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Superman II, III, IV: Where Are the BD's? (1 Viewer)

kemcha

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Joseph, while many of us did somewhat enjoy that version, it's not exactly complete and it's lacking in so many ways. It would have been preferred if the movie had some kind of finality to it. The sad truth about it is that these threee movies deserve to be released to Blu-ray.

Now, while many may condemn these three movies, I think Warner Brothers should release them if nothing else than to preserve these classic films that featured "Christopher Reeves." To dismiss these films from the Blu-ray format would be a great disservice to the memory of Christopher reeves, who passed away some years ago after the horse riding accident that paralyzed him for life.
 

Jesse Blacklow

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Quote:
Originally Posted by kemcha

Joseph, while many of us did somewhat enjoy that version, it's not exactly complete and it's lacking in so many ways. It would have been preferred if the movie had some kind of finality to it. The sad truth about it is that these threee movies deserve to be released to Blu-ray.
Not at the expense of other, more deserving films, which according to consumers and the studio, is pretty much anything else.

Now, while many may condemn these three movies, I think Warner Brothers should release them if nothing else than to preserve these classic films that featured "Christopher Reeves." To dismiss these films from the Blu-ray format would be a great disservice to the memory of Christopher reeves, who passed away some years ago after the horse riding accident that paralyzed him for life.
Oh, please. Not even Reeve agreed with this kind of mopey nonsense, and playing on his injury in such a crass fashion would have pissed him off. In any event, Reeve said multiple times (including in his autobiography) that he thought Superman III was an insult to Pryor, himself, the fans, the character, and the mythology. He also said that even with his input, he knew Superman IV was going to be terrible and that he pretty much signed on entirely because of his anti-nuke stance. It's highly doubtful he cared for the release of either or both on any home video format.
 

Michael Reuben

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Originally Posted by kemcha


Now, while many may condemn these three movies, I think Warner Brothers should release them if nothing else than to preserve these classic films that featured "Christopher Reeves." To dismiss these films from the Blu-ray format would be a great disservice to the memory of Christopher reeves, who passed away some years ago after the horse riding accident that paralyzed him for life.

If one wants to honor the film work of Christopher Reeve (there's no "s"), I can think of several more deserving (and probably more popular films) to release on Blu-ray. Off the top of my head:

Somewhere in Time
Noises Off
Deathtrap
The Remains of the Day
 

John Stuart

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Add Supergirl (and Superboy, that Warner didn't released the remaining seasons arguing on the HTF chat the sales didn't meet expectations, while I strongly believe the reason for this was all those legal battles) to that list...

And considering the lousy job they did with Superman: The Movie (a really poor image quality), I would like very much if they restore the first while bringing the rest in a single boxset...
 

Joseph DeMartino

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Originally Posted by WillG

The film was a mess in many other ways that was unrelated to its budget.
Like the cliched, preachy and dull script, to name just one?

Even the comic book writers realized early on that there were certain things they just couldn't involve Superman in, because the actual implications of the powers they gave him would make for a bad fit for the real world. Take WWII, for example. The comic book covers often featured patriotic images of Supes tearing up German tanks or attacking Japanese submarines (one memorable cover showed the terrified captain of a Japanese sub staring at the image of a vengeful Superman swimming towards him in the viewfinder of his periscope.)

But the stories inside almost never put him into the war, because the fact is that if Superman actually existed he could have ended WWII all by himself in under a week. But since he's supposed to live in our world - and the kids who read him would know perfectly well that the war was still going - he went off to fight Lex Luthor and giant robots and save Lois from whatever jam she had gotten herself into that month.

Captain America could fight the Nazis precisely because he didn't have any real super powers. He was just a superbly conditioned and trained athlete. The Super Soldier formula turned a scrawny weakling into an early version of Ah-Nuld, but it didn't make him invulnerable to allow him to fly or give him super speed. You could have dropped Batman into Berlin to steal military secrets, but you couldn't have Superman fly in without explaining why he didn't peel Hitler's bunker open like a tin can and fly Herr Shickelgruber to London for trial.

Similarly inserting Superman into the nuclear arms debate was just asking for trouble. It was an idea that should have died at the pitch meeting, and probably would have except that the whole "No Nukes" vibe hot again (and the studios remembered the profitable concert and film from a few years earlier) this convinced some idiot that anything with that theme would make money.

