Superman: The Movie 4K UHD (1978)

[moviebuff75]

Fix Christopher Reeve's credit in the original! The UHD bobbles it with some odd orange.

[Croweyes1121]

Originally Posted by Ben_UK

Will there be a revised version of Supes 1? The bright highlights of the Krypton scenes are all messed up.

+1. I’d be MUCH more excited for the sequels if we were getting a fixed disc of the original to go with them. I never watch the 4K because of the colors. Skin tones have this weird salmon shade to them. Not to mention the Krypton scenes look terribly dark. HDR should really bring that part of the film to life, but instead it’s just toned down until the intended effect is virtually gone. I’d rebuy the first film in a heartbeat if they fixed it.

[dallywhitty]

Warner Bros are celebrating their 100th anniversary next year and have said they wanna celebrate big. The cynic in me says we'll just get repackages, but the optimist wants a flood of catalogue titles and proper redos of those already released. Give us the Burton/Schumacher Batflicks with original audio, pls. I can't even watch Batman Returns with that remix.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Hedrox

They'd use it on "prestige" titles, but after the Middle Earth movies they've dropped it altogether. They didn't budge even for Clockwork Orange, when all previous Kubrickses had it.

They took a page from Disney and kept it for the streaming service.

Not all previous Kubrickses, FMJ didn't have it. They've always been spotty with catalogue DV support, I won't argue that they've stopped applying it to catalogue UHDs in general but it was never a guarantee even for the "prestige" titles. Always reminds me of Universal, they'd apply it to this catalogue but not that one, and they too have now stopped bothering with DV on catalogue UHD product. Prolly not a coincidence either, seeing as they've partnered up to distribute each other's product (Universal handle Warners' US stuff while Warners handle Universal's overseas disc distribution).

[RalphoR]

I'm all in for Superman Returns in 4k. There's a lot to like there but definitely some to not. At worst please release the plane crash scene in native 4k with DV and Atmos.

[ShellBeacher]

Originally Posted by Jlouisbarrett

I’ll never understand the disdain for Superman Returns — it’s a classic, Reeves-era Superman movie through and through, with EXCELLENT cinematography to boot.

Do you mean the George Reeves 1950s' era? Because I'm tired of people getting Christopher Reeve's name wrong repeatedly. I know it's not a conscious thing, but it's like a cognitive block...

Grateful that all of these are finally going to be released on 4K, but I'm going to bet against some of the other voters here and posit that RETURNS may actually *not* show up on 4K right away with II, III, IV. I think Warners is ready now to separate these catalogue titles as they no longer feel the need to tie it in to the Reeve films for franchise synergy... Especially if these titles are initially released as singular 4K discs. And of course they are deep in major corporate shifts right now. They may only be betting on sure things for home video for a while. RETURNS loses cultural cache with every passing year.

[DR Herbert West]

It's sad how excited I am for Superman IV.

[jess1581]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

It's sad how excited I am for Superman IV.

Not that sad, Reeve elevates everything he's in. I just wish WB would take a certain YouTuber up on his offer to "fix" Superman IV with proper visuals. I've seen this guy do fantastic work. It wouldn't be no skin off WB's nose since he has the tools, he just needs their permission.

[Croweyes1121]

Originally Posted by jess1581

Not that sad, Reeve elevates everything he's in. I just wish WB would take a certain YouTuber up on his offer to "fix" Superman IV with proper visuals. I've seen this guy do fantastic work. It wouldn't be no skin off WB's nose since he has the tools, he just needs their permission.

Indeed. He’s a friend of mine. His work is truly amazing.

[jess1581]

Originally Posted by Croweyes1121

Indeed. He’s a friend of mine. His work is truly amazing.

We talking APRICEPRODUCTIONS?

[Croweyes1121]

Originally Posted by jess1581

We talking APRICEPRODUCTIONS?

Yep. Just sent him your comments and it made his day.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Croweyes1121

+1. I’d be MUCH more excited for the sequels if we were getting a fixed disc of the original to go with them. I never watch the 4K because of the colors. Skin tones have this weird salmon shade to them. Not to mention the Krypton scenes look terribly dark. HDR should really bring that part of the film to life, but instead it’s just toned down until the intended effect is virtually gone. I’d rebuy the first film in a heartbeat if they fixed it.

Warners have done some excellent 4K catalogue transfers but they dropped the ball with STM. It’s still mightily enjoyable just for the 70mm split-surround audio but there are waaay too many issues with the transfer that should’ve been cleaned up and yes, the grading of the Krypton council scenes is just bizarre.

[jess1581]

Originally Posted by Croweyes1121

Yep. Just sent him your comments and it made his day.

Yeah? Well thank you, man. I'd buy his version of the film in a heartbeat. I love how he doesn't try to make new looking visuals, just better visuals that still keeps with the 80's aesthetic. Giving him the opportunity would be all WIN for WB, no downside. I hope he campaigns hard for that chance, and meanwhile keep it up.

[Croweyes1121]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Warners have done some excellent 4K catalogue transfers but they dropped the ball with STM. It’s still mightily enjoyable just for the 70mm split-surround audio but there are waaay too many issues with the transfer that should’ve been cleaned up and yes, the grading of the Krypton council scenes is just bizarre.

Yep. I synced up that track to the BD, and that’s how I still watch the film…and it breaks my heart.

[DR Herbert West]

The TV Cut is still my favorite Superman transfer.

[BNex99]

I find RETURNS more frustrating than outright bad. There are some terrific sequences, but as a whole, I think it's a little misguided. In trying to recreate the feel of I & II, it kind of plays the notes but not the music. And it's not really a sequel to I & II, but rather some alternate-universe version of them. It's never clear which parts it's taking as its backstory, so it gets confusing how we're supposed to feel at certain points.

Still, I'd love to see a better representation of it on disc. Even a fresh AVC encode on a standard Blu would be an improvement.

[lildemon666]

You think we might get a re-release of one with the TV cut in 4K?

[TWIN-FR]

Originally Posted by ShellBeacher

Grateful that all of these are finally going to be released on 4K, but I'm going to bet against some of the other voters here and posit that RETURNS may actually *not* show up on 4K right away with II, III, IV. I think Warners is ready now to separate these catalogue titles as they no longer feel the need to tie it in to the Reeve films for franchise synergy... Especially if these titles are initially released as singular 4K discs. And of course they are deep in major corporate shifts right now. They may only be betting on sure things for home video for a while. RETURNS loses cultural cache with every passing year.

You're right, but I think you can't release Returns individually now. It would get almost no interest from anyone. Pair it with the individual movies is quite an obligation.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by TWIN-FR

You're right, but I think you can't release Returns individually now. It would get almost no interest from anyone. Pair it with the individual movies is quite an obligation.

I'd much prefer it got it's own release, I've always seen it as it's own thing. I thought the shuttle scene was just amazing when I first saw it. I rewatched the whole movie within hours, which is something I don't often do.

[Hedrox]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Not all previous Kubrickses, FMJ didn't have it.

You're right, for some reason I always had FMJ with Dolby in my head. I still don't see them including it on these Superman sequels but we'll see.