes from a prideful college student to an archvillain who is for some reason addressed as Prince (even passing knowledge of comics lore tells us; this feature does not). Speaking of the writing, the dialogue is excruciatingly ham-handed at some times, such as the repetition of The Thing's trademark line. More than this, the first verbal iteration of the group's name that compelled me to yell at the screen. Why, to that point, the way the superhero team comes together (with uniforms, out of nowhere), and the resources they inexplicably have at their disposal, are altogether mind-blowing. Please note, too, how The Thing's pants change throughout the plot. Both of two romantic aspects in the narrative are weirdly contrived, inventions of pure movie magic, and in a broad sense some of the decisions that characters make are dubious to say the least.

Dr. Doom's costume is surprisingly faithful to the comics; on the other hand, The Thing looks a lot like Harry from 'Harry and the Hendersons,' only covered with rock instead of fur. An oft-repeated theme in the score, portending tenderness, family, and love, borrows HEAVILY from James Horner's score for 1991 family adventure favorite 'The Rocketeer.' Vocal effects employed to alter Joseph Culp's voice as Dr. Doom, and especially Carl Ciarfalio's voice as The Thing, are unnecessary and distracting, and in and of themselves detract from the viewing experience. I do earnestly respect the work put into the production design and art direction - details from costume design, and hair and makeup work, to set design, and props - though the wide range from "spartan and minimal" to "all-in and extravagant" is frankly incredible. And so on, and so on.

Yet what's really amazing about 'The Fantastic Four' - complete, finished, but officially unreleased - is that despite its reputation, it's not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. It's a mess, a hodgepodge, a patchwork of curiosities; it's low-budget, bursting with perplexing ideas and inclusions, and outright cringe-worthy in no few parts. For all this, however: it only wanted to have fun. And it is. Mind you, the fact that this rendition of Marvel's oldest superhero saga is as entertaining as it is, despite its flaws and shortcomings, is in no small part because it is bewildering, and therefore unintentionally funny. I cannot emphasize enough what a delightfully strange experience it is, and one that's best enjoyed with friends, where the joy can be shared. I don't wish to spoil the surprise, but that joy includes what are among the funniest 10 seconds of film I've ever seen, a little after the 1 hour 25 minute marker, as outrageously obsolete visual effects collide with a highly questionable character decision and an astounding choice of writing or direction.

Once more: there's so, so very much going on here. I can understand why this is so poorly regarded, and it's not undeserved. However, the flip-side of all the bizarrerie is that for those who are sincerely receptive to all the wide possibilities cinema has to offer, the assemblage of all the varied, disparate, puzzling components becomes novel, endearing, and almost endlessly amusing in a way that major studio output sometimes just can't achieve. 'The Fantastic Four' is a picture that will stand out for years to come in the annals of film history as a misstep, a blunder, an enigma, or otherwise Something Less Than. But if you're open to what it has to offer, on any level - welcome.

It's cheesy enough to make a good MST3K episode, but rather boring otherwise without something else around to make it more interesting. The unaired Justice League TV pilot with the special appearance by David Ogden Stiers as the Martian Manhunter was much more entertaining than this movie, actually.

Roger Corman is known as the "King of the B-Movies", and for good reason. He makes movies that, despite their low budget effects, terrible acting, and inane scripting, have a certain cheesy charm, something that any badfilm afficionado can enjoy. Fantastic Four is no different. Sure, it's a terrible movie, but all the silliness makes it a lot of fun to watch, and the bad acting (overacting by some actors, underacting by others) helps to heighten the hilarity. If you like bad movies, you'll love the Fantastic Four.

A group of four friends named Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm were in a space adventure experiment but then gets hit by cosmic rays from outer space, they crash land back on Earth. The rays gave them powers including altering their DNA such as Richard's who has plastic-stretching powers, Sue Richards who has the power to make herself invisible, Johnny who has flaming powers and Ben Grimm who is changed into a mighty powerful rock-like creature called " The Thing". Together they join together to fight against the evil Dr. Doom from using a ray that would destroy New York City.

Not bad as some people say! i saw this on a bootleg tape and i thought it was exciting and not too bad even though it could have been better. The special effects are kind of cheesy but The Thing looked realistic enough but not Dr. Doom. It was never released theatrically, sent to video or shown on TV for some reasons, maybe the new Fantastic Four movie coming next year might be better and more improved.

At least it's not as bad as "Captain America".

5/10.

I completely agree with those reviewers who say this fun little movie is like a classic cartoon come to life. I collect comic books from the 40's, 50's, and 60's and this movie definitely has that same vibe. FANTASTIC FOUR '94 is delightfully cheesy and fun just like many old school cartoons and comics. The budget and FX can't compare to those of the '05 movie, but so what? The old school comic book vibe is fantastic. I don't agree with the reviewer who say it's a "bore". There's absolutely nothing boring about it. It's too damn FUN to be boring! FANTASTIC FOUR '94 is a blast of highly entertaining low budget escapism from start to finish.

