The Packages

Both cuts feature commentaries, by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler for the Lester Cut, Donner and Tom Mankiewicz for the Donner Cut.  Ultimately I’d say there’s more interesting things on the Donner Cut, because after all, there’s more dirt to be found there, and dirt is how this whole dual cut thing came about in the first place.  The Lester Cut on Disc 1 has the Superman soufflé scene that I remember from the TV version, and a theatrical trailer.  The Donner Cut is only one disc, and it has an intro by Donner, and the featurette, Superman II: Restoring the Vision, which details how the Donner Cut finally saw the light of day.  It’s interesting, but a bit short at only around 13 minutes.  I’m sure there’s more stuff there that wasn’t gone into.  Donner has about eight minutes of deleted scenes also. 

Lester Disc 2 has the 50-minute TV special: The Making of Superman II, which is yet another great featurette, using tons of archive footage, not always of the best quality though.  There’s also the 48-minute Superman 50th Anniversary from 1988.  A lot of fresh faces in this TV special, including Dana Carvey and Jeanne Tripplehorn.  First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series runs around 12 minutes and details the making of the seminal Max Flesicher cartoon series of shorts about Superman.  Eight 1940s Famous Studio Superman animated shorts round out the special features.  Some good stuff on this disc.

Superman III (Deluxe Edition)

The Pitch

“Okay, we’ve covered that whole Superman / Lois Lane / Clark Kent scenario, so why don’t we do that whole Superman / Lana Lang / Gus Gorman thing now?  And uh, throw in a souped-up Macintosh for some flavor…”

The Humans

Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Annette O’Toole, Robert Vaughn, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, and um, that Kidder chick.

The Nutshell

Having defeated Lex Luthor and his California redevelopment plan, and the three Kryptonian Supercriminals, this time around, Superman’s nemesis is a megalomaniacal corporate bigwig named Ross Webster (Vaughn), who just happens to have working for him Gus Gorman (Pryor), a jive talkin’ homey who just happens to be a computer genius.  With Gorman’s talents, Webster uses computers to cause chaos, including programming a weather satellite to cause an incredible storm to wipe out the coffee crop in Colombia simply because they wouldn’t do business with him.  Eventually, Gorman and Webster create a supercomputer that they plan to use to take over the world. 

While Superman is dealing with Webster’s machinations, Clark Kent returns to Smallville to attend his high school reunion and manages to kindle a relationship with Lana Lang (O’Toole), the girl whom he had a crush on in high school.  But eventually, he’s affected by Webster’s plot of cooking up a batch of the first ever tar kryptonite, which serves to turn Superman evil, spurring him to create his own wave of mischief across the globe, such as snuffing out the Olympic torch, and straightening out the leaning tower of Pisa.  After a pivotal fight between the evil Superman and Clark Kent, who was split off from him as a result of the kryptonite, Superman confronts Webster and must outsmart his supercomputer before it can take over the world.

The Lowdown

Okay, let’s get the fact that Superman III is nowhere near the level of the first two films out of the way up front.  This was Superman Meets Jo Jo Dancer essentially and that was not the way to go.  I get that, I understand that, I’m aware of that.  However, I’ve seen bile slung all over this film and I don’t think all of it is justified.  There are definitely some things in Superman III to like and if you think about it, it’s probably the film of the four that most explores the Clark Kent / Superman dichotomy, not the least of which is through the great Kent / Supes fight in the junkyard.  Plus, I don’t think that going with another villain besides Luthor was a bad move, they just chose a hollow carbon copy and the film was overwhelmed by its own cuteness to be sure.  And what were they going to do to further the Superman / Lois relationship that they didn’t do in the first two films?  Going back to Lana Lang wasn’t a bad way to go either (although Lana’s son annoyed the hell out of me).

This was the first film without Donner’s fingerprints on it and was directed in its entirety by Richard Lester, the man who took over Superman II after Donner was fired by the Salkinds.  I think that III is a perfect example of the main problem that the Superman mythos has faced since its inception: how do you come up with a suitable nemesis for a man who is impossibly powerful and only has one weakness, a weakness which is in extremely short supply here on earth?  I may catch more than a bit of flack for this, but if you think about it, having the villain create a supercomputer goes back to the Fleischer cartoons: the mad scientist and his atomic computer or electronic brain or super robots.  I see the part of III where the computer is attacking Supes with its twin electrical generators and it takes me right back to the Fleischer cartoons more than any other point in any of the other films.  The musical cue there also reminds me of them. 

