Superman: The Movie 4K UHD (1978)

[HarrySullivan]

Originally Posted by Bolty

That's all logical. But I didn't, don't and never will want to see him come off "as pretty pathetic".

I know he never fought anybody. But his dad bothered to warn him that Zod was alive out there somewhere. So in the 12 years he was learning in the fortress his dad image never so much as told him not to turn his back on a dishonorable bully -- twice? Also if the galaxy was a "bloody mosaic of interplanetary war" -- then perhaps all those other races were not as weak as humans and he might need to know how to defend himself from rogue elements from them?


I get that he was pathetically naïve, but I don't accept him as that. Pure, honest, honorable, decent -- but stupidly naïve?-- no.

You may not want to see it, but it's not an error on the filmmaker's part; Clark is deliberately shown to not be any kind of fighter, so that when he later does "man up" and take on the villains, it is more of an achievement.

The "bloody mosaic of interplanetary war" is referred to as being ancient history, so actual hand to hand combat techniques might be judged as superfluous to a modern education. Jor-El's teachings were apparently on the level of Einstein, early Chinese writings, and concepts of immortality; I guess barroom brawls just didn't make the syllabus.

Clark did have the collected knowledge of the 28 known galaxies in those crystals though; maybe he should have got around to reading "Self-Defence for Beginners", but it probably never seemed worthwhile, what with being totally invulnerable. Silly boy. Oh well, lesson learned.

[Bolty]

Glad you liked the scene exactly as it was -- I didn't. I never said it was an "error" -- I said I hated the choice to see him so pathetic. He's nothing without his powers. Can't last one day, can't take care of himself in one confrontation. To paraphrase -- "If you're nothing without the powers -- you don't deserve the powers.


Every time I watch either version of Superman II it pales further in the comparison to the first one.

And not because of FX IMO -- because of the poor execution of the story..

[MD-Blu]

Originally Posted by Bolty

I wish we would get something official on some of these releases.

I'm actually surprised that they didn't have the official announcement during Comic-Con last night either before or after the B: TAS BD.

[Croweyes1121]

Originally Posted by Bolty

Glad you liked the scene exactly as it was -- I didn't. I never said it was an "error" -- I said I hated the choice to see him so pathetic. He's nothing without his powers. Can't last one day, can't take care of himself in one confrontation. To paraphrase -- "If you're nothing without the powers -- you don't deserve the powers”.

I’d argue that he’s not “nothing without the powers”...just that he’s never been in a situation where he NEEDED to be careful or know how to fight against anyone or anything that could actually do him damage. It’s like a child who just reaches out to touch a flame until they realize it will burn them. If you have no frame of reference for that experience, you’re going to learn it the hard way. I don’t see him as pathetic; he just has no experience.

[Bolty]

Originally Posted by Croweyes1121

I’d argue that he’s not “nothing without the powers”...just that he’s never been in a situation where he NEEDED to be careful or know how to fight against anyone or anything that could actually do him damage. It’s like a child who just reaches out to touch a flame until they realize it will burn them. If you have no frame of reference for that experience, you’re going to learn it the hard way. I don’t see him as pathetic; he just has no experience.

Actually the other poster first used the word "pathetic" -- I just happen to agree.

What I'm saying without all the rationalizing -- is that as an audience we see him interact with the real world for exactly 90 seconds of screen time and immediately after that he CHOOSES to challenge somebody to a fight rather than avoid one and then gets suckered twice, beaten up and realizes "Oops, I guess I need my powers."

That is my exact definition of pathetic. The arc is pathetic. As another poster pointed out when Peter Parker lost his powers he did revert to being kind of a nerd but he was happy and doing well and not until the guilt of not helping people really kicked in did he reclaim his powers.

It's also dumb because Lois loved Superman not dufus Clark -- so why did he need to renounce his powers? And please don't say "they couldn't make love while he's all super strong" -- because that's not something an audience in 1980 would have been thinking about.

He temporarily lost his powers as a plot device to later trick the villains into losing theirs to defeat them. How about he just beats them? How about he figures out a way to prevail without simply having a device drain them of powers?


I respect the opinions of those who like the movie. I like the movie -- it is a charming piece of movie history -- but it's not a great script in any case.

