Superman
1978 - 1987 Five Film Collection 4K
(DC Comics/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays w/Blu-rays)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+/B+*/B**/B/B Picture: B- Sound:
B/B*/B-**/B-/B & B- Extras: B/B*/B**/C/C Films:
B/B*/B-**/C-/C- *Superman
II Director's Cut/**Theatrical
Cut
In
1973, when releasing the first four 8-inch action figures (of what
led to a landmark toy series) of the four male leads on the new
Superfriends!
animated TV series with Hanna-Barbera and DC Comics for ABC-TV, which
became a huge hit, the Mego Toy Company eventually copyrighted a term
that became the name the genre that featured Superman, Batman, Robin
and Aquaman belonged to: superheroes. Superman and Batman already
had their live-action hit TV shows, while all had animated hits a
decade earlier with the Filmation animated studios and the
live-action likes of Shazam!
and Wonder
Woman
were soon on the way. It was this success that led Warner Bros., who
bought DC Comics, to take a big gamble and make a big-budgeted
feature film based on Superman.
George
Reeves was dead and would be too old for a feature film, so many
wondered who they could possibly get to play the role. After several
big names were suggested, then-unknown Christopher Reeve was picked
to play the title character. The resulting 1978 release directed by
the successful journeyman director Richard Donner was a huge hit and
though no one may have known it at the time, Superman:
The Movie
finally established superheroes as a full-fledged genre after making
money for decades on TV, in animation and even live-action chapter
plays.
Reeve
would play the character in four films, the second of which now has
two versions, all of which are included in the new 4K box set
Superman
1978 - 1987 Five Film Collection 4K
which also includes regular Blu-ray versions of all the films.
We
have reviewed the majority of them, so here is our coverage of...
Superman:
The Movie
(1978)
HD-DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4633/Superman
4-DVD
Set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4809/Superman+-+The+Movie+(1978/4-DVD-Video+Set
Superman
II: Director's Cut
(1980) HD-DVD + DVD editions
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4620/Superman+II
Superman
II: Theatrical Cut
(1980)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4846/Superman+II+(Theatrical+Cut/2-Disc+Special+Editi
That
leaves us with the two duds: Richard Lester's Superman
III
(1983) and Sidney J. Furie's Superman
IV: The Quest For Peace
(1987). The former is a mess with Richard Pryor showing up as an
unemployed man who turns out to have special intelligence that allows
him to create a supercomputer than can destroy Superman and villain
Robert Vaughn (of the original Man
From U.N.C.L.E.
TV series, The
Protectors)
wants control of it to get Superman and take over the world. The
script is as much of a mess as the awful-upon-arrival visual effects
(making the first two films look like state of the art CGI from
Avatar
II!)
and a good cast also including Margot Kidder, Annette O'Toole, Jackie
White, Annie Ross and Pamela Stevenson among others in a film that is
loaded with plenty of missed opportunities.
With
the money that lost and how no one liked it, that should have been it
and Reeve even compared it to the first three Connery/James Bond
films saying he would stop there because he only liked those first
bond hits.
Sadly,
he changed his mind when the infamous Cannon Films stepped in when
Reeve decided he wanted to make a 'big statement' against nuclear
weapons and the resulting Quest
film managed to be as horrid and hideous, but for far less money, yet
with even worse special visual effects. Gene Hackman was somehow
convinced to come back as Lex Luthor and still-unknown actor Mark
Pillow played the boring... I mean 'evil' Nuclear Man, designed top
destroy Superman. WOW, is this one bad, but even ten times the
budget they had would not have saved it because it is a mess and it
joins the third film as among the worst in the history of the genre
(though the recent Black
Adam,
the worst in the genre's history, is somehow worse than these two
nightmares) and the two films hurt the character for many years.
Though
the extended version of the first film is still missing from this
release, it is the best of the films, followed by the Director's
Cut
of the second, then it is all downhill from there and the two
revivals (Superman
Returns
and the Henry Cavill films, despite his best efforts) never came
close to them.
For
fans, Warner and DC have done their best to save and preserve the
films, spending much time and money on them and all the extras they
have been compiling for years, as featured all over this set.
As
for playback performance. The first Superman
was already issued as a 4K single. These films (though not listed as
clearly as I would have liked it) are all here in the
2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra
High Definition image transfers are about as good as we will ever see
these films, save the first one (the only entry here in Dolby Vision;
too bad the Director's
Cut
of II
was not) and the
Director's
Cut
of the second, which I think could still benefit from a little more
work. All the films were shot in real anamorphic 35mm scope with
high quality squeeze lenses, the first three with Panavision, the
fourth in the underrated J-D-C Scope format, but used very badly and
generically here.
The
4K of the first Superman,
followed by the Director's
Cut
of the second, are the best-looking releases on the set, as expected.
Though some shots show older visual matte work and some dated
effects, plus some slight color fading in very brief spots, this is
the best these films have looked outside of a quality, mint 35mm
print (wonder if the first Superman
get dye-transfer Technicolor treatment in the U.K.?) and that makes
them all the more effective. Color can be especially rich and
stunning at times on the first Superman.
