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Buy The Christopher Reeve Superman Collection
Description:
Includes: SUPERMAN THE MOVIE 4-DISC SPECIAL EDITION 2000 Expanded
Edition Movie with Commentary by Director Richard Donner and Creative
Consultant Tom Mankiewicz 2 Loaded Bonus Discs: Documentaries,
Additional Scenes, Screen Tests, Gag Reel, Additional Music Cues,
Vintage Movie Superman and the Mole-Men, Starring George Reeves and 9
1940s Fleischer Studios Superman Cartoons. SUPERMAN II 2-DISC SPECIAL
EDITION Commentary by Executive Producer Ilya Salkind and Producer
Pierre Spengler New Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio " Music-Only Audio Track New
and Vintage Making-of Documentaries and 8 1940s Famous Studios Superman
Cartoons. SUPERMAN III DELUXE EDITION Commentary by Executive Producer
Ilya Salkind and Producer Pierre Spengler Vintage Making-of Documentary
" Additional Scenes. SUPERMAN IV THE QUEST FOR PEACE DELUXE EDITION
Commentary by Screenwriters Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal Superman
IV: The Missing Scenes - An Examaination and Recreation of the Original
Tested Version.
5.0 out of 5 stars The Real Superman Returns!, September 17, 2006
By S. R. "supes" (USA)
All of the Christopher Reeve Superman movies arrive on DVD once more
after being given the V.I.P. treatment by WB! Here are the specs for
this DVD set:
SUPERMAN THE MOVIE (Four-Disc Special Edition) contents:
DISC ONE
* Original 1978 theatrical version with soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1
* Commentary by producer Pierre Spengler and executive producer Ilya
Salkind
* Theatrical trailers, TV Spots
DISC TWO
* 2001 expanded edition movie with commentary by director Richard Donner
& consultant Tom Mankiewicz
* Soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1
* Music-only audio track
DISC THREE
* 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
DISC FOUR
* The Making of Superman the Movie vintage TV special
* 1951 Movie Superman and the Mole-Men, starring George Reeves
* 9 Fleischer Studios Superman cartoons mastered from superior vault
elements
SUPERMAN II (Two-Disc Special Edition) contents:
DISC ONE
* Movie with commentary by producer Pierre Spengler and executive
producer Ilya Salkind
* Additional scenes (over 8 minutes worth)
* Soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1
* Theatrical trailer
DISC TWO
* The Making of Superman II & Superman's 50th Anniversary vintage TV
specials
* First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series featurette
* The Remaining 8 Fleischer Studios Superman cartoons mastered from
superior vault elements
SUPERMAN III (Deluxe Edition) contents:
* Movie with commentary by producer Pierre Spengler and executive
producer Ilya Salkind
* The Making of Superman III vintage TV special
* Additional scenes (over 19 minutes worth)
* Theatrical trailer
SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE (Deluxe Edition) contents:
* Movie with commentary by screenwriter Mark Rosenthal
* Additional scenes (over 30 minutes worth!)
* Theatrical trailer
The Supergirl Movie and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut are not
included in this set and are sold separately. This set is also not to be
confused with the 14-disc Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition, which
features a ton more additional content. To appease all the fans, WB is
targeting the more affordable Christopher Reeve Collection for the
general public and the more expensive Ultimate Collection for the
collectors. Despite owning the 2001 DVDs of the Superman movies, I was
still excited to add these new releases to my collection as all of the
movies have supplemental material this time around, instead of just the
first film. It's also fitting that Christopher Reeve's name has been
added to this collection, as it shows how synonymous he's become with
the Superman legacy. His brilliant performances brought a larger than
life appeal to the Man of Steel that still has yet to be eclipsed. The
Superman movies may have their fair share of flaws, but they're still
wildly entertaining even after all these years and worth adding to
anyone's collection!
About the movies
Superman the Movie
Christopher Reeve as Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman: After
discovering his roots and origins from the planet Krypton, he sets
himself to fulfill his destiny and help those on Earth. In his wake, he
finds the villainous Lex Luthor which sets dire consequences. As a means
to protect his identity, he works as mild mannered reporter Clark Kent
at The Daily Planet. The producers previously failed to sign an A-list
actor for the role before Richard Donner's hiring. It was decided to
cast an unknown actor, and casting director Lynn Stalmaster first
suggested Christopher Reeve, but Donner and the producers felt he was
too young and skinny. Over 200 unknown actors auditioned for
Superman,including Christopher Walken and Nick Nolte. "We found guys
with fabulous physique who couldn't act or wonderful actors who did not
look remotely like Superman," creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz
remembered. "Jon Voight had signed a deal to play Superman for a lot of
money if we couldn't find anyone else." Neil Diamond and Arnold
Schwarzenegger were interested but ignored. The search became so
desperate that producer Ilya Salkind's wife's dentist was screen tested.
