Product Description

A new, updated version of the popular comic book hero "Superman." The story begins with Superman's birth on the doomed planet Krypton and follows him on his arrival to Earth, his childhood in Kansas and his career as reporter for the Daily Planet.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #726 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2006-11-28
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Digital Sound, Dolby, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 3.00 pounds
• Running time: 151 minutes

Features

• A new, updated version of the popular comic book hero "Superman." The story begins with Superman's birth on the doomed planet Krypton and follows him on his arrival to Earth, his childhood in Kansas and his career as reporter for the Daily Planet.Running Time: 175 min. Format: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: PG Age: 085391131014 UPC: 085391131014 Manuf

Amazon.com essential video
Richard Donner's 1978 epic about the Man of Steel showed how a film about a superhero could be a moving and romantic experience even for people who long ago gave up comic books. Beginning on the icy planet Krypton, the story follows the baby Kal-El, whose rocket ship lands in Smallville, Kansas. He is found there by a childless couple and raised as the shy Clark Kent (the young Kent is played by Jeff East). The film is perhaps most touching in these sequences, with expanses of wheat fields blowing in the wind and with a young man who can't figure out what part in destiny his great powers are meant to play. The second half, with Reeve taking over as Clark/Superman, is bustling, enchanting (the scene in which Superman flies girlfriend Lois Lane--played by Margot Kidder--through the night sky is great date material), and funny, thanks largely to Gene Hackman's sardonic portrayal of nemesis Lex Luthor. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

'Superman' on DVD...THE one to buy!
At last, Superman is presented the way it was meant to be! The master print for the 1978 classic had deteriorated so badly that the film, particularly the white-on-white Krypton opening scenes, was almost unwatchable. (I had even gone so far as to write a critique on Amazon.com demanding a 'Director's Cut' DVD edition, digitally transferred and remastered, be made!)

Somebody was listening! While this isn't a 'Director's Cut' (Donner has said that the version that premiered in 1978 was the version he preferred), the movie has been expanded, to include a couple of brief scenes with Brando, and the famous Superman Gauntlet sequence at Luthor's underground lair (the remaining unused sequences can be seen in the 'Deleted Scenes' Chapter, on Side 2).

Technically, the DVD is fabulous; the Krypton sequences are now clean and sharp, a couple of shots where, previously, color balancing problems had turned Superman's costume green have been corrected, and, best of all, the soundtrack has been digitally remastered and sounds even better than it did in 1978!

Three fabulous documentaries are included on Side 2 about the making of the film, and how the flying effects were achieved. This was an incredibly expensive and difficult film to make (so much so that Donner, after 'Superman' was released to rave reviews, was fired, and replaced by Richard Lester, for 'Superman 2'), and through interviews with Donner, Christopher Reeve (who is honored for his work in the film, and his courage since his crippling accident), Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, and several of the creative team, you can appreciate what a unique and wonderful film this is!

Two other 'pluses'; a full-length audio commentary track with Richard Donner, and a 'music only' option, where you can admire one of composer John Williams' greatest scores!

This Special Edition DVD should be an essential part of any film lover's collection!

Video Quality Review (Blu-ray)
This is a tough one to review. For a film made in 1978, I don't think it could look any better. I'm willing to bet this Blu-ray disc is as good if not better than the premiere screening of Superman back in 78. Great care must have been taken to clean up and restore this picture. It is practically free of scratches and dirt. It is detailed, far above standard definition. Colors are balanced and eye catching. Contrast is natural and evenly spread. Inserted scenes are consistent with the rest of the film. Never looked better. Still, 1978. There are a few scenes with plenty of grain and most of the film gives the impression of being a little out of focus, a little blurred. Five star transfer, four star visual impact. I doubt if a 1080p display is getting much more out of this picture than a 720p display.

(PS3 - 1080p projector - 92")

If you don't get this dvd, then NO SUPES FOR YOU !!
The name Superman brings back so many memories doesn't it? Well watching this special edition brought back all of those feelings and more. This is a FANTASTIC dvd! All dvd's should aspire to be this good! The other reviews seem to mostly touch on the sound and picture quality (which are great), but I thought I would do a review mostly on the EXTRAS on this disc which are just incredible.

First of all, there are 3, approximately half hour, documentaries on the making of Superman. These are the real gems of this disc. They're great! One involves pre-production, one involves production and one involves the special effects. They are all roughly a half hour each and they are all well worth your time. You see the original screen tests for both Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder plus screen tests of ... Anne Archer, Leslie Ann Warren, Stockard Channing and other famous actresses all tested for Lois and you see them all. I didn't notice anyone famous trying out for SUPES because they decided early on that they wanted an unknown but there are screen tests of plenty of unknowns including the dentist of one of the producers wives! Too funny. There are some great scenes here. The great thing about all these documentaries is that you get to hear from everyone involved in NEW interviews, even Christopher Reeve. Many documentaries or featurettes on other dvd's try and cut together old interviews and try and fool you into thinking you are getting something new. Not here! This is all new stuff! The second documentary even touches on the shady dealings of the producers of this film and all the wrangling done to get this film to the big screen. It's all quite fascinating. The third documentary is on special effects and it shows you numerous flying tests that they tried to get the man of steel to fly. Some are really bad and some are funny, but in the end, they figured it out. Flying is just one part of this documentary, they also go into matte painting, rear projection, front projection and many other techniques that were new to the biz and even effects that had never been attempted until this film. It really shows you the innovations that this film achieved that would set a precedent for future films to come. There's a lot more stuff in these documentaries but I think I'll just let you discover them for yourself.

There are ADDED scenes that were not shown theatrically but that are edited back into this "director's cut" of this dvd version. Most of them are throw away scenes or "bridges" for other scenes but I can't for the life of me figure out why they cut out the "FIRE AND ICE" sequence in the original theatrical version. It's fantastic. I also got a kick out of "little Lois" on the train.

There are 2 deleted scenes, that don't add much to the movie and I can see why they were deleted, but I did laugh at one of them.

Some of the deleted scenes and the added scenes have been shown in expanded tv versions of this film but if you have never seen them, they are quite a treat and it's just good to have them in your home in such a high quality dvd transfer.

The alternate music scores I didn't get much out of and I doubt you will either unless you are a big follower of music scores.

The commentary by Director Richard Donner and Creative Consultant Tom Mankiewiczwas was great. You could tell that these two really had a lot of fun making this picture and a lot of love for the final product. They told some great stories on their troubles filming certain scenes, how they hired certain actors and even giving kudos along the way to the behind-the-scenes folk who helped out. There's some great insight on this commentary on how much hard work it really took to get this picture made. Tom has a great memory and seemed to tell a lot of "little things" that even Richard Donner had forgotten.

The trailers and tv spots were cool to see and they brought back definite memories, including a teaser trailer that I remember way back when, that caused roars of applause from the audience.

If you have even a little nostalgia for this film, you are going to love it! Some of the effects don't hold up in this day and age , but a surprising number of them do! I found myself thinking to myself "how did they do that back in 1978?". The answer: By Hand. The story is timeless and even though today's younger audience might be jaded with all of today's computer wizadry, I think this movie stands the test of time. Just the EXTRAS alone make this disc worth it. After watching this film, you too will believe a man can fly ... I know I did ...

ENJOY!