Superman: The Movie 4K UHD (1978)

[Bolty]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Tsk tsk. Robert Harris should certainly know that UHD is good for more than just spatial resolution.

Yes, he did mention the HDR should help a little. But he seems to be against older movies getting HDR anyway.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by MisterXDTV

To be honest that Blu-ray disc from 2011 is very good quality, maybe the compression is not the best but the quality of the source is very good...

Good source, not a great source. Let's see what the oneg comes up with.

Originally Posted by Bolty

On another site -- old Robert Harris seriously doubts UHD will add much of anything to this movie. He says due to the way it was filmed it has 1.8K resolution tops.

Doesn't matter to me, I love the version in the Anthology box set.

The same RAH that gushed over Grease? I take any of his UHD-related comments with a generous helping of salt.

[MisterXDTV]

Originally Posted by Bolty

Yes, he did mention the HDR should help a little. But he seems to be against older movies getting HDR anyway.

If this was a Universal title I would be terrified, but Warner MPI does a great job in movie restorations.

I trust them not to alter the intended look by the great Geoffrey Unsworth for the sake of HDR...

[Agent Kay]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Good source, not a great source. Let's see what the oneg comes up with.



The same RAH that gushed over Grease? I take any of his UHD-related comments with a generous helping of salt.

He has never gotten digital fully.
The Warner filtering over a soft film on a tealed early BD...
Yeah can't get no better.

[BrandonJF]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

The same RAH that gushed over Grease? I take any of his UHD-related comments with a generous helping of salt.

It's not very popular to say, but I eventually took most of his Blu-Ray comments with a grain of salt. I know he's an industry professional and I respect that to a certain extent, but it used to be very rare that he'd have anything negative to say about anything. Praise was almost always pretty superfluous, from what I recall. It's been a long time since I regularly read his brief reviews, so maybe something has changed (based on your Grease comment, it doesn't sound like it)... or he used to only review things that were always amazing. I did know that in the rare event he criticized something, it must be really bad.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Agent Kay

He has never gotten digital fully.
The Warner filtering over a soft film on a tealed early BD...
Yeah can't get no better.

Exactly. Even if the oneg won't be revealing a shit-note of extra detail, who's to say how much that existing master has been filtered for BD? This being Warners, I'm inclined to say "a lot", so in a funny way this isn't too dissimilar from an upscale kinda deal: the end result may well be hamstrung by the source but there's still every chance it's going to beat the existing BD quite handily. Such is life on UHD.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Exactly. Even if the oneg won't be revealing a shit-note of extra detail, who's to say how much that existing master has been filtered for BD? This being Warners, I'm inclined to say "a lot", so in a funny way this isn't too dissimilar from an upscale kinda deal: the end result may well be hamstrung by the source but there's still every chance it's going to beat the existing BD quite handily. Such is life on UHD.

And even if nothing else, we should see some better grain rendering which should help with a softer image like this.

[Geoff D]

Agreed. Better handling of temporal components (via both the higher resolution scan and the subsequent compression) can result in better retention of the detail contained within those components. It will always look soft, of that there is no doubt, but soft doesn't mean no detail...

[Agent Kay]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Exactly. Even if the oneg won't be revealing a shit-note of extra detail, who's to say how much that existing master has been filtered for BD? This being Warners, I'm inclined to say "a lot", so in a funny way this isn't too dissimilar from an upscale kinda deal: the end result may well be hamstrung by the source but there's still every chance it's going to beat the existing BD quite handily. Such is life on UHD.

It will bring back big dynamic range

[Geoff D]

That in itself will be interesting to see how they handle it. We know one thing for sure, if Warners issue a new BD based off the new scan then it will be blown out to balls

[TylerDurden389]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

You can only do it by carefully meshing the two cuts together with some other footage not used in either cut but seen in the ABC and international cuts and finish the film. There's enough there to make a complete story that blends with Superman: The Movie , it just means more of Lester's footage must be used with no test footage reel material... something Donner is loath to do as that, again, means a double Director billing in the credits.

Until the Donner Cut's release in 2006, the tv edit of Superman 2 was the 'true' version of Superman 2, to me. Sure it didn't have Donner's stuff and it still had Lester's slapstick, but at least it still felt like a complete movie, dag-nammit (unlike both official releases). Now my "true" version is one that isn't available in stores....