One other small thing that I noted about this movie is that if you look at Reeve’s build here, this is probably the best shape that he ever appeared in in any of the four films.  And as for Pryor, well, when I was a kid I found him funny.  But he brought Stir Crazy to III and that just didn’t mix very well, admittedly.  They had to turn a hard R comedian into a PG comedian and that’ll just never fly, no pun intended.  Richard Pryor was a wild, foul-mouthed genius of an entertainer and they had to dumb him down for this movie and that’s just wrong on every level.  Superman III had a lot of flaws, but it’s not Superman: The Antichrist to be sure…that honor is reserved for Superman IV….

The Package

There’s another new commentary by Salkind and Spengler, as well as the really good feature: The Making of Superman III.  There’s plenty of good behind-the-scenes stuff here and candid moments of Reeve, Pryor and the gang as they’re making the film.  There’s also 20 minutes of deleted scenes, but a lot of these are rip offs because they include so much of the footage that was actually in the movie, so in the end, a lot of times it feels like you’re watching much of the movie you just watched.  They need to trim the deleted scenes to a minimum.  There’s also the theatrical trailer.

Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (Deluxe Edition)

The Pitch

“So how can we just completely fudge over this franchise and nail the coffin shut on it for nearly two decades?”

The Humans

Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Mariel Hemingway, Jon Cryer, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, San Wanamaker…and the man named Pillow.

The Nutshell

In Christopher Reeve’s final outing in the role, Superman decides to solve our nuclear arms race by getting rid of all of our nukes.  Meanwhile, Lex Luthor escapes prison and creates Nuclear Man, a nuclear-powered supervillain grown from a strand of Superman’s hair.  Complete with retractable nuclear fingernails and Gene Hackman’s voice, Nuclear Man proves to be Superman’s most dangerous enemy yet.

The Lowdown

Okay, I can defend III to a point.  With IV, you simply have to throw your hands up, sit back and just  let the suck wash over you.  There are so many things bad about this movie that I almost don’t know where to start.  I suppose when you think about he concept of the film itself, it actually isn’t all that bad.  The arms race between the Superpowers was a big hot button issue at the moment and it seemed one that was beyond anyone’s ability to control.  So who do we turn to?  The big guy.  Cool.  Plus, you have Lex Luthor busting out of prison and looking for revenge.  Why not, three of the five Superman films so far have been about that very thing.  This time his plan includes making a super-powered villain based on Superman’s DNA itself.  Also fine.  And what, Christopher Reeve himself gave some input to the story nad was instrumental in getting it made?  Bonus, let’s get ‘er done.  So where does it go wrong?  Everywhere.

First of all let’s get the performances out of the way.  Even though Reeve was as solid as usual, he couldn’t quite recapture the magic from the first two films and several people that came back for this film look so tired of doing these roles that they all practically had “this is a paycheck and nothing more” stamped on there foreheads.  Hell, Gene Hackman hammed his way through this outing so much he could have been served up as Christmas dinner.  And for newcomer Mark Pillow, it’d be easy to say that he was pathetic, but what do you want from the guy?  He gets dubbed over by Hackman, which means even more work that I’m sure he was thrilled to do and when he isn’t dubbed over for Hackman, he’s dubbed over by canned lion roars or spends the rest of the movie snarling.  How’re you supposed to get over hurdles like that? 

Secondly, the director is Sidney J. Furie.  This is the man that directed Lady Sings the Blues for Chrissakes.  He got an Oscar-nominated performance out of a first time actress, yet here, he seems so disconnected from the goings on of this that he tries to rely on previous moments of magic from the previous films – namely the seminal flying duet between Superman and Lois from the first film – and fails…spectacularly.  And the pacing of this movie is all off in that they tried to cram two or three movies worth of catastrophes that Nuclear Man starts and Superman has to fix into just a few minutes, culminating in a global romp of destruction with the emotional resonance of…well not much at all. 

Next, the special effects for this movie were beyond laughable.  The fact that the budget was cut ridiculously is mostly to blame.  They used the same wire harness / back screen projection they used in all the films, but they just looked, well, bad.  I think the flying sequences in the live action Shazam! TV show from the ‘70s were better, and those were horrible. The special effects were the Star Trek V-quality two years before Star Trek V even came out.  Lastly, there have been major gripes about giving Superman powers that he never had, such as the teleporting in II or the infamous “magic kiss” in the same movie.  Here, they take it several steps further.  In no incarnation of Superman I’ve ever seen, read or know of does he have bricklaying vision, which he inimitably puts to use in repairing the damage done by Nuclear Man on the Great Wall.  There’s pathetic, and then there’s pathetic, and this my friends is the latter by far. 

