Guest Review: Bubba Ho-Tep DVD

posted by Tygrrius @ 9:59 PM

Tonight, for the first time in the history of The Film Frontier, I am happy to present a guest blogger! I'm still taking a much-needed break from the site, but Phil Arnold over at ElvisBlog volunteered to pick up the slack on my behalf by contributing a review.

Sharing a mutual interest in Elvis Presley, Phil and I have been exchanging e-mails over the last several weeks. He's been a fan since 1956, when Elvis first rose to national fame. Phil is a frequent writer and a contributing editor for Elvis...The Magazine (formerly Elvis: International Forum).

Phil's ElvisBlog may well have been the first Elvis-related blog on the web. It certainly is one of the best, featuring well-written articles, a quirky sense of humor, and a unique approach. Phil never forgets to have fun, and what's the point of being a fan if you're not having fun? Top-notch bloggers like Phil are an inspiration to the rest of us out here. My thanks to him for loaning me this review. I promise to return it without a scratch.

--Tygrrius

* * *

Bubba Ho-Tep Is Alive And Well
by Phil Arnold

When Bubba Ho-Tep was released back in 2003, I did not watch it in a movie theater. As an independent film made on a shoestring budget, its run was mostly limited to the film festival circuit. However, it received much critical praise, and by the time Bubba Ho-Tep came out on VHS, there was enough buzz to make it a ‘must have’ for me. I loved it. Because it was about Elvis, I was predisposed to like it, but this film won me over on its merits.

For those of you not familiar with Bubba Ho-Tep, let me fill you in. This is the short version, so we will skip the involved set-up and back-story. Two men in their seventies discover that their retirement home is under siege – by an ancient Egyptian mummy. One man is Elvis, who the staff and residents think is a former Elvis impersonator named Sebastian Haff. The other is a black man who believes he is John F. Kennedy (and who the staff and residents think is nuts).

The mummy, nicknamed Bubba Ho-Tep by Elvis, has been on a killing spree at the rest home, sucking the souls of elderly men and women through various orifices. This doesn’t sit well with Elvis and JFK, and they decide to rid their retirement home of this menace. Their brave efforts provide Elvis with the opportunity to spout wonderful gritty lines like “Let’s take care of business. We’re gonna kill us a mummy.” and “Never, never f… with the King.”

The lead roles in the film were Bruce Campbell as Elvis and Ossie Davis as Jack Kennedy, and both gave touching, funny and eccentric performances. The director was Don Coscarelli, who is known primarily for his Phantasm and Beastmaster series. I have never watched a movie about Elvis where the actor truly convinced me he was the King, but this is different. At no point did I ever see Bruce Campbell as anything other than a geriatric Elvis.

Bubba Ho-Tep has gained even more popularity over the years, and now is thought by some to have achieved cult status. The DVD was re-released last year as a limited “Collector’s Edition” with a new cover and special packaging. The DVD now comes inside a cool mini-jumpsuit.

Of course, I had to have one of these. The other bonus was all the extra features on the DVD. If you ever buy or rent it, be sure to watch the version of the movie with the sound turned off and replaced by audio commentary by director Coscarelli and Elvis actor Campbell. They have such a fun time talking about the movie and telling stories about making it. There is also another audio commentary by Campbell alone in character as Elvis. This suffers a bit without the interplay with Coscarelli, but it is definitely worth a watch.

I had no doubt that Bubba Ho-Tep had achieved bona fide cult classic status when I discovered there are collectible action figures based on the movie. For $14 each you can purchase Bubba Ho-Tep and Elvis. The manufacturer was clever to call the figurine Sebastian Haff, not Elvis, and thus avoid any hassle with Graceland. I’m pretty sure EPE can’t be too happy seeing an old Elvis with a walker out there in the market place. However, if they did embrace the concept, they could promote it as the first collectible Elvis Inaction Figure. They’ve licensed stranger things.

