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Despite it having the last two barely decent sequels ("III" and "IV") of the series, The Complete Superman Collection is a fine edition to a DVD collection. "Superman" and "Superman II" are , of coarse, the high point in this collection.
"Superman" has received a great treatment in a Special Edition format. The commentary with Director Richard Donner was really facinating, it made me see the film in a whole new light, and made me appreciate the creation of the film like never before. Other higlights in the supplements of this classic film, were the two insightful making of featurettes hosted by Marc McClure ("Jimmy Olsen") and the screen test for the various roles, including Superman & Lois Lane. The actual film has received a decent transfer & D.D 5.1 Mix. While it isnt the best that I have heard, I did take into consideration the age of the film and compared it to the VHS, this DVD wins hand's down. The widescreen image helps a lot, I never realized how terrible the cropped VHS was until now.
"Superman II" was robbed of having the Special Edition treatment. While it's great to see it in Widescreen, it lacks a D.D 5.1 Track, and any other extras (except for a Theatrical Trailer). This bothered me, becuase "II" is a complete extenstion of "I", and should have been given something better then this.
"III" and "IV", with "IV" being the best of the two, even though no where near as good as the first two, should have also been given better releases, and not this lazy bare boned release. Perhaps the theory of "Can a good DVD, make a bad movie good?" could have applied to these two films. Remember I said PERHAPS.
I gave this collection 4 Stars based on the overall look of the collection, the spectacular SE treatment of the first one, and the classic style of film making of the first two. But individually I would give the films the following ratings: "Superman" - 4 1/2 out of 5; "Superman II" - 4 out of 5; "III" - 2 1/2 out of 5; "IV" 3 out of 5.
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This movie series-- certainly the first two-- transcended the low-budget roots of comic-book/strip based feature films. Remember Buster Crabbe's "Flash Gordon" serials, complete with balsa-wood space-ships?
Anyway, Richard Donner deserves more credit than he gets for making this movie a big hit-- both critically, as well as commercially-- As is revealed in the DVD special interviews, he actually directed most of SUPERMAN II; but was unceremoniously fired by the producing Salkind brothers, and no support was given by the Warner Bros. studio, despite the apparent success of the first film at the box office. Richard Lester was hired to essentially do a brush-up job on II, then helm an entire film on his own in III. The differences in those two films are rather glaring-- if parts I and II succeeded (for the most part) in maintaining a straight-face amidst all of the fantastic goings-on, then III made no attempt whatsoever for conceptual continuity. Jokey from start to finish, it essentially reflected the the attitude that most of the general public had towards Superman and such fantasy films-- ripe for parody. Witness Clark Kent 'accidentally' mistaking dog food for pate'-- you would figure, with his super-senses, he could tell the difference-- also, Superman, when stricken by artificial kryptonite, experiences a major mood swing: he starts ignoring disasters, then starts causing them (he pushes the Leaning Tower of Pisa upright, blows out the Olympic torch), begins drinking heavily (how many beers does it take for Superman to get drunk?), and even has a "rendezvous" with the villain's mistress. The jaded among the public might venture to say that he becomes "normal"...
Ironically, III holds up better in retrospect, than it did when I first saw it. Even back then, I was somewhat disappointed by the seemingly relentless slapstick. The plot is reflective of the times-- the 80's Home Computer boom, propelled by Commodore, Apple, and IBM; and the paranoia of what the increased proliferation of computers in our daily lives meant.. It is bittersweet to see Richard Pryor in this film-- None of the effects of his legendary substance abuse problems were apparent here, and now that Multiple Sclerosis has debilitated him, it makes you miss seeing him on the screen now.
Ironically, Pryor was dating Margot Kidder at the time III came about, but Kidder only has an extended cameo as Lois during an early scene and at the end-- presumably shot during the same day then edited later-- It was rumored that Kidder's public support of Donner led the Salkinds to reduce her role as Lois, and bring in Annette O'Toole as Lana Lang, Clark's high school sweetheart..
Part IV was the "worst" of the movies. CANNON films, under the guidance of Menahem Golan & Yoram Globus, financed the RAMBO films, as well as a string of similar action flicks (like AMERICAN NINJA and several CHUCK NORRIS vehicles); they bought the SUPERMAN rights from the Salkinds, and proceeded to make their own sequel. Reeve, allegedly reluctantly, came back, as well as all the principals from the first film-- except Marlon Brando, of course--
The Daily Planet is bought out by a tabloid magnate, and the staff is furious-- Though Clark, reluctantly, is willing to work things out-- In an interesting plot twist, Mariel Hemingway, as Lacey (the new boss' daughter), chases after the nerdish Clark, while Lois still pines for Superman.. A double-date scene is handled rather well-- Also, Jon Cryer, in his brat-pack heyday, plays Lenny Luthor, the teenaged nephew of the un-reformed criminal genius Lex. Gene hackman doesn't miss a beat as Lex, after not appearing in III. His wonderfully broad portrayal of Luthor went beyond the boastful posturing of the character that had become a staple in the comics-- what's more, he didn't wear a purple & green uniform, either.
