DVD : The Complete Superman Collection

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- Five stars for the first movie, 3 for the second and 0 after
The origins of Superman were told very well in the original movie because of the exceptional acting and presentation. Brando made the difference in the beginning and Reeve took over from there. The first movie was by far the best and Reeve made a believable Superman and Clark Kent. I think more detail should have gone into Kent as a teenager, however, thier wasn't much there, but what was there was very good. The beginning of the movie and early parts were the most interesting dealing with Krypton and Kent's childhood, later it was just a missile chase and uninteresting, but Gene Hackman played a comical Lex Luthar and was hilarious. Superman II was about three Kryptonian chiminals exiled from Krypton and escaping to Earth. It tied well with the Prologue of the First story and the Three were awsome characters, Terrence Stamp as the sinsiter General Zod and Sarah Douglas as the very sexxy Ursa and the dumb guy with no lines and lots of action. until they met superman then they were strong characters but when fighting superman, they got sort of pathetic which was kind of disappointing, but the movie was good all the same. I think these three should have been taken to the Third movie, Superman III instead of that silly Richard Pryor who had nothing to do with anything and who was just a goof. And who the heck is Dexter?! Where did HE come from? he was a pointless enemy who had nothing to do with the first two movies either. The fourth show, 'QWest' for Peace goes with out saying, it is just a cheese fest like most of 1987 and the libral underpinnings and that silly missile net! how STUPID IS THAT! Superman IV would have been better on the small screen as a TV show than a movie! Superman grew old, but you never knew because the scene was two seconds long! Lazy production! I don't think even the cast themselves liked Superman IV.
As a whole you get to good ones and two bad ones. Three is watchable four should be avoided even at gun point but the first and second will get you out of that chair to the DVD shelf for more of the same! Superman!

Rating:

- Superman collection Rules
The first 2 movies are great!
This 2 movies worth the whole package
but Superman III its too much comedy for me, and i didnt liked the fourth at all

Rating:

- No Todas Las Películas Están Con Subtítulos En Español
Creo necesario indicar que no todas las películas incluídas en este box set tienen subtítulos en español. Soy un gran fanático de esta versión de Superman, por esta razón quiero que los futuros compradores de habla hispana sepan que sólo las 3 primeras películas tienen subtítulos en español mientras que la cuarta sólo tiene subtítulos en Francés. Ojalá puedan leer esto antes de comprar y no se decepcionen como yo, aunque aún con este inconveniente es una gran oportunidad de poder tener los 4 films reunidos en un box set y con la calidad DVD.

Rating:

- Superman and Superman II are worth the price of admission...
I was really excited when this box set came out and even with the new Superman Returns on the horizon, you should never forget how it all got started. Mind you Superman and Superman II are really the only movies worth forking out the dough for in this box set, but fans won't care and will want to have them all just for the sake.

Superman clearly got the best treatment in this box set. It's packed with extra features, featurettes, music scores, the making of, trailers, etc. The rest of the movies however received zero extra features with the exception of theatrical trailers. What the heck Warner Bros? Gettin' lazy are we? It's a major bummer because many believe part II to be a better movie than the first and deserves some extra goodies. Where is the love for fans?

Superman: The Movie - **** "You will believe a man can fly." That's what the movie posters and trailers wanted you to believe before seeing the movie in 1978. Did they pull it off? Better watch for yourself and see! A tremendous movie even by today's standards. Superman is must see for anyone who enjoys a good popcorn movie. We all must remember this was made in 1978 with nearly no computer technology in sight! But amazingly, most won't notice and it's still fun in 2006. Kids who have never seen it will enjoy it as I did in 1978 when I was a mere 6 years old. Just a little side note... Director, Richard Donner, known for his blockbuster hits "Lethal Weapon 1-4" was literally shot down by Warner Brothers 3/4 through directing part II. Shortly after finishing part 1 and nearly finishing 3/4 of part II and without provocation or notice, Donner was fired as director for Superman II. Even more sadly, when the credits roll in the beginning of part II, credit for the movie was given entirely to Richard Lester and Donner's name isn't even mentioned. Ok How wrong is that? Even crazier, the documentary on the subject is very sparse and there was not a clear cut reason why he was let go. It definitely had to do with some of the other people involved in the movie who probably just didn't get along with Donner.

And don't think Donner was canned because Superman was a stinker. On the contrary, Superman is an epic movie, way before its time and made Warner Brothers a ton of money and was the biggest box office smash at the time. The massive scope, incredible special effects and the realism factor is all intact. It's right up there with the Spiderman movies in my opinion. Don't think of the comic books when watching the original Superman. After a somewhat overblown introduction with Krypton and his life in Smallville, the fun begins the second it goes to Metropolis. Christopher Reeve received high praise for playing the 2-part role of Clark Kent and Superman and at the time was an unknown. He's the perfect man for the role and I don't think it would have been as successful without him. Margot Kidder was also a surprising choice as another unknown but the cast and crew knew the second she meshed so well with Reeve on the screen tests as offered in the special features. But although Reeve and Kidder were matches in heaven for the cast and crew, the advertising of the movie went 100% to Hackman and Brando to get the movie the attention it needed. Posterboards, moviespots, Brando and Hackman were big names and it seemed to work.

Gene Hackman along with his side kick (Otis) Ned Beaty brings the comedic elements to the story. Donner did an excellent job making the two movies funny and realistic at the same time. Jammed packed with special features, the Superman DVD has it all. An all "musical score track" director commentary, interviews with Reeve, Kidder, how they made him fly, and how Donner was dissed during the making of Superman 2. Brando, known for his big role as head mobster in The Godfather plays a crucial role as Superman's father in Superman and his voiceovers for Superman 2. Just a funny little tidbit about Brando. He would always forget his lines and they had to reshoot many of the shots nearly a dozen times to get it right. Brando, also was high dollar actor and he only gave Donner two weeks to shoot his "talents" on-screen. Talented actor yes, but if you can't remember your lines, maybe you should find another job buddy. Overall, Superman lived up to the hype and is still as fun to watch as it was in '78, have fun with it!

Superman II - **** Although the credits clearly state "Richard Lester" as the director...Fans clearly no better. Superman II is Donner all the way. ¾ of the movies is Donner and the rest of it, Directed by a very tame Richard Lester, finished the movie. Fans will notice Kidder weight fluctuating during the film as scenes both directed by Lester and Donner were intertwined together. She looks downright sick in some scenes. Donners scenes are clearly the standout part of the movie. Most of the battle sequence are clearly Donner and most of the weaker scenes are noticeably Lester. As a whole though, I really loved Superman 2. The battle of Superman taking on 3 villains with equal superpowers makes for a marvelous story. The movie is more action orientated. The battle of Zod and Superman rocks. Zod, played by Terrance Stamp is a marvelous actor and his abilities as an actor come through in part II with flying colors. Both I and II were written by Mario Puzo (The Godfather) no wonder these movies are so enticing!

For reasons unknown, Superman 2 did not get any special treatment by Warner Brothers. Mind you, it's the best I've seen it look since the VHS days and they cleaned up the film nicely. But where is my 5.1 Dolby Digital and some special features. With the exception of the movie and a lousy trailer, you get nothing extra. I would have been happy with some interviews and even a spot by Richard Lester explaining how he came to become the director of Superman III. Nevertheless, the movie itself is worth your time and money. Thanks to Donner (yes he should be credited as the director) Superman 2 is a fantastic movie and lives up to being as good as the original if not better.

Superman III - ** 1/2 Man, this is why I miss Donner and screenplay writer Puzo. Richard Lester, selfishly credited for directing Donner's Superman 2, was offered the job to continue the spot with another Superman movie. Here we have Superman 3. Or should I call it Superman VS Richard Pryor - Computer Genius. Superman 3 is a weak entry in the series in my opinion. It's what Donner tried to steer away from in the original and part II. Superman 3 is more of a comedic farce rather than a full blown Superman epic. Luckily, Christopher Reeve saved this movie from being a total disappointment. When he's on-screen, it's good fun, but when Reeve is not on-screen, which is far too often, it's terrible. Superman is actually only in the movie for about 50% of the movie and the role of Clark Kent plays even a smaller part. The story seems to focus more on Richard Pryor's life as a computer guru rather than Superman. Not surprisingly, Warner Brothers didn't offer any special features for this movie with the exception of a theatrical trailer.

Superman IV - ** When you're down and out, you're down and out. Superman 4 is a bad movie and is the weakest entry in the series. I almost would have been happier with Richard Lester as the director, because Sidnie Furie obviously needs some training in the directing department. The story involves the disarmament of Nuclear Weapons and it's up to Superman to save the day! Superman 4 tries to entertain, but it's just a boring film and I have no intentions of watching this again anytime soon. The special effects are actually worse than the 1st three movies put together. Pee Poor pacing, bad directing, bad sound, bad everything and a story that will make some vomit. It's nice to see some of the characters again and heck, even Gene Hackman came back to make a paycheck, but the movie is bland and is a terrible way to end the series. There are some decent moments with Reeve and Kidder and Hackman is funny at times, but overall, you'll be looking at the wall instead of the movie. Extras: Superman got the only extras on the DVD's and part IV has nothing but the trailer. What a surprise.

As a package and definitely directed toward fans, you should enjoy this collection. If only III and IV were better.

Rating:

- a tale of two cities......
city #1: sups 1 and 2. what can we say? chris reeves is supes...no questions. this is the mythology as we know it...the pages of comics to life. there's no mistery in saying that these are what super heroes movies should look like...a little heart throw in good measure and we have a winner. awesome! absolutely the bests! 5-stars

then why 4 stars?

city #2: supes 3 and 4...instead of leaving the mythology with the best of the bunch...naahhh! hollywood honchoes wanted to make a 3rd and a 4th...what tha heck do i want supes' with the kripton babble, and then going after a...what??!!! computer?..niicee...and then to top it all off....the gargantuan lets make a clone, before cloning was possible, probably that lambie lamb is rotten in its grave for what this movie did for cloning. aweful, not even for rent, why? why?, and enough suicidal notes, probably the one that all death row mates pleads not to be given as their last movie kinda wish.

so, lets do the math.....
1 - 5-stars, special bonus for acting
2 - 5-stars, special bonus for acting and well we get zarg (sp?)
3 - 1-star
4 - 1/2-star

4-stars average....i would say instead of buying this one try buying the original and the 2nd SEPARATE, so u wont spend the load on the other 2 crappy movies.

page 8 of 23