You may be wondering what type of movie Bubba Ho-Tep is. There are certain elements of horror in it, but they are rather limited. You won’t have to cover your eyes to be spared watching a lot of blood and gore. Comedy is an unexpected bonus in this film, but at its heart, this is a buddy movie. Elvis and Jack are languishing in death’s waiting room until Bubba arrives. He gives them something to care about, something with a purpose. It is wonderful to see these two old geezers come alive and embark on their mission. Unlike the Elvis movies of the 60s, this time Elvis is a genuine hero. Elvis fans will swell with pride at his display of courage. He may be 70-something and using a walker, but you know Bubba Ho-Tep is in for big trouble when Elvis declares, “Come on and get it, you undead sack of shit.”

Copyright ©2008, Philip R Arnold. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Visit www.ElvisBlog.net.

Superman Doomsday DVD

posted by JediSheltie @ 9:30 AM

The "Death of Superman" was the first time I started seriously collecting comics. It lasted through college, and after a small hiatus due to massive debt, has resumed with full intensity to this day. Superman has always been my favorite superhero, so I was there if they were going to kill him. I happened to be there a week late... but that's a story for another day...

Naturally one can then assume that I have a bit of an attachment to the original story, which was truly a spectacular effort at comic storytelling whose ramifications are being felt even today, in the "Sinestro Corps War" most notably.

Were I reviewing a animated feature based on that story, I might be quite harsh and unforgiving in my assessment of its merits. Fortunately, Superman Doomsday brings us quite a different story, so I'm able to step back, and review this story on its merits, instead of simply tossing off paragraph after paragraph about how they got so many "little details" of that rich, compelling comic saga wrong.

Though produced by Bruce Timm and done in the same style, this story appears to occur in its own little corner of the multiverse. There's quite a bit of pulling from multiple sources, including comics both old and new, and, as is common these days, the films. Here we have Superman (Adam Baldwin) and Lois Lane (Anne Heche), happily dating as Metropolis's most well known secret couple. Lois is concerned Kal-El isn't letting her in on the big secret identity, and a minor tiff ensues. The size of the next "tiff" is far more epic in scale.

Drilling through the earth, a team of Lexcorp scientists accidentally release a failed experiment in super-soldier development, a "Doomsday" weapon, buried on earth by some unnamed alien race, and patly explained by a trip through the archives of the Fortress. This Doomsday promptly eliminates the scientists and tears off for Metropolis. Yes, at PG-13, deaths, though not clearly shown on screen, are more than simply "implied."

The ensuing fight is well done. The fight choreography takes into account the power of the combatants. No one bounces off walls, they smash through them. Streets are torn up just in passing, and entire buildings crumble. The smashup is definitely a highlight of the entire film. Were I to retreat to my picky ways, I might suggest the whole "can't bleed" excuse did handicap the visual impact a bit.

What follows is a rather truncated exploration of the funeral and how Metropolis deals with the loss of their primary guardian. Lois promptly figures out her dead boyfriend's secret identity so she can have a chat with the, in this universe, solitary Martha Kent. But its really not all that long before Superman is back.

There in lies the third act, one which enters spoiler territory to even attempt to describe. If you've noticed Lex Luthor in a lot of the previews, there's a good reason for that. Lex, reacting with some disappointment that he was not ultimately responsible for the destruction of his arch nemesis, manages to turn his lemons into a rather dangerous glass of lemonade. Luthor's plot was certainly in character, and is, in some very abstract fashion, based on what he attempted in the comics.

Baldwin and Heche turn in decent performances in the lead roles. Though I like my Superman rather reserved, I might say Baldwin was a little too laid back in his vocal characterizations. Heche's Lois certainly rang a bit more true to the character than Kate Bosworth, and she only had to use her voice. Marsters' Luthor was serviceable, but he will forever be in the shadow of Clancy Brown's spot-on performance from Justice League Unlimited. The remainder of the cast was comprised of solid vocal talent.

Animation is what you've become accustomed to from any Timm production. This means you can expect rave boos from Tygrrius, folks, who hates it. I could give or take. Doesn't bother me, but I've always preferred more detailed art styles. I did find the cheekbone features on Superman oddly distracting, as they seem out of place.

