The Ultimate Superman Collection
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The Ultimate Superman Collection (also known as Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition and Superman: The Ultimate Collection) is a 14-disc DVD box set of Superman films (13 Disc box set outside of the US and Canada), released on November 28, 2006 by Warner Home Video. The set was withdrawn from stores shortly after its release due to a manufacturing error (see below for details). "The Ultimate Superman Collection" returned to shelves on May 29, 2007, with corrections made to the error.
It features all four Christopher Reeve films (made between 1978 and 1987), including the alternate Richard Donner cut of Superman II. It also contains the two other theatrical "Superman" films, Superman and the Mole Men starring George Reeves and 2006's Superman Returns, starring Brandon Routh. Additional material includes The Adventures of Superpup, the 1940s Superman cartoons produced by Fleischer and Famous Studios, and the documentary Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman.
The collection does not include the movie Supergirl, because its rights are, in part, controlled by a different company (although Warner Bros. now owns some ancillary rights). Supergirl was re-released separately to DVD also on November 28, 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Disc breakdown
- Disc 1 - Superman: The Movie - Theatrical cut (1978)
- Disc 2 - Superman: The Movie - Director's cut (2000)
- Disc 3 - Superman: The Movie - Bonus Material Disc 1
- Disc 4 - Superman: The Movie - Bonus Material Disc 2
- Disc 5 - Superman II - Theatrical cut (1980)
- Disc 6 - Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)
- Disc 7 - Superman II - Bonus material
- Disc 8 - Superman III - Theatrical cut (1983) and Bonus Material
- Disc 9 - Superman IV: The Quest For Peace - Theatrical cut (1987) and Bonus Material
- Disc 10 - Superman Returns (2006)
- Disc 11 - Superman Returns - Bonus material
- Disc 12 - Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman
- Disc 13 - You Will Believe: The Cinematic Saga of Superman and featurettes
- Disc 14 - Bryan Singer's Video Journals, 27 in all, shot during production of Superman Returns and available online.
[edit] Details
Note: the language and subtitles information below is for the US version of the discs. International versions include various languages, depending on the country and/or area of release.
[edit] Non-DVD Material
A miniature book detailing the contents of the discs is included displayed as a Daily Planet-mockup newspaper. The disc holder is held within a holographic plastic sleeve that shows Superman (as played by Christopher Reeve) flying through a giant version of his S-symbol. Also included is a miniature reprint of Superman #7 (1987) with art from other comic issues in the back. Also included is a mail-in offer for each of the 5 film's theatrical posters.
[edit] Superman: The Movie
The collection includes two versions of the first Superman film starring Christopher Reeve. One is the original theatrical cut, released in 1978, and the other, the DVD director's cut, released in 2001, containing eight minutes of previously-deleted footage, and a new audio mix. Both versions have been digitally restored.
A breakdown of the discs is as follows:
[edit] Disc One
- Original 1978 theatrical version with soundtrack in Dolby Stereo Surround 2.0 and 5.1 surround sound
- Commentary by producer Pierre Spengler and executive producer Ilya Salkind
- Theatrical trailers
- TV spot
- Languages: English & Français
- Subtitles: English, Français & Español (feature film only)
Due to a manufacturing error, disc 1 was shipped out containing only the 5.1 surround sound, and not the original 2.0 Surround sound, as stated on the packaging. This is known to affect disc 1 in all collections and all regions. The following statement is from Warner Home Video: [1]
[edit] Disc Two
- 2000/2001 expanded edition movie with soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1
- Commentary track by director Richard Donner and writer Tom Mankiewicz.
- Isolated Music Track
[edit] Disc Three
- Documentary: Taking Flight: The Development of Superman (30 minutes, 12 seconds)
- Documentary: Making Superman: Filming the Legend (30 minutes, 38 seconds)
- Documentary: The Magic Behind the Cape (22 minutes, 44 seconds)
- Restored scenes (10 minutes, 55 seconds)
- Screen Test: Christopher Reeve (8 minutes, 56 seconds)
- Screen Tests: Lois Lane (10 minutes, 27 seconds)
- Screen Tests: Ursa (1 minute, 58 seconds)
- Additional music cues (audio only)
- Note: Storyboards, originally available on DVD-ROM from the 2001 DVD, is not included in this release
[edit] Disc Four
- Vintage TV special The Making of Superman: The Movie (51 minutes, 47 seconds)
- 1951 Movie Superman and the Mole Men, starring George Reeves (58 minutes)
- Nine Fleischer Studios Cartoons: Superman, The Mechanical Monsters, Billion Dollar Limited, The Arctic Giant, The Bulleteers, The Magnetic Telescope, Electric Earthquake, Volcano, Terror on the Midway
[edit] Superman II
- Main articles: Superman II and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
The collection features three discs devoted to Superman II, including two versions of Superman II: The theatrically released 1980 version directed by Richard Lester, and the new version, cut by Michael Thau, using the footage directed by Richard Donner.
Note that unlike the director's cut of Superman: The Movie, the Richard Donner Cut represents almost an entirely new film. After Donner shot over 75% of the film, he was replaced with Lester, who then re-shot approximately 70% of the film. The new cut of the film uses less than 30% of the footage shot by Lester, instead incorporating a vast amount of never-before-seen footage shot by Donner.
A breakdown of each disc is as follows:
[edit] Disc Five
- Theatrical Cut
- New commentary by producers Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler
- Soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1
- Theatrical trailer
- Languages: English & Français
- Subtitles: English, Français & Español (feature film only)
[edit] Disc Six
- Richard Donner Cut with soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1
- All new introduction by director Richard Donner (1 minute, 53 seconds)
- New commentary by director Richard Donner and creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz
- Featurette: Superman II: Restoring the Vision (13 minutes, 18 seconds)
- Additional scenes (8 minutes, 33 seconds)
- Subtitles: English, Français & Español (feature film only)
[edit] Disc Seven
- Vintage TV special The Making of Superman II (50 minutes, 4 seconds)
- Vintage TV Special Superman 50th Anniversary (48 minutes, 8 seconds)
- New Featurette: First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series (12 minutes, 53 seconds)
- Eight Famous Studios cartoons: Japoteurs, Showdown, Eleventh Hour, Destruction Inc., The Mummy Strikes, Jungle Drums, The Underground World, Secret Agent
[edit] Superman III
The collection features the theatrical cut of Superman III. There has been some demand for an alternate version of the film, as was done with the first two films. Superman III has previously been screened in two radically different versions: The theatrical version, and the television/broadcast version. Only the theatrical version is included with the collection. (See Superman III - Extra footage for a list of differences). The DVD is a single-disc and labelled "Deluxe Edition".
Due to a manufacturing error, some early Region 1 version of the Ultimate Superman Collection shipped out with a disc that while labeled the deluxe edition was actually the 2001 DVD, which includes no special features aside from a trailer[2]. This error did not affect the 8-Disc Christopher Reeve Superman Collection and the individual disc release of the Superman III Deluxe Edition. Warner Home Video has released an 800 number to call for disc exchanges for the affected sets. The following statement is from Warner Home Video: [3] [4] It should be noted, however, that later copies of the set have included the correct Superman III disc.
[edit] Disc Eight
- Theatrical Cut
- New commentary by producers Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler
- Vintage TV Special The Making of Superman III
- Additional Scenes (19 minutes, 43 seconds)
- Theatrical Trailer
- Languages: English & Français
- Subtitles: English, Français & Español (feature film only)
[edit] Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
The collection features the theatrical cut of Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. There has been some demand for an alternate versions of the film, as with the first two films.
It is known that a significant amount of footage (45 minutes) was cut from Superman IV, which has almost never been included in any release outside of its ill-fated Southern California preview screening and theatrical cut. This footage has been found, and 30 minutes of this material, in a very rough and unfinished edit, are included as "deleted scenes" on the Superman IV disc, but not incorporated into the film. Some of the deleted scenes also never made it to the "deleted scenes" section of this edition.[5]
The film is single-disc and labeled "Deluxe Edition".
[edit] Disc Nine
- Theatrical Cut
- New commentary by screenwriter Mark Rosenthal
- Additional Scenes (30 minutes, 32 seconds)
- Theatrical Trailer
- Languages: English & Français
- Subtitles: English, Français & Español (feature film only)
[edit] Superman Returns
The collection includes the 2006 film Superman Returns, as well as a special features disc. These two discs are identical to those in the separate 2-disc release of the film.
[edit] Disc Ten
- Theatrical Cut with soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1 (16:9 enhanced, 154 minutes, 3 seconds)
- Languages: English & Español
- Subtitles: English, Français & Español (feature film only)
[edit] Disc Eleven
- 7-part Documentary, Requiem for Krypton: Making Superman Returns (totaling 172 minutes, 16:9 enhanced)
- Part 1: Secret Origins and First Issues - Crystallizing Superman (29 minutes, 13 seconds)
- Part 2: The Crystal Method - Designing Superman (34 minutes, 3 seconds)
- Part 3: An Affinity for Beach-front Property: Shooting Superman - Part A: Superman on the Farm (21 minutes, 12 seconds)
- Part 4: An Affinity for Beach-front Property: Shooting Superman - Part B: Superman in the City (36 minutes, 58 seconds)
- Part 5: An Affinity for Beach-front Property: Shooting Superman - Part C: Superman in Trouble
- Part 6: The Joy of Lex - Menacing Superman (21 minutes, 31 seconds)
- Part 7: Wrapping Superman
- Featurette: Resurrecting Jor-El
- Easter Egg: How Wrong Can You Be? - Kevin Spacey's "Wrong!" outtakes
- 11 Additional Scenes that includes audio introduction by director Bryan Singer (16:9 enhanced, 15 minutes and 4 seconds)
- Teaser Trailer
- Theatrical Trailer
- Electronic Arts Game Trailer
[edit] Max Fleischer cartoons
All seventeen classic Superman cartoons created by Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios from 1941 to 1943 had been remastered and are included in the collection. The first nine cartoons (from Fleischer Studios) can be found on Disc Four of the Superman: The Movie four-disc special edition (Disc Four in the Ultimate Superman Collection). The remaining eight cartoons (from Famous Studios) can be found on Disc Two of the Superman II two-disc special edition (Disc Seven in the Ultimate Superman Collection).