Regards,

Joe
 

kemcha

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Michael, I'm not making the judgment on how good or bad the movie is. Christopher Reeve contributed so much to film industry and despite what many believe, there are a lot of fans who love these films. If Warner isn't releasing them because they're bad movies then, by all rights, they shouldn't be releasing the original Batman movies to Blu-ray either.

Batman, Batman Returns, Batman and Robin, Batman Forever are inferior movies compared to the Superman films and there's a lot of fans who like the Superman movies over that of the Batman films.

Michael, I'm not disagreeing that there are probably better films out there that Reeves has done, I'm merely saying that Warner Brothers should, at the very least, make these films available to Blu-ray because I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of fans who would buy them. I know I would.
 

Chad R

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Quote:
Originally Posted by kemcha

Batman, Batman Returns, Batman and Robin, Batman Forever are inferior movies compared to the Superman films and there's a lot of fans who like the Superman movies over that of the Batman films.

Michael, I'm not disagreeing that there are probably better films out there that Reeves has done, I'm merely saying that Warner Brothers should, at the very least, make these films available to Blu-ray because I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of fans who would buy them. I know I would.
As has been said before, Warner disagrees with this sentiment. Sales tells a very different story, and that story is that those Superman movies just don't sell that well. So there's no present incentive to release them.

However, that doesn't mean they will NEVER come out. With word of a new Superman movie in the next few years, expect that they may hit the format to coincide with that film's release since that's the trend for releasing catalog titles. However, that means they won't be out until 2013 or later.
 

Joseph Bolus

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Originally Posted by kemcha ">[/url]


Batman, Batman Returns, Batman and Robin, Batman Forever are inferior movies compared to the Superman films and there's a lot of fans who like the Superman movies over that of the Batman films.
[/QUOTE]
 

WillG

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Similarly inserting Superman into the nuclear arms debate was just asking for trouble. It was an idea that should have died at the pitch meeting, and probably would have except that the whole "No Nukes" vibe hot again
Supposedly, the only way Reeve would agree to to the film was contingent upon involvement in the story and it was the Nukes issue that he wanted to do. I actually thought it could have been an interesting idea. After 3 films (not to mention comics, TV shows etc.) one might have wondered why Superman didn't attempt to use his power to solve greater World issues. There was the maxim that he was forbidden to interfere in Human history to somewhat explain this, but he broke that at the end of the first film anyway (and arguably any time he saves someone). The problem was that the film took a utterly naive stance on the nukes issue. It came off as if it was written by a 5 year old ("Daddy says that nukes could hurt us"). One of the more egretious offenses: where Superman addresses the "UN" and declares he will rid the world of nukes and was met by rousing applause.....Sorry! The nations of the world could have decommissioned their nukes at any time if they really wanted to. I'm sure smaller nations that are often subject to potential aggression would have been thrilled to lose their only realistic method of defense. It could easily be argued that the existance of nuclear weapons has prevented many all out wars and aggression. These are points that a more intelligent film should not have ignored. I get that there was a politcal angle that Reeve was trying to convey, but the way it's presented is insulting to the viewer's intelligence. Plus, why would these nations that were so pro getting rid of their nukes just immediately willing to buy them back from Luthor?

Of course, that is just the tip of the iceberg, I haven't even mentioned the myriad of just the general story and logic problems.
 

cineMANIAC

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Superman III and IV will probably end up on one of those double feature Blu-rays that Warner has begun rolling out, which is sort of an unfortunate trend when it concerns longer movies like the upcoming Where Eagles Dare. Some movies deserve their own standalone release
 

WillG

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Superman III and IV will probably end up on one of those double feature Blu-rays that Warner has begun rolling out, which is sort of an unfortunate trend when it concerns longer movies like the upcoming Where Eagles Dare. Some movies deserve their own standalone release

Actually there already is a package that has all four movies. It's not to be confused with any boxed set, I think it's a cheaply priced, no frills version.
 

Douglas Monce

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Originally Posted by John Stuart



And considering the lousy job they did with Superman: The Movie (a really poor image quality), I would like very much if they restore the first while bringing the rest in a single boxset...
Superman: The Movie looks the way it does because of the way it was photographed. The Blu-ray looks very much like it did in the theaters in 1978.

Doug
 

Bryan^H

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Originally Posted by Douglas Monce



Superman: The Movie looks the way it does because of the way it was photographed. The Blu-ray looks very much like it did in the theaters in 1978.

Doug
Yes, but Superman the movie on Blu looks nearly identical to the standard dvd(not kidding). And no lossless audio is just the nail in the coffin. It's a dud.
 