The more I see the two movies I think it would have been better to just make two separate movies and not try to plot, write and film the sequel at the same time.

In the end, the cast always saves these movies for me. Not the writers.

[RalphoR]

Originally Posted by Bolty

Actually the other poster first used the word "pathetic" -- I just happen to agree.

What I'm saying without all the rationalizing -- is that as an audience we see him interact with the real world for exactly 90 seconds of screen time and immediately after that he CHOOSES to challenge somebody to a fight rather than avoid one and then gets suckered twice, beaten up and realizes "Oops, I guess I need my powers."

That is my exact definition of pathetic. The arc is pathetic. As another poster pointed out when Peter Parker lost his powers he did revert to being kind of a nerd but he was happy and doing well and not until the guilt of not helping people really kicked in did he reclaim his powers.

It's also dumb because Lois loved Superman not dufus Clark -- so why did he need to renounce his powers? And please don't say "they couldn't make love while he's all super strong" -- because that's not something an audience in 1980 would have been thinking about.

He temporarily lost his powers as a plot device to later trick the villains into losing theirs to defeat them. How about he just beats them? How about he figures out a way to prevail without simply having a device drain them of powers?


I respect the opinions of those who like the movie. I like the movie -- it is a charming piece of movie history -- but it's not a great script in any case.

The more I see the two movies I think it would have been better to just make two separate movies and not try to plot, write and film the sequel at the same time.

In the end, the cast always saves these movies for me. Not the writers.

It would have been "murder by ejaculation "....

[ShellBeacher]

Originally Posted by MisterXDTV

It's surprising they are giving the first movie the royal 4K treatment, I don't think the sequels are coming anytime soon if ever...

Originally Posted by paulfootball

Maybe they'll toss in that Metro Club scene from Superman 4 as a little bonus.

The guy running the "Supermanthemovie" page on Facebook just claimed (about S4) this morning in a comment section for one of his posts that:

"The full workprint is there in the WB vaults."

Was this ever confirmed, or just 'thought' to be true?

[s2mikey]

Originally Posted by Bolty

Actually the other poster first used the word "pathetic" -- I just happen to agree.

What I'm saying without all the rationalizing -- is that as an audience we see him interact with the real world for exactly 90 seconds of screen time and immediately after that he CHOOSES to challenge somebody to a fight rather than avoid one and then gets suckered twice, beaten up and realizes "Oops, I guess I need my powers."

That is my exact definition of pathetic. The arc is pathetic. As another poster pointed out when Peter Parker lost his powers he did revert to being kind of a nerd but he was happy and doing well and not until the guilt of not helping people really kicked in did he reclaim his powers.

It's also dumb because Lois loved Superman not dufus Clark -- so why did he need to renounce his powers? And please don't say "they couldn't make love while he's all super strong" -- because that's not something an audience in 1980 would have been thinking about.

He temporarily lost his powers as a plot device to later trick the villains into losing theirs to defeat them. How about he just beats them? How about he figures out a way to prevail without simply having a device drain them of powers?


I respect the opinions of those who like the movie. I like the movie -- it is a charming piece of movie history -- but it's not a great script in any case.

The more I see the two movies I think it would have been better to just make two separate movies and not try to plot, write and film the sequel at the same time.

In the end, the cast always saves these movies for me. Not the writers.

Sure, a few of these points are fair to make. The "arc" of the de-powered Superman and the fact that in just one scene hes back to having to get his powers back was fast. But, they did just see that Zod had captured the white house. Again - fast and convenient but you could see the urgency there. Its not great though, no.

I didnt find actually losing his powers as a plot device at all - I thought that was good stuff and the subsequent power suck from the villians was awesome, IMO. When he crushes Zods hand, its like one of the best scenes in the series!

I think renouncing powers for Superheroes is just a thing they have to go through. He figured that to protect Lois he had to ditch the Superman persona. Same for Peter Parker and others. It makes sense, mostly. I had no problem with it. It wasnt because he had a super-weener either, lol.

The cast certainly makes these first two films great and the script isnt award wining but it all works and I find them to be timless staples of film enjoyment, albeit with some charm & cheese. Still 1,000x better than The "new" Superman garbage that they are putting out now, thats for sure.

[Bolty]

Always wondered if the snake biting Ursa was a Lester idea or Donner. Does it seem odd that she even felt it when we see them basically get hits with missiles and bullets and bazookas?

I understand the point of the scene is to she her lash out and activate her heat vision but I just thought that was a weird thing to show her react and rub her wrist as if it hurt.

EDIT: I found the Donner version of the script and the snake scene isn't in it. That was added for the Lester cut.

[LexInHD]

Originally Posted by ShellBeacher

The guy running the "Supermanthemovie" page on Facebook just claimed (about S4) this morning in a comment section for one of his posts that:

"The full workprint is there in the WB vaults."

Was this ever confirmed, or just 'thought' to be true?

It is probably true. The Director's Cut/initial cut of the film was test-screened in Murica before the Canon Cut was released as the theatrical cut to shorten the run time for more showings and make the film more fast-paced for kids to watch.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by mlabonte21

I really hope WB takes the smart approach with this and just does a 4K scan of ALL Superman I & II materials.

It's the 40th anniversary and-- more than likely-- the last time they will be doing any sort of restoration of this series.

4K restore all and provide all 3 cuts via branching: DONE

More expensive? Sure-- but at least it's done.

Superman II is a seperate beast:

First-- Do a 4K scan of all materials.

Second-- (WB will hate this) clean up the lame VFX created for the Donner Cut blu-ray.

I know the market for this is "small", but Youtubers have been doing better effects for years now--surely they can get it done relatively cheap.

If possible, re-cut the Donner Cut with a bit more Lester footage (specifically the ending).

Release the two cuts seperately: Done

Superman III, IV, & Returns:

Do a normal 4K scan and leave them be.

Actually, I'd like to see the TV/extended cut of Superman III presented properly. I don't care about IV.

[mar3o]

What I'm really hoping for is his suit to be blue again, not teal.

[s2mikey]

Originally Posted by Bolty

Always wondered if the snake biting Ursa was a Lester idea or Donner. Does it seem odd that she even felt it when we see them basically get hits with missiles and bullets and bazookas?

I understand the point of the scene is to she her lash out and activate her heat vision but I just thought that was a weird thing to show her react and rub her wrist as if it hurt.

EDIT: I found the Donner version of the script and the snake scene isn't in it. That was added for the Lester cut.

Yep - why did it bother her? Maybe because she want expecting it like the gunfire during the scene of the small town take-over? Dunno, suspect though, for sure.

Reminds me of the old black & white Superman show with George Reeves where he would stand there and take bullets like a champ but he DUCKED when the bad guy ran out of bullets and threw the gun at him... I was like.... "Dude.... WTF????"

[fighthefutureofhd]

Maybe the gun was made out of Kryptonite.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Ben_UK

Hah, at least VHS worked, and the player didn't crash every couple of hours or require updating to play the latest stuff.

Instead, we had to deal with tracking issues and the tape being chewed up.

[The Fallen Deity]

Originally Posted by mar3o

What I'm really hoping for is his suit to be blue again, not teal.

If the BD of the TV cut as well as the BD of Supergirl are anything to go by, his suit will probably be blue again.

It seems like WB have stopped tealifying their catalogue transfers.

[Ernest Rister]

I'm probably wrong, but I thought the reason there were some greenish costumes of Supes in the Donner film was because of compositing issues with the blue-screen, as in his costume was a little green in at least one famous shot, and Donner had that digitally corrected for the theatrical re-issue and subsequent DVD release.

[Gamma_Winstead]

I'm actually watching the features on my anthology set as I type. I never saw the original Reeve's Superman films until about a year ago when I got the set on sale for Black Friday. Not only is it one of my favorite boxsets that I've ever owned, but I'll be buying this day one. One of my favorite films ever.

[Dotpattern]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

I'm probably wrong, but I thought the reason there were some greenish costumes of Supes in the Donner film was because of compositing issues with the blue-screen, as in his costume was a little green in at least one famous shot, and Donner had that digitally corrected for the theatrical re-issue and subsequent DVD release.

You are correct. But I think what the previous posts are referring to is this

Superman III Blu-Ray VS DVD : Side by Side Comparison : 1080p - YouTube

or more specifically, this

Superman: The Movie Blu Ray : Side by Side Comparison : 1080p - YouTube

[Ernest Rister]

Gotcha.