The 4K discs for the third and fourth films only bring out their
flaws all the more and they have not aged well, even with some name
talent behind the scenes.
The
1080p regular Blu-rays of all five films look soft, substandard,
noisy old and in the case of the first two films, are likely the
transferred used for the HD-DVDs. Odd that they seemed to look
better on those discs and were also used on the oldest Blu-ray
versions.
The
4K discs have all had their sound upgraded for Dolby Atmos 11.1
(Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) lossless sound, while
the regular DVDs offer DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes
that are a little older and passable at best.
The
first Superman
was an experimental 5.1 film in its 70mm blow-up prints, but not one
featuring what such a mix would offer, unlike Coppola's Apocalypse
Now a
year later, but was impressive for its time. The Atmos version
brings out new life in the music score and sound effects, yet
dialogue sounds more subdued and older than the DTS on the Blu-ray
and DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo on the 4K. Superman
II
was a full 5.1 sound release in its 70mm blow-ups and had the added
luxury of being one of five films to feature a richer bass format
called MegaSound warner was trying out at the time before the '.1' of
the 5.1 sound was perfected.
The
Dolby Atmos on II
can sound better, but some bad choices on the Theatrical
Version
and limits with the audio reconstruction on the Director's
Cut
version can hold the sound back for different reasons. Still, that
was state of the art for the time.
Superman
III
also had 70mm blow-up prints with 6-track magnetic sound, but Warner
was already cutting back the budget, so it started with 4.1 sound,
thus the Atmos mix here is weaker and all versions om both discs
sound much more dated than the first two films. Quest had even
cheaper, regular, older, dated Dolby System A-type stereo analog
sound, so trying to upgrade this to Atmos was probably a very
time-consuming and trying experience. Surprisingly, the Atmos on its
4K disc is the third best soundtrack in the whole set, partly by
default, but because it was the most recently recorded and somehow,
the surviving sound and the way it was recorded was likely in better
shape than the old Dolby-A could deliver in parts. No 70mm blow-up
of the film (thankfully!) was never made.
Extras
as noted are many
and easy repeat all the goods from the previously released versions
in older formats we covered above. With special notations on the
press release list, here are the extras for each of the films in the
set:
Superman:
The Movie
Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack contains the following previously
released special features on Blu-ray Disc:
Feature
Length Audio Commentary by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spangler
The
Making of Superman
vintage featurette
Superman
and the Mole-Men
vintage featurette
Super-Rabbit
(Bugs Bunny) 1943 WB cartoon
Snafuperman
(WWII) 1944 WB cartoon
Stupor
Duck
(hilarious Daffy Duck spoof!) 1956 WB cartoon
TV
Spot
Teaser
Trailer
and
an Original Theatrical Trailer
Superman
II
Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack contains the following previously
released special features on Blu-ray Disc:
Feature
Length Audio Commentary by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler
The
Making of Superman II
1980 TV Special
Superman's
Souffle
Deleted Scene
Fleischer
Studios' Superman vintage cartoons (in standard definition; now on
Blu-ray from 4K scans, but with issues)
First
Flight
The
Mechanical Monster
Billion
Dollar Limited
The
Arctic Giant
The
Bulleteers
The
Magnetic Telescope
Electric
Earthquake
Volcano
Terror
on the Midway
and
an Original Theatrical Trailer
Superman
II: The Richard Donner Cut
Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack contains the following previously
released special features on Blu-ray Disc:
Feature
Length Audio Commentary by Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz
Introduction
by Richard Donner featurette
Superman
II: Restoring the Vision
featurette
Deleted
scenes:
Lex
and Ms. Teschmacher head north
Lex
and Ms. Teschmacher head south
The
villains enter the fortress
He's
all yours, boys
Clarke
and Jimmy
Lex's
gateway
Famous
Studios vintage cartoons (WWII propaganda after the Fleischer
Brothers left; in standard definition,now on Blu-ray from 4K scans,
but with issues)
Japoteurs
Showdown
Eleventh
Hour
Destruction,
Inc.
The
Mummy Strikes
Jungle
Drums
The
Underground World
Secret
Agent
Superman
III
Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack contains the following previously
released special features on Blu-ray Disc:
Feature
Length Audio Commentary by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler
The
Making of Superman III
1983 TV special
Deleted
Scenes:
Save
my baby
To
the rescue
Making
up
Going
to see the boss
Hatching
the plan
The
con
Rooftop
ski
Boss
wants this to go
Superman
honored
Gus'
speech
Hanging
up on Brad
and
an Original Theatrical Trailer
and
the Superman
IV: The Quest for Peace
Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack contains the
following
previously released special features on Blu-ray Disc:
So
that's the set and there is very little they miss. All serious fans
will want to see all the films once, though the 4K of the first had
the biggest surprises for me in not having looked that good since I
saw it in its original release eons ago. Most will agree it was all
worth the wait.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