One last gripe is that Superman is supposed to be timeless, and even though the ‘70s is indelibly stamped on the original movie, IV is even more dated by the ‘80s: the clothes, the arms race issue, the gym aerobics scene.  It stinks of Duran Duran, Rubik’s Cube and leotards, and as far ads I know, only the leotards were present.  And lest we not forget, Jon Cryer embodies the ‘80s in Lenny – and not in a good way…at all.  But if there’s one semi-decent, and I mean that warily, thing about IV, it’s that the fight between Superman and Nuclear Man on the moon ain’t half bad.   But then Superman has to push the moon out of orbit to beat him and that one good thing is pretty much torched.  After that, Superman goes bye bye for a long time…and rightfully so.

The Package

IV has a commentary by co-writer Mark Rosenthal, who is pretty forthcoming about the problems that this film had, particularly with budget and the freefall that producer Cannon Films was headed for even before pre-production began.  It’s a theme that he stays with throughout the run of the film.

There’s also nearly thirty minutes of deleted scenes, which were in terrible shape by the way.  Obviously no one cared to make sure that the negatives were kept in good condition.  Normally that would be a shame, but considering the footage that was left on the floor, in this case not so much.  One of the things that I never knew was that there was a Nuclear Man prototype before the Pillow Nuclear Man.  And this thing is such an embarrassment that I can’t believe they even bothered to shoot more than a couple of takes before they realized they were making one of the biggest mistakes in the entire series.  But there’s even a little fight between Nuke 1 and Supes that is also embarrassing.  There’s also an extended flying sequence between Superman and Lois that’s even worse than the final cut.  One of the contributing factors to this movie being such a complete abortion is that nearly 45 minutes were cut from the final product, which partially explains Nuclear Man’s infatuation with Lacey Warfield, because the first Nuclear Man was also infatuated with her.  It’s a whole thing that doesn’t really need to be gone into.  Beyond that, there are also trailers.

Superman Returns (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Nick has covered this two-disc set in depth and I’m not one to think I could outdo the boss when it comes to a review.  And since this review is eating up all the memory on my computer, I humbly defer to his take on the disc here.  However, I will quickly add my two cents in that I was heartily anticipating this film when it came out.  After ten+ years of development hell and false starts, I was chomping at the bit at its release.  Overall I’m probably a little bit easier on the film than Nick and the others were (the theatrical Tag Team Review here), but I do agree that Superman Returns needed to knock you on your ass considering the burden that was placed upon the film long before it ever truly got going and ultimately it didn’t.  That’s not to say that I don’t dig the hell out of what Singer tried to do and succeeded in doing in certain regards.  It’s rare when a filmmaker will give respect to those who came before him in a franchise, and Singer’s homage to the first two films, especially in regards to bringing back Brando and not feeling the need to completely redo Williams’ genius in the music department are admirable. 

I do like the master plan that Luthor came up with involving the crystals, but in the end it’s a basic retread of the first film: Luthor trying a land scheme and using kryptonite.  It’s another example that without the green rock, even a villain like Luthor has jack in terms of presenting Superman with a challenge.  If the next film is to succeed, kryptonite can’t be in a single frame of film to be sure.  I recommend bringing in Darkseid, but that’s just me.  Regardless, Nick is also correct in that there are a ton of great extras to complement the film.  Special mention does need to go to the performance that Brandon Routh brought to Superman Returns.  There was a scene or two where I was thinking that he was Christopher reeve’s lovechild.  The resemblance and the performance were uncanny at times.  I do eagerly await to see him back in the uniform under Singer’s direction.  But Superman Returns wasn’t quite the movie that it needed to be.

