Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming Video and Digital Downloads › Blu-ray › Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

post #1 of 24
11/5/06 at 10:23am
Thread Starter 
Hey everyone...

Since we will be seeing the release of Superman: The Movie this month on Blu-Ray and HD DVD, I thought some of you might be interested in the fact that HD Net is playing the film throughout the month. It will be broadcast again on HD Net Movies November 10th and 11th. It should make for an interesting comparison to see how the HD Net broadcast holds up to the various HD disc releases. I watched a few minutes of it this morning and there are some definite challenges for those authoring these discs.

Enjoy!
Reply
post #2 of 24
11/5/06 at 10:39am

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben_Williams
Hey everyone...

Since we will be seeing the release of Superman: The Movie this month on Blu-Ray and HD DVD, I thought some of you might be interested in the fact that HD Net is playing the film throught the month. It will be broadcast again on HD Net Movies November 10th and 11th. It should make for an intersting comparison to see how the HD Net broadcast holds up to the various HD disc releases. I watched a few minutes of it this morning and there are some definite challenges for those authoring these discs.

Enjoy!

I saw a thread on avs forum, and there were quite negative feedbacks from this broadcast hmm

Marek
Reply
post #3 of 24
11/5/06 at 11:12am
Thread Starter 

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

Quote:
Originally Posted by MarekM
I saw a thread on avs forum, and there were quite negative feedbacks from this broadcast hmm

Marek

Yep... The HD Net version is pretty bad. It looks like the negative is extremely dirty. The composited shots show tons of matte lines with dirt and serious print defects. Of course, short of re-compositing these shots, that dirt will remain. But, they could have done a better job cleaning the print altogether. I should also note that this version being shown on HD Net is the extended version made available on DVD a few years ago. So, I certainly hope they've taken another pass at this movie with a new transfer for the Blu-Ray and HD DVD versions.
Reply
post #4 of 24
11/11/06 at 10:33pm

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

I recorded it a few days ago and watched it last night. It is horrible. It is quite dirty. The artifacting, especially motion artifacting, is horrible and the over all image looks washed out. The only parts that looked good were the deep space stuff in it.
Reply
post #5 of 24
11/11/06 at 11:21pm

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

I expect the disc to get a lot of pans from the people who think 12 Monkeys and other films are 'poor representations of HD'. The soft, diffused look that is a hallmark of Unsworths is difficult to translate well (look how bad Sony mangled his work on the Tess DVD), and it doesn't lend itself to the Discovery Channel HD look that most people seem to be prejudiced for.

I didn't realize the print was dirty. Thats not good news. It could be that they had to scrap the original transfer due to 1080i issues, and if they had to strike a new one in the last 6 months, the print could have deteriorated, or become dirty in the last 5 years, but that seems kinda odd.
Reply
post #6 of 24
11/12/06 at 9:58am

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

Paul, it could be that the dirt and noise surrounding the opticals are more noticable on High Def than they were on SD DVD. I guess we'll all know in a couple of weeks.
Reply
post #7 of 24
11/12/06 at 4:44pm

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

I wish I still got HDnet, and now apparently we're losing INHD2...I hope that means we get a new channel.
Reply
post #8 of 24
11/12/06 at 4:52pm

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

I've seen these complaints, and I don't know what they are watching. The HDNet transfer accurately depcits Geoffrey Unsworth's photography and I didn't see distracting dirt or motion artifiacts. What I saw was a bright, beautiful version of the best superhero movie ever made.

The softness people refer to is just the filters Unsworth used. It's not softness, it a white gauze or sheen that entirely intentional, and has been in every transfer of the film I've ever seen.

This presentation was a beauty to behold and I'll be hard pressed to delete this from my DVR.
Reply
post #9 of 24
11/14/06 at 1:51pm

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

I got my copies of Superman:The Movie and Superman II: the Donner cut today! I can actually do a comparison between the disk and what's seen on HD-Net.
Reply
post #10 of 24
11/14/06 at 3:57pm

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

Quote:
Originally Posted by DeeF
I got my copies of Superman:The Movie and Superman II: the Donner cut today! I can actually do a comparison between the disk and what's seen on HD-Net.
Can't wait to hear it, DeeF!
Reply
post #11 of 24
11/19/06 at 8:59am

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

These complaints are loony. The HDNet presentation is exactly how I saw it in theaters a few years back and blows the SD-DVD out of the water. The way the film was shot dictates how it will look because Warner spent a bundle on the transfer. There is nothing more that can be done to increase clarity on this one. It is what it is, as another poster said in another forum.

The HD-DVD will look even better because of less bandwidth constraints (my local cable channel reduses HDNet's bitrate by about 15%).
Reply
post #12 of 24
2/18/09 at 8:16pm

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

The Blu-ray is on sale at Amazon for $15.99 if anyone is interested- that's the cheapest I've seen it so far.