I have yet to delve through the bonus features, so can't help anyone there. Tygrrius loves bonus features, so perhaps you can expect a detailed run down in his review

Since it seems important, I'll go ahead and do the grade thing:

Overall: B-
Voice Acting: B-
Animation: B
Plot: B-
Extras: N/A

The Christopher Reeve Superman Collection DVD set

posted by Tygrrius @ 1:31 PM

The Christopher Reeve Superman Collection (8 DVDs)

Are you afraid of the massive 14-DVD Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition set? Are you a fan of the Christopher Reeve Superman movies but not so sure about this Brandon Routh guy? Then the 8-DVD Christopher Reeve Superman Collection is marketed at you.

The real question here is, though, should you buy this set over its bigger brother? Let's find out. Click on the links to view my individual reviews for each disc.

Discs 1-4
Superman: Special Edition
(Overall: 10 out of 10)

Discs 5 & 6
Superman II: Special Edition
(Overall: 9)

Disc 7
Superman III: Deluxe Edition
(Overall: 7)

Disc 8
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace-Deluxe Edition
(Overall: 5)

* * *

Since I am also a fan of Brandon Routh's performance in Superman Returns, this set is really not aimed at me. However, I am definitely a huge fan of Christopher Reeve. He defined "Superman" for my generation, and inspired countless others by his own life.

The 8-DVD Reeve set costs about 30% less than the 14-DVD Ultimate set. In addition to all material covered by the Reeve set, the Ultimate set also offers the following:

· Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
· Superman Returns: Special Edition (2 disc version)
· Look, Up In The Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman
· You Will Believe: The Making of a Saga
· Bryan Singer's Video Journals

If you are a Reeve-only fan, you will also need to purchase Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut separately. Now, instead of 30% less than the Ultimate set, you're now at only 6% less.

Yet, you're still not done shopping. You'll also need to pick up Look, Up In The Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman, the essential Superman documentary that focuses extensively on the Reeve films and includes a moving tribute to him.

Now, your 6% savings by not buying the Ultimate set has been wiped out. For your 10 DVDs, you're now paying nearly 10% more than you would have for the 14-DVD Ultimate set.

Yet you're still missing You Will Believe: The Making of a Saga, which is only available on the Ultimate set and cannot be bought separately. It contains a new, 90-minute documentary focused solely on the making of the Christopher Reeve Superman movies, a 20-minute tribute to Reeve, and other extras.

Plus, I'd still have to recommend you at least obtain the one-disc version of Superman Returns. Did you really give it a chance the first time around? The film itself is basically a tribute to Christopher Reeve and Richard Donner, and is dedicated to Dana & Christopher Reeve. As a Reeve fan, you should own it.

In the end, the numbers just don't add up. The Christopher Reeve Superman Collection falls short compared to Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition. Even if you don't plan to watch the Superman Returns material on the Ultimate set, you will still save money over buying the remaining essential Reeve material separately.

Features: 9 (out of 10)
Video Quality: 10
Audio Quality: 9
Bonus Features: 9
Overall Experience: 9

Visit http://www.christopherreeve.org/ to support the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition DVD set

posted by Tygrrius @ 5:15 AM

Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition (14 DVDs)

It's taken me nine months, but I've finally made it to the end of Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition. I have watched every movie, every feature, and listened to every commentary in the big silver tin. Just about the only thing I didn't do was listen to the non-English audio tracks.

Does this set live up to its name? Well, let's find out. Click on the links to view my individual reviews for each disc.

Discs 1-4
Superman: Special Edition
(Overall: 10 out of 10)

Discs 5 & 7
Superman II: Special Edition
(Overall: 9)

Disc 6
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
(Overall: 10)

Disc 8
Superman III: Deluxe Edition
(Overall: 7)

Disc 9
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace-Deluxe Edition
(Overall: 5)

Discs 10 & 11
Superman Returns: Special Edition
(Overall: 10)

Disc 12
Look, Up In The Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman
(Overall: 9)

Disc 13 (Bonus)
You Will Believe: The Making of a Saga
(Overall: 7)

Disc 14 (Bonus)
Bryan Singer's Video Journals
(Overall: 8)

Other bonus items
Superman: Rampage comic book (Overall: 4)
Full-sized, theatrical one-sheet posters for the first five (1978-2006) Superman movies [mail-in offer, pay only $5.80 for shipping]

The verdict
Simply put, Warner Home Video has assembled the best DVD collection I've ever purchased. Paramount and Lucasfilm, pay attention for your next Star Trek and Star Wars efforts. This is how you do an ultimate boxed set. You release the highest quality versions of the theatrical versions of the films and alternate cuts, pack the discs with bonus features including vintage specials, throw in some non-DVD extras, and release it all at an affordable price.