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. 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. *SPOILER* I thought adding the Mole Man sequence was a bit superfluous but other than that the movie really had a coherent plot and it was executed 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), 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). 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 FF saga before the 2005 version comes out. Beware though, you'll probably be buying a copy of a copy of a copy so don't be disappointed if the quality ain't great.

This is definitely a silly movie; it looks and sounds like it was made in the early 80s, not the 90s. Nonetheless, it's fun, if you don't take it seriously. As mentioned in another review, Doom and Ben's costumes look really good. It seems they spent their budget on those two costumes; all of the other effects are terrible. Plot wise, it follows the stories presented in comic books fairly closely, and shouldn't annoy too many fans.

It was a wise decision not to release this, I'm afraid. It would have looked very poor next to other movies of the times. Remember, Terminator II was released in 1991, after all. The production level of this movie is on par with other Marvel comic book movies released in previous decades such as Dr. Strange (1978) If you can get it really cheap, and you are a fan of "comic book movies," check it out.

I saw this not so long ago on a dogy bootleg copy. Terrible special effects and dreadful acting.All in all, yet another corman classic. Worth watching for the scene where reed richards waves from his wedding limo at the end-what a long arm he has! Woderfully silly.

This film has acquired a new-found topicality due to the recently shelved version of 'Batgirl'. Roger Corman was one of the executive producers on this notorious quickie on which every expense was spared, and would probably have produced something much more substantial in the fifties or sixties. But but at least it's short, although even then an inordinate amount of time is squandered on the antics of a minor villain resembling a pint-sized Freddy Kruger.

It takes over seventy-five minutes before the Four finally get to wear their costumes just in time to include in the publicity material; the rationale for their transformation resembling the solving of one of Riddler's riddles. While the film's grasp of physics is decidedly shaky since Sue Storm doesn't just become invisible but completely vanishes, as a pair of gun-toting goons discover to their cost.

I went in expecting cheese, I went in expecting something similiar to the 1990 Captain America or even the 1970's Spiderman but what I got was something altogether different.

This origin story Fantastic Four movie cost 1 million dollars to make which back in 1994 made it a high budget film. The fact it isn't well known and considered mainstream is because it's so bad it's been brushed under the carpet.

With embarassing special effects, a cast who simply can't be bothered and some ridiculous over the top performances & soundtrack the whole thing is truly abyssmal.

I don't know what it is with the Fantastic Four but cinematically they just can't get a break. Maybe when they finally get added to the Marvel Universe they'll have their day but for now I think the 2005 movie is the best one going.

The Fantastic Four is like Batman Forever (1995) made by kindergarteners starring McDonalds workers.

The Good:

Erm...well....there is that part that....errr.....I got nothing

The Bad:

Stupidly over the top in places

Some major differences from the comic

All looks so very dreadful

Is simply seven shades of terrible

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

A blind person can fall in love with a man she's never seen nor even really spoken to

The Fantastic Four are doomed to never have a great movie

With the big budget Fantast Four film opening this upcoming July, I've decideded that nows the time to take a look at this unreleased Roger Cormen 'gem' from more than a decade ago. After getting hit by cosmic rays and having their space shuttle blown us 4 friends are turned fantastic. Well maybe not that fantastic giving the budget, but you can't call the film "hammily acted below mediocre Four" can you? After undergoing some tests, they're off to fight the fabulous flamboyantly gay Dr. Doom. This is in the same league as "Superman 4", "Batman and Robin", and "The Star Wars Holiday Special" in it's sheer awfulness. I kinda hope it was released way back when, if only because it would have made a great MST3K episode.

My Grade: D

To think I actually paid good money for this thing on eBay....Well, guess what a die hard F4 friend of mine is getting next Christmas?

If you remember Sid and Marty Kroft's Saturday morning programming, then you'll remember "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl". I mention this, because this movie (which supposedly had a $1 million budget) employs the same caliber of acting, sets, costuming, scripting, etc. that the previously mentioned Saturday morning show did - and almost 30 years later!

Drek! Pure Drek! The Invisible Girl (not only can't act) but is so poorly done, a five year old could tell how the transformation was done. Reed Richards is apparently about 20 years old with grey streaks in his hair and his stretching looks like something out of the old Gumby and Pokey show. The Human Torch should have been played as gay, then when he said, " Flame on" it would have made some sense. Come on - some things work in the comics, but do not need to be transferred to live action. The Thing - is just that - although the poorly bootlegged copy could have had something to do with his appearance.

On Christmas Day 2005 or 6 i was given the Fantastic 4 that was released on DVD. I watched it and was disgusted with how bad it was. The storyline was stale, Dr Doom was the blandest bad guy ever, and Everyone of the fantastic 4 besides the thing was a waste of storyline. Now I'm not saying it was a bad movie, oh no. I'm saying it was a terrible movie. A movie you feel ashamed for watching bad. At that time I thought this was the first attempt at a Fantastic 4 movie, but then i came of the knowledge of this 1994 "b" movie and let me say that this was bad in the ways that the new one is not. THe acting, the special effects, chessey mole person, everything seems a notch lower in this....but in a "so bad its good" way. The storyline is actually better then the hunk of crap thrown at fans in the summer of 2005 and the maker of that should be ashamed, this is a bad movie that had the potental to be a good movie if the right actors were in place, and if the effects were bumped up a notch. Johnny is completely unlikeable in this movie though which is the one place besides effects and acting were the new FF actually eclipses this in quality. If your looking for some unintentional laughs go watch this because it is great in all the wrong ways. And you be much better off burning this on a DVD then buying Fantastic 4 the alba edition.