[edit] New documentaries
Discs Twelve, Thirteen, and Fourteen are devoted to documentaries and featurettes about the Superman Franchise.
[edit] Disc Twelve
Disc Twelve is the 2006 two-hour documentary, Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, commissioned by Superman Returns director Bryan Singer. The documentary was executive produced by Singer and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Kevin Burns (who also served as the director) and details the history of the Superman franchise from its comic book beginnings to its 2006 film. A standalone version of the disc was released June 20, 2006, and a two DVD Best Buy Limited Edition exclusive version was released the same day (extra material included Bryan Singer's video journals and 5 official Superman movie poster mini-prints).
[edit] Disc Thirteen
Disc Thirteen is exclusive to the Ultimate Superman Collection and contains a new documentary focusing on the four Christopher Reeve films, entitled You Will Believe: The Cinematic Saga of Superman. International listings label it as You Will Believe: The Making of A Saga, though its proper title is the former one, as indicated in the miniature Daily Planet mockup that details the discs. The documentary is broken up into the following chapters:
- Origin - Superman in the media, and the challenges the Salkinds faced
- Vision - creating the right script, choosing the right director and casting the right actors
- Ascent - the production and launch of a new kind of fantasy film
- Crisis - complications and conflicts between the creative forces behind Superman II
- Redemption - criticisms and burnout of Superman III and Superman IV
The documentary discusses at length the circumstances surrounding the firing of Richard Donner from Superman II, but his replacement, Richard Lester, was not interviewed for the documentary, although a disclaimer during the closing credits indicate efforts were made to contact him for an interview.
In addition, two other short documentaries and Bonus features from the vault will be included:
- The Mythology of Superman (19 minutes, 32 seconds)
- Remembering Christopher Reeve (17 minutes, 59 seconds)
- The Adventures of Superpup-1958 TV Pilot
- Three Classic WB Cartoons:Super-Rabbit, Snafuperman, and Stupor Duck
The Science of Superman was rumored as one possible inclusion, however the feature does not appear in the set. It has instead been released (for a limited time) as a store-exclusive bonus disc for those who purchase the two-disc special edition of Superman Returns.
[edit] Disc Fourteen
Disc Fourteen, also exclusive to the 14-disc set, contains all 27 of Bryan Singer's Video Journals, shot during production of Superman Returns. They are "Extended Editions", and two never-before-seen video journals are also included. Included is "The Call", a practical joke segment in which Singer takes a break from shooting Superman and travels to Wellington, New Zealand to visit the set of King Kong and supposedly direct for a day while Peter Jackson takes a nap (Naomi Watts and Andy Serkis from that film make cameo appearances). Also included is "Outre", a sequel to "The Call" -- another joke segment in which Singer is depicted as having been fired from the film a la Richard Donner. According to the DVD, Singer chose not to put "Outre" online when he realized some people thought he'd really directed King Kong for a day. Because this disc is exclusive to the set, it is not included in the R2-R6 version.
[edit] Manufacturing errors
The original shipment of the Ultimate Superman Collection was shipped with two defects which were corrected in later shipments:
- The "Superman: The Movie" 1978 theatrical edition did not include the original theatrical sound track in English, instead containing the 2001 enhanced sound track. This defect is known to affect all copies of this disc, in all collections, across all regions.
- The "Superman III" disc contains the 2001 version of the Superman III DVD, not the new 2006 deluxe edition as advertised. This version does not contain any of the extra features as printed on the Christopher Reeve Superman Collection box. This defect is known to affect only Region 1 box sets; it is known, however, that some sets were shipped with the proper Deluxe Edition and do not need replacement by Warner.
Replacement discs can be obtained in the US by calling: 800-553-6937. This allows consumers to exchange their defective Superman: The Movie and Superman III discs.
In Canada, they can be obtained by e-mailing warner@unigistix.com where you must provide your name and full mailing address. In return, you will receive a stamped and addressed envelope to return the defective discs.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Warner Bros - Year of Superman website
- Special Edition Superman DVDs on the Way
- Superman Cinema - Official DVD Specifications
