Superman: The Ultimate Collection DVD Set (1 Viewer)

[TheBat]

HD net movies will be playing Superman The Movie next month.

Jacob

 

[Daryl L]

With a run time of 2:31 I'm guessing it must be the theatrical version and not the new 2001 director's cut edition.

 

[Grant H]

From IMDB:
Runtime: 143 min / USA:127 min (1980 video release) / USA:151 min (2000 restoration)

2hr 31min would appear to be the 2001 Director's Cut edition, NOT the theatrical.

I thought I remembered the VHS of the theatrical being around 144 mins.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

The first release of SUPERMAN to VHS was time compressed, and was also missing the end credits. The title was remastered in 1983 with the correct running time, and the old Dolby Linear stereo sound. The 1983 release was the first time I purchased a major movie on home video(as opposed to renting and taping over the air), and cost the princely sum of 69.95.

 

[Grant H]

Well, my family had one of the later full-length releases at the priced-to-own price.

But I remember some of the older versions of Superman and SII in the rental stores that had the big hinged plastic boxes. Ours was (is) just a cardboard sleeve.

I just remembered the length listed on the box being 143 or 144 minutes, so I knew 151 minutes had to be the DC.

 

[Daryl L]

Ahhhhh, my mistake. Cool.

 

[TheBat]

you think I would kid something like that.. ..you guys would skin me alive if I was lying about superman the movie being on HD net movies.

Jacob

 

[Kramer Lowry]

 

[Grant H]

I didn't think it was mono, but the original mix is supposed to be included.

Here's what IMDB has regarding the mix:
Sound Mix: 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) / Dolby (35 mm prints)

I'm guessing what we'll get is a DD 2.0 presentation of the original 6-track mix, but don't quote me on that.

 

[Ray H]

I think the press releases have the audio on the original cut of Superman as 5.1.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I remember renting that from my local video store and scratching my head when I saw the running time listed as 127 minutes. Although I'd pay a couple bucks for that version on tape for nostalgia sake...I'm a sucker for that kind of thing.

 

[Greg K]

The HD Net version will probably be the one that's been airing on cable TV for the past few years: The 2000 DVD version with restored picture (and new sound effects), but cut down to conform to the theatrical cut. In other words, the 2000 version without the new/extended scenes.

 

[Carter of Mars]

The running time is clearly listed as 151 minutes. That's the 2001 re-cut. The original 1978 cut runs 143 minutes.

 

[MielR]

Why do so many fans seem not to like the Director's Cut? I like the 8 minutes of added footage, and at least it's original to the film (rather than a bunch of 1990's CGI crap like Lucas added to the SW trilogy).

 

[Carter of Mars]

It slows down the movie and is all pointless padding, which is why it was properly cut out in 1978. What's the point of the scene with the Kryptonian security guard, since we never hear from him again? What's the point of the scene where Martha Kent is yelling for Clark to wake up?

The extended scene with the council omits the line "You cannot ignore these facts" even though they are nice enough to put in a shot (out of sequence) of the data disappearing (that's what the sculpture inside the rings is). Sloppy.

The spaceship flying past the Phantom Zone? Dumb.

The extra fortress scene is nice, but Jor-El's 28 hours a day line is stupid and Reeve physically doesn't match any other scenes in the movie. And since it's not a pivotal sequence, it was rightly cut.

Otis knows fire and bullets can't hurt Superman, but Lex Luthor (the greatest criminal mind of our time) tests Superman anyway. Suddenly, Otis doesn't seem that stupid.

Girl Scouts walking under the Hollywood sign deserve to get crushed.

On top of all this, we have a new sound mix that may be fun to show off your home theater, but never sounds the way the movie should and is actually a very lacking mix, once you get past the clarity of it. The destruction of Krypton in particular just sounds like a foley artist shaking a box of broken glass.

 

[Adam Santangelo]

"Amen" to Carter of Mars and that girl he's carrying.

Personally, though, I'd sooner keep the fire and bullets sequence and lose the added Fortress scene. I just think it's so much weaker than the previous Jor-El Fortress stuff.

Love or hate the Star Wars alterations, at least it's George Lucas who made them. In his Superman audio commentary, Donner is surprised to see which deleted scenes are back in the movie. It's definitely not a Director's Cut (and I don't think Warner has ever called it that).

Like I said in the Donner Cut thread, I'm glad I don't have the dilemma of choosing between the hi-def Extended Edition (HD DVD, Blu-Ray) and the standard-def release of the proper version.


Greg, you've seen this version? The thought of it kinda scares me. I just have a feeling that something about it (aside from the sound effects) will be wrong, and I also hope it's not what we're getting on Disc 1 of the new set.

 

[Grant H]

You're right; I think that actually came up before in the Donner Cut thread. But it is to be the original sound mix.

 

[Grant H]

Well, maybe I can't justify everything (though I see no problem with extending that Ma Kent sequence those few seconds, as she's puzzled why Clark isn't around as usual).

The spaceship passing the phantom zone made sense (it was likely only cut due to to the uncertainty of Superman 2 and its plotline actually happening) I thought because it's like the Zone got caught in the wake. It seems to start moving in the path of Kal-El's ship afterward. Otherwise, I don't know that it would have ever drifted its way to Earth. Let's face it; the probability factors of what happened at the beginning of SII were extremely low before to begin with--at least there's now a reason the Zone would head toward Earth.

I used to think the fire, bullets, and ice scene was cool, but a bit superfluous until it occurred to me (while discussing the merits of STM over SR) that these "tests" or "traps" might have been to deceive Superman, not because Lex didn't know he was impervious to them. The villains openly discussed those things couldn't hurt him, but Kryptonite could kill him. There's a lot of deceit going on up until the point Lex tricks Superman into exposing himself to the Kryptonite. I think Luthor was trying to make Superman think he was completely clueless as to how to hurt him, lulling him into a false sense of security and making it that much easier for Superman to think Luthor was really hiding a detonator in that lead box. Luthor actually succeeds in making him overconfident (though there's no reason Superman should expect Luthor to know about, much less have, Kryptonite; it's not even clear that Superman or Jor-El knew anything about its existence until Superman comes in contact with it--if he had, you'd think he'd have slammed that box shut instead of being totally shocked by its appearance).

 

[MielR]

I like the "gauntlet" scene as well- I think it's the most interesting and worthwhile of the additions.

Richard Donner seemed pleased and amused that the scene where Clark's hand accidently makes contact with Lois' crotch was added back in.

 

[AndrewWickliffe]

The Ma Kent scene is indicative with most of my problems with the Extended Cut (are we sure it isn't called a director's cut?). They messed up a bunch of great sequences (set to Williams's music) and really threw off a lot of the pace.