A few words about...™ Superman: The Motion Picture Anthology -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[ckent]

Got the Blu Ray anthology not too long ago. Did anyone notice that the colors on the new transfers are all off (S II, SIII, SIV, and to a lesser extent Superman: The Movie theatrical), and Superman II's contrast is up way too high?
I've collected screencaps here:
http://supermanii.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=3455
Be interested in knowing your thoughts.

 

[ckent]

Got the Blu Ray anthology not too long ago. Did anyone notice that the colors on the new transfers are all off (S II, SIII, SIV, and to a lesser extent Superman: The Movie theatrical), and Superman II's contrast is up way too high?
I've collected screencaps here:
http://supermanii.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=3455
Be interested in knowing your thoughts.

 

[ckent]

I should specify that it's the Theatrical Cut of Superman II that looks problematic. Superman II: The Richard Donner cut looks great (it's the same transfer from 2006).

 

[WillG]

It seems like SII (theatrical) Blu ray uses the same transfer from the DVDs. Look at the opening fly in to krypton in S:TM and compare with the same footage in SII and you'll see a pretty clear difference

 

[ckent]

The blu ray transfers for Superman: The Movie (Theatrical), Superman II-IV are all new from 2011 just for the box set.

 

[Lord Dalek]

There was a lot of criticism about the 2001 dvds (whose transfers were reused for the 2006 ones) having improper color correction to begin with. Superman III was slammed in particular because you could see the wires holding Reeve in several shots.

 

[WillG]

Superman III was slammed in particular because you could see the wires holding Reeve in several shots.

When I saw the BD for Superman III, I was impressed, because I was expecting that HD would make the wires even more visible, but for the most part, they didn't show.

The blu ray transfers for Superman: The Movie (Theatrical), Superman II-IV are all new from 2011 just for the box set.

I wasn't entirely sure if new transfers were made for the BD versions because, at lease on SII, I still saw some of the same issues I noticed before on the DVDs. I mentioned the opening fly into Krypton. On the S:TM transfer, it looks great, but on SII, the fly in looks darker and the brightness seems to flicker as the dome is being approached.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Originally Posted by WillG /t/311779/a-few-words-about-superman-the-motion-picture-anthology-in-blu-ray/150#post_3918053
I wasn't entirely sure if new transfers were made for the BD versions because, at lease on SII, I still saw some of the same issues I noticed before on the DVDs. I mentioned the opening fly into Krypton. On the S:TM transfer, it looks great, but on SII, the fly in looks darker and the brightness seems to flicker as the dome is being approached.

They would have had to do new transfers. The old ones were interlaced.

 

[ckent]

There was a lot of criticism about the 2001 dvds (whose transfers were reused for the 2006 ones) having improper color correction to begin with. Superman III was slammed in particular because you could see the wires holding Reeve in several shots.

This is the sort of issue with the new Blu Rays transfers that I am concerned about. You can see that the costume is now teal/green, at least for me.

 

[ckent]

There was a lot of criticism about the 2001 dvds (whose transfers were reused for the 2006 ones) having improper color correction to begin with. Superman III was slammed in particular because you could see the wires holding Reeve in several shots.

This is the sort of issue with the new Blu Rays transfers that I am concerned about. You can see that the costume is now teal/green, at least for me.

 

[ckent]

This is the sort of issue with the new Blu Rays transfers that I am concerned about. You can see that the costume is now teal/green, at least for me.

 

[Jeff Robertson]

It is this and other reported changes to the visuals that has kept me from purchasing this set. It is a real shame because I was eager to get it due to the audio improvements.

Originally Posted by ckent /t/311779/a-few-words-about-superman-the-motion-picture-anthology-in-blu-ray/180#post_3918160
This is the sort of issue with the new Blu Rays transfers that I am concerned about. You can see that the costume is now teal/green, at least for me.

 

[Dave H]

Can anyone verify what the true color of Superman's costume was supposed to be in the films? Maybe there are photgraphs from the filming of the sets? I ask because sometimes on the Blu-ray screenshots I see the blue as a turquoise. Was this part of the changes in color timing, or an accurate display of the color based on how these were filmed?
Either way, I will still pick this boxset up at the right price. I probably should have grabbed that UK deal a long time back.

