Blu-Ray Review: DOOMED! The Untold Story of Roger Corman’s The Fantastic Four.

Who would have thought that making a movie out of the World’s Greatest Comics Magazine would be such a challenge?

Ever since their creation in 1961, the Fantastic Four had great movie potential, getting inspiration from the Lee-Kirby team’s vast array of monster comics, themselves galvanized by the trend of monster movies of the late fifties. The family dynamic of the super-powered quartet made room for rich interactions between the characters that went beyond any other team comics up to that point. And while it would take a certain time for the comic book series to achieve true greatness, but by the time it reached its 60^th issue, it had introduced to the World such memorable characters as Galactus, The Silver Surfer, the shape changing Skrulls, Doctor Doom, the Inhumans and the Black Panther, amongst others. 

However, they seemed to translate poorly to other medias. The first animated cartoon by Hanna-Barbera in 1967 was cute enough, but like all other cartoons of the time, forfeited characterization to focus solely on action.  It did benefit from an overall better style of animation than the extremely limited 1966 MARVEL SUPER-HEROES animated series by Grantray-Lawrence, which crudely animated panels from the actual comics. (Although it can be argued that it was fun for comic book fans to see moving panels featuring Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby or Don Heck’s artwork, just to name a few.)

The next attempt in 1978 by DePatie-Freleng was even more embarrassing, and replaced the Human Torch by ‘’Herbie the Robot’’.  Contrary to popular belief, Johnny Storm had not been excised for fear that kids would set themselves on fire to try to emulate their hero, but because the character of the Human Torch had been optioned already for a Universal TV pilot that never materialized. (The character was also replaced by Firestar in the 1981 series SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS for the same reason)

But it can be considered high-art when compared to the travesty that was 1979’s FRED AND BARNEY MEETS THE THING, where a puny teenager named Benjy would transform into the super-powered walking pile of orange rocks who must have felt pretty humiliated and far from his family by that point.

I could go on, but suffice it to say that save for a decent radio drama made in 1975 (narrated by Stan Lee, and featuring a young Bill Murray as Johnny Storm), other medias were not kind to the Fantastic Four.

So what about the films? Much has been said about the 2005 and 2007 FANTASTIC FOUR films by Tim Story, so I won’t chime in too much except to say that they are undeservedly maligned. They were far from perfect, short-changing both Doctor Doom and Galactus, but they played the family dynamic pretty well, and succeeded beautifully with the relationship between Johnny Storm (A pre-Captain America Chris Evans) and The Thing (Michael Chicklis). I would have watched a movie just with those two.

The 2015 Josh Trank fiasco, while attempting a boldly different approach (inspired by the updated comic book origin as portrayed in THE ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR), crashed and burned miserably in the last act, after an intriguingly gritty yet shaky beginning. There is a lot of great ideas in there, and interesting moments. But it just failed to make the viewer care about the team.

I love the Fantastic Four (as a matter of fact, the Thing is pretty much my favourite comic book character ever) so I’m an easy mark for those films, and I will always give them just a bit of affection just for portraying, either faithfully or inadequately, Marvel’s first family. Which brings us back to 1993.

I remember being quite excited to see the cover of FilmThreat Magazine number 12 in late 1993, where my favourite comic book quartet was featured on the cover, in LIVE-ACTION. Needless to say, I bought the magazine right away and devoured the article, eager to see this movie as soon as possible. Months later, on a VHS of the Corman produced JURASSIC PARK rip-off CARNOSAUR, there was a trailer for THE FANTASTIC FOUR. Cut dynamically to James Horner’s music from BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS, I started to realize this was not going to be a big budget extravaganza, but it looked like it could be silly fun…

And then nothing…

Years passed before I found the film on a bootleg VHS dealer’s table at the Chiller Theatre Convention in New Jersey, alongside other rarities like the STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL and unaired pilots for THE PHANTOM or WONDER WOMAN.

Viewing the film, which was a dub of a dub of a dub of a dub of a crappy version of a VHS copy, I could guess why the film never was released. The performances were over the top, with Jay Underwood and Joseph Culp in particular gorging on the scenery as Johnny Storm and Doctor Doom respectively. Still it can be argued that this is probably the truest interpretation to the source material of the good doctor on film. The special effects were far from impressive, the costumes were shoddily made and the script was overly simplistic. The character of the Mole Man had inexplicably been replaced by an ersatz Penguin, called ‘’The Jeweller’’, who was obviously inspired by Burton’s 1992 BATMAN RETURNS. It did have a rousing score by David and Eric Wurst, and although the music was derivative of John Williams’s work on STAR WARS and JURASSIC PARK, it still helped to provide the proper approximation of epic gravitas the film needed.   And the costume effects by Optic Nerve for the Thing, reminiscent of the suits used in the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES movies, was pretty impressive. It did have its heart in the right place, and did the best they could with a ridiculous budget, but in the end, it was just another one of those anemic Marvel films like Albert Pyun’s lackluster CAPTAIN AMERICA (1990), the dreadful Dolph Lungren 1989 version of THE PUNISHER or the baffling HOWARD THE DUCK (1986). I kept wondering if Marvel would ever make a good movie based on their vast stable of characters?