The only Superman-related movies missing from this set are the 1948 and 1950 theatrical serials starring Kirk Alyn, 1984's Supergirl starring Helen Slater, and (this is a stretch) 1997's Steel starring Shaquille O'Neal. The Superman serials and Supergirl are currently available on DVD. As for Steel, the odds are it will eventually surface. Whether or not that's a good thing, I'll leave up to you.

Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition was so successful that it sold out in most areas within a month. After a second pressing, it is now back in stories. If you're a Superman fan, be sure not to miss this one.

Features: 9 (out of 10)
Video Quality: 10
Audio Quality: 9
Bonus Features: 10
Overall Experience: 10

Superman II: Special Edition DVD

posted by Tygrrius @ 9:00 PM

Superman II: Special Edition
The Christopher Reeve Superman Collection, Discs 5 & 6
Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition, Discs 5 & 7

This marks my 50th review here on The Film Frontier, most of them within the last year or so. JS is closing in and will soon surpass me, though. Up this time is Superman II: Special Edition.

Most of the drama of Superman II, of course, occurred behind-the-scenes. The Salkinds tapped Richard Lester to replace Superman director Richard Donner, and there's been controversy ever since.

Having listened to various tellings of the Donner vs. Salkinds/Lester story on Superman: Special Edition, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, this Superman II: Special Edition release, and various other places, all I can say is, enough already. Can't we just watch the movie(s)? I really don't care anymore whose fault it was. The fact is, it happened. Move on with your lives.

As far as the movie goes, this theatrical version of Superman II benefits from being a completed film, while The Richard Donner Cut had to make some necessary compromises. Which is better?

It's still hard to say. My heart wants to go with the Donner version, but is it really the promise, the idea of the Donner version that I love, rather than the rough cut seen on that DVD?

No matter which version you prefer, the theatrical/Lester version of Superman II holds up well. Minus the controversy, it was fun to watch it once again.

Lots of bonus features on this Special Edition. Only one deleted scene, though. Shot by Lester, it explains a comment made by Donner on Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut commentary (that's what I get for watching that one first). The Donner Cut itself, of course, includes a number of once deleted scenes, as well as additional deleted scenes available separately on the disc.

Other bonus features on the Special Edition include the vintage Making of Superman II television special, which unfortunately runs slightly too slow, effectively deepening everyone's voice. In fact, I'd say that Christopher Reeve actually sounds a bit more "Super" with a deeper voice. It's not too annoying, though, and certainly isn't worthy of a recall on the part of Warner Home Video as some have called for. It's just a bonus feature, folks, and it's more than watchable.

I remember hating the Superman 50th Anniversary television special when it originally aired. Nearly twenty years later, watching it on DVD, I still hate it. Though I now, at least, recognize host Dana Carvey. Lots of other SNL cast members also appear. But the special just isn't as funny as it thinks it is. Think SNL on a bad season. A really bad season.

The highlight of the bonus features are a new documentary, First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series and the remaining eight Famous Studios Superman movie cartoons from the 1940's, which are influenced greatly by the still-in-progress World War II.

Many of the key Superman features we take for granted, including flying instead of leaping, were actually established by this cartoon series. The popularity of these cartoons forced the comics to follow along and make Superman fly. So much for being the one, true record of Clark's adventures. I love seeing how the various Superman incarnations on various forms of media inspire one another.

Executive Producer Ilya Salkind and Producer Pierre Spengler provide the commentary track for the film. Considering the beaten given to them by Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz in the expanded Superman and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut commentary tracks, it's only fair that they respond.

Though I enjoyed Salkind on Superman and Superman III, I found his ramblings on this one to be tiresome. For example, I just don't care to hear his insight on the phrase "worked like dogs" (which he uses in reference to those involved on the first film) which he questions since he's never seen dogs work very hard, except police dogs.

Forget the commentary and controversy. Just watch the movie and the cartoons. They're still terrific.

