Superman: The 5-Movie Collection
Directed by Richard Donner, Richard Lester, and Sidney J. Furie.
Starring Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Glenn Ford, Trevor Howard, Margot Kidder, Valerie Perrine, Maria Schell, Terence Stamp, Phyllis Thaxter, Susannah York, Sarah Douglas, Jack O’Halloran, Clifton James, E.G. Marshall, Marc McClure, Richard Pryor, Annette O’Toole, Annie Ross, Pamela Stephenson, Robert Vaughn, Jon Cryer, Sam Wanamaker, Mariel Hemingway, and Mark Pillow.
SYNOPSIS:
The four movies in the first Superman series have arrived on 4K Ultra HD in a new box collection that, yes, includes Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut. There were no new bonus features commissioned, but you also get all the films on Blu-ray too, along with codes for digital copies. Consider it the last word in Superman movies on home video, barring some ultra-mega deluxe set that assembles all the possible bonus features, including the TV versions of the first two films, along with a nice long documentary looking back at the series. (Yes, I can dream.)
I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: This is a wonderful golden age of movies on home video, and we should all try to enjoy it while it lasts. Little did we know during the dawn of DVD that the day would arrive when we could watch classic movies at a quality level comparable to when they first played in theaters. (Well, except those of you who work in the industry, of course; I’m sure you knew this would happen eventually.)
Case in point: Warner Bros.’ wonderful new box set of the original Christopher Reeve Superman movies on 4K Ultra HD. The first film was previously issued on the format in 2018, but this is the other movies’ debuts in 4K. And, yes, they look marvelous.
Sure, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut has a few issues, mostly due to the fact that screen test footage had to be used to recreate one scene, and, yeah, those old school optical effects throughout the series look a little worse in 4K, thanks to the additional clarity (ironically), but these were movies meant to pop off the screen with vibrant colors, and pop they do. After all, they’re based on comic books, so they should display a palette of bright primary colors.
I’ll run down the movies next. I’m not sure if all the bonus features from past editions are found here (I never picked up the Blu-rays, and my DVDs are currently packed away), so you may want to hold onto those for completion’s sake. Yes, you do get a code for digital copies of all five films, which contain some bonus features when accessed in Movies Anywhere. (I’m pretty sure there aren’t any digital-only extras.)
By the way, all the extras except the commentary tracks are found on the accompanying Blu-ray platters, which are reissues of old versions, so they don’t use the new 4K remasters.
Superman: The Movie (1978)
The movie that started it all was a joy when it arrived. I was eight years old at the time, the perfect age for the film that proved superhero movies were viable at the box office. Yeah, the phenomenon went through fits and starts before arriving in its current form (which, honestly, has burned me out a bit) — kids today will never know what it was like to wait a few years for a sequel.
Unfortunately, the extended TV version of the film isn’t found here (same with Superman II), so the only commentary track is the one with producers Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler. Director Richard Donner and writer Tom Mankiewicz (he was given a Creative Consultant credit for his script rewrite) did a great track for the extended edition, which will hopefully find its way to 4K eventually.
The Salkind/Spengler track isn’t bad, though. They were recorded separately, so there’s no back-and-forth between them. They’re both bombastic guys in the mold of stereotypical Hollywood producers, but that also means there are a lot of stories about living in that stratum of the business. If that’s your thing, you’ll enjoy this one.
The rest of the extras consist of a 52-minute making-of that was created for TV in 1978; the 1951 theatrical film Superman and the Mole-Men, which introduced the world to George Reeves as the main character; three Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoons that spoofed our hero; and a batch of trailers.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★★★★ / Movie: ★★★★★
Superman II (1981)
The first two movies in the series were actually meant to be filmed at the same time, but when director Richard Donner clashed with the Salkinds and was fired after the first film was released, Richard Lester was brought in to finish the sequel. A lot of the footage Donner had shot was kept, but Lester reshot other portions of the story, including the opening sequence and the Niagara Falls hotel room scene.
As a result, the film unexpectedly veers toward slapstick comedy at times, thanks to Lester’s changes. It doesn’t bother me as much as it bugs some folks, though. I still regard the theatrical version of Superman II as a worthy follow-up to the original, even if there are those lingering “What if?” questions swirling around it.
Salkind and Spengler, again recorded separately, show up for another commentary track that tackles head-on a lot of the Donner-related production problems that they briefly touched on in the first track. The whole thing boils down to a lot of “they said, he said,” in my view, but it’s always good to get another side to the story, since Donner has put his version out there many times. (Sure, I always sympathize with creatives, since I’m one myself, but a lot of these conflicts tend to be more complicated than anyone can ever really know.)