 

I've seen a costume in person...it is a light blue.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

But there was a turquoise costume made for some shots, because it composited better than the richer bluer costume used in the non-FX shots. When the slightly longer special edition cut of Superman: The Movie was made for the original DVD, Richard Donner had the techs digitally color correct those shots so the blue matched the rest of the film. Since a limited theatrical re-release was planned in advance of the DVD, I find it hard to believe that work was done in 480i. But if they applied the same techniques to the sequels, it might have been done in 480i. If they started from scratch using an unaltered print, it could explain the difference.
The original standalone BD of the first film is the DVD cut of the film, and I don't recall seeing the turquoise suit in any shots.

 

[Felix Martinez]

Could not resist. Saw this for $47 on Amazon as a "region-free" set from a seller that was being "fulfilled by Amazon" and was expecting to get the UK version. It came shipped in the standard Amazon shipping box and lo and behold, it's the U.S. release. Less than $6/disk. Pleasantly surprised, and looking forward to diving in.

 

[Dave H]

I finally ended up buying this from Amazon UK for $36 shipped several weeks back.
All in all, the extras are phenomenal (especially the Kevin Spacey narrated documentary and the material on Superman I).
I still have to watch the theatrical version of II, but I was quite happy with how both versions of the first movie looked. I realize these are not brand new 4K scans, but the transfers looked rather natural and film-like.

 

[Mark Booth]

Reviving an old topic...

This week I purchased this set of the Superman Anthology on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008GIDZHS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The product images are CLEARLY for the U.S. version of the set. What I received is the U.K. set. Not happy! If I wanted the U.K. set I could have purchased it from Amazon U.K. for LESS than the $29.99 price I paid for the set.

Thankfully, when I contacted an Amazon rep to complain about getting the wrong set he issued me an immediate refund and told me to just keep the set (or donate it or throw it away). That made me less unhappy.

Anyway, I also recently purchased the more recent release with the Extended Cut of Superman The Movie (the "TV" cut). I watched that Extended Cut earlier this week and, frankly, I didn't care for just about any of the added footage. What a waste of money!

But, now that I've received this Anthology set for free, I'm a happy camper again.

Today I popped in the Anthology's Expanded Version (Special Edition) of the first film and the Theatrical Cut of the first film to compare them. The Theatrical cut is clearly a newer transfer (as we knew). And I was thrilled to find that the Theatrical Cut has both the 5.1 soundtrack available (which was created for the Special Edition in 2000) and the original 2.0 soundtrack.

The recently released TV version (Extended Cut) contains the original 2.0 soundtrack but one of the songs has been changed. When the kids are driving in the car 'Rock Around the Clock' is supposed to be playing on the car radio. In the Extended Cut it is some other song I've never heard. Happily, when listening to the 2.0 soundtrack on the Theatrical Cut in the Anthology set, 'Rock Around the Clock' is there!

FINALLY, I can watch the Theatrical Cut of Superman The Movie with the soundtrack I heard in the theater in 1978. I think the last time I owned that version was the LaserDisc.

I honestly don't know how I missed this Anthology set release in 2011. Even though I ended up with the U.K. set, I'm pleased to have it.

BTW, the reason I recently got involved with all of these is because I went to watch my HD DVD version of Superman The Movie and the disc wouldn't play (disc error). There's no visible laser rot but it's a Warner Bros disc and they are the ones that are failing on HD DVD. That's why I ended up buying the Extended Cut (with Special Edition disc too), to replace my HD DVD. When I was disappointed by the Extended Cut I started doing some research and realized I missed this Anthology entirely. I probably ignored it because I don't care for Superman III or IV and I already owned the Superman The Movie, Superman II (Donner Cut) and Superman Returns on HD DVD.

Now i've got them all on Blu-ray and the best disc of all is the Theatrical Cut of Superman The Movie. YAY!

Mark

 

[Lord Dalek]

The two Kansas radio radio tracks in the TV version were source music cues written by John Williams. They're both on the FSM Blue Box set as well as a third meant to replace Supertramp's "Give a Little Bit" heard as Lois pulls into the gas station before it explodes.

 

[Konstantinos]

Now i've got them all on Blu-ray and the best disc of all is the Theatrical Cut of Superman The Movie. YAY!

Which I hope is released this year for its anniversary in a brand new 4K scan.