Movie: 9 (out of 10)
Video Quality: 10
Audio Quality: 9
Bonus Features: 8
Overall Experience: 9

Look, Up In The Sky DVD

posted by Tygrrius @ 7:33 AM

Look, Up In The Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman
Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition, Disc 12

Radio host Howard Stern proclaims himself the "King of All Media." But there is one man here on Earth who will never kneel before Stern.

The nearly 70-year-old media empire of Superman encompasses comic books, newspaper comic strips, a radio drama, novels, animated movie shorts, live-action serialized movies, low-budget movies, a children's TV series, TV commercials, a Broadway musical, various Saturday morning TV cartoons, a no-budget TV musical, big-budget movies, a romantic comedy TV series, a teen drama TV series, soundtracks, video games, DVDs, web sites, and enough merchandise to turn even George Lucas green with envy.

You will find nearly all of that and more in Look, Up In The Sky, the 2006 documentary from Kevin Burns and Bryan Singer. My fellow Star Wars fans out there will recognize Burns' trademark style from his excellent Empire Of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy documentary from 2004.

An argument could be made that Look, Up In The Sky is nothing more than a two-hour commercial for Warner Home Video's various Superman DVDs, not to mention Superman Returns--which was about to hit theaters just as this was originally released. While it certainly is a commercial for Superman products, it manages to be much more than that.

Look, Up In The Sky first premiered on the A&E cable network in June of last year. The DVD appeared just a week later. Though I watched the special back then, I did not purchase the stand-alone DVD since I figured it would be available with a Superman boxed set and that I would, for a change, avoid a double-dip. Fortunately, I was right.

Some of the standouts of the documentary, for me, were not exactly high points in Superman's legacy and, thus, are rarely seen. I had often heard of the 1975 It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's Superman TV version of the Broadway musical and was always curious as to what it looked like.

After seeing footage in Look, Up In The Sky!, I am no longer curious. That thing looks like it was worse than the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special of 1978. It was kind of funny that Lesley Ann Warren, who played Lois in the TV musical, also tried out for the same part in the Salkind/Donner movie released just three years later.

One thing I had never heard of before this documentary, though, was the Adventures of Superpup TV pilot. As a dog lover, I could find the concept funny if properly executed. But to use the exact same sets, costume design, and everything else from the Adventures of Superman series right after George Reeves committed suicide (or, for you conspiracy-minded folks, allegedly committed suicide) was just in bad taste.

At least that is the impression this documentary and various online references give us. Something does not quite add up, though. The Superpup pilot was produced in 1958. Reeves died in 1959. I know there is a conspiracy theory in there somewhere. (It looks like people are wrongly lumping Superpup in with the failed Superboy pilot from 1961.)

While low-points like Superpup and It's Superman are covered, the documentary of course also covers the great stuff, too. The Christopher Reeve movies are well detailed. Interviews include Richard Donner, Ilya Salkind, and Margot Kidder.

Since I do not watch Smallville, it was even a treat for me to see Reeve's second-season appearance on that series. The documentary also covers his accident, subsequent battles, and death extremely well. It is a much more emotional experience than the tribute feature on the You Will Believe DVD.

I was expecting only a brief mention, but even Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman does not get short-changed in its coverage. Sure, this was probably only to tie in with the season 3 DVD release going out at that time but if Warner wanting to move product results in a better documentary for me to enjoy, then no complaints here.

Superman Returns gets a fair bit of coverage, most of which was a lot more exciting to see prior to the movie's release, of course. It is surreal to hear narrator Kevin Spacey refer to himself in the third person when speaking of his role of Lex Luthor. Why not have Singer or someone mention this in an interview segment rather than forcing this bit of awkward narration?

It was a treat to watch this again, over a year since seeing it on television. I have seen and read a lot of the Superman history in bits and pieces over the years, but it is nice to see everything laid out coherently and in such an entertaining fashion. Watching this documentary is one of those great experiences that remind me of why I am such a fan of Superman. Along with Requiem for Krypton: Making Superman Returns, this is the top documentary on the 14-disc Ultimate set.

When it comes to Superman product, Look, Up In The Sky is a well-rounded documentary. I have focused on TV and movies here, but it also covers the comics, radio program, and many other aspects of the legend.

