Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

The clearest skip in DC's history, and the circumstances are more interesting than the film. The rights had moved to a company known for making films quickly and cheaply, the budget was cut by more than half after production was planned at a much higher figure, and what reached cinemas is ninety minutes with around forty-five more removed.

The damage is visible in every frame. Flying shots are reused with the background flipped, a crowd scene outside the United Nations is plainly a few dozen people, and a sequence on the Moon has the gravity of a soundstage floor. An entire subplot involving a first prototype villain was cut and the footage has circulated since.

The premise was Christopher Reeve's, who agreed to return in exchange for a story about nuclear disarmament and some control over the script, and the film takes it seriously for about one scene in the General Assembly. The rest is a solar-powered opponent in a gold costume fighting in front of unconvincing skies.

Reeve has written about the experience with some bitterness and it is painful to watch him carry it. Nothing later refers to it.