Look, Up in the Sky!: The Amazing Story of Superman

This entire disc is one big special feature, the collaboration between Singer and documentary maker Ken Burns that chronicles the entire history of Superman.  Look Up in the Sky! goes from Superman’s humble beginnings as a comic strip character dreamed up by two teenage kids, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in Cleveland, Ohio in the late thirties thru his incarnation as a comic book superhero for DC Comics, to the 1950s George Reeves TV show, The Adventures of Superman, to the Reeve theatrical incarnations, Smallville and finally Superman Returns.  This is an excellent piece and shows how Superman has been woven into the very fabric of American culture throughout the decades through his many reinventions.  It features interviews from people associated with every facet of Superman, from Noel Neill and Jack Larson, to Richard Donner, and Singer himself.  Narrated by Kevin Spacey, Look is a very thorough account of the history of the Man of Steel and very well paced and structured.  Not only does it account the productions of the various productions of the films and TV shows, but also rare fringe elements such as The Adventures of Super Pup, a pilot that never saw the light of day.  You may not ever find a more complete account of the Superman mythos in one place than this.

You Will Believe: The Cinematic Saga of Superman

This is another detailed account of Superman, this time focusing on the production of the four Reeve theatrical films exclusively.  It features plenty of archival footage and numerous interviews from the production staff, crew, and actors, including Terence Stamp, Jack O’Halloran, Kidder, Donner, Marc McClure, and many others.  It’s told in five chapters and is as complete in the detailing of the production of the four films as Look is to the overall Superman phenomenon.  Another excellent doco.

There’s also another featurette, The Mythology of Superman that runs around 20 minutes and focuses on Superman’s place in the pantheon of other mythological figures such as the Greek Gods.  The Heart of a Hero: A Tribute to Christopher Reeve is yet another featurette around 18 minutes that gives Christopher Reeve his due in spades, not only for his place in the Superman universe, but also his crusade for spinal chord research after his accident and ultimately through to his untimely passing.  Among the more touching accounts are from Margot Kidder, Annette O’Toole, Jane Symour and Donner. 

Rounding out the features on this disc are The Adventures of Super Pup pilot from 1958.  This was a re-imagining of Superman as a dog (actually dwarf in a dog suit) and other characters as various animals.  Friends, you have to be a hardcore – and I mean a hardcore – Superman fan to get through that.  There’s also three Warner Bros. cartoons, featuring Bugs and Daffy in parodies of Superman (Super Rabbit and Stuporduck), and and earlier black and white cartoon called Snafuperman. 

Bryan Singer’s Journals (Extended Edition)

These are a collection of 29 video blogs of Bryan and his crew from the various sets of Superman Returns from up to a year before the film was actually released.  These are fun and informative, including his trip to the 2005 San Diego Comic Con.

Wrap Up

As I’ve been going on ridiculously little sleep the last week or so, I need to share a personal anecdote or two about this whole review.  First off, some of the fondest memories I have of going to see the Christopher Reeve Superman moves are that my mother, who passed on a few years ago, took me to see every one of them.  In fact, we got to Superman II about ten minutes in and stayed for the next showing so we could see the opening, and ended up watching the entire thing again.  When I think about those movies and those times, those trips with my mother are what I think about most. 

And on a more recent note, if you’re considering shipping this Ultimate Collectors set to anyone, I’d advise to use caution.  Mine arrived looking like this:

Some of the discs were damaged, which is why I couldn’t watch certain things.  Luckily I already had most of them from when I bought the various movies in 2000 and more recently.  And here I thought Superman was supposed to be invulnerable…