For those who think the comics are the only true source for Superman mythology, the documentary reminds us that it was the radio program that introduced such important elements as Superman flying, the Daily Planet, Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, and even kryptonite. The point is that all of the various Superman versions influence one another. Still have doubts? Check out the current design of the Fortress of Solitude as seen in Action Comics recently, and then go back and watch Richard Donner's Superman.

I would still like to see a non-Warner, non-DC produced documentary to reveal more of the Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster story, though. Despite the billions of dollars spawned by the Superman empire, his creators and their families reaped little of the benefits.

A minor quibble is that, at least in my set, this disc's label does not match the style of the other 13 discs. It appears to simply be the standard label from the stand-alone DVD release. I am not overly picky about this sort of thing, though, so I have not docked any points for it. Perhaps they have fixed this for the 2007 re-release of the set.

Bonus features are light. Some would say non-existent. There are front-loaded preview trailers for Firewall, Lady In The Water, and Poseidon.

The gem of the previews, and the only reason I am giving this disc any points for bonus features, is the "Superman Franchise" trailer. I had seen this online before, but it is nice to have a crisp version here. One of my favorite trailers of all time, it seamlessly brings together most of Superman's various incarnations and ends with the awe-inspiring Superman Returns teaser.

Though the DVD version is supposedly expanded over the TV version, nothing jumped out at me as being "new" and there were no other bonuses. Don't let that keep you away, though. This documentary is a must-see.

Documentary: 9 (out of 10)
Video Quality: 10
Audio Quality: 10
Bonus Features: 3
Overall Experience: 9

Visit http://www.christopherreeve.org/ to support the Christopher Reeve Foundation.

"Superman IV: The Quest for Peace-Deluxe Edition" DVD

posted by Tygrrius @ 6:10 AM

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace-Deluxe Edition
The Christopher Reeve Superman Collection, Disc 8
Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition, Disc 9

Anyone can write a bad review of 1987's Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Without a doubt, it is the worst Superman movie. It would be extraordinarily easy for me to sit here and pick the film apart.

Many of the items I would point out, though, are also observed by screenwriter Mark Rosenthal in a candid commentary track, available on this "deluxe" edition for the first time.

Rather than merely cover the same ground as Rosenthal, I want to start by mentioning two or three scenes that I personally enjoy in Superman IV. The first of these I've talked about before, in the article Superman's Top Cinematic Moments.

While wrestling with the question of whether or not to remove all nuclear weapons from the planet, Clark reveals his true identity to Lois - temporarily reversing the magic kiss.

In this continuity, with both of his adopted parents dead, no one knows Clark's secret. Except perhaps for Lana Lang from Superman III, but that character is forgotten in IV anyway. "You’re the only one I can talk to, Lois," he tells her. For a brief moment, he is able to be his one, true self with her.

The brevity of that moment reveals the inner loneliness of Superman. He is not a perfect man who leads a perfect life. People who think that have only looked at the surface of the character. Superman IV fails in many ways, but it does succeed in arguing against the perfection myth.

"'Never love one of them above the rest. Love all humanity instead.' That’s not fair," he tells her sadly before kissing away her memories once again. What this incarnation of Superman wants more than almost anything, he can never have. No matter how great his superpowers. Yet, he still wants it.

Later, there is a somewhat similar character-driven moment. After a battle with Nuclear Man, Superman is thought dead. Not coincidentally, Clark stops showing up at work. When Superman's cape, lost in the battle, turns up at the Planet, Lois immediately takes it to the absent Clark.

Hidden, not erased, by the kiss, the memories are still there. Part of her still knows that Clark and Superman are one and the same. She finds Clark ill in his apartment, seeming to have flu-like symptoms. In reality, he is near death from the battle.

She gives him the cape to give to Superman and pours her heart out to him about her feelings for Superman. She seems, perhaps, to consciously know, but never quite comes out to say it. In the wasteland of Superman IV, the scene is a little gem that can be easily overlooked.

Among the returning cast members, it is actually Margot Kidder that shines the most. Perhaps the little break offered by her cameo-only appearance in Superman III did her some good, as she seems less fatigued in her role compared to the others - even Christopher Reeve.