This may be the first case of when a movie portrayal of a comic book character is eventually used in the comic books-- A more subdued, business-like Luthor would be introduced to the comics in 1986, under John Byrne's stewardship.. The same can be said of Superman himself-- Byrne was so impressed with the first film, that he used that as a template to write new stories. Gone were the arguably tedious aspects of Superman's comic-book past, like the super-pets who escaped Krypton (a dog, monkey, cat, and horse, incidentally-- all looking perfectly like the earth specimens); gone was Superman's female cousin, Supergirl; gone was his own teenaged heroic career as Superboy; he now was revealed to have discovered his powers at a much slower rate than before-- And was truly, honestly, the LAST thing to survive from his home planet--
Mark Pillow is rather forgettable as "Nuclear Man"-- already, we saw a similar super-powered being-- in fact three of them, in PART II. So the physical threat was, essentially, a retread. The plot was reflective of the 80's cold war concerns, specifically, the state of the arms race-- After reading a young schoolboy's letter, Superman vows to rid the world of nuclear arms-- by collecting them in giant nets and hurling them into the sun, no less-- but Lex Luthor sabotages one of the missiles with a genetic clone device (connecting to a CURRENT public concern), and thus, the Nuclear Man is 'born'..
There is much talk of a "Superman Curse" in relation to this film series-- Aside from Pryor's problems, Margot Kidder's career never really took off beyond doing TV-movies, straight to Cable/Video films, and occasional guest spots-- not to mention her notorious public breakdown a few years ago-- Mariel Hemingway, whose sister Margaux committed suicide, similarly has had only middling success after SUPERMAN 4. And of course, Christopher Reeve's fateful riding accident has, arguably, made him a more high-profile celebrity than most of his feature film work since the Superman films-- he has become a public spokesperson for the disabled community, and an advocate for more research to be done on spinal-cord injuries..
Still, for great cinema, you can't beat this boxed set--
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All I need to say is this set is FLAWLESS!!!!!!!!
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I bought this four pack DVD box set since I'm a die hard Superman fan. Yes, it saddens me that the last two films in the series aren't as good as the first two movies. The original film, though, was of course the one given the DVD Special Edition treatment.
There's a lot of extra stuff on the Superman: The Movie Expanded Edition. Here they are: audio commentary by director Richard Donner and creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz, soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, music-only audio track, three behind-the-scenes documentaries with the cast & crew, deleted scenes, screen tests for Lois Lane, Ursa, and Superman, audio outtakes, two theatrical trailers, TV spot
This is really one of the best DVDs that I have ever seen released. Truly stuff that movie fans want to see. I'm truly thrilled that one of the best films ever made got the DVD magic. For that alone, given the extra treatment that Superman: The Movie got, I rate this box set 5 stars!
Also, get a copy of the 2 disc Superman: The Movie remastered soundtrack released by Rhino Records. This soundtrack includes previously unreleased material by composer John Williams, and who can't say that Williams' Superman theme is one of the best themes ever composed?
As for the three Superman sequels, they all got their trailers as the bonus, and widescreen treatment. Sure, it's great to see them all in widescreen to see the maximum view of footage, but still I wish they got some extra bonuses of some kind.
Superman II is a great sequel, but I wish something was done to see more of Richard Donner's footage as an extra bonus. Superman III is an awful film to watch (too much Richard Pryor and the silly campiness). Superman IV is actually more watchable in my opinion than part III, although it too is not great of a film, but I did like the nuclear disarmament theme used as the film's story plot (and it was great to see it in widescreen since I saw this film in the theaters back then).
Of all the sequels I wished got some extra DVD treatment, I think the last film in the series, Superman IV: The Quest For Peace should have gotten it. The film has been available for all its existence as a 90 minute confusion, when actually there was an original 134 minute cut of the film shown in a test screening in early 1987. This version would have revealed there was an earlier Nuclear Man that Lex Luthor created, and more would have been revealed with Mariel Hemingway's character, and other loose plots that the 90 minute version failed to hide away. Superman IV may be the shortest film in the series, but I think Warner Bros. should have given it the Special Edition treatment on DVD as a true bonus for the general public to know, and for Superman fans to finally see.
Rumors are that Superman IV's 134 minute cut has been destroyed, but I hope that isn't true. Maybe one day we will get to see it.
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This Box Set is OK. Superman I and II are very good movies, III and IV really suck. I wish I would have just bought the first two at $19.99 each. III and IV are just a waste of time.
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