Superman The Movie [1978]

On the DVD:Superman is presented in an extended director's cut which adds eight minutes to the theatrical original. The restored material is so artfully integrated many viewers may not even notice, but it would have been nice to at least have the opportunity to watch the original via seamless branching. The sound has been remixed into extraordinarily powerful Dolby Digital 5.1--the superb main title sequence is worth the price alone--and the anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 image is, except for some unavoidably grainy effects shots, pristine. The commentary by Richard Donner and writer Tom Mankiewicz reveals more about the background than all but the most dedicated fan will ever need to know, while film music aficionados will revel in the opportunity to listen to John Williams' score isolated in Dolby Digital 5.1. On the second side of the disc are a eight alternate John Williams music cues, a selection of deleted scenes and the screen tests of a variety of would-be Lois Lanes, introduced and with optional commentary by casting director Lynn Stalmaster. These are fascinating, and show how right for the part Margot Kidder really was. A DVD-ROM only feature presents the storyboards plus various Web features, while the real highlight is a 90-minute documentary divided into three sections covering pre-production, filming and special effects. The picture quality on all the extras is very good indeed. An enthralling package, DVD doesn't get much better than this. --Gary S Dalkin

Customer reviews:

you believed a man could fly, 2008-03-20
superman the movie comes to dvd. one of the biggest movies of the 70's, this brought the dc comics character to the big screen. It runs for over two hours, taking most of the films first half to tell superman's origin story, and then once the character is established he has to deal with a plot from criminal genius lex luthor.

Coming back to this, which I hadn't seen in a while, I was instantly struck by the superb jerry goldsmith score. the title music really goes with the character. and christopher reeve who took the lead - an unknown at the time - was superb, making his clark kent and superman two totally separate characters. margot kidder is an excellent lois lane, feisty and beautiful. gene hackman is pretty good as lex luthor although he's not really the strongest character in the movie.

It's perhaps a little over long in the middle, some of the effects are date [obvious backscreen projection] but it's still one of the best comic book movies yet.

the disc contains:

ten deleted scenes - in two groups.

a commentary from the director and one of the producers.

three good and involved documentaries about the project, ranging in length from twenty three to thirty minutes

ten isolated music chapters: click on them to hear it

three screen test reels, introduced by the casting director. fascinating to view, and see those who didn't get the parts.

an original cinema trailer and a tv ad for the movie from the same time.

storyboards are also on it and can be viewed as dvd rom features.

a great movie. and a pretty good package. be aware that - on my copy at any rate - it was a rather old dvd and you have to flip it over to the other side to access most of the features

The best film... ever!, 2007-10-15
Not only is this the best superhero film, its the best film ever made. Yes, better than Star Wars.

Its pure Hollywood. The producers arguing with their director, a delayed release date (Xmas 1978) and a cost of millions. But in the end it turned into a box office smash.

Just how the producers got Oscar winners Brando, Hackman and Glenn Ford to star is a testament to how great the film is. And lets not forget Reeve, Kidder and Beatty.

With a great soundtrack and picture this really is the best film ever made, and the extended version puts the icing on the cake. Brilliant!