Supergirl region 2 DVD UK June 26th 2006. (1 Viewer)

[andySu]

I have just read in this months issue of DVD monthly, that Supergirl is getting hear region 2 DVD UK release this month Jun 26th 2006.

About time, the USA has had this film for years now, so why does it take the studios so long to getting around to releasing these titles, often it maybe the other way around, but it really looks like the little country gets it last, well all good things come to those who wait.

The film will be released as 2.35:1 anamorphic and will be accompanied with a six-track Dolby Stereo Digital soundtrack, I believe this title was one of many 70mm blow-up prints that had split-surrounds quite a rare thing back in the grand days of 70mm Dolby Stereo, looking forwards to this.

So do we have any Superman and Supergirl fans hear, I know we do, just about everyone is raving about the new “Superman Returns” not far from release now boys and girls.

 

[John H Ross]

Well it seems odd that this movie is getting released now in R2, what with it (apparently) being included in November's 14-disc box set. Perhaps R2 won't be getting the same 14 discs as R1...?

Anyway... the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is extremely good but, if it's like Anchor Bay's 2-disker in R1, I'm a bit irked that a brief section of the "First Flight" sequence is tracked with an alternate cue that Goldsmith wrote for the shortened, US version of the movie (smaller orchestra, different electronics), rather than the cue that's supposed to be there. The expanded international version on disc 2 of the R1 set uses the correct cue in its entirety.

Apart from that, yeah, a great print. I love Supergirl.

John

 

[Douglas R]

Warner Bros only recently obtained the rights to Supergirl and I suppose they have issued it in the UK to cash in on the Superman Returns film. Judging from past form, I am willing to bet that R2 will NOT be getting the 14 disc set.

 

[andySu]

Well it does have these extras.

Language: English, English for the hearing impaired, English,English for the hearing impaired

No. of disks: 1
Producer: Timothy Burrill
Sound format: Stereo Dolby Digital 5.1
Catalogue number: D076676
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1 - Widescreen

DVD special features
Commentary by Director Jeannot Szwarc and Special Projects Consultant Scott Michael Bosco.
Theatrical Trailer.
Trailer.

 

[Christian Preischl]

 

[andySu]

Christian

So what’s missing in this region 2 version of “Supergirl“ over the region 1 version then?

There is one other thing Jerry Goldsmith composed the score for this one, can’t wait to hear it on the fully 100% JBL home THX sound system, I bet it’s going to be super loud, and super evasive!

 

[John H Ross]

The second disc, i.e. the super-duper expanded so-called "director's cut" which runs about 20 minutes longer than the version on disc 1 but which, bizarelly, is STILL missing one scene that was included in ITV's very first UK television screening of the film! (This scene - during which Linda and Lucy discuss "boys" - can be glimpsed briefly in the "Making Of A Movie" documentary).

John

 

[andySu]

John

Mate what part of the world do you live in?

 

[RichardCrowther]

It's worth noting that, as stated above, Supergirl was never intended to be included in the Superman boxset, be it R1 or R2, so it doesn't make any difference to that set. I should think that UK customers will no doubt get the full 14 disc set (or something very close to it) come the end of the year.

I don't doubt that, sometime in 2007, a special edition of Supergirl will apear separately to the set, however, so it may be an idea to hold on unitl then.

Despite not including the extended "intended for TV" edit from the Anchor Bay set (which Ancor Bay have bizarrely decided to label a director's cut, which it certainly isn't), and the documentary from the same set, I should think that this new R2 release will be an improvement in at least one area over the R1 - namely that the international cut on the Anchor Bay release was heavily cropped at the bottom, to quite a damaging degree. I doubt Warner Bros. will make the same mistake with their disc. This alone should make it a good purchase.

 

[John H Ross]

I live in England, just outside Liverpool (Wirral) but I import the majority of my DVDs from R1 courtesy of Amazon.com.

John

 

[John H Ross]

That's a good point actually. Yeah, it might be worth getting this after all and adding it to the R1 double disc set.

Incidentally Amazon still seems to have the 2-disc Anchor Bay set if anybody's still after it.

John

 

[Douglas R]

From supermancinema.co.uk

Superman The Movie disc 1
Theatrical cut *
Commentary track by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler *
Original sound
Dolby Digital 5.1


Superman The Movie disc 2
2001 director's cut *
Commentary track by Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz
Dolby Digital 5.1

Superman The Movie disc 3
Special Features TBA

Superman II disc 4
Theatrical cut *
Commentary track by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler *
Commentary track by the three villains ***
Original sound **
Dolby Digital 5.1

Superman II disc 5
The Donner cut
Commentary track by Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz **
Original Sound **
Dolby Digital 5.1 **

Superman II disc 6
Special Features TBA

Superman III disc 7
Theatrical cut
Commentary track by Pierre Spengler and Ilya Salkind
Original Sound **
Dolby Digital 5.1

Superman III disc 8
Special Features TBA

Superman IV disc 9
Theatrical cut *
Original Sound **
Dolby Digital 5.1

Superman IV disc 10
Deleted scenes *
Special Features TBA

Superman Returns disc 11
Dolby Digital 5.1

Superman Returns disc 12
Special Features TBA

Max Fleischer cartoons disc 13
All 17 remastered Max Fleischer cartoons. *

Superman documentary; Look, Up in the Sky! disc 14
Bryan Singer commissioned documentary on the history of the character.


** = unconfirmed
* = confirmed
Final specs yet to be finalised.

 

[andySu]

John

Gotcha mate, so what do think of all this then, and if you’re confused, then I have been living under a rock!