But was the low quality of the film the only reason it was not released, or was there something more insidious at play? I had read rumours over the years, but nothing concrete, until comic book fan and filmmaker Marty Langford decided to tackle this mystery in a fascinating new documentary: DOOMED! THE UNTOLD STORY OF ROGER CORMAN’S THE FANTASTIC FOUR. 

Documentaries about ill-fated productions that never saw completion like THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN LIVES! WHAT HAPPENED? LOST IN LA MANCHA, JODOROWSKY’S DUNE are goldmines for film fans like me who are fascinated by the alternate cinema history where Burton directed a film with Nicolas Cage as Superman or Terry Gilliam released a film about Don Quixote. But these docs remain about films that never reached completion. Yet THE FANTASTIC FOUR WAS duly completed. It is not a figment of a filmmaker’s imagination. It was fully shot and edited. Posters were created, the cast made numerous convention appearances. Everything pointed out to an actual release for the film.  But some shady Hollywood dealings made that work fruitless.

As the author of MARVEL COMICS: THE UNTOLD STORY, Sean Howe recalls it, the 1990s were an exciting period for Marvel at the movies, as many projects seemed to come into focus; Both Wes Craven and Alex Cox were contemplating directing a DR. STRANGE movie, Wesley Snipes was ready to play THE BLACK PANTHER and James Cameron himself was doing pre-production on a SPIDER-MAN movie. A FANTASTIC FOUR film seemed like a natural, but the rights were owned by Constantin Films, a German company that had produced THE NEVERENDING STORY, and their option on the property was running out. Something had to be done quickly to retain those rights. They needed someone to make a film quick and cheap. So they called up B-Movie mogul Roger Corman, the man who had ‘’Made A Hundred Movies In Hollywood And Never Lost A Dime’’. They didn’t tell him, however, that plans to release the film were not part of the deal.

Through a series of in depth interviews with the cast and crew, author Sean Howe, Journalist Chris Gore, Troma pictures' head honcho Lloyd Kaufman and legendary producer Roger Corman, Langford retraces the peculiar ways the film was conceived, the elation of creating a movie on such a small budget and quick deadline, and the heartbreak of seeing the film shelved forever. It’s not rare that a TV pilot will remain unaired. It’s an eventuality that actors are well aware of and are prepared for. It is less common for movies though, and for many of the artists involved in the production of this film, this could have been a potential launching pad for their budding careers. So the news that the film would be sidelined came as a shock.

In some ways, most of them are still hoping for some kind of an official release of the film. As Jay Underwood points out, maybe even as a special feature on one of the upcoming film’s DVD. In the words of producer Roger Corman: ‘’Nobody knows what this picture would have done.’’ It certainly stands to reason that at a budget of roughly one million dollars, it would have certainly made a profit. Joseph Culp rightfully alludes to the irony that the film has reached a cult status much larger than it would have achieved if it would have had a proper release. Indeed, for years, it was an elusive white elephant, whispered about with envious curiosity in the geek community. Obtaining a bootleg copy was an exciting achievement, making one feel like he had found something scarce and precious.

Nowadays, this quest is moot, as the film can be found in a rather decent quality on Youtube. It has become commonplace and instead of eliciting wonderment, it provokes mockery and snide remarks. At this point, unless a pristine print of the film can be found (Maybe contrary to the rumours, Marvel Production’s Avi Arad didn’t destroy that only print after all…), there might not be much of a point for an official release after all. A rare 35 mm print of the trailer ended up on Youtube recently, and shows what wonders a nice looking transfer can do for the way a film feels and look.

DOOMED is not a making of documentary in the vein of the outstanding HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER'S APOCALYPSE or BURDEN OF DREAMS, since Langford didn’t have the luxury of being on the set during the filming of THE FANTASTIC FOUR. It would be unfair to expect that level of drama when watching DOOMED! We are not supposed to be witnessing the creation of this low-budget epic. Unlike a crime story where we see the actual murder being committed, DOOMED exists more as a courtroom drama where testifiers are attempting to reconstruct the murder, and find through investigative procedures the guilty party.And in this, it succeeds admirably.

Langford’s film is a Labor of Love that provides a fascinating eyewitness’ account into the making of a low-budget epic that was doomed from its inception to never be viewed by the masses. But still ended up clawing its way through obscurity with the help of enterprising bootleggers, passionate fans, and one dedicated filmmaker who wanted to shed the light on the whole shady affair.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR MARTY LANGFORD.

 

BDALI - You said in an interview that you love mysteries. Do you feel there are still questions that remains unanswered after your detective work for this film? 

