Superman: The Movie 4K UHD (1978)

[eddievanhalen]

Originally Posted by punisher

I got the email...very tempting..wish it was on Vinyl too

I ordered an hour ago, as soon as I read the La La Land e-mail. It's not cheap but with La La Land one knows will get top notch quality. The only La La Land release I have that I don't like is the 35th Anniversary edition of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. I have all the releases of the E.T. soundtracks including the hybrid stereo/multichannel SACD and havent't listened to al those releases for years my opinion is that some digital noise reduction or no-noise was used, it sounds cleaner than either the 1996 remixed, remastered and expanded edition or the 2002 20th Anniversary CD/SACD but also is treble shy and lacks some low level detail present on the two previous releases. Just my 0.02 $.
But I'm sure we'll get a release on the same league as Star Trek TMP from 2012.

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by danny_boy

Check this out:

STM's first home video release way back in October 1980(nearly 2 years after it's 78' theatrical release!)...reviewed in The Videophile:


Scroll down to page 35-36:


http://magazines.lddb.com/The.Videop...ber%201980.pdf

The reviewer gave the picture quality a thumbs up:
"Although I would rate the tape's picture quality tops...…"

I read way too much of that converted magazine PDF for my own good. First of all, note the hilarious copyright text under the table of contents:

"In response to many requests, we must emphasize that our popular cover girl (Gail, from issues 21, 24 and 26) is not available for stag parties, popping out of cakes or any of the other activities (some of you should be ashamed of yourselves) that have been suggested. We may, however, offer an autographed glossy or photo in the future."

And then the subsequent "tv wiggles" section and the open letter to George Lucas about putting The Empire Strikes Back out on VHS ("I do not have a pirate dub [tape] of Star Wars, even [though] ALL my friends do. I want a clean LEGAL copy.") are both pure gold.

Note that page 11 also notes: "Look for "Superman" on HBO and others, sometime between October 1 [1980] and March 1 [1981]". Imagine HBO giving an approximate five-month window for a major studio film premiere in 2019.

The review of Superman: The Movie in this issue appears to be a Betamax release, though, one which had the film sped up and the end credits removed in order to get the 144-minute film down to a 127-minute length, due to the constraints of the Betamax medium. Even worse is that the company either couldn't or wouldn't modify the audio pitch, so the sound has "a definite 'twang'", according to the tape reviewer. Pretty scary.

I had to quit reading as I would have just read everything cover to cover, but still, there's loads more in the issue, chock full of fascinating bits like vintage ads and reader (and writer) comments.

When I see vintage stuff like this, with how much time and energy used to be put into home video by companies and consumers alike, it really makes me sad that the studios today seem to be threatening to piss it all away for digital and streaming.

[HDMan72]

Just placed my order for Superman 3-cd set! Man that would've been sweet if La La Land pressed it for vinyl. Their Star Trek The Motion Picture vinyl release is such a fantastic recording.

[Agent Kay]

Originally Posted by danny_boy

Check this out:

STM's first home video release way back in October 1980(nearly 2 years after it's 78' theatrical release!)...reviewed in The Videophile:


Scroll down to page 35-36:


http://magazines.lddb.com/The.Videop...ber%201980.pdf

The reviewer gave the picture quality a thumbs up:
"Although I would rate the tape's picture quality tops...…"

That open letter to George lucas is amazing

[Blu Ray McHone]

I have the big blue box from FSM but this is so tempting. One of my favorite soundtracks ever. I love the 40th release of Close Encounters from La La Land!

[david_blu]

So if I own the FSM Blue box do I need the new set?

Is the mastering the same or have they again remastered it for this release?

I couldn't tell from the press release. Thanks

[Vangeli]

They found the original master tapes and did a new Hi-Res master, and there's new unheard material.

Worth it.

[danny_boy]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

I read way too much of that converted magazine PDF for my own good. First of all, note the hilarious copyright text under the table of contents:

"In response to many requests, we must emphasize that our popular cover girl (Gail, from issues 21, 24 and 26) is not available for stag parties, popping out of cakes or any of the other activities (some of you should be ashamed of yourselves) that have been suggested. We may, however, offer an autographed glossy or photo in the future."

And then the subsequent "tv wiggles" section and the open letter to George Lucas about putting The Empire Strikes Back out on VHS ("I do not have a pirate dub [tape] of Star Wars, even [though] ALL my friends do. I want a clean LEGAL copy.") are both pure gold.

Note that page 11 also notes: "Look for "Superman" on HBO and others, sometime between October 1 [1980] and March 1 [1981]". Imagine HBO giving an approximate five-month window for a major studio film premiere in 2019.

The review of Superman: The Movie in this issue appears to be a Betamax release, though, one which had the film sped up and the end credits removed in order to get the 144-minute film down to a 127-minute length, due to the constraints of the Betamax medium. Even worse is that the company either couldn't or wouldn't modify the audio pitch, so the sound has "a definite 'twang'", according to the tape reviewer. Pretty scary.

I had to quit reading as I would have just read everything cover to cover, but still, there's loads more in the issue, chock full of fascinating bits like vintage ads and reader (and writer) comments.

When I see vintage stuff like this, with how much time and energy used to be put into home video by companies and consumers alike, it really makes me sad that the studios today seem to be threatening to piss it all away for digital and streaming.