I really didn’t know there was theatrical cut of Superman the Movie out there, looks like I better buy a multi-regional DVD player, and are the discs on par with the region 2 version in brightness, sharpness, I know the sound is more exact sounding with 35mm film prints that is the 24fps rate and not this naff 25fps where the sound sounds like Mickey mouse!

Oh well only 9 days to go, I see HMV is doing it for £9.99 now that’s not bad at, considering a ticket at the Odeon Leicester Square will cost you £8.00, so you if there’s a scene that you liked and would like to see hear and feel it again then that would cost you £16.00, and so on, its not like the old days where you can sit in there all day long for £2.00! Those days have long gone.

It’s worse where I live the ticket price is £7.50, and its got the poorest professional cinema standards that are around, the sound over the three-screen is out of alignment, with aging Altec A4 loudspeakers that are 40 years old, no sub bass what so ever!

Distortion is audible at low frequencies between 20Hz and 40Hz, with a horrible flabby sound! That sound like the loudspeakers are about to bottom out, poor placement of JBL 8330 surrounds, and alignment as well, and all this for £7.50!

Thank goodness for DVD, but not all DVD’s are equal!? Some are and some aren’t, so I’m hoping Supergirl is going to knock my soaks off on the 26th June 2006.


I must say I do like your signature of the late Jerry Goldsmith bless him!

 

[andySu]

Doug

Where did you get all this information, from this site or another site?

Didn’t “Max Flescher” do the Betty Bopp cartoons?

 

[Douglas R]

See post 785:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...=26362&page=27

Yes, Max Fleischer did Betty Boop but he is most famous for the Popeye cartoons (which Warner Bros are now restoring for DVD). His Superman cartoons were unique in that they were not comic.

 

[andySu]

Wow I like the split-surrounds on this, it’s petty the score is monaural on the surrounds, but sound effects are in “stereo” the low end from the baby boom channel is used sparingly very! Thou the sub bass extension that I use on a smaller sub bass unit is ample, while the LFE.1 or baby boom as it was called goes to a professional JBL 4645 cinema type.

The score needed to be played loud during certain moments, to give it a nice “super hyped” up feeling.

Audio commentary was very neat and informative pointing out which scenes had extensions added to this special presentation, I like the part in chapter 9 where Supergirl is flying over Chicago in the evening, and passes over a drive-in-cinema, the commenter said the drive-in would not be able to play THX! Well I was and it was loud with low end coming in at 115dbc!

 

[John H Ross]

Andy, a question for you. Not sure if you'll know but I'll ask anyway. It's about the score during the "First Flight" sequence. At the moment where the scene cuts from Supergirl dancing around the trees to where she's flying over the clouds, is the following 30 seconds of music the original cue that Goldsmith recorded with the full-size orchestra and original electronics (as per the soundtrack albums, the original UK video release, the Japanese laserdisc and the special extended DVD) or the cheaper, last-minute re-write that he prepared for the edited US release with smaller orchestra and really squeeky-sounding electronics (as per the original US cinema and video/laserdisc release).

If the latter then I assume this is exactly the same version of the film that appeared on disc 1 of Anchor Bay's 2-disc set. I'm guessing this is extremely likely. If the former then I want, I want.

John

 

[andySu]

John

I’ll have to listen to it again, I can’t say I noticed a “squeaky” musical instrumental during that practical scene, and I have no other copies of the film to conduct and A&B valuation test!

Eric Tomlinson, did the music mix for “Supergirl” and Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark. What I have noticed is “Bruce Botnick” did gremlins that same year, and many other of Jerry Goldsmith’s scores up until the sad passing of Jerry in 2004.

 

[John H Ross]

Yes, and sadly I was never very impressed with Botnick's work. Or rather, I was never very pleased with his mixdown for Goldsmith's CD releases, I guess the mixes that ended up in the movies were generally okay.

Okay, the electronic "woosh" from the original version of the movie is the same as the "wooshes" from elsewhere in the film, most notably the end of the cue "Where Is She?" (after Linda disappears from the spinning cars at the funfair and Supergirl appears in her place). The... well... "wheeeeeeee" sound that replaces it in the US version of "First Flight" sounds like it was done on a casio keyboard and probably was.

Both versions of "First Flight" are included on Silva Screen's re-issue of the score and is well worth checking out

John

 

[andySu]

John

Yes I listened to it yesterday afternoon, there is slight bit of this “whoosh” as she’s flying, not that it’s upsetting me thou. I find both scoring mixers “Bruce Botnick” and “Eric Tomlinson” works nicely mixed, with all the right amount of bass and treble in them.

Now speaking of different musical sounds or pop songs that appear in films, there is on that stands out, slightly of topic “John Carpenter’s, The Thing” there is a musical by Stevie wonder, “Superstition” this track is heard when the “Thing Dog” is walking around the base camp, and then fades to black. Here is a link, music by Stevie wonder , “Superstition” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSC29...onder%20sesame

Now I can’t remember if that was the same song that was on the domestic theatrical release of “The Thing” there is a different language track on the region 2 DVD that has the version that played in the cinemas.

Also a another musical sound that cropped up in Alien, Laserdisc special edition, this is where the acid is leaks though the ships interior, and when the crew spots it on the lower deck, there is a “trumpet” sound that been tweaked, it’s got a high pitch sound to it.

On both DVD versions this musical sound doesn’t appear anywhere, not even in the first edition of Alien on region 2 DVD, where there is an isolated score.