BUY IT AT AMAZON: CLICK HERE
STUDIO: Warner Home Video
MSRP: $99.98
RATED: PG
RUNNING TIME: N/A
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Superman: The Movie (Four-Disc Special Edition)
� Original 1978 theatrical version with soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1
� Commentary by producer Pierre Spengler and executive producer Ilya Salkind
� Theatrical trailers and TV spot
� 2000 expanded edition movie with commentary by director Richard Donner and creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz
� Music-only audio track
� Three documentaries:
� Taking Flight: The Development of Superman
� Making Superman: Filming the Legend
� The Magic Behind the Cape
� Restored scenes
� Screen tests
� Audio-only bonus: additional music cues
� Vintage TV special The Making of Superman: The Movie
� 1951 movie Superman and the Mole-Men, starring George Reeves
� Nine Fleischer Studios Superman cartoons mastered from superior vault elements: Superman, The Mechanical Monsters, Billion Dollar Limited, The Arctic Giant, The Bulleteers, The Magnetic Telescope, Electric Earthquake, Volcano, Terror on the Midway
� Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
� Richard Donner’s cut includes footage shot but never used, including a never-before-seen beginning, a never-before-seen resolution, 15 minutes of restored footage of Marlon Brando as Jor-El, and more
� All-new introduction by Richard Donner
� Commentary by Donner and creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz
� New featurette Superman II: Restoring the Vision
� Additional scenes
� Superman II (Two-Disc Special Edition)
� The theatrical cut of the film
� Commentary by executive producer Ilya Salkind and producer Pierre Spengler
� Theatrical trailer
� Vintage TV specials The Making of Superman II” and Superman 50th Anniversary
� New featurette First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series
� Eight Famous Studios Superman cartoons mastered from superior vault elements: Japoteurs, Showdown, Eleventh Hour, Destruction Inc., The Mummy Strikes, Jungle Drums, The Underground World, Secret Agent
� Superman III (Deluxe Edition)
� Commentary by executive producer Ilya Salkind and producer Pierre Spengler
� Vintage TV special The Making of Superman III
� Additional scenes
� Theatrical trailer
� Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (Deluxe Edition)
� Commentary by screenwriter Mark Rosenthal
� Additional scenes
� Theatrical trailer
� Superman Returns (Two-Disc Special Edition)
� Requiem for Krypton: Making Superman Returns: a comprehensive 3-hour documentary including:
� Secret Origins and First Issues: Crystallizing Superman
� The Crystal Method: Designing Superman
� An Affinity for Beachfront Property: Shooting Superman (Superman on the Farm, Superman in the City, Superman in Peril)
� The Joy of Lex: Menacing Superman
� He’s Always Around: Wrapping Superman
� Resurrecting Jor-El
� Deleted scenes: The Date, Family Photos, Crash Landing/X-Ray Vision, Old Newspapers, Are You Two Dating?, Martinis and Wigs, I’m Always Right, Jimmy the Lush, Language Barrier, Crystal Feet, New Krypton
� Easter egg: “Wrong!”
� Theatrical and video game trailers
� Bryan Singer’s Journals (Extended Edition)
� Look, Up in the Sky!: The Amazing Story of Superman
� You Will Believe: The Cinematic Saga of Superman

This is undoubtedly the biggest review I�ve done to date for CHUD, and one that I jumped at the chance to do, because other than the original Star Wars trilogy, these movies were the defining cinematic events of my childhood. I�ve stated before that no actor was born to play any role as much as Christopher Reeve was to play Superman, and the way that his performance and other factors such as John Williams� transcendent film score came together in a confluence of cinematic history have served to show that, even nearly thirty years later, and the unfortunate passing of a true Man of Steel, both on and off the screen, Superman still resonates with fans, and none more so than yours truly.

Yeah, if you were on your way to Themiscyra for some Wonderquiff, you’d be smiling too…

As you can see, there�s a shitload of stuff to cover here, and I�m sure by the time you�re done reading it, you�ll be almost as fried as I was writing it. I�m also going to try to add fuel to the recent fire with the release of the Donner Cut of Superman II by putting it head to head in a DVD Battle with the original theatrical cut (the Lester Cut). I’ve also slapped 49 captions on this thing (I thought 50 would have abeen a bit too much).

Superman: The Movie (Four-Disc Special Edition)

The Pitch

You will believe a man can fly…and set the standard for all superhero movies to come.

The Humans

Marlon Brando, Glenn Ford, Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Valerie Perrine, Terrence Stamp, Sarah Douglas, Jack O�Halloran.

The Nutshell

The film opens with Jor-El (Brando), a scientist and member of the ruling council of the planet Krypton, presiding over the trial of three murderous Kryptonian criminals: General Zod, Non, and Ursa, who sought to sieze control of the government for themselves. Jor-El casts the deciding vote that sends the three of them to the Phantom Zone, a prison that glides through outer space, imprisoning them forever. Before he is sent off, Zod swears vengeance upon Jor-El and his entire lineage, no matter if it takes an eternity.

“Jor-El, you realize that he won’t have any diapers for three years…”

Later, Jor-El is conferring with the ruling council of Krypton, in a vain attempt to convince them that their planet is doomed and they must escape before the inevitable occurs. But unable to sway their minds, and forbidden from leaving himself or persuading others to do the same, Jor-El resolves to send his only son, Kal-El, away in a space ship to earth. He does this so that he can both have a chance to survive Krypton�s destruction and also so that he can aid humanity through a difficult period in their development. For Jor-El knows that, although Kal-El will look like a human, he will have abilities unto like a god when under the influence of their yellow sun. These abilities will consist of being nearly invulnerable with immeasurable strength, the ability to fly at unimaginable speed, highly enhanced senses, including being able to see through anything (except lead) and projecting heat from his eyes.

When Kal-El arrives on earth, he is found by Jonathan and Martha Kent, two farmers in Smallville, KS, who secretly raise him as their own son, ever wary that he has been sent for a reason. Named Clark Kent, Kal-El has as normal a childhood and adolescence as possible, and he revels in his superhuman gifts on in their small town yet he is tormented by his inability to share them with anyone save his parents. When his father dies suddenly of a heart attack, this spurs a series of events that leads Clark to the North Pole, guided by a special crystal implanted in his spacecraft by Jor-El. The crystal creates the Fortress of Solitude, a monolithic crystal palace which houses the accumulated knowledge of Krypton and also Jor-El�s very essence which he uses to instruct and guide Kal-El in his destiny of serving mankind. Years pass as Jor-El takes Clark on a journey of instruction in the ways of his heritage, and his birthright as earth�s protector. When he emerges, young Clark is now the fully-grown Man of Steel (Reeve, in a once-in-a-lifetime role) in the familiar suit and goes off to fulfill his destiny.

“Whoa, you’re right: weed is better a 10,000 feet…”

He emerges in Metropolis as a mild-mannered reporter for the Daily Planet newspaper. Hiding his identity with a pair of glasses and a bumbling demeanor that is the polar opposite of his true persona of Kal-El. He meets and instantly falls for Lois Lane (Kidder), a gung ho and doggedly intense reporter with a penchant for getting into trouble. When she becomes involved in a helicopter accident and is threatened with imminent death, Superman emerges for the first time and saves the day, stunning the world in the process. It�s Lois who gives him the moniker of Superman, and it�s not long before Superman becomes a fixture in Metropolis and all over the world, lending aid when needed and becoming the object of Lois� affections, as she is for his.

Of course, not everyone is happy with Superman�s emergence, and his most ardent opponent is Lex Luthor (Hackman), a criminal genius with a plan of enacting the biggest real estate con in history, which also involves destroying most of California with a nuclear-aided earthquake in the process. He challenges Superman to come meet him and manages to incapacitate him with the one thing on earth that can kill him: a radioactive piece of meteorite from his home planet � Kryptonite. Through the aid of Luthor�s mistress, Miss Teschmacher (Perrine), Superman manages to escape and stop Luthor�s plans, but he is unable to rescue Lois, who was caught in the aftermath of the earthquake. Making a fateful decision, one that was expressly forbidden by Jor-El, Superman turns back the earth to undo all of the damage done and save Lois in the process. Having succeeded in making the world a much safer place, Superman flies up into space and flashes his megawatt smile until his next great adventure.

The new Village People lineup was different to be sure…

The Lowdown

This is the superhero film, period. This set the standard. Even now, when we�re in the midst of a superhero movie smorgasbord, Superman still stands as the way it should be done and invariably, all superhero movies are compared to it. As a kid who used to read comics books voraciously, I�m a huge fan of the superhero movie and I�ve seen them all. But so far, none of them, even with the brilliance of both Spider-Man 2 and X2, quite measure up because usually they�re lacking one or more crucial ingredients. In the case of both of the aforementioned titles, it�s a truly great score, and in the case of the Spider-Man flicks in general, it�s chemistry between the leads.

“Yeah, you know, come to think of it, I always thought there was some kind of connection between Billy Batson and Captain Marvel…don’t know how I could have missed it before…”

I didn�t need repeat viewings to be utterly disappointed in Elfman�s music for the movie, and hell, considering how his relationship with Sam Raimi ended up, neither was he apparently. And I doubt that I�m the only one who thinks that Toby was great…but Kirsten, perhaps not so much. In Superman, although Margot Kidder may not have appeared to be the first choice for Lois Lane, she absolutely works in the role next to Reeve. Their chemistry both in verbally sparring as Lois and Clark and falling in love as Lois and Superman are superb. Brando�s performance as Jor-El needs no explanation from me as it simply makes the first act of the movie. This film was also my introduction to Hackman�s work, and although when you�re six years old, you don�t necessarily care about the actor behind the role, this film helped me along the road to be a Hackman fan.

