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Superman - The Movie (Special Edition)

Superman - The Movie (Special Edition)

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $14.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: UP, Up and Away
Review: This movie is the quintessential of superhero movies from 1979 to the present day. Every superhero movie that has come afterward, from Blade to X-men has tried to obtain the absolute perfection achieved in this movie. Chis Reeve is incredible as superman, paired against the always excellent Gene Hackmen as his enemy Lex Luthor.

If you are one of the few who has never seen this movie what are you waiting for? Go rent it now!!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Definately a kid's movie, and the special effects pull it.
Review: I understand that many people who like this movie regard it as a classic, and they grew up on it. Heck, their kids probably grew up on it too. However for me it was quite different. I first saw this movie when I was about 8 I belive, and it didn't manage to keep my interest, and I fell asleep. I didn't remember any of it, until I decided to rent it a month or two ago on DVD. I had low expectations due to my boring memories of it and the fact that it was made in 1978. My low expectations were justified. This movie doesn't stand up to modern comic book flicks like Spider-Man and X-Men. Christopher Reeve plays Superman, who, unfortunately, is wearing tights, wich are, to put it delicately, tight. Perhaps too tight in some spots. Margot Kidder plays Lois Lane, howerver her performance comes across as "flakey". One might go as far as to use the word "dingbat". Gane Hackman play Supeman's arch nemesis, Lex Luthor. Unfortunately, I found his character to be the worst of all (second to Ned Beatty's "Otis"). It is impossible to take him seriousely. He does not come across as dangerouse, powerful, or even threataning. Hackman more or less plays him like a big joke. Perhaps I'm spoiled by the animated Superman cartoon from the 90's and the new show "Smallville" on The WB, but Hackman's Lex just doesn't work for me. Casting issues aside, the movie has a rather weak story. Basically it's written to accomidate as many special effects as possible. Rather than the special effects working for the story, the story works for the special effects. The story is very simple, obviousely geared towards kids, and when Superman uses his powers, it's almost always just to show off the special effect. The special effects were very good for '78, however that doesn't excuse how they used them for no other purpose than to "wow" the audience. Also, if this movie takes place in Metropolis, why do we constantly see new york landmarks? It's not accidental either. They intentionally flaunt images of the Statue of Liberty and the now fallen Twin Towers in our faces. Obviousely the director couldn't make up his mind where the movie takes place. In the end, you have a movie for young children, with production values up the wazoo (things like the Kryptonian counsil at the start and the earthquake climax were well done, but unfortuately wasted by the rest of the film), with a half baked story. If you can call it baked at all. This movie ranks in fourth place in the superhero flicks I've seen.

1. X-men, an excellent re-envisioning of the comic.
2. Spider-Man, however I actually would have it tied with X-Men.
3. Batman, wich I place in third, however I think it had bad casting (Micheal Keaton?) and low production values.
4. Superman, wich places fourth, right below Batman. A kid's film with high production values and no story.

I seriousely hope that Superman's new film will turn out better than his '78 attempt. Superman was never my favorite superhero, but I think that since he launched the genre, he at least deserves a film that ranks up there with Brian Synger's X-Men and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You will believe that a man can fly
Review: The potential for disaster was huge with the big screen adaption of Superman, but director Richard Donner knew what he was doing here, and what we have left is a super epic of one of the most popular and recognized super heroes of all time. Christopher Reeve was the perfect choice to don the red, blue, and yellow suit, and Gene Hackman's campy yet hilarious portrayal of Lex Luthor is fantastic. The special effects, while may look a bit dated, still look pretty good and hold up today. This Special Edition DVD is worth noting as well, the screen tests are great to watch, and sometimes just plain hilarious. All in all, even if you don't like the Superman comics, you will find something to love with this epic film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Superman: The Movie is pure magic
Review: Superman: The Movie is one of, if not, the best comic book based film ever made. The film's story is well done, the film's cast is perfect, and the production values were pretty impressive for 1978. Directed by Richard Donner (The Goonies, all 4 Lethal Weapon films, Maverick), Superman delivers everything expected concerning the Man of Steel. Christopher Reeve will forever be remembered as The Man of Steel, and his performance as Clark Kent/Superman is very well handled as he brought some humanity to the character. As each Superman sequel came, the film series lost its quality in the stories and in production values. It was always Reeve's portrayal of the lead character that still made the sequels worth watching.

Superman: The Movie is a must have film for anyone's video or DVD collection.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Should have stuck with the original
Review: Three individual cuts of this film exist as of today:

1. The Theatrical release

2. A re-edited version for ABC TV, containing previously never before seen footage

3. The version contained on this DVD

The version found on this disc is a mish-mosh of material from the theatrical release, the ABC re-edit, and footage that was previously unreleased. Any and all remaining unreleased footage has been relegated to the "Extras" area. This is confusing and stupid, there's no excuse for a stuido to re-edit a film 2 times post-release. See the 2-disc DVD release of The Abyss for the proper way to include theatrical and director's cut footage. On the up-side most of the disc looks good, with minimal grain and distortion. But the sound could be improved quite a bit.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: THE SECOND BEST SUPERMAN MOVIE.
Review: THE REASON WHY SUPERMAN 2 IS A LITTLE BETTER THAN SUPERMAN THE MOVIE IS BECAUSE THERE ARE MORE BAD GUYS IN THIS MOVIE.LIKE LEX BABY,ZOD AND THE TWO OTHERS MADE THIS MOVIE.I LIKE THE MUSIC IN THIS AND IS REALLY GOOD.PS 1,2 AND 4 ARE THE MOVIES TO WATCH.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Disappointing :o(
Review: The imagery and soundtrack of this DVD are wonderful.

However, in the early '80s Superman The Movie was broadcast for television here in Australia and was about 177 minutes long. This is nearly three hours. The two "deleted" scenes found in the "Special Edition" were actually included in the television broadcast. These two deleted scenes I refer to as the "Feed the babies Otis" scene and the scene when Lex is playing piano while singing "You must have been a beautiful baby" as Otis lowers Miss Tessmocker who is to be the next meal for the "babies". Superman saves her of course.

Much of the humour in the relationship between Lex, Otis and Miss Tessmocker is lost because the DVD is missing so many shots/scenes.

The only scene I noticed on the DVD that was not in the '80s television broadcast is a short scene where we see some people looking at the lastest news reports on some TVs in a shop window.

...

All in all, I have to say that I expected more footage, and not less, in a so-called "Special Edition" version of Supmerman and I was most disappointed. I feel as though I have been short-changed. The DVD has lost some of the humour that was in the three hour version and for me is not quite the real thing. :o/

Thank you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: All Those Things I Can Do...... All Those Powers..........
Review: Simply saying this movie is a masterpiece would be redundant. Casting Christopher Reeve was pure genius, he IS and always will be Superman as far as I'm concerned. What is even more amazing than the movie is the resoration this film went under to get to DVD. Some deleted scenes have been re-inserted, and the remastered picture is so good, you won't believe it. The only issue I have is the soft focus of the film, but that was done intentionally so I can accept it. The remastered sound though is what makes this disc worth every penny, because this new 5.1 mix sounds just as good as today's 5.1 mixes if not better. I'm glad the original sound effects were not used, as the disc would have sounded more flat...... these new sound effects are so dynamic, you'll get into the movie like you never have before. The extras on the disc are numerous and the menus are fantastic. This movie deserves its place at the top of the comic book genre.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Overall good except
Review: This movie is truely a classic amongst the super hero films. Good story, good acting, Good effects. There is just one problem. At times the movie seems, horrifically hokey. For example Gene Hackmens Lex Luthor is a great character to watch, but is almost to cartoony for his own good. NOw Christopher Reeve does a magnificent job as Clark Kent/Superman. He really does the part well. In fact anyone else probably would have killd the part.

OVerall this is a recomended see, and is probably one of the best Super hero films around. A definite must see.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Super DVD - Really!
Review: I enjoyed this DVD release from start to finsih. There are two version of the movie. Behind the scenes info and background information and the best part for me....

The original auditions for the casting of Lois Lane. Many now famous performers auditioned and didn't get the job that Margot Kidder did.

Watching the original uncut version with Christopher Reeve at his best was a gem. This DVD is definately worth it for the fans of the man in blue. Learning the insides from the commentary on costumes, sets and props. It was fun. ALso the intractive menus are very cool too. There's even an isolated soundtrack for the musical score by the ever popular John Williams.

I watched it several times on the first day!


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