A Few Words About A few words about…™ Superman: The Movie — in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Gary Seven]

Shame then it hasn't been released in hi rez multichannel on BD or SACD.

Agreed. Then it would be an immediate buy for me.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

The soundtrack community is a niche market. The high res soundtrack community is a niche within a niche. I'd be all for it. I love my hybrid SA-CDs, but this isn't something the market can support.

I'd even be okay with an MQA CD, but I can't imagine the horror that would bring out in our tiny community.

 

[Britton]

And all of the Superman - The Movie source music included on that release is also from the original 2" tapes.

Neil

Neil, does that also apply to those tracks on the Extras disc from the FSM set?

It is great to have a direct line to you on these forums! Thanks for fielding all our questions.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Neil, does that also apply to those tracks on the Extras disc from the FSM set?

No. The 2" tapes were only discovered to be in the WB system last year. They were barcoded and vaulted at WB after audio work on the FSM set was completed.

Here's video of us finding them.

 

[Mike Frezon]

VERY COOL, Neil!

 

[Dick]

Does this new release open with the Saul Bass Warner Communications logo, as it did in theaters?

 

[TonyD]

Superman?

Had any home video had that ?

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Does this new release open with the Saul Bass Warner Communications logo, as it did in theaters?

Yes.

 

[TonyD]

Anyway since I mentioned it about the digital store version.
I tried a half a dozen different things to get that 5.1 DD track and it’s just not there even though it’s in the listing.

The only way I could get it was the Spanish language version.
It’s deleted from my account now and I don’t remember but I think it was 2.0 but it was the original sound effect mix

The remixed effects almost drown out the “dun dun dun dun” and you can’t really here the kettle drum on the opening notes either.

The Spanish mix also has a guy doing a voice over announcing the names of everyone as they swoop onto the screen.

 

[Brett Lovett]

The only way I could get it was the Spanish language version.
It’s deleted from my account now and I don’t remember but I think it was 2.0 but it was the original sound effect mix

The remixed effects almost drown out the “dun dun dun dun” and you can’t really here the kettle drum on the opening notes either.

There is a night and day difference between the original 6-track Dolby Stereo mix on the 5.1, and the original Dolby Stereo (SVA) mix on the 2.0. I consider the sound difference on similar scale to the best stereo hi-fi system vs. the average TV in the 1960s. The original Dolby Stereo (SVA) mix really seems lifeless in comparison.

 

[Brett Lovett]

Part 2 is up now. Skip from to 6:02 to 7:15 if you want to avoid listening to the clip of the newly discovered alternate version of "Fortress of Solitude." Mike Matessino has suggested that it is best appreciated by hearing it in its entirety on the first listen.

Superfeats: A Conversation with Mike Matessino on SUPERMAN 40th Anniversary Soundtrack (Part 2)

 

[Lord Dalek]

There is a night and day difference between the original 6-track Dolby Stereo mix on the 5.1, and the original Dolby Stereo (SVA) mix on the 2.0. I consider the sound difference on similar scale to the best stereo hi-fi system vs. the average TV in the 1960s. The original Dolby Stereo (SVA) mix really seems lifeless in comparison.

That Dolby 2.0 track seriously made the case for the 2001 remix when I flipped back and forth between the two in 2007. Sure it had the original SFX but the actual fidelity was so poor that it really didn't matter. It was like lstening to the movie through a wet sock at times.

Still haven't heard the 70mm mix on the 4k, the pricetag and availability of the disc are driving me away.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

I still would really like to know what the source for that 2.0 track on the 2011 BD (and 2006 DVD) was. I saw a 35mm print of Superman last year, with what I assume was the original matrixed Dolby Stereo soundtrack (it certainly had the original SFX), and it sounded surprisingly robust (though still like a late-70s movie, of course).

I can't recall how "directional" the dialogue was, but there was definite stereo separation in the music and effects across the front channels and a significant amount of surround activity. Obviously, I'm just going off of a one-time viewing, and I'm sure the theater had a better processor and speakers than I do at home, but it was still kind of a revelation to me.

I've long thought that the DVD/BD 2.0 might have been a straightforward 2-channel dub from ages ago that somehow lost the matrix information from the original Dolby tracks, but that's total speculation.

 

[Worth]

How was the sound on the laserdisc? I'm not really an audio guy, but even I could tell that the audio on laser was almost always superior to DVD, and sometimes even blu-ray.

 

[Lord Dalek]

How was the sound on the laserdisc? I'm not really an audio guy, but even I could tell that the audio on laser was almost always superior to DVD, and sometimes even blu-ray.

I've never heard the laserdisc but from what I've read it sounds substantially different from the 2.0 on the reissued dvd/Blu-ray. To the point that those who have heard it think its actually a downmix from the 6-track.

 

[Brett Lovett]

Still haven't heard the 70mm mix on the 4k, the pricetag and availability of the disc are driving me away.

I wish it had been included on the theatrical Blu-ray as well (and in a lossless format). My wish for "Star Wars" is to have all three original theatrical audio mixes available as audio options, in the best possible quality of course. I'd really like to experience the Dolby 6-track mix for it.

 

[Brett Lovett]

I've long thought that the DVD/BD 2.0 might have been a straightforward 2-channel dub from ages ago that somehow lost the matrix information from the original Dolby tracks, but that's total speculation.

I've been speculating that since the 6-track was so aggressive for the time, perhaps the Dolby Stereo (SVA) mix was made ultra-conservatively to ensure compatible playback in theaters not equipped for Dolby or stereo playback.

 

[Lord Dalek]

I wish it had been included on the theatrical Blu-ray as well (and in a lossless format). My wish for "Star Wars" is to have all three original theatrical audio mixes available as audio options, in the best possible quality of course. I'd really like to experience the Dolby 6-track mix for it.

Not to encourage piracy or anything but that Despecialized Edition thing of Star Wars comes with a reconstruction of the 4.1 70mm mix as well as the mono mix they struck for drive-ins and inflight movies.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

the mono mix they struck for drive-ins and inflight movies.

The mono mix is what was primarily heard in 1977, not just for those venues. Not many theaters had Dolby Stereo, and there was concern that Dolby prints wouldn't play properly in a mono theater. The mono mix was created last, and is the most polished sounding version of the movie. It got the most attention because that's what most people were going to hear.

 

[Worth]

I remember reading that the mono mix was considered the definitive one.