Stalmaster convinced Donner and Ilya to have Reeve screen test in
February 1977. Reeve stunned the director and producers, but he was told
to wear a "muscle suit" to produce the desired muscular physique. Reeve
refused,undertaking a strict physical exercise regime headed by David
Prowse. Prowse had wanted to portray Superman, but was denied an
audition by the filmmakers because he was not American. Prowse also
auditioned for Non. Reeve went from 170 to 212 pounds during
pre-production and filming. Many have felt Reeve was typecast in the
role during his career. However, Reeve felt, "'Superman' brought me many
opportunities, rather than closing a door in my face." Jeff East
portrays Teenage Clark Kent. East had his voice overdubbed by Reeve. "I
was not happy about it because the producers never told me what they had
in mind," East commented. "It was done without my permission but it
turned out to be okay. Chris did a good job but it caused tension
between us. We resolved our issues with each other years later." East
also tore several thigh muscles when performing the stunt of racing
alongside the train. He applied 3 to 4 hours of prosthetic makeup daily
to facially resemble Reeve.
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Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor: A villain armed with an excessive amount
of money and various knowledge of science. His only counterparts are
bumbling henchman Otis and gorgeous girlfriend Eve Teschmacher.
* Margot Kidder as Lois Lane: A reporter at The Daily Planet who becomes
a crush of Clark Kent.
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She is madly in love with Superman
and often ignores Clark. Over 100 actresses were considered for the
role. Margot Kidder (suggested by Stalmaster), Anne Archer, Susan
Blakely, Lesley Ann Warren, Deborah Raffin and Stockard Channing screen
tested throughout March through May 1977. The decision was paired
between Channing and Kidder, with Kidder winning the role.
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Marlon Brando as Jor-El: Kal-El's father on Krypton. He has a theory
of the planet exploding, though the Council refuses to listen. Jor-El
dies as the planet explodes but successfully sends his infant son to
Earth as a means to help the innocent. Brando sued the Salkinds and
Warner Bros. for $50 million because he felt cheated out of his share
for the box office profits. This stopped Brando's footage from being
used in Richard Lester's version of Superman II.
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Glenn Ford as Jonathan Kent: Clark Kent's father in Smallville
during his teenage years. Jonathan is a farmer who teaches Clark ideal
skills that will help him in the future. He later suffers a heart attack
that changes Clark's philosophy on life.
* Phyllis Thaxter as Martha Kent: Clark's faithful mother. Thaxter was
producer Ilya Salkind's mother-in-law.
* Jackie Cooper as Perry White: Clark
Kent's tempering boss at The Daily Planet. He assigns Lois to uncover
the news of an unknown businessman purchasing a large amount of property
in California. Keenan Wynn was originally cast, but dropped out shortly
before filming because of heart disease. Cooper, who originally
auditioned for Otis, was cast.
* Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen: A teenage photographer at The Daily
Planet. Jeff East, who portrayed teenage Clark Kent, originally
auditioned for this role.
* Valerie Perrine as Eve Teschmacher: Lex Luthor's girlfriend. She falls
in love with Superman's charms when Luthor nearly kills him with
Kryptonite and walks away. She saves and kisses him. Goldie Hawn and
Ann-Margret turned down the role because of financial disputes.
* Ned Beatty as Otis: Lex Luthor's bumbling henchman. Peter Boyle and
Jackie Cooper auditioned for the part.
Susannah York has a small role as Lara Lor-Van.
Terrance Stamp (General Zod), Sarah Douglas (Ursa) and Jack O'Halloran
(Non) appear in the opening scene before being banished to the Phantom
Zone. This set up their roles in Superman II. Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill
have cameo appearances as Lois Lane's father and mother. Alyn and Neill
portrayed Superman and Lois Lane in the 1948 serial and Atom Man vs.
Superman. Neil continued her role in the 1950s TV series. Larry Hagman
and Rex Reed also cameo.
Buy Superman - The Movie (Four-Disc Special Edition)
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Superman II
The story of
Superman vs the evil kryptonians who Jor-el had exiled to the
phantom Zone.
The sequel to Superman the movie was almost as good, and I say that
having 20 years to think about it. During my childhood I thought of
Superman II as the best because of the action sequences and special
effects, but over all I think the original has just a little more
soul.
