Superman the Movie on Blu

captainarchive

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2006
Messages
15,127
Reaction score
7,362
Points
3,418
Location
Derby
I'm sure when this was first released Superman and Superman II got luke warm reviews and stating there no point in upgrading but I recently read a more positive review for STM. Is it worth an upgrade?
 
It's better, but don't expect night and day. Some comparisons between the DVD and the HD DVD (which the BD is essentially a port of) here. Fine detail is definitely superior, as is colour rendition.
 
Ultimately, I thought it looked as good as it could. I don't believe there's much more detail that can be squeezed from the source, given the intentional soft and dreamlike look of the film.
 
Very happy with the way it looks too, Can't imagine it being any better, Having only ever seen it on TV and VHS I loved how it looks on Blu, John Williams soundtrack sounds great too.
 
The blu is an upgrade over the existing VHS/Widescreen VHS/Region 1+2 Dvds/Christopher Reeve Collection Dvds/Ultimate Collection 13 Disc Tin/HD Dvd (yes, I have bought all of them, it's my favourite film :)), but not by any great margin.

If you can put up with the fact that you'll now be able to see the wires even more clearly:D and it's going cheap then it is worth a look.
 
I think the reviews i read when it first came out went along the lines it was soft and not what the reviewer was expecting from a Blu Ray, they were expecting clear, sharp detailed like a modern film but it wasn't shot that way. I even remember the contrast between it and Star Wars when I went to see it at the cinema. I now think the bad reviews probably show the ignorance of the reviewer.
 
As others have rightly said, STM has typical '70s photography, all diffuse lighting and soft detail. I reckon Warners used a fairly old master too. Neither is gonna make for A-grade HD loveliness, but that's not the point. STM looks as it should, more or less.

If you like The Donner Cut of Superman II then that's definitely worth buying in HD for two reasons: 1) it's been freshly transferred and looks great, so even the re-used footage from STM looks better here than it does in that film, and 2) the R2 DVD version is one of the most badly compressed encodes I've ever seen.
 
Unfortunately it's also the Donner Cut, which makes even less sense than the theatrical cut! I'm sure they could improve Superman if they went back and did a new 4K master or something, but I can't see that happening for a while.
 
Well, I like the Donner Cut of II so I'm as happy as a hog in **** with the HD version.

I'm kinda surprised that Warners haven't released the other movies in HD though. I guess they were/are waiting for the follow up to Superman Returns to maximise the cash-in potential.
 
I prefer the TC of Superman II but still like the Donner Cut and it's high curiosity value.
 
The Donner Cut was a missed opportunity in my opinion.

I can see what they were trying to do, but certain aspects of it "bring me out of the film". There are a LOT of recycled music cues with strange music editing in places. The blank bullets scene I think is a better reveal, but needs to be re-thoughtout as its a screen test.

I could go on, but I would be here forever. I think the idea that they tried to accomplish was to make Superman II using all the Donner footage and as little Lester footage as possible. Though when pieced together, the lack of some of the lester footage really hurts the film in places.

I would like them to revisit the Donner Cut and attempt to make a more proffessional attempt at producing a coherant film. On some occasions there is no establishing shot to punctuate a new scene - wrong in my view, a few more uses of stunt doubles might help in the blank bullets scene, and I would like to see the music re-arranged in places. All wishful thinking of course as I doubt it will ever get re-produced.
 
To me it just seemed like they went out of their way to excise as much Lester footage as possible, even when it was better than the Donner stuff. The ending of the Donner film makes no sense either. He destroys the fortress, only to completely undo everything that happened in the film with the 'turn back time trick'. Um, why destroy it then? Also makes him look like a dick when he goes back and beats up Rocky, who shouldn't even have remembered him, because it never happened (unless of course he has selective time-rewinding powers). Silly ending.
 
To me it just seemed like they went out of their way to excise as much Lester footage as possible, even when it was better than the Donner stuff. The ending of the Donner film makes no sense either. He destroys the fortress, only to completely undo everything that happened in the film with the 'turn back time trick'. Um, why destroy it then? Also makes him look like a dick when he goes back and beats up Rocky, who shouldn't even have remembered him, because it never happened (unless of course he has selective time-rewinding powers). Silly ending.

Exactly.

I really loved some of the changes, Supes destroying the fortress + conversation with Lois, the extended stuff with Luthor and of course Brando. However the blank bullets scene, the fortress dinner and some other bits here and there look amateurish. Its really the middle part of the film that suffers in the Donner Cut. Although ironically, my worst change (and it is a really small one) is the line which Reeve mutters when he goes back to the fortress to re-gain his powers, its all dark and he kicks some rubble and says "I...err....I failed", really powerful little moment which was removed (as it was a Lester shot).

I have seen some fantastic fanedit stuff for Superman II, I really have to wonder where the apparent 10million budget went to for the Donner Cut restoration, as I see very little of it on screen, especially when faneditors can do as much as they do with a budget of zero.

If no one has heard of the Selutron works, they should really take a look at his stuff. Whilst its pretty far from being broadcast / master quality, some of his ideas and workmanship has to be seen...
http://www.capedwonder.com/newwebsite/pages/selutron.html
 
Last edited:

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom