The Complete Superman Collection (1978)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

    Overall, the video quality of these releases is great for 20-30 year old films, although only the original has been restored.

    The sound is superb in the original, and decent enough in the rest.

    Special Features are decent for Superman but non-existent for the rest. Why?

    There is no doubt that many fans will be tempted to rush out and buy this collection, but be warned - the rumour is that a definitive edition will be coming out next year either timed for Superman Returns' theatrical or DVD release (like the recent Batman Special Edition DVDs that came out when Batman Begins debuted on DVD.)

    Why no tribute to Reeve? No Superman retrospective? No teaser for Singer's resurrection of the franchise?

    A good value set, even if it is a few years later than Region 1. It might be wise to wait and see about a definitive edition though.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Superman-The Movie: Special Edition (1978)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Action	Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Menu Audio Audio Commentary-Richard Donner (Dir) & Tom Mankiewicz (Creative Consult) Listing-Cast & Crew Notes-Awards DVD-ROM Extras Featurette-Taking Flight - The Development Of Superman Featurette-Making Superman: Filming The Legend Featurette-The Magic Behind The Cape Featurette-Screen Tests Deleted Scenes Theatrical Trailer TV Spots Audio-Only Track-Additional Musical Cues
Rating
Year Of Production	1978
Running Time	145:14
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (76:36) Dual Sided	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Richard Donner
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Marlon Brando Gene Hackman Christopher Reeve Ned Beatty Jackie Cooper Glenn Ford Trevor Howard Margot Kidder Valerie Perrine Maria Schell Terence Stamp Phyllis Thaxter Suzannah York
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$36.95	Music	John Williams

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) Isolated Music Score Dolby Digital 5.0 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English Italian French Spanish German Italian for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes, Minor
		Annoying Product Placement	Yes, References to JVC, Cheerios
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Superman was the first serious adaptation of a comic book hero to the medium of film, and in my mind remains the best. As a movie, it has everything working for it, from the perfect casting of Christopher Reeve as Superman, Gene Hackman as the criminal genius Lex Luthor; the direction of Richard Donner (The Omen, Lethal Weapon) and the incomparable scoring by John Williams.

    The planet Krypton is on the brink of disaster, with its sun coming to the end of its life and threatening to destroy the planet. Only Jor-El (Marlon Brando) has the foresight to understand this, though unable to save himself. Without the consent of the security council, he sends his only son to a distant and safe planet called Earth. On Earth, Superman has incredible powers and uses them for good, quickly becoming a part of the American crime-fighting landscape. Only the insane Lex Luthor has the genius to stop him, though his plans are foiled by the incompetency of his bumbling colleagues. Superman must ultimately choose between his love for Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) or to violate his father's prime teaching not to interfere with the course of human history.

    The plot reads as it should; a naive and simplistic comic book story, and as such lends itself to any number of different realisations. It is without doubt that the way this story has been adapted is without par in contemporary film making. From the opening credits, it is clear that cinematic history was made back in 1978 with the release of Superman, and watching it today brings back all those memories of wonder and awe which I remember vividly as a child. Warner are to be congratulated for presenting this much-cherished landmark film in such a thoughtful manner.

Video

    This is a superb transfer and is a reference example of how a relatively older film can be presented on DVD.

    Superman was shot in 35mm anamorphic with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. This transfer preserves that aspect ratio and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The sharpness of the image was somewhat variable for a number of reasons. Many different techniques were used during production, ranging from front-projection photography, matte artistry, optical compositing and the like. Indeed, many of the methods used were pioneered for this movie. As such, sharpness ranged from extraordinary to somewhat less-than-perfect, but never was it the fault of the transfer. Many long shots were exceptional in the amount of fine detail resolved, and had me pausing to marvel a number of times, a clear indication of the high quality of the transfer. Grain was under tight control for the most part, although many process shots were extremely grainy and as a result most of the effects work was quite obvious; this contrasts with today's CGI work which is generally invisible. Edge-enhancement was not an issue. Shadow detail was very impressive for a movie of this vintage, and was always exceptionally good, though it must be said that watching in a light-controlled (ie. very dark) environment is a must (as with all movies). There was no transfer related low-level noise whatsoever.

