Superman: The Motion Picture Anthology Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Was the original track in 2.0 with no surrounds?

 

[Jeff Robertson]

Originally Posted by eric scott richard

Was the original track in 2.0 with no surrounds?

I won't get into the details about the original state of the audio when it was in theaters, but I can tell you that a two channel stereo soundtrack can contain surround information and this mix has been available for the home video format for a while now. I, like many others, want to have the original sound effects and such. The 5.1 mix introduced in 2001, I believe, added new effects that some do not care for.

 

[Rick Thompson]

The only problem I have with this set is the repackaging I have to do. Why they can't just slip case this I'll never know (see the Star Trek film sets for how to do it right). These hard plastic cases with disks tucked under each other are a royal pain. Thankfully, the cover art for my copies of Superman and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut fit my triple disk replacement cases just as well as they did the singles.

So --- Superman theatrical and Superman extended go together along with the Bonus Disk into one three-pack, while Superman II theatrical, Superman II Donner and Superman Returns go into the other. As for Superman III and Superman IV, I'll watch them before sending them to that great video storage case in the sky -- along with that dorky box. Who comes up with this stuff?

 

[MattBradley]

I really want to have this in my collection but the price is killing it!

 

[Cinescott]

Originally Posted by MattBradley

I really want to have this in my collection but the price is killing it!

Ditto. I'd love to get the theatrical cut of Superman: The Movie, but it's not worth $90 to me.

 

[SD_Brian]

Originally Posted by Cinescott . It's region free and apparently identical to the US release. Not sure why it's so much cheaper...hopefully not one of those too-good-to-be-true things.

 

[TonyD]

 

 

The set can be had (shipping included) for under $60 through Amazon.co.uk.  It's region free and apparently identical to the US release.  Not sure why it's so much cheaper...hopefully not one of those too-good-to-be-true things.
 

 

Including the sd material?

 

[SD_Brian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyD . It's region free and apparently identical to the US release. Not sure why it's so much cheaper...hopefully not one of those too-good-to-be-true things.

Including the ad material?
If, by "ad material," you mean the 8th disc of extras, then yes.

 

[TonyD]

oops, how about sd material.

 

[SD_Brian]

Every listing I have seen online indicates the US and UK releases are identical, including all disc-based content (sd too!). It should be playable anywhere. The only difference I've seen noted is that the UK release features the UK ratings on the cover.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by Jeff Robertson





So what format is the original mix in? DTS-MA 2.0?

This film was released to cinemas in a blowup 70mm version which also contained a 6 track dolby stereo track which had split surround sound info, thats what should be included on the disc along with the 35mm 2 channel soundtrack.


http://www.in70mm.com/library/process/dolby/index.htm


Link above.


How do we know the 2 channel mix is the original. ?


Is the 5.1 mix taken from the aforementioned 70mm blowup or was it a remix of the 2 channel track. ?

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

The 5.1 mix is the 2001 re-mix that was supervised by Michael Thau and features totally re-worked sound effects. The 2.0 track is the original 1978 mix. It would have been nice to have the original six-track on here, but the 2.0 sounds very nice when decoded with Pro-Logic II. Keep in mind this is sort of a funky mix and all of the dialogue comes from all three front channels. That's just the way the mix is with this movie. It's not the only film from this era to do that.

 

[MattAlbie60]

Do you know if Donner was involved in the 2001 mix, or was it just Thau?


In the brief featurette about the "Donner Cut" of SUPERMAN II, you see Donner talking about the sound mix and specifically telling them to add in new sound effects like "Whooshes" and things like that to his cut of the second film. Which bums me out, because apparently its the way he likes it but I still think they're awful.

 

[robbbb1138]

I think Donner was involved with the 2001 cut of the first movie in the same way that he was The Donner Cut, in that it was mostly Thau but everything ultimately had to get Donner's stamp of approval. I remember someone else (Jonathan something) being demonized by the online community as the person that either pushed the new sound mix on the others or at least was the face of trying to justify its existence in interviews (by trying to tell us that it was how it always sounded, we just didn't remember it right).

 

[Scott Calvert]

I watched the theatrical version with original sound mix of Superman last night and was extremely pleased. This is a good encoding of a new transfer with no video "enhancements" that I could make out. Maybe the color looked better on original theatrical prints, I dunno but what I saw looked pretty good. The lossless 2.0 was great as well. All in all this is much, much better than the 2006 bluray and IMO is worth the price of the box set to obtain.

 

[Jeff Robertson]

That's great to hear, Scott! I do not have a lot of love for the films after part II (much like the Alien Anthology) but I will probably still spring for this set for the improvements of the first and second films alone.


In an interesting parallel, my purchasing decision is very much like it was with the Alien set in that the first two films were the most anticipated but I was still curious about the second two and felt it justified getting the whole set.

Originally Posted by Scott Calvert

I watched the theatrical version with original sound mix of Superman last night and was extremely pleased. This is a good encoding of a new transfer with no video "enhancements" that I could make out. Maybe the color looked better on original theatrical prints, I dunno but what I saw looked pretty good. The lossless 2.0 was great as well. All in all this is much, much better than the 2006 bluray and IMO is worth the price of the box set to obtain.

 

[Scott Calvert]

I just wish we could get something similar for the original Star Wars films. A state-of-the-art scan of the best available elements and original soundtracks losslessly encoded. They wouldn't have to spend any more money than WB spent on this and it would sell a hell of a lot more copies.

 

[robbbb1138]

Originally Posted by Scott Calvert

I just wish we could get something similar for the original Star Wars films. As state-of-the-art scan of the best available elements and original soundtracks losslessly encoded. They wouldn't have to spend any more money than WB spent on this and it would sell a hell of a lot more copies.

That's why I don't mind paying $89.99 for this. Maybe it doesn't have everything I would have liked, but it has everything that I had to have.

 

[Scott Calvert]

Originally Posted by robbbb1138




That's why I don't mind paying $89.99 for this. Maybe it doesn't have everything I would have liked, but it has everything that I had to have.

Agreed. I have only watched Superman TC and Superman III and the quality on both is outstanding. The extras are just that. Extra. I welcome them but what I am really after are new scans without a bunch of crazy video tweaks, as well as lossless ORIGINAL soundtracks without a lot of audio noise reduction. And I am willing to pay more to get it.

 

[WillG]

Finished watching II, and on a side note, one thing that always bugged me about II aside from the Bully revenge scene (and not that I'm necessarily opposed to Superman giving a jerk a little bit of comeuppance, but he could have seriously injured, or even killed that guy with what he did) and the cellophane crest, and the teleportation etc. is the fact that Zod and co. just stood around doing nothing when Superman and Luthor had their secret pow-wow about the molecule chamber, and even ignoring that, shouldn't they have been clearly able to hear what they were saying to each other?


Watching III now. Looks pretty good. I don't know what they did in the transfer, but I was worried that the wires were going to really stick out in HD as they did in the DVD versions, but I can barely see them anymore. Was impressed by some of the LFE as well. Too bad the movie itself is pretty lame (although, I do find it watchable, and part of that comes from the fun of seeing, as I like to refer to him, Surly Superman) but much of the stuff is just "What were they thinking?!" material. And what makes it worse, in a way, is that it's not a complete abortion like IV was, there occasionally is some pretty good material (mostly the stuff involving Lana and the Junkyard fight.)