Though not perfect, Superman is the ultimate idealist. If there is one trait that Reeve shared with his most famous character, it was probably that idealism. Near the movie's end, Superman offers up a small speech that in many ways sums up both him and Reeve:

What a brilliant future we could have. And there will be peace. There will be peace when the people of the world want it so badly that their governments will have no choice but to give it to them.

I just wish that you could all see the Earth the way that I see it. Because when you really look at it, it's just one world.

In some ways, the above is quintessential Superman. Corny? Maybe coming from anybody else. But Superman believes it.

The Commentary

I've already mentioned screenwriter Mark Rosenthal's commentary track a bit. It's excellent and well worth a listen. Since this is Superman IV, I may very well end up being one of the few people outside of Rosenthal's friends and family to take the time to hear this.

Scene-by-scene, Rosenthal honestly takes apart the movie. He talks about what went wrong, what his hopes were for particular scenes, and what was removed. All in all, you can empathize with his sense of profound loss.

And, let's be very clear here, Superman IV was a loss for many people. Looking at Rosenthal's perspective, he started with the high of being the writer of the next Superman movie. He watched the project slowly disintegrate before his eyes, until it became the low of being the writer of Superman IV, the movie that nearly killed the Superman movie franchise.

After Superman III, the Salkinds sold their portion of the rights to Cannon films. This was a group that specialized in B-movies. Superman IV was to be their first big budget, "legitimate" picture. Then funding fell through and Superman IV essentially became a B-movie, too.

In the early stages, Reeve championed the project and contributed some of the story ideas. Rosenthal calls the events behind the scenes of Superman IV an "unfortunate and almost unethical betrayal of Chris Reeve."

The commentary is almost entirely centered on the movie itself, rather than delving into boring tangents. Rosenthal even momentarily forgets to introduce himself and never really talks about his background, how he came to be on the project, and what he has done since then. He tends to stop talking at certain dialogue scenes, which I'm betting is more the writer in him wanting to hear the words versus a lack of anything to say.

Though he mentions none of this in the commentary, Rosenthal's previous movie credits were The Legend of Billie Jean, starring Supergirl's Helen Slater, and The Jewel of the Nile. He would later go on to obtain a writing credit on Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country along with Superman IV co-writer Lawrence Konner. The Star Trek VI writing credit arbitration is a long and convoluted story that I'll save for some other time over the next decade or two. More recently, he co-wrote the remake of Planet of the Apes.

Rosenthal contends that the primary reasons Superman IV failed are:

1.) Severe budget cuts, particularly during pre-production

2.) Ineffective casting/conceptualization of Nuclear Man

3.) The trimming of the 134 minute "director's cut" down to 89 minutes prior to the release of the film.

The impact of the low budget is certainly evident throughout the film. After three movies of spectacular effects, Superman IV is a huge let-down. Suddenly, we're back with 1950's Adventures of Superman TV series technology.

Do I think it's possible to make an effective Superman movie without big-budget effects? Sure, but it would require a very different kind of story than presented in Superman IV or any of the other movies.

Rosenthal never addresses whether any thought was given to overhauling the entire script in light of the budget crunch. Since the budget cuts came in pre-production, it would seem that the movie should have been significantly rewritten to accommodate a simpler, less-effects heavy story. However, a re-write, too, may very well have been outside of the budget.

As for Nuclear Man, Rosenthal conceived of him as a fluid character -- to be played at times by Christopher Reeve and at other times as an effect. Ideally, he is probably right. Within the confines of Superman IV's budget, though, it is actually better that such an approach wasn't taken as the result simply would have been even more bad effects.

Mark Pillow won the role of Nuclear Man, his first movie. "Once they cast a guy with teased hair . . . any tension or any danger or fear in the movie was doomed," notes Rosenthal. Nuclear Man was voiced by Gene Hackman, who also of course appears as Lex Luthor. Pillow has never appeared in another movie.

I think it's a universal law that writers don't like their stuff to be cut, edited, or otherwise changed. Rosenthal is no exception. With a full third of the movie chopped off prior to release to theaters, he claims that Superman IV "became incomprehensible."

I've heard this argument for years, that Superman IV would have been much better if presented with the 45 minutes of excised footage. For instance, the Nuclear Man we see in the released movie is actually Luthor's second version. Entire segments with the first Nuclear Man and his battle against Superman were cut.

