Fantastic Four
The film's promotional poster
Directed by	Oley Sassone
Produced by	Steven Rabiner Roger Corman Bernd Eichinger Glenn Garland Jan Kikumoto
Written by	Craig J. Nevius Kevin Rock
Starring	Alex Hyde-White Jay Underwood Rebecca Staab Michael Bailey Smith Ian Trigger Joseph Culp
Music by	David Wurst Eric Wurst
Cinematography	Mark Parry
Editing by	Glenn Garland
Distributed by	New Horizons
Running time	90 min.
Language	English
Budget	$1,500,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

Fantastic Four is an unreleased low-budget feature film which had been intended for a 1994 release. It was produced by Roger Corman (famous for his low-budget productions) and Bernd Eichinger (who also produced another Fantastic Four movie in 2005). The film was based on the popular comic book by Marvel Comics and featured the origin of the Fantastic Four and their first battle with the evil Doctor Doom and a mysterious Mole Man creature. Image File history File links Fantastic_Four_1994_movie_poster. ... Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American producer and director of low-budget films. ... Bernd Eichinger (born 11 April 1949) is a German film producer and director. ... Alex Hyde-White {30 January 1959, London) (sometimes credited as Alex Hyde White) is a British actor, son of Wilfrid Hyde-White. ... Jay Underwood (born 1 October 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) is an American actor. ... New Horizons is a NASA unmanned mission to fly by Pluto and its moons. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A reel of film, which predates digital cinematography. ... Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American producer and director of low-budget films. ... Bernd Eichinger (born 11 April 1949) is a German film producer and director. ... Fantastic Four is a 2005 movie based on the Marvel Comics comic Fantastic Four, directed by Tim Story and released by 20th Century Fox. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... It has been suggested that Felicia (pseudonym) be merged into this article or section. ... The Fantastic Four is Marvel Comics flagship superhero team, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and debuting in The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. ... Doctor Doom, real name Victor von Doom, is a Marvel Comics supervillain. ... The Mole Man (real name Harvey Rupert Elder) is a fictional supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe. ...

Plot summary

The film begins with Reed Richards (Alex Hyde-White) and Victor Von Doom (Joseph Culp) as close University buddies who decide to use the opportunity of an electrical storm to try an experiment. However, the experiment goes wrong, leaving Victor horribly scarred. Sue and Johnny Storm are two children living with their mother, who has a boarding house where Reed lives. Ben Grimm (Michael Bailey Smith) is a family friend. The film then fast forwards to the present (early 1990s), where Reed, Sue (Rebecca Staab), Johnny (Jay Underwood), and Ben go up into an experimental space craft, only to be hit by cosmic rays, and are taken into protective custody by the marines upon crash landing. Alex Hyde-White {30 January 1959, London) (sometimes credited as Alex Hyde White) is a British actor, son of Wilfrid Hyde-White. ... Jay Underwood (born 1 October 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) is an American actor. ...

The four of them soon discover that the cosmic rays gave them special powers; Reed can stretch his arms, Sue can turn invisible, Johnny can make fire come out of his hand, and Ben has transformed into the Thing. After escaping from the marines, they regroup at the Baxter Building, trying to decide what to do now that they gained superpowers. An angry Ben leaves the group to go out on his own, feeling that he has become a horrible freak of nature.

Meanwhile two henchmen of Doctor Doom steal a large diamond that the blind artist Alicia (Kat Green) has somehow gotten on loan. Before they can steal the diamond, Alicia and the diamond are both kidnapped by homeless henchmen working for the Jeweler (a character similar to the comics' Mole Man). The Jeweler wants Alicia to be his bride, with the diamond as his wedding present to her. While roaming the streets, Ben comes into contact with the Jeweler and breaks Alicia free. The Mole Man (real name Harvey Rupert Elder) is a fictional supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe. ...

However, Doctor Doom and his henchmen locate the Jeweler's lair, and grab the diamond, just as Ben wanders into the underground lair and frees Alicia. Doom needs the diamond to power a laser cannon that will destroy New York City. Realizing that they are the only ones that can stop Doom, the heroes done the 1960s style Fantastic Four cosutmes, and travel to Doom's castle to save the city.

At the castle, the Fantastic Four battles a series of robots, while Reed has a final battle with Doom. Doom is defeated, possibly killed, but Johnny Storm has to transform into a CGI Human Torch to block the laser beam from destroying the city. CGI may mean: CGI Group Inc. ... The Human Torch (Jonathan Lowell Spencer Johnny Storm) is a comic book superhero in the Marvel Universe associated with the Fantastic Four. ...

Having saved the city, and deciding to dedicate themselves to fighting crime, the film ends with Reed and Sue marrying.

