Superman: The Movie (1978) (Extended Cut & Special Edition)

[HuggyBear73]

I'm def grabbing this, but still no theatrical cut?

[Scarface32]

How is this different than this:

[The Great Owl]

All I know is that the longer version of Superman: The Movie that I already own on Blu-ray by way of the existing box set is my preferred version over the theatrical release, so I'll be buying this WAC Blu-ray just to see what else is in the fold, and to see the difference in picture quality.

(By contrast, I think that the original theatrical release of Superman II is vastly superior to the Richard Donnor cut.)

I never understood why, out of all of the beautiful women in the world, Superman fell for the Margot Kidder's shrill Lois Lane, but, hey, it's make-believe.

[kidglov3s]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

How is this different than this:

Disc 1: Superman The Movie TV Cut - 1982, ABC, (__), Syndication - 188(ish)min - New to home video with this release.

Disc 2: Superman The Movie Expanded Edition - 2000 - 151min - on DVD, BD for forever, I expect this to be the same disc from the Anthology.

Their presentation in that press release is super confusing, they should be clearly labeling this the TV cut.

[captainsolo]

Saw this on fb and had to find my mouth where it fell on the floor. I've read about various fan attempts to recreate this with varying degrees of success but due to a lack of enthusiasm from WB and the legal wrangling with the Salkinds I never thought it would happen.
Also of note that this is WAC doing a new hd master which very likely means it will be without the awful teal coloring of the newer bd masters. It's nice they're providing another cut. But it's really unnecessary as you likely already have the extended cut.
What is necessary is to release the theatrical version without teal manipulated color with the original 70mm audio mix. While the 5.1 remix is nice it is revisionist and the 1978 Dolby stereo is very flat sounding-even in theaters. The best audio for the original film is still the Laserdisc which seems to be derived from the 70mm mix. It's far fuller sounding and has the opening presented correctly by starting mono and segueing to full stereo surround for the titles. (Talk about dramatic!)

[Scarface32]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I never understood why, out of all of the beautiful women in the world, Superman fell for the Margot Kidder's shrill Lois Lane, but, hey, it's make-believe.

Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole) from Superman III makes more sense than Lois Lane.

[TylerDurden389]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

Saw this on fb and had to find my mouth where it fell on the floor.

Same here. I immediately came here to see if this was for real. OMFG!!! DAy 1 for sure. Hopefully the tv edit of Superman 2 ain't far behind. Oh, the fun us fan editors are gonna have with these!!!

[kidglov3s]

Too bad they didn't shoot the scene where Clark becomes obsessed with the vibrant young rebellious girl in Black Christmas shortly before taking the leap to the big city only to find the woman of his dreams working at the next desk over.

[b00f]

This is great news! Thanks for sharing! Superman was another child hood favorite. It will be awesome to watch this version.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by thatguamguy

Based on the references on the IMDb page, I believe he is making the distinction between the "Salkind International Extended Cut" (188 minutes) which was prepared for TV and the ABC-TV cut (182 minutes).

Correct

[rickah88]

Wow, talk about a pleasant surprise! I didn't even know this on WB's radar.
Thanks to the MCU and now the DCCU, superhero business is a'booming!

[Clark Kent]

I have no words for this stunning announcement.

I recommend reading this piece on Caped Wonder (a fantastic site) that explains the history of this extended television cut.

http://www.capedwonder.com/superman-the-movie-extended/

It is mildly disturbing that a movie of this stature was shuttled off to Warner Archive. The only thing I can imagine is that Warner is holding off on mainstream Superman reissues for UHD and didn't want this normal Blu-ray muddling those waters.

Now where is Supergirl?

[elvisranger]

OMG this is huge!!!!!!!!!!DAY ONE!!!!!!

[Scarface32]

If Clark didn't try to race his dad to the house, Jonathan might not have had a heart attack and died. Clark killed his adopted dad.

[Socko]

My wife is loving this.
WB is taking my money again.

I'll bet they will do the same with part II.
One can only hope.

[Hardback247]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

Also of note that this is WAC doing a new hd master which very likely means it will be without the awful teal coloring of the newer bd masters.

How do you know that they are doing a new master?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Hardback247

How do you know that they are doing a new master?

Says so in the announcement. See first post.

[kidglov3s]

Maybe because I'm not a big fan of it vs the theatrical cut but I'm just noticing that they've been very inconsistent in how they list the 2000 cut.

2000 DVD - No indication that it's not the theatrical cut beyond description in paragraph on the back of the box.

2006 DVD sets - "2000 Expanded Editition"

2006 Blu-ray - Not named as a longer cut, description in paragraph on the back.

2011 Blu-ray anthology - "Expanded Edition"

2017 WAC press release - "Special Edition"

They should've stuck with Expanded Edition and for this release have called it the "2000 Expanded Edition", like the 2006 DVDs did (calling the TV cut "1982 ________ ") would've made that whole thing way easier to follow.

[milo bloom]

Fantastic news. This is what I love seeing on DVD/Bluray; all these "forgotten" versions of otherwise mainstream titles.

[thatguamguy]

Originally Posted by baheidstu

In your zeal to be belligerent, perhaps you should step back and take a minute to actually comprehend what is being said.

Here's a quick summary of what was said:
"Maybe I'm reading it wrong...."
(you) "Actually, yes, you are obviously reading it wrong."
"In point of fact, you are the one reading it wrong."
(you) "Am not am not, they *wrote* it wrong."

Let me give you a piece of advice: not being able to acknowledge their own meaningless mistake is not a good look on anybody.