Superman: The Movie 4K UHD (1978)

[sa5150]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

All the SD extras are the same as the DVDs. Which is good because my DVDs from the UCE tin are now rotted.
However, the Fleischer cartoons have slightly higher bitrates on the standalone 2 disc DVD and they did fix one or two of the audio errors but sadly not all.

Is this the best one for the superman cartoons ?https://www.amazon.com/Superman-Flei...NHCRPJBXEE398D

[ShellBeacher]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

IV gets a bad rap. It should have never been cut down so drastically and when examined you see they cut most of Hackman's best scenes and the entire climactic act!
Restoring the 134m original cut I think would help many people to better appreciate the film. I've liked it ever since first seeing it because most everyone is trying so damn hard that you feel their pain when the horribly low budget is holding them down.

That cut has got to exist somewhere (it was sneak previewed and tested once) but might have gotten lost in Cannon's madness. The extra scenes we did get on the DVD were workprint sourced and very rough.

It's been reasonably confirmed that Warner Bros. has found a cut of this.
What they do with it...is another matter.

[JediJones77]

I still don't think we know if the effects were finished in the long cut. I think everyone knows test screenings are often done without completed effects. One thing we do know is the movie was scored at this full length, but we also know composers sometimes score to movies with incomplete effects. The tornado and missile scenes may have been the only ones to make it to TV cuts because they were the only deleted scenes with finished effects.

Granted, it's hard to tell the difference between the "finished" and unfinished effects in this movie.

Finished sound is another concern. The Donner cut suffered from dialogue replacement issues too. The Superman IV deleted scenes often have fans blowing on them over the dialogue, and some dialogue that just drops out completely. If the long cut did not have the actors finish looping dialogue for it, the restoration of it gets more difficult.

[Ben_UK]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

The Vudu Donner cut is apparently someone in house splicing Lester theatrical footage into the Donner Cut. Several fans have tried their hands at making a hybrid cut with the big one being the Selutron version.

I like to ponder about SII all the time. Ultimately there's no way to fix it properly as the tone is so inconsistent between the two shoots in addition to the difference in time, shot composition, set design, changes in actor's appearances, the Hackman voice impersonator and so on. The film was really forever broken when the Salkinds fired Donner.

So in spite of all its shortcomings the Donner cut wins for its consistent tone which was ruined in the theatrical cut. Is it perfect? No way!-but the film was never allowed to be finished by the original creative team. I just recently revisited the theatrical for the first time in ages and the seams are really obvious in seeing the Donner vs Lester shot footage.

Where the DC really loses me is the modern sound design. It does not sound intrinsic to the film's production and I wish to heck they had made a purist option. SII has a pretty decent mix for 1980 and it's the one thing it has over the DC.

I hear you Solo and I agree. It largely depends on how much money Warner Bros wants to further invest into such a project. I heard somewhere that the Donner Cut cost several millions to produce, a figure that staggers me somewhat unless some of that was to pay the Brando estate, because I certainly dont see the millions on screen. You can never recreate the Donner vision of SII because the time has well passed, the only thing that they could do if they wanted to was to assemble a "final cut", which incorporated the best bits of the Donner version and whatever segments of the Lester cut were nessesary in order to provide a cohesive story. I think Donner just wanted to exise as much of the Lester stuff as possible and didnt really think about how it would affect the story or the final product, which is understandable given the well documented tensions.

The stuff Selutron did was very impressive on what I imagine was a no-budget exercise. I think they could so so much with it but again it depends what money is being invested. You could rotoscope the entire East Idaho sequence to Washington if the budget was there, but then you are looking at probably shot substitutions and borrowing footage from other movies (I think a sequence from Short Circuit was used for the Army tanks), but again it might look amateurish if executed poorly.

I too hated the sound design of the Donner Cut. Gone are the wonderful 70's/80's sound effects and brand new effects were put in place, also the music editing was woeful.

[Presh]

I can watch IV over SUPERMAN RETURNS

[Jlouisbarrett]

I’ve always loved Superman Returns, I think it fits right in with the Reeve films. Brandon Routh did a great job portraying Christopher Reeve’s Superman, and Kevin Spacey was an excellent Luthor (I may have enjoyed his performance more than Gene Hackman…!). The set design and cinematography was A+. Also, I think it was pretty daring and admirable for the studio to go forward with a straight sequel to Superman II rather than a full reboot.