Superman II (Two-Disc Special Edition)
It was the only Superman film to be
filmed by two directors. For this reason the film is surrounded with
controversy since original director Richard Donner had completed, by
his estimation, roughly 75% of the movie in 1977 before being taken
off the project. Many of the scenes shot by second director Richard
Lester (who had been an uncredited producer on the first film) in
1979 are refilmed Donner sequences. |
It was released in Europe and
Australia in late 1980 but not in the United States until June 19, 1981
(one week after the release of Raiders of the Lost Ark). Selected
premiere engagements of Superman II were presented in Megasound, a
high-impact surround sound system similar to Sensurround. It has since
become the most fan-edited movie of all time, surpassing even the Star
Wars movies.
According to statements by Donner, roughly 25% of the theatrical cut of
Superman II contains footage he shot, including all of Gene Hackman's
scenes. In 1984, when Superman II premiered on television, 24 minutes
were re-inserted into the film (17 minutes on ABC). Much of the extra
footage was directed by Richard Donner. In the ABC-TV version, a U.S.
"polar patrol" is shown picking up the three Kryptonians and Lex Luthor
at the end of the film. Without this ending, it appears that Superman
has let the Kryptonians die, though Superman has a strict code against
killing and their deaths aren't necessary once they are depowered. On
the other hand, the theatrical version's ending implies that Luthor is
left stranded at the Fortress of Solitude, leaving the viewer to wonder
how he got to prison in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace--that question
was answered in the extended versions. The ending of the extended cuts
also has Superman, with Lois standing beside him, destroy the Fortress
of Solitude.
A brand new re-cut of the film, restoring as much of Donner's original
conception as possible, titled Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, was
released in November 2006, with approximately 83% of the footage therein
having been filmed by Donner, and the remainder being Richard Lester
footage kept to fill in the gaps of footage that Donner had never been
able to film before his firing. The latter part of the aforementioned
scene can also be found on Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, while
the part where the police arrive is a deleted scene.
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Superman III
In this
sequel Superman fights against himself and a super computer created by
Gus Gorman, played by Richard Pryor. This gets a lot of criticism, but I
think that is really due to the fact that the high quality of the first
two movies made expectations too high for further installments of these
sequels. Richard Pryor wouldn't have been my first choice to star with
Christopher Reeve, and it was disappointing not to see the continuation
of the Lois and Superman romance, but all in all it was a good movie. I
didn't really like the whole super computer bit, but the scenes from
Smallville were great, and the fight between Clark and the evil Superman
was the most exciting part of the movie. I wish the movie had surrounded
the Clark vs Superman concept. It could have really been as big as the
second movie with the battle against the phantom zone villains.
Buy Superman III
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Cast
* Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent / Superman: After discovering his
roots and origins from his native planet Krypton, he sets himself to
fulfill his destiny and help those on Earth. After beating former arch
enemy Lex Luthor twice, Superman meets a new villain: Ross Webster, who
is determined to control the world's coffee and oil supply.
* Richard Pryor as Gus Gorman: A bumbling computer genius who is forced
to work for Ross Webster and destroy Superman.
* Robert Vaughn as Ross Webster: A villainous multimillionaire who is
the head of his company. After failing to take over the world's coffee
supply when Superman stopped him, Ross is determined to destroy the Man
of Steel before he can stop his plan to control the world's oil supply.
* Annette O'Toole as Lana Lang: Clark's old high school sweetheart who
reconciles with Clark after seeing him again during their High school
reunion.
* Annie Ross as Vera Webster: Ross' sister and partner, both in his
corporation and villainous plans.
* Pamela Stephenson as Lorelei Ambrosia: Ross' assistant and sweetheart.
Lorelei acts unintelligent to fool people but is in fact quite smart,
outwitting both Ross and Vera multiple times.
* Margot Kidder as Lois Lane: A reporter at The Daily Planet who has a
long history with both Clark Kent and Superman through the first two
films in the series. However, Lois remembers nothing due to her amnesia
from when she kissed Clark Kent at the end of Superman II.
* Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen: A photographer for The Daily Planet.
* Jackie Cooper as Perry White: The editor of The Daily Planet.
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Superman IV
Superman takes on the
nuclear arms race, and the Nuclear Man
This one really gets
blasted, but again this movie's biggest enemy is the high expectations
created by the first two movies. The first Superman movie in my humble
opinion was probably the best movie ever made, at the least the most
spectacular, and it makes it hard to watch Superman IV with an open mind
without expecting to much from it.
The problem with
Superman IV is that it seemed to be thrown together too quickly. The
whole movie seemed choppy. Like someone decided to have 10 different
directors go film 10 different sequences and put it together. It lacked
the heart and soul of the first three movies, but compared to a lot of
other sci-fi movies I have seen since, it was still worth watching. Any
big fan of Superman can still get some enjoyment from this picture.
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Buy Superman IV - The Quest for Peace (Deluxe Edition)
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