If you’ve never seen the Roger Corman produced version of FANTASTIC FOUR from 1994… well, you haven’t lived. Then again you’d have a good excuse, as it’s never been officially released. To this day the only way to obtain a copy is buying a bootleg version, or watching it on YouTube (when it’s not taken down). Now granted, the extremely low budget kept them from doing the kinds of effects you want to see in an adaptation of the classic Marvel comic book, but there’s still a sort of indelible charm to it that you can’t help but get caught up with. Ask anyone who has seen it, they’ll know what I’m talking about. The film featured Alex Hyde-White as “Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic”, Rebecca Staab as “Sue Storm/Invisible Woman”, Jay Underwood as “Johnny Storm/Human Torch”, Michael Bailey Smith as “Ben Grimm”, Carl Ciarfalio as “The Thing”, and Joseph Culp as “Doctor Doom”… and let’s face it, with Josh Trank’s disappointing reboot stinking up theaters right now, this is actually kind a fun distraction. The quality of the video isn’t the best (again, taken from a bootleg), but it’s one of the more watchable versions we’ve seen online. Typically these uploads get taken down rather fast, so watch it while you can, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
A little background on this adaptation. Constantin Films had obtained the rights to do a FANTASTIC FOUR movie in 1986, long before Marvel movies were a hot commodity. According to the contract, they would lose the rights at a certain point in 1992, meaning Marvel would gain the rights back to where they could sell it to another studio. So Roger Corman was hired to produce a very low budget version of the movie which was made in 1992, and then was intended to be released in 1994, meaning the production company would retain the rights since an actual movie was made… but Marvel reportedly bought the rights back in exchange for the master print of the film being destroyed. The actors supposedly did not know this was going on, and believed the film was going to be released. There’s mixed reports on whether or not the filmmakers thought this was a movie anyone would ever actually see, or if it was only made to stretch the rights holdings and prevent Marvel from selling to another studio. To this day the film has never been “officially” released, and with the master print gone, it likely never will get any sort of official release. In 2005 Twentieth Century Fox released a big budget version of a FANTASTIC FOUR movie, which performed well enough to spawn a sequel, and eventually led to a reboot released last weekend.
The Fantastic Four (1994 unreleased) Roger Corman by yourgeeknews
Born and raised in Dallas, Mark has been a movie critic since 1994, with reviews featured in print, radio and National TV. In 2001 he started the Entertainment section of the Herorealm website, where he contributed film reviews and celebrity interviews until 2004. After three years of service there, he started Bigfanboy.com, which has become one of the Dallas film community's leading information websites. Bigfanboy hosts several movie screenings in the Texas area, and works closely with film and TV studios and promotional partners to host exciting events and contests. The site also features a variety of rare celebrity and filmmaker interviews, and Bigfanboy.com regularly covers the film festival circuit as well. In addition to Hollywood reporting, Mark has worked for many years as an advertising and sci-fi/comic book artist. Clients have included Lucasfilm Ltd., Topps Trading Cards, The Dallas Mavericks and The Dallas Stars. From 2002 until 2015 he managed the Dallas Comic Con, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days events in the DFW area. He currently catalogs rare comic books and movie memorabilia for Heritage Auctions, and runs the Dallas Comic Show conventions, but remains an avid moviegoer and cinema buff. 