Admittedly, however, the biggest thing that sinks it is the casting of Kate Bosworth. If they’d gotten that role right, the entire movie probably would have been received much better. It’s such a key, vital role and she really drags it down.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Ben_UK

I too hated the sound design of the Donner Cut. Gone are the wonderful 70's/80's sound effects and brand new effects were put in place, also the music editing was woeful.

The music editing is problematic because Williams was supposed to score Superman II and dropped out when they fired Donner. So Ken Thorne re-orchestrated most of the score from the first film anyway to fit the scenes. They of course couldn't really do that with the Williams recordings directly. Someone would need to rescore sections to fit the material like Thorne and I doubt they could get Williams to do that, not without big big bucks anyway.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Jlouisbarrett

Admittedly, however, the biggest thing that sinks it is the casting of Kate Bosworth. If they’d gotten that role right, the entire movie probably would have been received much better. It’s such a key, vital role and she really drags it down.

I really liked Superman Returns as well, even though I disagree a bit about Kate. I think she's just ok. She just comes off as a bit too distant. But that's probably how Singer directed her.

[motorheadache95]

As far as Returns goes, I was never a big fan of Routhe in the movie. Part of it I'd say wasn't even his fault, as the movie pretty much stops just short of forcing you to compare his Superman and Clark Kent to Reeves, being it's a spiritual successor. And compared to Reeves, I found Routhe pretty stiff and awkward, mostly lacking the charm of Reeves' Superman. I think I would have been more forgiving had we been watching a brand new take with a young Superman just starting out.

[CrossRhodes94]

I’m sure it’s been asked. But does this still ship with the slipcover?

[Lionel Horsepackage]

Originally Posted by CrossRhodes94

I’m sure it’s been asked. But does this still ship with the slipcover?

Not likely. The slipcover is pretty massively OOP at this point.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Jlouisbarrett

Admittedly, however, the biggest thing that sinks it is the casting of Kate Bosworth. If they’d gotten that role right, the entire movie probably would have been received much better. It’s such a key, vital role and she really drags it down.

Yep. Not only is she not right for the role, she's also way too young. A very weird bit of casting for sure.

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Yep. Not only is she not right for the role, she's also way too young. A very weird bit of casting for sure.

She was supposed to be the mother of a five-year-old, yet still looked like Routh should have been telling her to do her homework and get to bed by 11:00 PM.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

She was supposed to be the mother of a five-year-old, yet still looked like Routh should have been telling her to do her homework and get to bed by 11:00 PM.

She was like 21/22 when they filmed it, yet she's supposed to be a veteran reporter with a kid who banged Superman years ago and presumably went to college. Just crazy casting there. Routh also looked too young but at least he's an alien.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Routh, I believe, tried his best to channel Reeve, but that was not enough to save that film. It had story issues, editing issues, pacing issues, effects issues, etc.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

Routh, I believe, tried his best to channel Reeve, but that was not enough to save that film. It had story issues, editing issues, pacing issues, effects issues, etc.

Brandon Routh or any other actor can't fill the late: Christopher Reeve's shoes, just like Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger. Even though he's deceased, he will always be the best live action Superman.

[garyd97]

Originally Posted by CrossRhodes94

I’m sure it’s been asked. But does this still ship with the slipcover?

Mine still came with a slipcover a month ago. I just can’t remember if it was Amazon or Target.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

Routh, I believe, tried his best to channel Reeve, but that was not enough to save that film. It had story issues, editing issues, pacing issues, effects issues, etc.

I'd still sell my soul for a UHD of Returns though. Good god that BD needs retiring.

[Jlouisbarrett]

I watched the BD of Returns recently and I was shocked at how drab, dull, soft and lifeless it looked. I also watched one of the making-of documentaries from the Superman Anthology set, which contained clips of Returns, and it looked completely different. Much more colorful, contrasty and “punchy.” It made it seem like the look of the BD was some sort of error.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

Routh, I believe, tried his best to channel Reeve, but that was not enough to save that film. It had story issues, editing issues, pacing issues, effects issues, etc.

It definitely has pacing issues, though I think the story at its core is fine (or even good). It's a bit too melancholy though, especially as a "Superman 3," and Bosworth drives me nuts. Tighten up the edit and put a couple more thrill pieces in there and I think it'd be a pretty great movie honestly.

As is often the case though, miss by a foot and it can feel like a mile.