    The colour palette varies according to the three distinct phases of the movie. The first phase on Krypton was shot under unusual conditions, with a special light-reflective coating on costumes, which tended to drown out much colour especially in faces. However, young Superman's blue, red and gold blanket is a hint of things to come, being most vivid and lifelike, clearly the result of modern post-processing. On Earth, colours are quite natural if a little subdued, making the clear, bright reds and blues of Superman's cape all the more impressive. There is chroma noise evident in process shots, but this cannot be helped

     It is most pleasing that the movie has been allowed two whole layers and competition with only a few low bitrate audio tracks; the video is entirely faultless and devoid of MPEG artefacting of any kind, save for some inevitable and minor posterization. The restored print is exceptionally clean and almost totally devoid of film artefacts, and there are no instances of film-to-video artefacting.

    This disc is RSDL formatted, with the layer change occurring between Chapters 23 and 24 at 76:36 minutes. It was not distracting.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    As with the video, the soundtrack was a very pleasant surprise, and is absolutely reference quality.

    There is a stunning English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, a wonderful Dolby Digital 5.0 Music Only track and a Dolby Digital 2.0 commentary track. There is also a Dolby Digital 5.1 Italian soundtrack.

    I initially was quite concerned with some crackling during dialogue on Krypton. Thankfully, this was restricted to the first 10 minutes or so, and for the most part dialogue was very good, although its dated origins were sometimes evident. Spatial integration was very convincing, with the dialogue seeming to be part of the environment, notably inside the wonderfully reverberant lair of Lex Luthor. There were no lip-sync problems.

    The incredible score has John Williams stamped all over it, with just the right sense of wonder and emotion throughout - indeed it is a critical component of the movie Superman. The opening credits send shivers down my spine every time, with the same power as Star Wars and Indiana Jones and with much the same style. I can say that I was not prepared for the power and clarity provided by this transfer. It has clearly been reworked for discrete surrounds and is so enveloping, clean and warm that you can't help but be swept away by it. It is so superb in its own right that, thankfully, a separate music-only track is provided in Dolby Digital 5.0, and it is indeed subtly better than that provided with the main soundtrack.

    Of some controversy of late is the reworking of old soundtracks to be more appealing to modern audiences. For those movie lovers amongst us who invest great sums of money into audio hardware, it is somewhat of a double-edged sword; we would like the original (maybe mono) soundtrack, but also want our gear to be made use of and justified. Well, the new soundtrack to Superman is so sublime that I can see no one being upset in this case. At all times the spaciousness and neutrality of a modern, carefully produced soundtrack is presented here. The discrete surrounds are used constantly, though never call attention to themselves for their own sake. There is a great sense of atmosphere, and any panning is effortless and always in keeping with the on-screen action. There is some front-to-back panning, and much centre-rear activity, as those with expensive Dolby Digital Surround EX setups will no doubt be pleased to hear.

    The .1 channel was used with great precision, and got a great workout. It was effortlessly integrated into the soundtrack amidst the many explosions and rumblings, and again had the authenticity and power generally reserved for contemporary soundtracks such as this.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Introduction

Main Menu Audio & Animation

Menu Audio

Audio Commentary

Listing-Cast & Crew

Notes

DVD-ROM Extras

The following three featurettes are one large documentary broken into three smaller pieces. They are all presented in 4:3 and with Dolby Digital 2.0 surround, and are excellent in quality.

Featurette - Taking Flight: The Development Of Superman

Featurette - Making Superman: Filming The Legend

Featurette - The Magic Begind The Cape

Featurette - Screen Tests

Deleted Scenes

Theatrical Trailer

TV Spots

Audio-Only Track - Additional Music Cues

    The R4 version misses out on:

• Superman: The Legacy - text history
• Cast & Crew bios
• Teaser Trailer

    Superman is a truly legendary film. It has been presented on DVD in a manner which fans could only have dreamt of, and as such I am nominating this movie for inclusion into the hallowed Hall Of Fame. The video, audio and extras are all absolutely reference quality and will delight.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Superman II (1980)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Action	Main Menu Audio Listing-Cast & Crew Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1980
Running Time	122:20
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (66:08)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Richard Lester
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Gene Hackman Christopher Reeve Ned Beatty Jackie Cooper Sarah Douglas Margot Kidder Jack O'Halloran Valerie Perrine Suzannah York Clifton James E.G. Marshall Marc McClure Terence Stamp
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$34.95	Music	Ken Thorne

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 1.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 1.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English French Italian Dutch Arabic Spanish Portuguese German Romanian Bulgarian English for the Hearing Impaired Italian for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Whilst still recovering from the gloriously restored and just plain brilliant Superman, I now move forward to the first sequel, unsurprisingly enough named Superman II. It is without doubt that this sequel was always going to be made, and indeed much of it was shot concurrently with the first movie. Original director Richard Donner is uncredited; he fell out with the studio and they replaced him with Richard Lester who was a prolific filmmaker up until this point, though he went on to make very little afterwards. The cast were very upset with this decision, but the show had to go on, and indeed it did with Superman II opening to audiences in 1981.

    We are reminded of the three villains in the very first scenes of the original Superman, Zod (Terence Stamp in an utterly sublime performance), Ursa (Sarah Douglass) and the dim Non (Jack O'Halloran); hurling through space imprisoned forever in the so-called "phantom zone." As fate would have it, they just happen to fly past Earth as Superman sends a terrorist-armed nuclear bomb into space to explode safely. This has the effect of releasing these blackly-clad villains (no self-respecting truly evil villain would be seen dead in anything other than black, except perhaps Doctor Evil), and just as Superman gains power from our yellow sun, so do they. It's not long before they are in control on planet Earth, and it's up to Superman to put things right.

    The one thing that Superman II lacks is novelty. The original was a grand, larger-than-life movie which was fresh and thrilling from start to finish. A man could fly, and what's more he could do it to the spine-tingling orchestrations of John Williams. What else can be done, but to now pit this seemingly invisible man against evil as powerful as him and see how he fares. Whilst not a touch on the original, it is still an enjoyable if not fully satisfying movie. There are some genuinely emotional moments, not least when Superman gives away his powers for Lois Lane. The comic-book nature of the film allows many liberties to be taken, and given the genre they can all be enjoyed without guilt; effects sillier than a crazed puppy can be completely forgiven (and believe me, they are there). In the end, it is all fun and games and is eminently enjoyable and as good a successor as could be expected.

Video

    The movie is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    It is immediately clear that Superman II does not fare as well in the transfer stakes as the magnificently restored Superman, though this did not come as a surprise. The movie begins with a "flashback" sequence, reminding the audience why they paid good money to sit down and watch this new sequel. It was quite disturbing to see very poor edits during this montage, with colours fading in and out, and some choppy splicing. I actually did an internal "gulp", though I am pleased to say the image does settle down as the main feature proper starts. The whole movie is somewhat soft compared with the original, with less detail and clarity, and a slightly flat look overall. The detail level is variable, some scenes being sharper than others. Shadow detail is always very nice though, and there was little grain evident. There is no transfer related low-level noise.

    Colours are generally slightly soft, with excellent skin tones. Subtle shades come across very well, and there are numerous examples of bold reds and blues which are refreshing to see. Superman's costume was often quite striking, though during many flying scenes it did take on a strange hue as a result of using a different costume that worked with the then-popular blue-screen process - something which the colour-corrected Superman does not suffer from. There were instances of strong chroma noise in dark blue skies, however this is not the fault of the transfer but rather due to limited effects techniques.

    The transfer is totally devoid of MPEG artefacting. There were a plethora of film artefacts early on in the transfer, and now and then during the remainder, however they were not disruptive; there were also no film-to-video artefacts.

    This disc is RSDL formatted, with the layer change occurring during Chapter 20 at 66:08 minutes. It was obvious, though not distracting..

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There is one Dolby Digital 2.0 surround English track, and a German and Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0 track.

    Dialogue was very well presented, being very natural sounding and always easy to understand. The only lip-sync errors were due to some voice looping, and this only happened in a couple of scenes.

    The music is credited to Ken Thorne and John Williams, the latter of course for the striking theme and end piece. The original music for this sequel lacks the emotion and grandeur for which John Williams is renowned. Whilst it is perfectly functional and very good in its own right, it simply pales next to the master's work. It has also not benefited from being presented in constricting Dolby Digital 2.0 surround, which dishes it up in a rather drab and lacklustre manner, robbing the orchestral performance of the sparkle present in Superman's remastered 5.1 mix.

    I noticed very little use of the surrounds, and probably wouldn't have missed them if they weren't there - certainly this is a very frontal presentation, though thankfully with a redeemingly wide soundstage.

    In pro-logic mode the subwoofer was not often used, which was a pity.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio

Listing-Cast & Crew

Theatrical Trailer

    Both versions are similar, with ordinary picture quality and lack of any extras other than a trailer. It therefore rests on your preferences with regards to the pros and cons of PAL vs NTSC transfers. I am happy to recommend the local product.

     A fair sequel to a masterful original, Superman II is enjoyable and very much a comic book experience. Sporting an unremarkable video and audio transfer, the somewhat disappointing presentation of this disc was almost expected given the superb treatment afforded the original. Nonetheless, for fans like myself it is a must have.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Superman III (1983)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Science Fiction	Main Menu Audio Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1983
Running Time	119:53
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4,5	Directed By	Richard Lester
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Christopher Reeve Richard Pryor Jackie Cooper Marc McClure Annette O'Toole Annie Ross Pamela Stephenson Robert Vaughn Margot Kidder Gavan O'Herlihy Nancy Roberts Graham Stark Henry Woolf
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Giorgio Moroder Ken Thorne

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English Arabic Bulgarian Dutch French Italian English for the Hearing Impaired Italian for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	Yes, KFC, Camel Ciggies and Pepsi
		Action In or After Credits	No

    When good franchises go bad...

    I have memories of seeing Superman 3 on a plane when I was child. As the film finished I was quite disappointed, as Superman and Superman 2 had been two of my favourite films up until that point. I remember turning to my father and saying that I didn't like it. His reply was essentially the same.

    For fans of Richard Donner's masterpiece and the flawed Donner/Lester sequel, Superman 3 is a deeply unsatisfying film. The franchise had so much potential and yet fans essentially received a Richard Pryor vehicle without the R rating and none of the laughs. Pryor looked uncomfortable a lot of the time, like he knew he couldn't let loose within the confines of a PG movie.

    As usual, Christopher Reeve is fantastic as Superman - it's a shame that he didn't get better material to work with in the later films. He is Superman. Margot Kidder had the presence of mind to pass on this one, so Lois Lane is relegated to the first and last couple of minutes in the film. Jackie Cooper (Perry White) and Marc McClure (Jimmy Olsen) also make brief appearances.

   Pryor plays a computer genius who assists tycoon Robert Vaughn in his attempt to become more powerful. Superman needs to be gotten rid of so they end up trying to off him with tar tainted Kryptonite and a super computer so powerful it can control the weather!! A lot of the film is based in Smallville as Clark Kent goes back to do a story on high school reunions. Here he meets up with the girl he lusted after in his teens, Lana Lang. Re-watching this film for the first time in 20 years Annette O'Toole was the highlight for me. Since watching Smallville (where she plays Clark's mother Martha Kent) I had never seen her this young before. She did a great job in the role.

    This is the first time Warner Home Video has made Superman 3 available in Australia. It has previously been available in the US, but apparently the Salkinds owned the film and there were some legal issues.

    Bryan Singer, who is directing next year's Superman Returns plans on that film picking up where Superman 2 left off. He has said that as far as his Superman vision is concerned that 3 and 4 don't exist.

Video

    I wasn't expecting a great transfer for a 22 year old film, but I have to admit I was surprised at how good Superman 3 looked.

    This PAL disc is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    Not surprisingly for a film this old there is a bit of grain, but nowhere near what I was expecting.

    There are a few film artefacts, but nothing too ugly, however aliasing can be a bit of an issue in some wide angle scenes where the shot has a lot of movement on screen.

    Close up shots were the clearest and for the most part were the scenes where I thought "Dang this looks better than I thought it would." Some scenes had a fuzzy, blurred look to them, especially anything with SFX included.

    Colours came across well, especially in outdoor shots. Skin tones were excellent. Some effect shots have that blurry hue about them from the blue screen process, a nostalgic reminiscence for me!

    Overall, a surprisingly great transfer for a surprisingly disappointing film.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) track is a mixed bag.

    For the most part I found that the track was technically fine, but there were a few things that detracted. A lot of the dialogue has a hollow, almost echoic sound to it. Dialogue wasn't soft like it can be sometimes where dialogue gets lost in the mix, but occasionally it sounded like it was being spoken into a tin can.

    Effects sounded fine and added to the viewing experience.

    The music also came across sounding good.

    There were no sync or drop-out issues.

    There was no surround and no subwoofer use.

    French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) and Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) tracks are also included on the disc.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio

Theatrical Trailer

    The trailer is good for a laugh. They don't make them like this anymore.

    The R1 version is a bare bones release too. Too close to call any difference.

    The video presentation is a pleasant surprise.

    The sound is decent enough, although the dialogue can be a bit tinny.

    There are no real extras except for a great trailer.

    I am not a fan of this film, but I am a fan of this DVD. It's about time PAL fans had the chance to buy this locally.

    An essential purchase for diehard Superman fans and completists who already have 1&2. Most kids will love it.

    For everyone else... a rental will suffice.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Action	Main Menu Audio Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1987
Running Time	86:09 (Case: 96)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4,5	Directed By	Sidney J. Furie
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Christopher Reeve Gene Hackman Jackie Cooper Marc McClure Jon Cryer Sam Wanamaker Mark Pillow Mariel Hemingway Margot Kidder Damien McLawhorn William Hootkins Jim Broadbent Stanley Lebor
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Alexander Courage Paul Fishman John Williams

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English Arabic Bulgarian Dutch French Italian Romanian English for the Hearing Impaired Italian for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Superman IV: The Quest for Peace was the final instalment in the adventures of the last son of Krypton that began with Donner's 1978 Superman. Box office takings were dismal, with only $11 million taken in the US (even in 1987 that wasn't much money). Only nine years earlier Superman had taken $134 million in the US and $300 million worldwide. One of the world's most beloved superheroes had suffered a spectacular, Kryptonite-like fall from grace. Ironically, this movie is much more entertaining and a lot more fun than Superman III, but thanks to the awful taste Superman III left in viewers mouths, IV only did about a sixth of the business that III did.

    Superman IV: The Quest for Peace brings back the solid cast from the previous films. As usual, Christopher Reeve does a good job as Superman, but he is starting to look a little tired in the role. Margot Kidder, who had the presence of mind to pass on III, is back as Lois Lane but as the love interest is looking well past her prime. Jackie Cooper (Perry White) and Marc McClure (Jimmy Olsen) also make significant appearances at The Daily Planet. A Superman movie would not be complete with his arch-enemy Lex Luthor, who is played by Gene Hackman. I am a fan of Hackman but in this appearance it's pretty obvious he is there to cash his cheque and get out as quickly as possible. He still has some pretty good lines and does a decent enough job. He is joined by possibly the lamest sidekick in history, Lenny Luthor (Lex's nephew) played by Jon Cryer. To add a bit of romantic tension to the film Mariel Hemmingway is cast as the daughter of a wealthy tycoon (Sam Wanamaker) who has acquired The Daily Planet in a hostile takeover. She doesn't get much screen time to strut her stuff but her shoulder pads are worth checking out for horror 80s fashion flashbacks.

    Keeping in mind this film was made in the dying days of the Cold War, nuclear power plays a prominent role in the story. Superman makes a decision to save the world from nuclear destruction by removing all nuclear weapons from the planet. Without giving too much away, using the nuclear power of the sun Lex Luthor is able to duplicate a being that has powers comparable to Superman. He names his 'son' Nuclear Man. A lengthy and unbelievable battle ensues.

    Movies that have a tagline in their title scare me. It's generally a sign of a bad, bad film, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blue and Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous are two recent examples. Pretty much any Police Academy sequel is another older confirmation of that. Unfortunately Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is further proof. The plot is weak, the franchise is tired and clearly has seen better days, but unlike Superman III it's a lot of fun if you are willing to look past its flaws. At least it's a Superman movie - Superman III was a Richard Pryor film that co-starred Superman. Superman III is undoubtedly a better film, but Superman IV is a better movie. Its more enjoyable, easier to watch and doesn't pretend to be anything else. Sure it has laughable special effects and some dumb plot points, but it makes you appreciate the better superhero films all the more.

Video

    This PAL disc is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    Considering I was pleasantly surprised when I reviewed Superman III I was a bit disappointed this time round. Because it was the most recent of the films and 4 years younger than III,  I thought it might have improved over its predecessor. This was not the case.

    Not surprisingly for a film this old there is a bit of grain, but considering that no print restoration has been done it looks pretty good.

    There are film artefacts present and apart from a scene or two there is nothing overly distracting.

    Like Superman III, aliasing can be a bit of an issue in some wide angle scenes where the shot has a lot of movement on screen.

    Also like Superman III, close up shots were the clearest. Some scenes had a fuzzy, blurred look to them, especially anything with SFX.

    Colours came across well, especially in outdoor shots. Skin tones were excellent. Some effect shots have that blurry hue about them from the blue screen process.

    Overall, a decent transfer for a classic (but not for the right reasons) film.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) track is pretty ordinary..

    Most of the dialogue was clear without any of the tinny echo that sometimes plagued Superman III.

    Effects sounded OK and added to the viewing experience.

    The music came across sounding good at the high end, but otherwise was left wanting.

    There were no obvious issues with the soundtrack, but towards the end I did detect a slight sync issue in one scene. I believe this was not a DVD transfer issue, but inherent in the original film. It's the scene where Perry takes back The Daily Planet.

    There was no sub-woofer use.

    French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) and Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) tracks are also included on the disc.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio

Theatrical Trailer

    Warner Home Video must be holding something up its sleeve for an eventual double dip because the only special feature is a pretty ordinary trailer.

    The R1 version is a bare bones edition too, except theirs came out 4 years ago! Choose on price.

    The video presentation is a good enough, but not quite what I though it could be.

    The sound is fine, but it never really stands out. There is a minor sync issue in one scene.

    There are no real extras except for a trailer.

    It's about time PAL fans had the chance to buy this locally - why is it 4 years after the Region 1 release?

    An essential purchase for diehard Superman fans and completists who already have 1,2 & 3. Most kids will enjoy it - after all, it is Superman!

    For everyone else... a rental will suffice.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall