Superman: The Movie 4K UHD (1978)

[5x10]

Young Clark’s nose piece doesn’t look as discolored as one previous versions

[Geoff D]

I thought so too, it's still there if you look for it but in some scenes it really does blend well.

[MEB]

Watched the 4K Superman this afternoon. It is, easily, the best this film has ever looked on home video. I watched the opening titles with both the ATMOS track and the DD 5.1 track. As mentioned earlier, I actually prefer the boosted LFE and swooshes (in the titles) so I watched the entire film in ATMOS. The DD 5.1 sounds fine, it just lacks the punch of the boosted effects.

The song on the kid's car radio is 'Rock Around The Clock', as it should be.

Blacks looks terrific. The star fields during the opening titles and other parts of the film are excellent. Space is nice and black and the stars are nice and bright. The glowing white Krypton clothing looked terrific too. It looked quite luminous on my setup but you could still see detail. Colors are awesome and Superman's suit stayed blue throughout, I don't recall a shift to teal anywhere. 99% of everything about this release is outstanding.

Now, my quibble... Playing it on my Panasonic UB900 (which lacks Dolby Vision) to my Sony 940E I felt the image was a bit too washed out at times. I feel Warner Bros went a little bit too far in dialing back the contrast (compared to earlier versions). Fortunately, it's not in every scene. Only the daylight outdoor scenes. It almost felt like there was a haze over the image (at times) that shouldn't be there. I don't mean softness, I mean a haze in the sense of how the sun would reflect off of a light fog and give a hazy look.

I am very curious to see how it will look in Dolby Vision when I get my UB9000 player. More important, how it will look in HDR10 with the UB9000's dynamic HDR adjustment set for the brightness of my 940E.

The lack of contrast didn't prevent me from enjoying the film. In fact, by the middle of the film I stopped thinking about it. But I certainly did notice it. It's been too long ago for me to remember if the original film was projected this way.

Mark

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I thought so too, it's still there if you look for it but in some scenes it really does blend well.

I didn't know about this. Damn you fiends, now I'll be looking for it. Leave me alone with my dreams.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by birdztudio

I don’t think it was that bad but yeah I think it was really hazy...

Just wait until Spielberg's 1941 comes to 4K...El Jefe can elaborate on the tech side, but I've always considered the look of Superman and 1941 to be twins, along with some Altman films from the 70's. It's not a mistake, it was a style. If you want an easy modern reference to style in cinematography, think about Kaminski's collaborations with Spielberg -- Spielberg's three-point composition and love of back lighting, Kamisnki having fun blowing out contrasts and desaturating colors. Minority Report is in color, but it's supposed to be evocative of classic film noir mysteries in cinema. It's a style. Works for you, or doesn't, but it's intentional. That's what Minority Report is supposed to look like.

So, back to Superman. Unsworth's style in 1978's Superman: The Movie was intentional. The diffused style is how it looks, how it's supposed to look.

[5x10]

I did see the banding on the final scene , with supes flying around the earth and I’m on projector


Easily the best version imo
Best it’s ever looked and first time I’ve ever seen this movie on the big screen
No regrets getting this

[Panama Jack]

Love all the reviews... keep 'em coming!!

[5x10]

Originally Posted by Panama Jack

Love all the reviews... keep 'em coming!!

U got mail



Little disappointed that they didn’t show the underground machine gun and ice on the way to luthors hideout
Guess that wasn’t in the theatrical version

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by 5x10

U got mail



Little disappointed that they didn’t show the underground machine gun and ice on the way to luthors hideout
Guess that wasn’t in the theatrical version

Nope. Always liked that sequence, matches up with the re-instated scene in the extended cut of Jor-El warning Supes not to let power go to his head and become arrogant -- which is what's going on in the Luther scene with the kryptonite that almost gets Supes killed. Always listen to your dad (unless you break the laws of time and space to save your girlfriend -- then, dad can go dangle).

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by madfloyd

I'd really like to know how it was filmed because it's very soft - like 8mm soft. I could throw a blurray from just about any movie from the 50's and it would look much superior.

There are 50's films/TV shows that look phenomenal on blu-ray - razor sharp. It all depends on the photography and the type of film used. Superman was always soft and diffused. It will never look as sharp as some of the films you're referring to from the 50's. The Twilight Zone series comes to mind - they look stunning on blu-ray. Superman can never look like that - the film and photography was totally different.

[KC-Technerd]

Anyone noticing a single frame artifact as Christopher Reeve's credit (opening titles) fades out that is only present on the 4K disc?

[StingingVelvet]

I'd be really irritated about UPS not delivering this today because they randomly wanted a signature when they usually never care, but I was watching election coverage all night anyway, so whatever.

[SGB]

Watched the UHD last night and I'm sorry to say I found it to be a mixed bag.

Before I dive into my "review" of the disc, I should state that I am well aware that the film was deliberately shot in a soft and diffused manner, which is something I have absolutely no problems with. In fact, that's one of the things I love in the film. The soft, diffused style gives the film a nice fantasy-esque look to it. What criticisms I have with the UHD is down to 4k mastering issues, NOT the cinematography.

I'll start off with the good.

Parts of the film look absolutely stunning on the UHD. The opening credits, the Smallville scenes, and the missile "hijack"/reprogramming scenes look the best. They're absolutely beautiful -- gorgeous, vibrant colours, vastly improved fine detail (so much detail I never noticed before), and great grain retention.

Contrast is well-handled, with no noticeable blown-out images or any other contrast-related issues.

Aside from some colour tone issues (mentioned below), there doesn't appear to be any blatant colour timing revisionist crap on the UHD like we saw on the Theatrical BD. Blues are blue, not teal, skin tones aren't orange or magenta, etc.

Now, the bad.

Other parts of the UHD, mostly during the second half of the film, suffer from either a flat, murky, or milky image, as well as a lack of colour vibrancy. During most of these parts, blacks sometimes appear milky or lacking in detail, and grain has a kind of absent look to it. Superman's first night in Metropolis is probably the most badly affected sequence.

One other problem I have with the UHD is that the blue and red colour tones of Superman's suit have a tendency to change from scene to scene or shot to shot. This is most noticeable in the helicopter rescue sequence. I found this to be quite distracting and disconcerting.

If I had to give the PQ a score out of 5, I would give it a 2 & 1/2. The UHD PQ is too problematic for me to give it a higher score. Out of all UHDs I've watched to date, this one is the most disappointing due to the PQ issues I have with it.

As for the 5.1 audio, my hearing problems and a lack of a surround system preclude me from giving it a proper review so all I'll say is that I didn't notice any issues or anomalies, and that everything sounded clear to my flawed ears. As a matter of preservation, Warner should have presented it in lossless format.

I didn't listen to the Atmos track and most likely never well as I dislike the replacement sound effects.

Given the high praise many have already given the UHD, I'd wager most people will disagree with my criticisms of the disc. But I'm calling it as I see it: it's a problematic release, one Warner need to revisit as the PQ issues does the film injustice.

Originally Posted by KC-Technerd

Anyone noticing a single frame artifact as Christopher Reeve's credit (opening titles) fades out that is only present on the 4K disc?

Yep, noticed that. Wonder what's up there?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by 5x10

I did see the banding on the final scene , with supes flying around the earth and I’m on projector


Easily the best version imo
Best it’s ever looked and first time I’ve ever seen this movie on the big screen
No regrets getting this

Thanks Mr 50, seeing as a projector shouldn't have banding at all then that confirms it's on the disc. Any cappers with the ripped file who can get a proper grab of that shot?

[ROSS.T.G.]

Not surprised this is receiving mixed feelings.

[slimdude]

Superman The Movie have never looked pristine on neither home video format, even on Blu-ray. I guess Warner Brothers did the best they could with what they had. It probably looked the same the way in the theater 40 years ago.

[Croweyes1121]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Thanks Mr 50, seeing as a projector shouldn't have banding at all then that confirms it's on the disc. Any cappers with the ripped file who can get a proper grab of that shot?

It's definitely there in the shot, but that sequence is so dark anyway that it didn't really bother me.

[Torgon]

Well, I hope to have this in a few days, and based on reviews, I see it like this: The 4K UHD has some problems, but it's still the best version we have. I'm happy with that. Not sure if Warner will ever fix these issues, so I'll take it and enjoy it.

[Bourne1886]

Originally Posted by birdztudio

I don’t think it was that bad but yeah I think it was really hazy...

There is a reason it looks like that. It’s always looked like that, it was a deliberate decision by Geoffrey Unsworth.

[ditcin]

It doesn't matter how good a job WB may or may not have done. People are still going to complain. My favorite are those who never saw it in the theater complaining saying it should look one way or the other …. really?!