[TylerDurden389]

Welp, I now have a legit reason to finally upgrade to a 4K tv.

[reanimator]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

We should get a cleaner, more stable scan with finer detail & grain...

So they may need to change Perry White's line from "Look Ma, No Wires!" to "Look Ma, No Wires Except on 4K/UHD Where Sometimes You CAN See the Wires!"

[BNex99]

Originally Posted by Bolty

Yes, I have read that too. They include a fair amount of added Lester material in the streaming version of the Donner Cut. That must mean they legally have the right to make their own version without his consent. That bodes well for a cut that includes the Paris opening and the later "Honeymoon suite" version of the identity reveal.

Let's be honest -- if you change the opening to include Paris and add back in the Niagara Falls Lester stuff and mix it into the Donner Cut (minus the repeat time reversal) -- you have the ultimate version of the movie.


We're probably just wasting our time dreaming of that.

Absolutely.

That weird extended version on Vudu notwithstanding, there is probably no chance of the Donner Cut being revisited again. At most, it might get a 4K upscale at some point. And we may get the TV cut on Blu-ray, which would be nice.

But as we've seen, everyone has their own opinion of what the "ideal" version of Superman II would include. Who would get to decide what ends up in any new "official" version in the future?

Those involved in the actual production of the film have had their say, for better or worse. It's done.

We (myself included) have really gotten spoiled by everything that's been made available on physical media over the past 20 years. Of course it's disappointing when something that might have have been possible is not delivered, but there is SO much to enjoy and be grateful for.

I'm speaking to myself as much as anyone, but sometimes it's good to step back and appreciate what we have. I'm excited for a 4K Superman for sure, but if it doesn't turn out right, the BD from the Anthology set will do me just fine for a good long while.

[RalphoR]

I love original audio but in this case I'm really excited about hearing that tremendous John Williams score in HD audio like I've never heard it before.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by reanimator

So they may need to change Perry White's line from "Look Ma, No Wires!" to "Look Ma, No Wires Except on 4K/UHD Where Sometimes You CAN See the Wires!"

Warners will probably erase the wires like they did for the current masters.

[guachi]

I'm no movie expert but even I can see in my mind the softness of Superman 1. I suspect there will be many complaints about the softness like the complaints about the graininess of Ghostbusters 1.

If nothing else, though, a UHD release is an excuse to go back and rescan things and make things better. So I'm looking forward to an OCN scan to hopefully give us the best Superman we'll ever likely get and some nice HDR.

[guachi]

Originally Posted by RalphoR

I love original audio but in this case I'm really excited about hearing that tremendous John Williams score in HD audio like I've never heard it before.

The lives of many American movie goers were filled with epic John Williams movies.

I was born in '74 so I got:
Jaws '75
Star Wars '77
Close Encounters '77
Superman '78
Empire Strikes Back '80
Raiders of the Lost Ark '81
ET '82

in rapid succession. That's seven amazing scores in eight years. What an output.

[Bolty]

Originally Posted by BNex99

Absolutely.

That weird extended version on Vudu notwithstanding, there is probably no chance of the Donner Cut being revisited again. At most, it might get a 4K upscale at some point. And we may get the TV cut on Blu-ray, which would be nice.

But as we've seen, everyone has their own opinion of what the "ideal" version of Superman II would include. Who would get to decide what ends up in any new "official" version in the future?

Those involved in the actual production of the film have had their say, for better or worse. It's done.

We (myself included) have really gotten spoiled by everything that's been made available on physical media over the past 20 years. Of course it's disappointing when something that might have have been possible is not delivered, but there is SO much to enjoy and be grateful for.

I'm speaking to myself as much as anyone, but sometimes it's good to step back and appreciate what we have. I'm excited for a 4K Superman for sure, but if it doesn't turn out right, the BD from the Anthology set will do me just fine for a good long while.

True, but ironically as soon as most people saw the Donner Cut it became clear that a hybrid with more Lester footage was the better way to have gone. I really dislike the Lester cut, but the movie really doesn't work without more of it.
But I agree we should just be grateful that we got to see all the deleted footage in context. So glad I can pop in the DC and see what they intended for the father/son arc in the 2 movies.

[TylerDurden389]

The tv/RIC cut remastered would be at least 1 step in the right direction.