By Raphael Soohoo aka Wraithmaker on the
CGS Forums, Author of Bulleteer Madness and Crisis on
Infinite Bullets.
Hey Bulleteers!
It's Raph with my first Bullet Points. I am going to be
reviewing the 14 Disc Superman Ultimate Collector's Set.
Before I begin, I must note that I have the set that's
missing the Dolby 2 cut and the special features for
Superman III. Also, keep in mind that my Superman
fanboyism rivals Matthew Guy's. I will be as fair and
balanced as I can... unlike Fox News... anyway on with
the show.
Disc 1: Superman 1978
Theatrical Cut. Ilya Salkind's Commentary on it is
pretty interesting... he's a little more amiable about
the whole Donner/Lester/Salkind relationship than I
thought they would be. They took out the scenes added in
2001. It was the classic movie just as I remembered it.
I can tell you the location of most of the places in New
York that stand in for Metropolis. Clark and Lois get
mugged not 5 blocks away from where I currently live! A
classic movie!
4/5 The missing Dolby
mix knocks it down a notch.
Disc 2: Superman 2001
Cut. Basically the same as the one that came out 6 years
ago. Insightful commentary from Richard Donner and Tom
Mankiewicz. To be honest, the more up to date, modern
sounds just don't fit. You can hear the glass shattering
and the bullets firing as if they're not being broken
and shot at the same location of the scene occurring. It
takes you a little bit out of the moment. Still good
here.
4.5/5 The sounds
don't change much for me, but they do hurt the
experience just a little.
Disc 3: Special
Features. Nothing new from the 2001 cut. Same three
documentaries. Seen them plenty of times. One of them is
on the preproduction, the second on the production
itself, and the third is on the special effects.
3/5 I was ok with
these features. Nothing new, so I don't grade as highly.
Disc 4: This is where
it got a little interesting. An old Making of Superman
TV special. This is one of the first times I've ever
seen Christopher Reeve outside of the Superman costume,
talking like himself. I was 10 or 11 when he was
crippled, and he wasn't a very public figure. It put a
little tear in my eye, just to see him healthy, vital,
and out of character. For the first time in my life, I
saw Christopher Reeve. Interesting little special.
Superman and the Mole Man is in here, the movie starring
George Reeves and Phyllis Coates. They recycled footage
for the two part episode on the Adventures of Superman
TV show. There's also nine Max Fleischer Superman
cartoons. I actually remember watching these cartoons as
a little kid on TV. No I'm not 60 years old, but Channel
9 (Used to be UPN now it's my Network here in NYC) used
to play old black and white movies and TV shows. When I
was very young, 3 5 years old, I would watch this
stuff. I have witnessed nearly every iteration of
Superman on the screen, these cartoons are excellent and
stand the test of time.
4/5 GREAT feature,
GREAT cartoon, GOOD George Reeves... sorry George.
Disc 5 Superman II
The Lester Cut. This is hard. Having seen the Donner
cut... it was hard to compare. I liked this movie when I
was younger, but the flaws in Lester's and the Salkind's
vision show themselves here. Too much jokiness in what's
supposed to be a serious movie about a serious
character. The people rolling around and getting blown
away by the aliens... Lois' co-worker on the side
commentary... mehhh. I enjoy this movie, but I don't see
it as the best of the four originals. Illya Salkind and
Pierre Spengler return for commentary duties. They
justify their decisions, and I respect their reasons,
but they should never have fired Richard Donner.
3.5/5 Before I had no
comparison, but it doesn't hold up next to...
Disc 6 Superman II:
The Richard Donner Cut. Wow. This is not a complete
film, because of lost footage and certain scenes that
weren't shot. The guys worked hard on this. I am very
impressed. They were on a tight budget, so the quality
isn't sterling for certain scenes, but all is forgiven.
They have a nice dedication to Superman, Christopher
Reeve in the beginning, it put a tear in my eye. It is a
beautiful movie, and a true, fitting sequel to Superman:
The Movie. Christopher Reeve shows off his acting chops,
especially in scenes with Marlon Brando.
4.5/5 The special
effects were a bit iffy. They reuse leitmotifs that were
intended for other scenes. This is me being critical.
LOVELY movie. One of the best I've ever seen.
Disc 7 Superman II
Special Features. More cartoons. Documentaries on the
cartoons, Superman's 50th anniversary and the
Making of Superman II were very interesting. This was a
lot of fun. A few days ago, I was using an avatar on the
forums that said Mayor Defies Threats of 'Bulleteers'.
That's from one of the cartoons!
4/5 More great
Superman stuff. The cartoons seem a bit out of place,
but I love the stuff regardless.
Disc 8 Superman III.
I haven't seen this movie in like over 8 years. No
Special Features, due to the mess up. The movie
itself.... ehhh. I loved this movie as a little kid.
LOVED IT. Superman video game on the computer? AWESOME!
Superman fighting Superman? AWESOME! Now that I'm 22...
not as good. Richard Pryor is the star of a Superman
movie. How wrong does that sound in your ears? Not that
Richard Pryor isn't funny or a good actor, but the movie
is supposed to be about Superman. No star can transcend
the main character of a superhero movie. Marlon Brando
and Gene Hackman are TERRIFIC actors, but they are not
the emphasis of the first Superman movie. The franchise
slowly died with this one
3/5 I liked it as a
child, and it made me sentimental, but good movie making
this is not.
Disc 9 Superman IV.
Oh boy. I loved this movie as a youth. I thought it was
awesome. Even then though, I had my problems with it.
How could Nuclear Man take her up into space??? Don't
people need spacesuits? Why do they look so bad when
they're flying? This is a pretty poor movie. I enjoyed
it solely for the nostalgic value. I admire Chris Reeve
for trying to tackle such a touchy but weighty subject,
but it just was not meant to be. There are a few deleted
scenes and commentary, but this is definitely the
weakest of the set (not taking into account the Superman
III snafu, I have yet to see the special features
there.)
2.5/5 Great
Christopher Reeve acting. That's about it.
Disc 10 Superman
Returns. The second Superman movie I've seen in the
theaters (I saw Superman: The Movie playing at an indy
theater), but the first Superman movie I got to go to
see brand new for myself. The experience it self, as a
Superman fan for as long as I can remember, was amazing.
This movie, in my opinion, is the third best of the
collection, behind the first Superman movie and the
Richard Donner cut of II. It has it's bad parts, and it
doesn't appeal to non Superman fans who like comics. I
liked it personally. So what if he's picking up an
island that's half Kryptonite. I didn't care until I saw
it for the 4th time... I just bought into the
magic of Superman saving everyone by lifting something
the size of Manhattan!!! Sigh.. I was the only one who
cheered during the part... that's who I am. I am a
SuperFan. Very bare bones DVD brings down the score.
4/5 Very Good Movie.
Brandon Routh is terrific. Where is the commentary love?
Disc 11 Superman
Returns: the Special Features. This was a major
disappointment. Not because of the documentaries, which
are terrific. Not because of the deleted scenes in
there, those are good. They missed some of the trailers,
which I will forgive. They left out the Return to
Krypton scene... WHAT. THE. HELL???? I was so eagerly
anticipating this scene! I understood why they took it
out of the movie, but why didn't they put it in the
deleted scenes??? Aside from that, the features are
terrific. They go pretty in depth into the production of
Superman Returns. The deleted scenes weren't necessary,
but they have some really good character moments. I
would have loved to have seen them on the big screen.
Here's hoping to an extended cut or something... I want
to see KRYPTON!
4/5 That Return to
Krypton scene not being here really hurts the score.
Whyyyy????
Disc 12 Look, Up in
the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman. A nice, lengthy,
in depth look at the history of our favorite Man of
Steel. All kinds of people showed up for interviews.
Dean Cain, Paul Levitz, Stan Lee (!) and so many more.
They covered the early days all the way down to Superman
Returns. I bought this when it first came out for the
special Superman movie poster postcards. A very good
documentary. It covers a lot of ground.
4/5 Informative,
didn't drag. Great for the DC historian/Superman fan.
Disc 13 You Will
Believe: The Cinematic Saga of Superman. Documentaries
that cover the saga of the Christopher Reeve Superman
stories. They are so deep, when the cast talks about
Dick Donner and Christopher Reeve, you can feel the love
for them. There;s also the Mythology of Superman, which
deals with the influences and inspirations for
Superman's genesis. There's the unreleased pilot of The
Adventures of Super Pup, which used the Adventures of
Superman sets and little people in dog suits. It was
very... interesting... but not as good as the three
Warner Bros. Loony Tunes Cartoons, which are terrific.
The best part though, is the Tribute to Christopher
Reeve. I had a few tears in my eyes as I watched
friends, loved ones and other people tell stories about
him. He really was a great guy, forget Superman for a
second. When I was younger, I saw a commercial on TV
where he got out of his wheelchair and walked. That was
such a moment for me, even though it was CGI, it was
incredible. I always hoped he would walk again. His
legacy lives on though.
5/5 Intimate looks at
the making of the four Superman movies, great cartoons,
a lost (but terrible) TV pilot and a loving tribute to
the man who was Superman, and so much more.
Disc 14 Bryan
Singer's video journals. I had been keeping up with
these on the Blue Tights website, so a lot of it wasn't
new to me. There are two new video journals, and they
are very well done. Overall, they're nice fun little
romps. They give you some spoilers and information, but
the documentaries from the Superman Returns features
disc are so much more in-depth. I had fun watching these
while waiting for Superman Returns to be released. If
you go to the Daily Planet forum, you can find other the
viewing order for these along with the documentaries for
Superman Returns. The same man who did the journals did
the documentaries, and he has a post there which details
his suggested viewing order... but the CGS forum is
still the best ever!
4/5 Interesting and
fun, not too much new for me. I liked them. They're
short and sweet, so give them a shot.
OVERALL:
Movies: 4/5 Good and
bad movies here, but they're all presented beautifully
and lovingly.
Features: 4.5/5 Great
documentaries. Good commentaries. Good Deleted scenes.
No Return to Krypton... therefore it's not perfect.
Packaging: 4.5/5 Tin
case is nice. The actual plastic and cardboard container
of the dvd's is beautiful, but the styrafoam that helps
to hold the DVD's in place is bothersome.
OVERALL SCORE: 4.5/5
I recommend this to any Superman fan, or any DC fan.
This is a wonderful DVD set. Amazon had them for 60
something dollars, which is where I got it. It brought
back so many memories from childhood, and all the movies
are kid friendly. Get an entire new generation hooked.
Look what it did for me... okay don't, I'm a Level 10
Fanboy... I'm ultra obsessed, so I don't know if you
guys want your kids/nephews/nieces/grandchildr