Another old making-of from the TV broadcast days is also found on the Blu-ray Disc, along with a deleted scene, nine of Max Fleischer’s wonderful old Superman cartoons, and the theatrical trailer.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★★★ / Movie: ★★★★
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)
Internet petitions often don’t work, but I suppose the ones clamoring for Richard Donner’s original Superman II vision to see the light of day did the trick, because in 2006, Warner Bros. put it out on DVD.
It’s not perfect, of course: Besides the aforementioned need to use screen test footage to recreate a scene (complete with Reeves’ wardrobe changing for one shot), the ending is actually the one used for Superman: The Movie. Donner and Mankiewicz had trouble figuring out how to wrap up the first one and decided to use their planned ending from the second one. They thought they’d have a chance to figure out how to end the second one, but, obviously, that didn’t happen.
Still, the Donner cut is a fun exercise in what could have been, and the director kicks off the extras here with a two-minute introduction to the film in which he talks about how he never thought it would happen. There’s also a 13-minute featurette about the restoration, six deleted scenes, and six cartoons from Famous Studios, which picked up where Max Fleischer left off.
Donner and Mankiewicz also show up in a lively commentary track that — surprise, surprise — gives their view of the drama that Salkind and Spengler discussed in their track for the theatrical version. As I said, I tend to err on the side of creatives, and I enjoyed this track a lot more than the other one if for no other reason than that.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★★★/ Movie: ★★★★
Superman III (1983)
And then the series went sideways, thanks to Lester’s continued involvement. Richard Pryor showed up for the third one as Gus Gorman, a ne’er-do-well who inexplicably has a talent for computer programming. When he uses his skills to embezzle from his employer, his boss, the stereotypical tycoon Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn, who was no stranger to playing characters who put greed over safety) tells him he can avoid jail time by helping with a scheme that involves shutting down all the oil wells in the world and getting every oil tanker to make its way to a certain spot in the ocean.
Gus wants Webster to fund the construction of some kind of super computer as his end of the deal, and, of course, Superman gets involved to save the day. Lana Lang (Annette O’Toole) shows up again when Clark Kent returns to Smallville for a high school reunion, and Lois Lane disappears on assignment for almost the entire film. That last part was a shame, since Margot Kidder’s snarky Lois could have at least made this movie a bit more bearable. And, unfortunately, Lester apparently encouraged Pryor to do a lot of the shtick he was famous for at the time, which made the movie more campy than it should have been.
Salkind and Spengler return for another commentary track that addresses the good, the bad, and the ugly of this film. Being producers, they obviously try to spin the making of the movie more toward the good, but there’s only so much they can do.
The other extras include a 49-minute making-of from 1983, 20 minutes of deleted scenes, and the theatrical trailer.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★★ / Movie: ★★
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
Okay, I’ll come out and say it: the fourth one is better than the third, but only thanks to the return of Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor and Margot Kidder’s larger role as Lois Lane, compared to the previous film. Both of their characters actually have some funny lines, bringing back fond memories of the first movie in particular.
Unfortunately, budget woes weighed down the production of this one, which was financed by low-budget quickie film company The Cannon Group. Sure, Cannon produced some movies that people remember fondly, but their budgets were always tight, and they gave director Sidney J. Furie very little wiggle room in that regard.
The storyline echoed many of the concerns about nuclear weapons during that era, as Superman decides he’s going to gather up all the world’s nuclear missiles and throw them into the sun. However, Lex Luthor escapes from prison, and he comes up with a scheme to use a strand of the superhero’s hair to create a nemesis, Nuclear Man, who he is sure will defeat Superman once and for all and return profits to his missile-making buddies.
This is by far the shortest film in the series, running a breezy 90 minutes, but Hackman and Kidder make it bearable. (Yes, Christopher Reeve was always solid in his dual roles of Superman and Clark Kent, and he brought the same level of quality to this movie too.) And I’d much rather watch Superman fight a villain like Nuclear Man, even if he is kind of lame, than do battle with a giant computer.
Screenwriter Mark Rosenthal recorded a commentary track that holds no punches as he talks about what he originally envisioned for the film and how everything went wrong. He acknowledges the cruddy special effects work that was the result of cost-cutting, and he says there was a better version of the movie left on the cutting room floor.
Judging by the 15 deleted scenes included here too, I’m not too sure about that last item, but there’s always the chance of more footage locked away somewhere, if it hasn’t all fallen apart already. Of course, there’s little interest from fans in a new cut of this movie, so I imagine it will never happen.
The other extra here is a 50th anniversary celebration of Superman that aired on TV in 1988. It’s hosted by Dana Carvey, and it’s more corny than it should be, but there are some good moments found in it.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★★ / Movie: ★★★
Finally, yes, Superman Returns isn’t found here, even though it was meant to be a successor to the originals (technically, it pretended that the third and fourth films didn’t happen). I suppose it will make its way to 4K Ultra HD eventually.
Brad Cook
