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

[Mark Booth]

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

I'll buy it in a heartbeat if it includes a fresh 4K scan of the theatrical version. I'll even consider the Special Edition only in 4K. But NO WAY would I fork out a penny for just the Extended Cut in 4K.

Mark

 

[Lord Dalek]

Again I think you're going to be disappointed by a 4k on this one due to the heavy ammount of post processing done to it. Can't do much with some rather thick fog filters.

 

[Paul Penna]

This thread wasn't started by Robert Harris, so why is it titled and tagged “A Few Words About...” ?

 

[TonyD]

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.

It's exactly the same thing except for a couple of UK logos.
You might have saved $4.00 but I guess one has to do what they need to do.

 

[Mark Booth]

It's exactly the same thing except for a couple of UK logos.
You might have saved $4.00 but I guess one has to do what they need to do.

If you read a little farther into my message you'll see that Amazon ended up refunding all of my money and told me to keep the U.K. set. That soothed my unhappiness.

Mark

 

[Konstantinos]

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

well, there go my hopes.
Another repackage as it seems.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/superm...D=1&siteID=f7sX52tQY3I-3C8.8wSDBqH6dipMbmya_w

 

[Konstantinos]

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.

I have a question.
I compared the 5.1 and original mono and I see many differences in the audio effects. i thought they were to less extent. Anyway.
Does anyone know, is this 5.1 based on the original 6-track audio or not?
And if no, why the original 6-track hasn't been available?

 

[deepscan]

I have a question.
I compared the 5.1 and original mono and I see many differences in the audio effects. i thought they were to less extent. Anyway.
Does anyone know, is this 5.1 based on the original 6-track audio or not?
And if no, why the original 6-track hasn't been available?

There were some reports or rumors that Executive Producer Ilya Salkind kept an original 70mm print of the film for himself, so if that print comes forward maybe we will find out about this 6-track mix.

The 5.1 is based on the 2000 remix, while the 2.0 is based on the 1978 mix. I never saw SUPERMAN in 70mm, only in mono (I only heard it in stereo for the first time when I got the letterbox LaserDisc way back when).

I don’t know myself how 4K will do with the image but if that happens it will only be better, if not as good as, the existing home video versions out now. Remember, Geoffrey Unsworth had some of those foggy filters for a reason...possibly for dramatic effect.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Does anyone know, is this 5.1 based on the original 6-track audio or not?
And if no, why the original 6-track hasn't been available?

It is not based on the original six-track. It was an all new mix. The claim is they weren't happy with the original six-track mix.

There were probably several reasons for re-mixing the movie in 2000. One, they found the original 6-track mag music mixes. If they wanted to remix with that element, they'd have to re-build everything. Also, the integration of the 8 minutes of extra footage. It wouldn't surprise me if the source of that extra footage was the IP of the television assembly WB just transferred and issued on Blu-ray. That of course has mono audio, so again, by re-mixing entirely they could better integrate those scenes into the new cut.

I hope that someday the original 6-track mix is issued on a home video format. 4k would be ideal.

 

[deepscan]

It is not based on the original six-track. It was an all new mix. The claim is they weren't happy with the original six-track mix.

There were probably several reasons for re-mixing the movie in 2000. One, they found the original 6-track mag music mixes. If they wanted to remix with that element, they'd have to re-build everything. Also, the integration of the 8 minutes of extra footage. It wouldn't surprise me if the source of that extra footage was the IP of the television assembly WB just transferred and issued on Blu-ray. That of course has mono audio, so again, by re-mixing entirely they could better integrate those scenes into the new cut.

I hope that someday the original 6-track mix is issued on a home video format. 4k would be ideal.

Neil, I could not agree with you more. If secret work is indeed going on with a 40th box set with all three versions, surely WB and/or sound experts are working to improve the soundtracks or preserving that original 1978 70mm 6-track mix.

 

[Dave H]

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

The UK set is region free and identical to the US set. Sounds like you played the system a bit, but if Amazon is okay with it, it's their loss.