This movie does it's best with it's low budget. It probably would have served better as a telefilm. Perhaps as a pilot for a TV series.

A healthy side order of cheese is also presented in this film. Again, I think that they did pretty well on a two million dollar budget.

The origin of the FF is presented. The doom character is hardly understandable as they did no looping of his voice to compensate for his mask.

The Alicia character has no valid storyline and the FX are limited by the films budget.

There are obvious gaps in the story as well. The characters seem to instinctively have full knowledge of all their powers and how to use them.

I grew up with the FF, so that is why I welcomed ANY telling of their story on film.

I am looking forward to the big budget 2005 version.

Ok, so this was shelved, and just as well too. Occasionally there is a watchable scene but overall it has to be considered way below average. The acting goes from adequate to really bad (especially the man inside Dr. Doom). The plot is very thin and the special effects are... well funny is the best word I can find. They don't seem as much bad as they feel wrong. I'm sure most of the effects would have worked in other situations but not where they were used in this movie. But I do like the Torch at the end.

What was good is easy to account for: Ben Grimm's make-up, The Jeweler's make-up, Dr. Dooms costume and that's about it. Oh I almost forgot, Rebecca Staab is cute!

Annoying/bad things are: Dr. Doom's voice acting, Dr. Doom's sign language translation when he has captured our heroes (or is he moving his hands like that to keep his gauntlets from falling off), the silly poses some of the character takes, the sometime's lousy acting from the entire cast, Reed's corny punchline when defeating Dr. Doom, the obvious movement of Doom's gauntlet at the end etc.

Some might say that it's good for a low-budget movie, I only say: solid acting has almost nothing to do with money! Since there is another version being made I think it was a good decision to not release this turkey. Because I doubt they can make another FF movie that is even worse...

The rating's 5 of 10, mostly because it's faithful to the original and because I love how they did the Thing!

Ah yes, the original unreleased Fantastic Four feature length film. I have recently seen this film and having read about the story and happenings behind it I couldn't help but feel impressed with what the filmmakers were able to do with such a small budget. I know it wasn't that great, but with what these poor fellows had to work with, I believe they did quite an amazing job. I'm just happy I was finally able to see such a film rarity and what they were able to do. The acting wasn't the greatest, the computer effects were, well, pretty rough but the writing wasn't too bad and, maybe its just me, but i was impressed with the things suit. I thought it looked good. Foam, rubber, I have no idea but it looked pretty nifty. Also with the new version having been released one wonders, what one is indeed the superior film?

I couldn't believe, that they threw out millions of Dollars to produce this film and then never released it! ...not on the big screen and not on Video. So I downloaded it via eDonkey and saw it... then I knew why !!! :(

My view on the main characters:

Mr. Fantastic: By far not as good portrayed as in comics but also not that bad. Alex Hyde-White is one of the best actors in this film (if you'll call the other ones actors).

Invisible Girl: Very good looking in her uniform !!! Can't remember anything else memorable from Rebecca Staab, sorry!

Human Torch: Only two words: Hot Shot! ...it seemed like it was printed on Jay Underwood's forehead... "Look, I'm Johnny Storm and I'm always over(re)acting!"

The Thing: Oh my god! What did they do with the mighty Thing ?!? Can you imagine how a kid of Ben Grimm and a Ninja Turtle would look like? Then you got it !!! Even the guy with foamed plastic, that you can rent for birthday party from Marvel looks more like the Thing than this reptile!

Dr. Doom: I knew that Dr. Doom wears a metal mask (which by the way was good work in the film), but what I didn't knew was the fact that Dr. Doom is gesticulating like an Italian! There wasn't much majesticallity with an attitude like "You don't see my face, so all my acting is reduced to fidget with my arms like a puppet!

The Jeweler: Who is he? Did I miss him in comics? He seemed to me like a bad parody of the arch-enemies Joker and Penguin in the Batman movies...

The plot was awful, written for four-year-old-retards!

And why have so many things to be changed? Example:

Q: What gave the FF their power? A: Cosmic Radiation! :) Q: Noooooo, it was Colossus !!! A: ??? ...which Colossus? The Russian pal from the X-Men? :-o Q: No! The crystal, Dr. Doom and the Jeweler are after !!!

A: Crystal? Ah, you mean the Inhuman !?! :) Q: Noooo it's just a f****** crystal... A: And who the heck is the Jeweler ??? :-o

It was the worst marvel movie I've seen so far (except of course for Howard, the Duck)! Even the Captain America movie from 1991 was better!

For more opening-eyes-info read the trivia section of this film !!! :)

And if you really want some FF-action wait till the new movie comes up next year !!! (they are filming right now!)

Greetings LoganSan