Nelson Au

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I've just read this thread today. Interesting, I would have thought that BD editions of the first 2 at least should be out. Nice to see the first Reeve film is on BD, but it is a shame only the Donner cut is available of Superman 2. I've been waiting to collect Superman on blu-ray in a box set.

As an aside, in the earlier postings from the WB chat, WB said they've "been there and done that." Reminded me to pull out the Superman Ultimate Collectors Edition in the Tin box. That is a great box set with so many extras, and the 5 films, plus the George Reeves film. I can see why the WB person said they've been there and done it.

There's a few things in there I have been meaning to watch, like all 17 Fleischer Superman Animated shorts. I did a little reading on them after reading this thread. That was a really nice bonus that included the entire run of these, from the original 9 Fleischer to the last 8 by Famous Studios. (I realize these are public domain, but these appear to be the best versions?) Now I wonder if those may come to BD too. Though from what I've read, only the first 9 Fleischer originals are the superior shorts.
 

kemcha

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Nelson, the reason why I brought this up is that I think it's important for Warner Brothers to release these films to Blu-ray. I just find it hard to believe that Warner Brothers considers the unfinished, incomplete Superman II Donner Cut the official version of Superman II. At the very least, the original, theatrical version of Superman II should have been released by Warner Brothers.

I do understand about the chat but Warner Brothers was deliberately vague about their comments on Superman II, III and IV. Their statement "been there, done that" obviously refers to the DVD release and does nothing to address the Blu-ray portion of that question. My guess is that their answer was meant as a way of deterring fans of these Superman movies from asking any further questions.

Personally, I never did like the third or fourth movie, I actually enjoyed the first movie and the second movie (the original theatrical version) better but I do think that they really need to be released. I'm sure that there are many movie fans who would buy all four movies on Blu-ray.
 

Nelson Au

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I don't disagree, WB should release the Reeve films. Even if they were all barebones or have some minimal extras from the past releases, it would be great to have all 4.
 

WillG

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I just find it hard to believe that Warner Brothers considers the unfinished, incomplete Superman II Donner Cut the official version of Superman II. At the very least, the original, theatrical version of Superman II should have been released by Warner Brothers.
I don't think WB considers the Donner cut to be the official version of SII, but being how new it is, it makes sense that they did a high def transfer of it and released it on Blu-Ray. I don't know for sure, but the other Superman films were released somewhat early in the days of the DVD format and at that time it wasn't always commonplace to do high definition transfers. So, it's possible that high def transfers still don't exist for the other films outside of S:TM and the Donner cut of SII or did not exist at the point the other BDs were released at. I believe that the more recent versions of the Superman DVDs that were released used the same transfers as the original releases. This is just speculation on my part of course, but I'm sure that at the very latest, BDs of the other films will be released when the next Theatrical Superman film is nearing release.


Personally, I never did like the third or fourth movie, I actually enjoyed the first movie and the second movie (the original theatrical version) better but I do think that they really need to be released.
Really going against the grain there, huh?
 

I don't know for sure, but the other Superman films were released somewhat early in the days of the DVD format and at that time it wasn't always commonplace to do high definition transfers. So, it's possible that high def transfers still don't exist for the other films outside of S:TM and the Donner cut of SII or did not exist at the point the other BDs were released at.
They definitely exist. HDNet has showed SUPERMAN II and SUPERMAN III in HD with a new Warner logo over the last year or two; they both look excellent. SUPERMAN IV I'm not sure about, but it stands to reason HD transfers were struck of all the different versions when Warner did that box-set right around the time that RETURNS came out.

I definitely want the SUPERMAN II theatrical cut in high-def...maybe they could do one of those new, low-cost Double Feature Blu Ray discs with SUPERMAN III.

Or, if they really wanted to satisfy the completists:

-Do one Double Feature disc with SUPERMAN THE MOVIE/SUPERMAN II Theatrical Versions
-Do another Double Feature disc with SUPERMAN III/IV

Would LOVE to see it happen...maybe when the new Christopher Nolan produced Superman movie comes out it'll happen (if we have to wait that long).
 

WillG

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but it stands to reason HD transfers were struck of all the different versions when Warner did that box-set right around the time that RETURNS came out.
That's srange then as I'm pretty sure the newer version used the same transfers as the old snapper case editions. It appears as if HD transfers exist now, but I'm wondering exactly when they were done.
 

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