Superman

[Ben]

Yeah, that’s been the old joke since even when reviews of the first film came out!

Would have been quite cool if that image had been the pic used there in the steelbook, although the set does have a lenticular card that supposedly will recreate that very same vinyl album sleeve experience.

[Daniel]

Further details:

Superman: The Movie:
4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
DOLBY ATMOS AUDIO TRACK
Commentary by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spangler
The Making of Superman – vintage featurette
Superman and the Mole-Men – vintage featurette
Super-Rabbit – 1943 WB cartoon
Snafuperman – 1944 WB cartoon
Stupor Duck – 1956 WB cartoon
TV Spot
Teaser Trailer
Theatrical Trailer

Superman II (Theatrical Version):
4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
DOLBY ATMOS AUDIO TRACK
Commentary by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler
The Making of Superman II – 1980 TV Special
Superman's Soufflé – Deleted scene
Fleischer Studios' Superman vintage cartoons
First Flight
The Mechanical Monster
Billion Dollar Limited
The Arctic Giant
The Bulleteers
The Magnetic Telescope
Electric Earthquake
Volcano
Terror on the Midway
Theatrical trailer

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut:
4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
DOLBY ATMOS AUDIO TRACK
Commentary by Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz
Introduction by Richard Donner – featurette
Superman II: Restoring the Vision – featurette
Deleted scenes
Lex and Ms. Teschmacher head north
Lex and Ms. Teschmacher head south
The villains enter the fortress
He's all yours, boys
Clarke and Jimmy
Lex's gateway
Famous Studios vintage cartoons
Japoteurs
Showdown
Eleventh Hour
Destruction, Inc.
The Mummy Strikes
Jungle Drums
The Underground World
Secret Agent

Superman III:
4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
DOLBY ATMOS AUDIO TRACK
Commentary by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler
The Making of Superman III – 1983 TV special
Deleted scenes
Save my baby
To the rescue
Making up
Going to see the boss
Hatching the plan
The con
Rooftop ski
Boss wants this to go
Superman honored
Gus' speech
Hanging up on Brad
Theatrical trailer

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace:
4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
DOLBY ATMOS AUDIO TRACK
Commentary by Mark Rosenthal
Superman 50th anniversary special – 1988 TV special
Deleted scenes
Clark's morning
Jeremy's letter
Superman's visit
Nuclear Man's prototype
Metropolis after hours
Lex ponders
Flying sequence (extended scene)
Battle in Smallville
Battle in the U.S.S.R.
Nuclear arms race
Superman's sickness
Red alert
By my side
Lark and Lacy say goodbye
No borders
Theatrical trailer

[Ben]

Pooh…by all accounts the newly restored version of The Movie, which was widely expected to debut here, is not going to, instead it being a reprise of the botched 2018 4K. Worse, they seem to have dropped the stellar original 70mm six-track stereo surround audio track which is worth sitting through the substandard image for.

And still no details on SII and if it’s just an upscale or a 4K redo. Nevertheless, I have orders open with three different places to make sure I get those original poster steelbooks, natch, even if I half expect another edition to come for the actual anniversary at the end of the year…!

[Randall]

The Bits does say that the "original" audio will now be on the 4K disc, but we'll see what that means.

The Fleischer/Famous cartoons are now appearing on their own Blu-ray set as well. It's not clear if the new HD versions will be on the Blus in this set, but I doubt it. Anyway, the Blu set has a new featurette as well. Nice cover, even if the images don't quite match up (I had to say that for Ben's sake).

[Ben]

Well it’s true! I’m really not sure what those "soldiers"(?) are doing there, in a completely different drawing style and perspective (or even representing…er…what cartoon particularly? Japoteurs? Or is that the US army shooting on Supes and a US human civilian!?), but the overall feel is great.

"Original audio" on STM is confirmed as being 2.0, so who knows what that means. Just hoping it’s not the crummy 35mm release soundtrack that we’ve had for years, or a mixdown of the also crummy SE remix. There is some hope that the six-track 70mm has been used as a bed for the "new" Atmos, but we'll see. This release seems botched and ripe for replacement with a standalone STM release at the end of the year even before it’s been released!

The animated featurette does seem exclusive to the standalone, though the extras on the 4K indicate "HD extras", so that’s up in the air (see what I did there?) as far as the shirts go too. We won’t know what we have until the sets are in our hands.

