Best Blue Ray Movies

First the good news- This new version is even better that the original edit of the film. A lot more of Marlon Brando's scenes. And the really cool sequence in Lex Luthor's underground hide out where he tries to kill Superman with bullets, fire & cold. Plus more...

The picture quality is just stunning. Krypton has this insane glow to it. And the new sound rivals brand new movies. The music is bright & vibrant, swirling all around you, and the entire 5.1 mix is used very well.

Now, the bad news- There's only the one version of the movie. I had hoped you'd be able to play the original, too.

More good news- The second disc has an enormous amount of brand new special features (almost two hours worth.) In their entirety, they seem to transport you back in time to relive the fascinating story of how the two Superman movies got made--up until director Richard Donner was stupidly fired, and not brought back to finish the second film. There's a lot of never-been-seen before, behind-the-scenes footage. In the casting tests you can see early versions of the Superman costume as Chris Reeve plays against many actresses including Leslie Warren, Anne Archer (both who were very good,) and of course Margot Kidder.

And then there are the two exceptional documentaries with new interviews from almost everybody. They follow the history of the two films, and include very interesting business aspects. Chris Reeves' story is very touching. Also included is a documentary on the special effects with neat(!) early flying tests.

Now more bad news- My friend took the discs with her.

To some up: this is the most complete, classy & top notch DVD package I have ever seen. Very well done ! A+

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!

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!