Superman: The Movie 4K UHD (1978)

[Agent Kay]

10/11/2022 on the DCP

[Dr. T]

Originally Posted by starmike

There's this screech when the dome opens past the point of the light pointing to the sky where Zod & co. are standing.

That's a good one. It's in this shot. The beam of light should be silent but in the remix, when it pops out of the dome, it makes a sound.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Dr. T

That's a good one. It's in this shot. The beam of light should be silent but in the remix, when it pops out of the dome, it makes a sound.

As sacrilicious as it is to say, I really like that dome bit as it still sounds like an old effect that was done for the film.

[starmike]

Originally Posted by Agent Kay

10/11/2022 on the DCP

Interesting. So this is...before the supposed remastering? I'm guessing this'll have the single frame of Reeve's credit turning red.

[Dr. T]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

As sacrilicious as it is to say, I really like that dome bit as it still sounds like an old effect that was done for the film.

I don't like that or the creaking gears in the dome. The Kryptonians are thousands of years ahead of us but the dome just needs a little oil.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Dr. T

I don't like that or the creaking gears in the dome. The Kryptonians are thousands of years ahead of us but the dome just needs a little oil.

Nah, it's just the cold getting in, that's all!

[Agent Kay]

Originally Posted by starmike

Interesting. So this is...before the supposed remastering? I'm guessing this'll have the single frame of Reeve's credit turning red.

But well, well after the last UK DCP, the KDM doesn't unlock yet so cannot check

[starmike]

Originally Posted by Agent Kay

But well, well after the last UK DCP, the KDM doesn't unlock yet so cannot check

Yeah, I saw your previous post about that. We'll have a LONG wait until Monday 😁

[Agent Kay]

Originally Posted by starmike

Yeah, I saw your previous post about that. We'll have a LONG wait until Monday 😁

If I get 5 I can look Sunday

[CelestialAgent]

Originally Posted by starmike

Interesting. So this is...before the supposed remastering? I'm guessing this'll have the single frame of Reeve's credit turning red.

It’s pretty conceivable that a DCP from the end of last year will be the remaster.

[TylerDurden389]

I'm actually more annoyed with that weird noise that was added in the 5.1 mix just as the phantom zone sheet "grabs" the villains. Its the last shot before the "spinning" shots (or possibly during the spinning shots, I can't remember). Thau made sure to use in the the RDC of S2 as well.

[david_blu]

Just came back from seeing Superman at the Cinema in the UK.

It used the current 4k blu ray master, no changes whatsoever apart from I think they fixed Christopher Reeve's credit. I did look out for it and couldn't see the flash this time.

It really looks quite green on the big screen. All the blacks venture massively into green because they have reduced the red in the film.

So there it is, so I don't expect the new 4k to be any different.

I have seen the 4k DCP last year at the Royal Albert Hall, I have previously seen the DC at the National Film Theatre in London and now this one at my local Cinema. The new 4k really is the worst of the bunch colourwise.

Oh well there we go, hopefully the other films will fair better on 4k, where there aren't music screw ups like on IV.

It used the 2001 mix, that I assume was the Atmos or a 5.1. Regardless it is the swooshes and slamming door version.

[Verisimilitude1984]

Originally Posted by david_blu

Just came back from seeing Superman at the Cinema in the UK.

It used the current 4k blu ray master, no changes whatsoever apart from I think they fixed Christopher Reeve's credit. I did look out for it and couldn't see the flash this time.

It really looks quite green on the big screen. All the blacks venture massively into green because they have reduced the red in the film.

So there it is, so I don't expect the new 4k to be any different.

I have seen the 4k DCP last year at the Royal Albert Hall, I have previously seen the DC at the National Film Theatre in London and now this one at my local Cinema. The new 4k really is the worst of the bunch colourwise.

Oh well there we go, hopefully the other films will fair better on 4k, where there aren't music screw ups like on IV.

It used the 2001 mix, that I assume was the Atmos or a 5.1. Regardless it is the swooshes and slamming door version.

Just came back from the cinema myself having seen this film tonight - Vue cinema in my local town.

The film looked more blurry than I remembered, interchanged between very detailed on the close up shots and blurry in others. I assumed it was because of the rear projection shots not being conducive for 4K.

Anyway, needless to say the film remains amazing and enjoyable and it's one thing off my bucket list now having seen it on the big screen finally

[Eusthenopteron]

Just got in from seeing at the cinema too. I am no expert in the technicalities of which source tonight’s version came from so I will leave it to the more knowledgeable to debate. However I too was a little suprised at just how blurry it looked in places.

But also agree, it didn’t detract one bit from an incredible experience. You really can’t top seeing a great movie like this on the big screen. I was buzzing on the way out.

[PonyoBellanote]

Isn't the blurriness because of how the film was shot?

[starmike]

Originally Posted by PonyoBellanote

Isn't the blurriness because of how the film was shot?

Yeah, I remember even back then that some shots were a bit on the soft side.

[Agent Kay]

If others have done impressions I will leave it, but unlike them I can pause it so can look for the red credits flash if there is a time stamp for it.
Also people talking about colour and black levels need to know that projectors are like TVs, and all very different and even identical models in the same cinema can have different settings.
And some are still running stuff from the late 90s.

[david_blu]

Originally Posted by Agent Kay

If others have done impressions I will leave it, but unlike them I can pause it so can look for the red credits flash if there is a time stamp for it.
Also people talking about colour and black levels need to know that projectors are like TVs, and all very different and even identical models in the same cinema can have different settings.
And some are still running stuff from the late 90s.

Thanks I'm not talking about projectors or gamma level when it comes to the cinema. I'm talking about the blacks being overly green because they didn't get the colour correct. That is on the 4k master not the way the Cinema projected it.

Luthor's check jacket goes way into green black territory when it should be the grey black. The take off for Supes before the Helicopter rescue looks dreadful as I have stated countless times on this thread.

[Dr. T]

Originally Posted by david_blu

I have seen the 4k DCP last year at the Royal Albert Hall...

If this was "Superman: In Concert" please note that this presentation does not use the 4K transfer but rather the older HD transfer. As a bonus, it doesn't use the 2001 mix for the dialogue and effects either.

[danny_boy]

Originally Posted by starmike

Yeah, I remember even back then that some shots were a bit on the soft side.

Yes...some of the more astute observers from 1981 noticed stuff way back then:

There is a review from The Columbia Record , dated July 3rd 1981 ,in which the reviewer ,Pat Berman, states:

"One problem that plagued both the Superman original and sequel has been the washed out color and grainy look of these films. With such large budgets better results should have been achieved.However if the effect was done deliberately , it was a misplaced effort"

Pauline Keel wrote for Superman II:

"The special effects are highly variable in quality, and the whole film--blown up from 35 mm to 70 mm for the big-theatre showings--is grainy and bleached and often poorly framed. You're much better off if you see it in 35 mm".

David Ansen of NewsWeek wrote:

"I do have one bone to pick.
For all the money spent on it, why does the photography look so tacky?
The colors are bleached out and the images fuzzy- a far cry from the crystalline sheen of the first installment.
The fault is not Lester's, because some of the scenes were shot by Donner and they have the same look - the look of someone shaving costs in the processing lab".

To be clear, all the reviewers(even Pauline Keel!) liked the movies.....but their contemporary comments regarding the quality of the picture ,are priceless as far as home cinema enthusiasts from 2023 are concerned....because at least there is some kind of baseline to measure against.

Ofcourse the look of these films even way back then, would have varied according to the quality of the 35/70mm prints and the (corresponding projection systems) in each and every one of the 1800 or so auditoriums that SII and STM played in....back in 1978/1981.