[Randall]

Given that I don't even have a 4K player yet, I am buying this set for the packaging. And that admittedly may be silly, so I reserve the right to cancel my preorder.

But STM is my favourite movie! This is hard to pass up.

[Ben]

I am becoming more and more convinced that we are getting a megaset for the first film at the end of the year, with remastered theatrical, special edition and extended cuts, with the WB100 branding. This one is more about getting the sequels the sequels out there to match the 2018 disc.

[Daniel]

The Fleischer set is out today but it sounds like a botched job. Pity.

[Ben]

Yes, apparently after a lovely ckean-up job by Warners' MPI unit, the home video bunch DVNR'd the heck and compressed them…on to ONE disc. I was too late to cancel my already on the way import, but it’s likely I stick with running the DVDs when I do a Superman run in September.

[Daniel]

Pretty good lengthy review:

[Ben]

I started this a few days ago and working my way in chunks. He gets pretty riled up, which is quite funny to see him trying to keep himself in check. It’s a little scary…!

[James]

Fun article from DC! "Seven Powers We've All Forgotten Superman Has"

https://www.dc.com/blog/2021/03/10/seve ... perman-has

[Ben]

These are some pretty kooky powers, but it’s a shame how often the super-kiss keeps getting trashed.

Here’s the thing: Superman can’t make out with a human as, so the joke goes, he would "break them”. This is why, in the original (proper) movie continuum of Superman II, he has to give up his powers and "live as one of them, become one of them" as he simply can’t be with Lois for fear of being overwhelming. So he loses his powers, they make love, and all is fine.

Later, he has to get his powers back because, y'know, story, so he has them when he kisses Lois again at the end. This time, full-on Krypto-Clark is in effect. Now,I donut know about you, but I know I've had a few pretty intense kisses in my time that have been, and left me, pretty doozy. And that’s just with another human being (well, at least that’s what they told me)!

So I totally buy, and never had a problem, with the super-kiss, as what else did anyone think was going to happen!? He had to lose his powers so he could be with her, he had to lose them so he could kiss her, and make love. Of *course* kissing her back at full power is going to send her into a dizzy spin! Whether he planned it or it was a handy side-effect that made her forget, well, that’s another question, but my guess is that he was hoping it would have at least some effect.

So, yeah, the super-kiss is actually perfect. I’ve experienced a few of those myself. And within the confines of a romantic fantasy movie, it’s totally logical.

Now, the *really* dumb thing comes in the Donner Cut and that version’s sequel Superman Returns. In the Donner cut there’s no kiss, and Supes doesn’t lose his powers until after getting funky with Lois, so we must assume that, in that continuity, he’s either not actually all that "super" or she can just handle it. Either way, Superman turns back time again at the end to reset things and, as a consequence, makes Lois forget. Not only does this have the result of Clark then going into the diner and beating the crap out of a random guy that…since he turned time back…he never met before as that bust-up didn’t happen, *but* Lois then gets pregnant and has what turns out to be super-kid in Superman Returns, but never once questions how, where and when she got pregnant…or by who!? And then, when the kid turns out to be Superman's, she wouldn’t remember their liaison *because he turned back time and she forgot*!

So…yeah…that’s one of the reasons why that film is known as Superman Retards in these here circles, and why the super-kiss works just right for the kind of film the proper, theatrical — and finished film — Superman II is. Yes, love is powerful. When you’re Superman, even the most simple kiss would make your head spin…and it does!

[Randall]

What a long-winded excuse for a dumb idea.

Super kiss, indeed!! What rubbish. It turns SII from a fun sci-fi movie to a total fantasy, which never sat well with me.

Okay, actually, I prefer the super-kiss to any use of going back in time to change things. I didn't care for it in STM (as much as I still adore the film otherwise), and it really didn't work in the Donner Cut, though that was understandably not really all it could have been due to circumstances. But time travel as a deux ex machina is always a bad idea, unless it's actually a time travel story to start with. (I didn't really like Avengers Endgame either.)

And of course we can agree that Superman Returns was awful in *so many ways*. I never tire of saying that.

[Ben]

So…ultimately, though, the super-kiss works. Right?

I mean, cellophane S and pointy fingers, and the one everyone knocks is actually the one that makes the most sense!