Getting that ‘Dear John’ letter from Lois about her and Jimmy wan’t a good thing…

On Disc 2 is the 2000 expanded edition, with several added scenes. I much prefer this version over the original as there were several key scenes omitted from the theatrical version; not the least of which is an extra scene between Kal-El and Jor-El after Superman first appears to the world. Others include an expanded account of what happened on Krypton prior to the explosion and the risks that Jor-El took to send his son away. And of course one scene that was criminally cut was that of Superman�s running of Luthor�s underground gauntlet of bullets, fire and ice when he first encounters Luthor. Not only was it cool, but it also shows beyond a doubt Supes� invulnerability right before the green rock turns him into jelly. Other minor ones include more footage of Superman tunneling underneath the fault (a bit too much actually) and reaction shots from the Hollywood sign when the big one is ready to flatten California.

Of course the two things that absolutely make this film are the work of Christopher Reeve and John Williams. My thoughts on Reeve have been made clear; as for Williams, I submit that this is his most iconic score, just short of Star Wars. Only he could make three minutes of opening credits one of the most memorable parts of a film as he does here. Since we�re a media generation, I also submit that John Williams� scores are classical music for our time. I still enjoy Superman as much as I did 28 years ago and that will never change for me.

“WTF?! No lawyer?!”

The Package

Ah the package. Well there�s an interesting tale to tell about the package that arrived for me in the mail. I�ll get to that at the end of the review. In the meantime, here is what�s available on the Superman: The Movie discs:

Discs 1 contains a new commentary by executive producer Ilya Salkind and producer Pierre Spengler, and the theatrical trailers and TV spots. In addition to the expanded edition, Disc 2 contains the 2000 commentary by Donner and creative consultant (i.e. writer) Tom Mankiewicz and a real treat, the music only audio track, where you can truly enjoy Williams� brilliance all on its own.

Disc 3 is all special features that were available on the 2000 release of the film, including the two 30-minute featurettes: Taking Flight: The Development of Superman, and Making Superman: Filming the Legend. There�s also the 23-minute The Magic Under the Cape. These are all quite good features and highlight much of the behind-the-scenes action on the film.

“Are we at least going to get conjugal visits?”

There�s also a plethora of Screen Tests, which were also available on the 2000 release. These feature several actresses who tried out for Lois, including Holly Palance, Stockard Channing, Lesley Ann Warren and a couple of Margot Kidder, including the pivotal scene in the Donner Cut of her tricking Superman into revealing his identity with a gun that shoots blanks. One of Christopher Reeve�s screen tests is also included, and you can see how much he had to bulk up for the role as he was about five pounds heavier than Nicole Richie when he started. This is one of the best features as you can really see how actors have to find the role with the help of the director. Reeve wasn�t anywhere near his onscreen self early on, but by the later screen tests, you could see how he was really worked into the part. There�s also some screen tests for actresses who tried out for Ursa.

“You know Clark, I prefer sleeping with you in the Donner Cut, for obvious reasons…”

There�s also over 14 minutes of Restored Scenes, not all of which made it back into the expanded edition. Finally there are Additional Music Cues, which are audio only tracks of key musical accompaniments throughout the movie such as the main titles and various themes.

Disc 4 is probably the biggest treasure trove for hardcore, old school Superman fans because it contains not only the original TV special, The Making of Superman, but also the 1951 George Reeves movie, Superman and the Mole Men and several of the 1940s Max Fleischer cartoons: Superman, The Mechanical Monsters, Billion Dollar Limited, The Bulleteers, The Magnetic Telescope, Electric Earthquake, Volcano and Terror on the Midway. I�m sure this is all great stuff, unfortunately, I didn�t get to see any of it… That�s another part of the interesting story I mentioned earlier. More on that later.

“Okay, okay, I get it, calling the Hulk a pussy wasn’t exactly the smartest thing to do…”

DVD Battle: Superman II � The Donner Cut vs. The Theatrical (Lester) Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)

The Combatants

As Superman and Superman II were being shot simultaneously, the skids were put on II by the Salkinds to finish I and disagreements with director Richard Donner led to his firing from II, even though he had shot close to 80% of the finished product. Enter Richard Lester to finish up the film and reap all the glory, and Donner�s uncompleted vision to languish in film vaults for nearly thirty years and spur a three-decade-long fan obsession to see that vision come to light. Well now it has and the inevitable question can finally be answered: which version is better, Donner or Lester. In DVD Battle, the rules are clear: two films enter, one film leaves. In this case, however, it�s two cuts of the same film.

“Uh General…um, your zipper sir…”