Marty Langford - There is, yeah.  And it’s frustrating. Just where is the negative? Who has it?  That’s the biggie. That was one of my hopes going in, that we’d locate it. My fantasy was that the doc would be an investigative piece ending with our locating the negative.  That didn’t quite pan out.

BDALI -You started a campaign to have the 1994 film officially released. How is that endeavour coming along, and do you feel there exists a good enough print of the film out there to make that release a possibility? 

Marty Langford - I definitely believe the negative still exists, so yes, I believe a terrific new scan is possible.  But I seriously doubt that it’ll happen.  We’re at about 500 signatures, but that’s not going to make the big news sites, so I doubt Disney/Marvel/Constantin even knows about it.  Maybe this interview will put us over the top.

BDALI - So you don't believe the rumor Avi Arad destroyed the only existing print of the film?

Marty Langford - I don’t, no.  There’s no way he literally did that.

BDALI - We know you were unable to get comments from Avi Arad nor Stan Lee for the documentary. But was there someone you managed to get who was harder than the others to be able to obtain an interview from?

Marty Langford -  Because my executive producer, Mark Sikes, is a casting director, he had a relaitvely easy time reaching most of the cast.  The crew were for the most part ready and willing - they really wanted their story out there. The screenwriter, Craig Nevius was a bit reluctant, but only because he felt he had little to add to the narrative. He was scheduled, but I let him off the hook as we were recording the interviews. I’d say Roger himself was the toughest to confirm.  We only heard from him on the Tuesday before his Thursday interview and we had to scramble to get him.  Our DP, Oktay Ortabasi was unavailable that day, but through Carl Ciarfalio (The Thing/stuntman) we were able to get a shooter.  

BDALI -  He seemed pretty gracious about the whole thing, considering this was pretty much the only film he made that never got released. They all seemed to be very loquacious about their experiences, in particular Michael Bailey Smith, Oley Sassone and Joseph Culp. But did you feel from some of them a sense of shame or embarrassment about a part of their life they'd rather forget, as many artists tend to want to brush under the rug their early low-budget efforts?
 

Marty Langford -  Shame? Not really, but Kat Green (Alicia Masters) was just dumbfounded that we cared enough about this silly film to actually make a doc.  She ended up being gracious and forthcoming, though. It was neat because we shot her at Rebecca Staab (Susan Storm)’s place, so we were able to see their reunion.  I got some good b-roll of them hanging out and talking, but didn’t really have a place for it in the edit. Jay Underwood (Johnny Storm) and Michael (Ben Grimm) aren’t really in the industry anymore, but they were SO great.

BDALI- You once said that you had over 90 hours of interviews to edit from. As an editor myself, I congratulate you on a job well done. However, are there some moments you had to cut that were more heartbreaking than others?

Marty Langford - Did I say 90?  Stand by. OK, I just checked my drives and it’s more like 50-55 hours and that includes b-roll.  We were running two camera so maybe I doubled it! But yeah, I had a lot of footage. And thank you.  I’m not really an online editor, so I appreciate your compliment. My original hope was to offline it myself and hand it over to a real editor to finish, but after having raised just $6K from our Indiegogo campaign, I kind had to do it myself. 

BDALI-  Releasing a film that contains such well protected intellectual property can be a challenge. Did you ever heard from the Disney or Marvel lawyers?

Marty Langford - Nope. The only push back we ever got was when Constantin got out trailer pulled off Youtube on a copyright infringement claim.  It was kind of legit in that I time-shifted some of the Wurst brothers score into it.  It was SO frustrating because we were at like, 475K views.  SO close to half a million.  I recut the trailer and re-uploaded and we got an additional 55K views, but it’s not the same ;)

BDALI- What are you personal impressions on the 1994 film, and the 2005, 2007 and 2015 versions of the FF?

Marty Langford - All have their strengths.  I actually like the 2015 version (and not only because it helped raise our profile considerably; so many articles referenced our documentary and the history of the franchise).  The middle two are fine.  But the original is most certainly my favorite. It gets a lot right - Dr. Doom, the family dynamic, the tone - but it was hamstrung by the budget.

BDALI- It certainly had its own unique charm. What are you working on right now? Any projects in the pipeline?

Marty Langford - Nothing worth mentioning, yet.  My producing partner, Mark Sikes, has a number of ideas and wants to direct our next endeavour. I teach full time and I’m a single dad of three kids, so my time is at a premium.  I like the idea of Mark taking over the reins of our next project.

The ultimate film version of THE FANTASTIC FOUR still remain to be made. Maybe with the recent acquisition of 20th Century Fox by Disney, Marvel's first family will finally have a decent chance at success on the silver screen. In the meantime, the best FANTASTIC FOUR movie ever made may still be THE INCREDIBLES.

http://doomedthemovie.com/

Maybe Marvel can agree to finally release the film on DVD and Blu-ray. Make your voices heard!

https://www.change.org/p/marvel-studios-release-roger-corman-s-the-fantastic-four-movie