Synopsis:

Chronicling the history of Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four (1994), DOOMED! features never before seen footage from the production as well as new on-camera interviews with cast and crew including Mr. Corman, Jay Underwood, Michael Bailey Smith, Joseph Culp, Alex Hyde-White and Rebecca Staab.



What We Thought:

Most comic and film geeks have at least heard about the unreleased Fantastic Four movie produced by film legend Roger Corman. Some of the more enthusiastic among us even managed to watch a bootleg of it, be it VHS (like yours truly) or by downloading it via P2P sharing/torrenting. Many of us who have seen it think it is actually the better of the Fantastic Four movies to be made. Yet, it is said it was produced just to maintain rights and was never intended to be released. Although the cast and crew were not informed of this fact. The other story is Avi Arad bought the film, because he was afraid it would “cheapen the brand“. Which, to those of us who have seen the terrible Fantastic Four movies that were released after (or to those of us aware of the terrible adaptations of other things Avi Arad has his hand in, both already released and upcoming), this is a little funny. The Fantastic Four became the ONLY movie Roger Corman made that didn’t get released.

DOOMED! gives us a look at the making of this ill-fated project. It chronologically follows the making of The Fantastic Four, from its inception, to its eventual shelving. A lot of the people involved in this project, from actors, to the director, to producers, to the editor talked about working on The Fantastic Four. It was amazing to hear how passionate most of them were, and still are, about this unreleased movie. It was also a little sad, as you could see how disappointed they were that it never came out. Even the actors who actually have had some success since the movie was made, still seemed very let down by this experience over 20 years ago.

It was cool seeing the behind-the-scenes pictures and footage. I am sure people who haven’t seen a bootleg of The Fantastic Four will also enjoy the stills and footage from the actual film. After watching this I really felt bad for all involved, especially the director, Oley Sassone. Some already existing quotes by, and clips of Stan Lee and Avi Arad were used, but apparently neither could be reached for comment for DOOMED! I will admit after seeing this, I did think a little less of Stan Lee, I would say the same of Avi Arad, but I didn’t think much of him to begin with. This documentary was a well done, interesting look behind the scenes of a film that has been the focal point of much rumor, speculation and discussion, among movie and comics fans, as well as business insiders. It also gives viewers a look at the shady business that sometimes happens in entertainment. I greatly enjoyed DOOMED!. My only real complaint is that at an hour and twenty four minutes in length, it just isn’t long enough! I wish there was a little more to it. It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

Notable Cast & Crew:

Carl Ciarfalio

Roger Corman

Joseph Culp

Sean Howe

Alex Hyde-White

Michael Bailey Smith

Rebecca Staab

Jay Underwood

John Vulich

Glenn Garland

Mark Steven Grove

Recommended If You Like:

Behind-The-Scenes Documentaries

Documentaries about the shady side of film

Stories that have Roger Corman in them

The Fantastic Four