Amazon.com: Superman - The Movie [Blu-ray]: Kirk Alyn, Vass Anderson, Harry Andrews, Bill Bailey, David Baxt, Ned Beatty, Marlon Brando, Phil Brown, Larry Hagman, David Calder, Jackie Cooper, John Cording, Sarah Douglas, Jeff East, Michael Ensign, Re
Reply
post #13 of 24
2/19/09 at 9:22am

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

Kewl; but I'm holding out for a better special edition; maybe I'd like it if they'd include the tv cut on BR. That version included 49 minutes of extended footage. I haven't seen most of that footage in years and years and it's never been available on home video.
Reply
post #14 of 24
2/19/09 at 10:12am

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

I don't know if they will release that version of superman the movie. the longer cut with 49 minutes of footage. the pacing of the movie really hurts with that version. I know some were unhappy with just the 8 minutes. it still worked in the pace of the film. I heard that Donner was not happy with the longer cut which is probably why they never released it officially.

Jacob
Reply
post #15 of 24
2/19/09 at 10:32am

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBat
I don't know if they will release that version of superman the movie. the longer cut with 49 minutes of footage. the pacing of the movie really hurts with that version. I know some were unhappy with just the 8 minutes. it still worked in the pace of the film. I heard that Donner was not happy with the longer cut which is probably why they never released it officially.

My parents had taped that off of television when I was a kid; I will never forgive myself for junking that tape. (In my defense, I was a dumb kid who had just been given a copy of the officially released VHS and didn't know there was a difference between that and what had been taped off of TV. Lame excuse, but it's all I've got.)
Reply
post #16 of 24
2/19/09 at 1:12pm

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh Steinberg
My parents had taped that off of television when I was a kid; I will never forgive myself for junking that tape. (In my defense, I was a dumb kid who had just been given a copy of the officially released VHS and didn't know there was a difference between that and what had been taped off of TV. Lame excuse, but it's all I've got.)


I have a copy of someone's recording of the largest extended version (using the print that the Salkinds made for syndication adding a couple more scenes to the network version) on DVD. Quality is not good by any means but for a fan of the movie, like me, it is gold.

It also gives some answers to questions that I had about the network version. In the ABC version when Superman makes the Dam that saves the city block (I affectionately refer to it as Mr. Rogers Neighborhood because the miniatures in that scene aren't the best) out of the blue, they show this depressed village get the water that was diverted by Superman. Well, where the heck did this came from?

The super extended version gives the answer. It was the village of the Native American being interviewed by Lois Lane. The super extended version has a scene of Lois dropping off the Native American in that village.

BTW, have the blu-ray and really love it.
Reply
post #17 of 24
2/19/09 at 1:39pm

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

Quote:
The super extended version gives the answer. It was the village of the Native American being interviewed by Lois Lane. The super extended version has a scene of Lois dropping off the Native American in that village.

Which was a totally unnecessary subplot. I have no idea why that was even filmed and not just cut from the screenplay. It does actually lend some creedence to the Salkind's complaints of Donner not being efficient enough.

I do have a DVD copy of the longest version and it does have other stuff like that, plus some shots that seem to go on forever. It does have some stuff I do like, most of which was added back to the extended DVD releases. I actually kind of like the Krypton destruction in the super extended version. It's longer and has music under it and seems a lot more horrific.

As for the current BD. It could use some improvement. It's ok for now because it was one of the early BDs out there, but any upgrade should at least mirror the best DVD package on the market which has both the theatrical and extended cuts of the film. The original theatrical audio (BD should have lossless, of course) and the BD should include at least all the extras that have been available. The super long version would be nice as well, but I wouldn't count on it. Donner doesn't like it and who knows if all the elements are even available for a high def, widescreen transfer. However, there's probably no chance there will be an upgrade until the next Superman movie hits theaters (whatever that turns out to be).
Reply
post #18 of 24
2/19/09 at 5:32pm

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

I have never been a fan of the BD of this movie. The picture and sound are nothing to write home about. If they can vastly improve on it, I'd double dip.
Reply
post #19 of 24
2/19/09 at 6:44pm

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

what kind of tv do you have. its work fine with my setup.

Jacob
Reply
post #20 of 24
2/20/09 at 4:10pm

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

Sony KDL52w3000. Probably one of the weakest looking BDs I own.
Reply
post #21 of 24
2/20/09 at 4:55pm

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

are you using HDMI?
maybe your tv is not calibrated right or something?

Jacob
Reply
post #22 of 24
2/20/09 at 5:38pm

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff F.
I have never been a fan of the BD of this movie. The picture and sound are nothing to write home about. If they can vastly improve on it, I'd double dip.
My question would be: How do you expect this movie to look? I own the HD DVD and find it to be very faithful to the original soft look of the film. This is not a movie that will exhibit a 3-D "pop" like more recent films or older, large format films.
Reply
post #23 of 24
2/20/09 at 10:14pm

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

I have the Blu-ray and am quite happy with it as it has a film-like quality.
Reply
post #24 of 24
2/21/09 at 12:10pm

Re: Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net

I am using HDMI, the display is properly calibrated. I just don't think it looks that much better than the upconverted SD-DVD. Just my opinion. Probably the way it was originally shot. Soft and lots of matte shots and green screen.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Blu-ray
Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming Video and Digital Downloads › Blu-ray › Superman: The Movie Blu-Ray/HD DVD/HD Net