You can be forgiven for having read other stuff in that magazine......with the benefit of hindsight it makes for even more fascinating reading.

My personal favourite:
"The millenium falcon on a 19" screen is just not the same as 70mm film and Quad sound".


Back in those days though.....just having the film at home to view at one's own discretion was the "experience"......no matter how bad the quality.


I actually have the STM 1980 VHS tape(got it off ebay a few years back).

The picture quality is not good by today's standards of course......but in some wierd way it still works beautifully in the sense that the lower resolution masks the "fabric" of the film(mattes,rotoscopes,increased grain during optical dupes ect)......essentially allowing you to concentrate on the story which still holds up quite comfortably with anything released these days.

If you want to read even more of these vintage magazines the great folks at laserdisc database have more:

https://forum.lddb.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=8174

[Bourne1886]

Originally Posted by david_blu

So if I own the FSM Blue box do I need the new set?

Is the mastering the same or have they again remastered it for this release?

I couldn't tell from the press release. Thanks

I own that set like yourself and it cost me about £100. Do I really need this I’m thinking to myself.

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by danny_boy

You can be forgiven for having read other stuff in that magazine......with the benefit of hindsight it makes for even more fascinating reading.

My personal favourite:
"The millenium falcon on a 19" screen is just not the same as 70mm film and Quad sound".


Back in those days though.....just having the film at home to view at one's own discretion was the "experience"......no matter how bad the quality.


I actually have the STM 1980 VHS tape(got it off ebay a few years back).

The picture quality is not good by today's standards of course......but in some wierd way it still works beautifully in the sense that the lower resolution masks the "fabric" of the film(mattes,rotoscopes,increased grain during optical dupes ect)......essentially allowing you to concentrate on the story which still holds up quite comfortably with anything released these days.

If you want to read even more of these vintage magazines the great folks at laserdisc database have more:

https://forum.lddb.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=8174

Thanks for the link. Now I see why they were getting requests for "Gail" to do all kinds of things.

[LexInHD]

The King of Soundtracks himself, John Williams, has signed off on the new Superman soundtrack release from La-La Land, so you need to buy it. Hopefully, we can get high-res digital releases from the new masters down the line.

https://thelegacyofjohnwilliams.com/...perman-part-1/

[punisher]

Originally Posted by HDMan72

Just placed my order for Superman 3-cd set! Man that would've been sweet if La La Land pressed it for vinyl. Their Star Trek The Motion Picture vinyl release is such a fantastic recording.

yes..I have the vinyl set and it's so great. They even include an extra gatefold cover in the box because the one that had the lps in it had a slight corner bend. Now that's customer service!

[Bourne1886]

Well I finally watched The Superman The Movie 4k disc in full tonight having only flicked through it before and although it doesn’t look super duper amazing it’s definitely an upgrade over the Blu-ray, even the tv extended cut which I thought was better than the Special edition for picture quality.

I did a comparison with the tv cut and there’s definitely a slight uptick in detail. The movie looks brighter and more vivid, but has more grain that can be a bit thick at times. Some won’t like that as it does look bad at times, especially on Krypton. In a lot of scenes it has better clarity most of the time and a bit more density etc but the best thing about it is the HDR and WCG. The colour is much better and Superman’s suit looks really good. It still has its issues and can look ropey at times especially the scenes where Superman is saving California, the miniatures and the slow motion water look less real now but all in all I think this is the preferred way to watch this classic movie.

Before I knew it went by in a flash and I loved it all over again and it looked great to me most of the time. This will be my go to version of the movie. Who else enjoyed it all over again in this new format?

[MisterXDTV]

The greatest score ever in the greatest quality ever:

192 Khz/24 bit restoration from first gen 24-track masters:

"It doesn't get better than this":

Superman - First Generation Scoring Masters - YouTube

[Conan The Barbarian]

When will this lalaland recording release?

[MisterXDTV]

Originally Posted by Conan The Barbarian

When will this lalaland recording release?

Shipping has already begun

[eddievanhalen]

Originally Posted by MisterXDTV

The greatest score ever in the greatest quality ever:

192 Khz/24 bit restoration from first gen 24-track masters:

"It doesn't get better than this":

Superman - First Generation Scoring Masters - YouTube

It's a pitty as with all La La Land releases we will only get CD and LP releases, no Hi Res digital on any form. If Star Trek TMP, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and now Superman were remixed to 192/24 it would be inexpensive to release all those soundtracks as a single disc BD-Audio at its native resolution. I have the feeling this won't happen.

[HDMan72]

Originally Posted by punisher

yes..I have the vinyl set and it's so great. They even include an extra gatefold cover in the box because the one that had the lps in it had a slight corner bend. Now that's customer service!

I don’t see the vinyl listed on La La Land Records website.

[BenjaminG]

Originally Posted by HDMan72

I don’t see the vinyl listed on La La Land Records website.

There isn't. The comment was made (I assume) about Star Trek The Motion Picture, which definitely did get a vinyl release.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by eddievanhalen

It's a pitty as with all La La Land releases we will only get CD and LP releases, no Hi Res digital on any form. If Star Trek TMP, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and now Superman were remixed to 192/24 it would be inexpensive to release all those soundtracks as a single disc BD-Audio at its native resolution. I have the feeling this won't happen.

I'm not into soundtracks (at the moment) but couldn't you buy a CD and rip it in lossless quality? I'd assume their license doesn't cover digital sales.