Page 1 of 1 previous | start | next Printing? Use this version

By Sheila Muto

When The Thing roared "It's clobberin' time!" comic-book readers knew that The Fantastic Four - superheroes Mr. Fantastic, The Thing, The Invisible Girl, and The Human Torch - would pulverize whatever evil menace threatened humankind. But "clobberin' time" came for Roger Corman's movie version of the Marvel Comics classic before it even hit the big screen.

Budgeted at a paltry US$2 million, the special effects-laden film was set to premiere this year. Charity events tied to openings were scheduled. Trailers appeared in movie theaters. And along with director Oley Sassone, the actors embarked on a promotional tour for the film.

But The Fantastic Four disintegrated before film critics could whip out their notebooks.

German producer Bernd Eichinger and his Neue Constantin Films, which purchased the movie rights from Marvel, sublicensed the rights to producer and B-movie king Corman in 1992. Shortly after the film was completed, Eichinger paid Corman $1 million to repossess the rights.

The $2 million version was shelved so that 20th Century Fox and Home Alone director Chris Columbus could make a flashier $50 million-plus version with celebrity actors.

"They showed a total disregard for the people involved," said director Sassone. "We had a good film, for what we had to work with."

Since Corman's film was nixed (though bootlegged copies are sure to surface), here's a peek at the superhero movie's special effects, created by Mr. Film, a Southern California-based film production company considered a pioneer in computer animation.

The film's technically challenging scenes include one in which Johnny Storm transforms into The Human Torch and prevents Doctor Doom's deadly laser beam from destroying New York. To make it, the actor stepped into a full body suit complete with motion sensors - the same type used to track a player's movements in a virtual reality game. The sensors transferred the actor's movements to a computer-generated representation of a man ablaze.

Audiences may miss the flashy graphics, but they'll also be spared an insipid movie with sappy dialogue and an irritating Invisible Girl character whose role consists of sewing uniforms and making goo-goo eyes at Mr. Fantastic.

Flaws aside, Chris Walker, president of Mr. Film, still hopes that moviegoers will someday see and hear Johnny Storm utter the words, "Flame on," even if it's not his film. Says Walker: "The fans deserve it."