Cast

The "original" cast

• Alex Hyde-White as Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards
• Rebecca Staab as Invisible Woman/Sue Storm
• Michael Bailey Smith as The Thing/Ben Grimm
• Jay Underwood as Human Torch/Johnny Storm
• Joseph Culp as Doctor Doom
• Kat Green as Alicia Masters
• Ian Trigger as The Jeweler

Image File history File links Ffmovie1994. ... Image File history File links Ffmovie1994. ... Alex Hyde-White {30 January 1959, London) (sometimes credited as Alex Hyde White) is a British actor, son of Wilfrid Hyde-White. ... Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) is a Marvel Comics superhero who is the leader of the Fantastic Four. ... The Invisible Woman The Invisible Woman (real name Susan Richards, née Susan Storm) formerly the Invisible Girl (alias changed in Fantastic Four #284), is a fictional comic book superhero, who is a member of The Fantastic Four in the Marvel Comics universe. ... The Thing (Benjamin Jacob Ben Grimm) is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe, a founding member of the superhero team The Fantastic Four. ... Jay Underwood (born 1 October 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA) is an American actor. ... The Human Torch (Jonathan Lowell Spencer Johnny Storm) is a comic book superhero in the Marvel Universe associated with the Fantastic Four. ... Doctor Doom, real name Victor von Doom, is a Marvel Comics supervillain. ...

Controversy

The low-budget film was never released, despite the fact that the production had been completed, the marketing campaign and posters created and the Motion Picture Association of America had even given the film a PG label. To this day, there is some dispute as to why the finished film was shelved, available to the public only through bootleg copies. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), originally called the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors Association, is a non-profit trade association based in the United States which was formed to advance the interests of movie studios. ... The MPAA film rating system is a system used in the United States and territories and instituted by the Motion Picture Association of America to rate a movie based on its content. ... In the film industry, a film is considered shelved if it is not released for public viewing after filming has started, or even completed. ... Copyright infringement (also known as piracy) is the unauthorized use of copyrighted material in a manner that violates one of the copyright owners exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it. ...

Following the annoucement of the cancellation of the film's release, a rumor spread that the studio intended this version of the Fantastic Four to be the film equivalent of an ashcan copy: they had the legal rights to create a film based on the Fantastic Four, but they were not ready to produce a big budget film. However, they needed to produce something or else they would lose the legal right to the characters. So, the rumor goes, the studio misled everyone involved in the making of this film by letting them believe it was going to be a genuine release rather than a way to maintain their license on the property. Captain Thunder, soon to be Captain Marvel, on the cover of the ashcan copy of Flash Comics #1. ...

There may have been more to this production than simply keeping the right to the characters; Chris Columbus was set to make a big budget version of the comic. However, in order to do that, he had to wait for the existing option on the rights to expire. The producers could have rushed this film into production, hoping that the makers of a big budget version would not want a cheaper version of the same story to be available immediately before their expensive blockbuster. If that was the case, the strategy worked, as the film was bought for many times the cost of the option and production, and theater audiences never saw the finished production. Chris Columbus (born in Spangler, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 2009) is an Italian-American filmmaker. ...

Another theory is that the film was never released because it was a low budget film (with a $2 million budget), and Marvel Comics was in no mood to see another film released, based on their popular characters, to be a financial flop, as had been the films based on Howard the Duck (1986), Captain America, and the Punisher (1990). Howard the Duck #8 (January 1977), art by Gene Colan Howard the Duck is a comic book fictional character created by Steve Gerber for Marvel Comics and featured in several comic book series of the same name. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Captain America is the title of a low-budget, direct-to-video film based on the popular Marvel Comics superhero of the same name. ... The Punisher is a 1989 movie, starring Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle, directed by Mark Goldblatt from a screenplay by Boaz Yakin. ... This article is about the year. ...

DVD release

Only illegal copies of the film are available on VHS and DVD, most of which are of poor quality. There had been some speculation, by fans, that this film would be given a legal release on the DVD edition of the 2005 Fantastic Four film, but this did not happen. Top view VHS cassette with U.S. 25c coin for scale Bottom view of VHS cassette with magnetic tape exposed The Video Home System, better known by its abbreviation VHS or simply as Video, is a recording and playing standard for video cassette recorders (VCRs), developed by JVC (with some... DVD-R writing/reading side DVD (also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... DVD-R writing/reading side DVD (also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Fantastic Four at the Internet Movie Database
• The Fantastic Four-Gotten: In-depth article includes cast/crew comments, interviews, photos
• Reviews of the film from ad-supported websites of film fans:
  • http://www.stomptokyo.com/otf/Fant-Four/Fant-Four.htm
  • http://www.agonybooth.com/fantastic_4/