Jumping ahead a bit to the deleted scenes, this argument quickly falls apart. In "Nuclear Man's Prototype," we see Nuclear Man #1 (Clive Mantle) for the first time.

Here's all you need to know about Nuclear Man #1: Think Dudley Moore as a mildly retarded supervillain who flaps his arms like a turkey in order to fly.

Suddenly, Mark Pillow doesn't seem so awful.

Superman is understandably reluctant to battle such a person and instead tries to find out from him who he is and where he came from. However, he is forced to make short order of Nuclear Man #1 in "Metropolis After Hours," another excised scene. The only thing really lost by these deletions is an explanation for Nuclear Man #2's fascination with Lacy Warfield (Mariel Hemingway).

Do we really need an explanation for a man's fascination with a supermodel, though? Even Rosenthal mentions that the "pleasure of watching Mariel in tights . . . was probably worth the price of admission alone."

Among other scenes cut were ones involving Lex Luthor selling nuclear weapons to the USSR (where peace is an American conspiracy) and the USA (where peace is a Communist conspiracy).

Other than more Hackman time (let's spare him from appearing in any more of this bomb than necessary), there's really no story benefits from the nuclear trading scenes. Even in the cut version, it is obvious that this is part of Luthor's plan. These heavy-handed scenes just muddy the waters even further by making one wonder how it is that the two superpowers have suddenly forgotten how to make nuclear weapons on their own and have to rely on Lex.

Anyway, Superman IV is a case where an 89 minute bad movie is probably much better than a 134 minute bad movie. The torture may be painful at times, but at least it's short.

Rosenthal mostly glosses over what I consider the most glaring problem with the movie, though, and that's the story itself.

Let's take a look at another well-intentioned but failed movie that most of us are familiar with, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. The story question of that movie essentially boils down to, "Will the crew of the Enterprise find God in the center of the galaxy?" As producer Harve Bennett so rightly admitted, the audience instinctively knows that the answer to that question is "no."

The story question of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is "Will Superman permanently rid the world of nuclear weapons?" Again, we already know the answer before the movie even gets around to asking the question.

Even with top-notch effects, superior casting, perfect directing, and tight editing, the underlying premise of Superman IV would have still been flawed. That's not to say there are no good ideas in the film. I've already mentioned a number of them. And, though it lost a lot in its execution, the concept of a supervillain cloned from Superman was a great idea for the time period.

Deleted Scenes

15 deleted scenes are included on the DVD. Their total running time is about thirty minutes, so obviously there's at least 15 more minutes of footage out there. Though Rosenthal contends that 45 minutes were cut from a finished, director's cut, the deleted scenes presented here are very much rough edits. They contain temporary music tracks, temporary effects, and rough audio and video.

Still, we get most of the scenes mentioned by Rosenthal, as well as several others, albeit in a rough form. Missing is a scene of Clark visiting the graves of the Kents, which I would have liked to see.

The deleted scenes show us what I mentioned above: the movie would not have been better with the additional scenes. It just would have been longer.

"Battle in Smallville" presents an interesting concept. Superman flies into the heart of a tornado to rescue a little girl. With modern effects and a decent budget, a scene like this could be fantastic. With the effects of Superman IV, it's probably better it didn't make the final cut.

In "No Borders," we get an extension of Superman's speech that I mentioned above. In this one, after stating that he wishes everyone could see the world like him, he notes that perhaps they can and then carries young Jeremy (the kid who wrote the letter asking Superman to rid the world of nukes and started this whole mess) into space where, somehow, Jeremy doesn't die, the live broadcast continues, and the kid tells the world that he sees no borders.

It's enough to make high school physics teachers cry.

* * *

Perhaps Christopher Reeve wasn't as sentimental about it all as us fans, but one of the saddest parts for me about Superman IV was that such a terrible movie would serve as Reeve's last appearance as the Man of Steel.

In some sense, 2006's Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut has now become Reeve's "last" Superman movie. Richard Donner and Michael Thau brought some justice to the world of Superman by allowing Reeve and the other key cast members a more graceful exit in an encore performance.

Superman's final words in Superman IV are "See you in twenty," to Lex Luthor. They would prove prophetic, for it would be nearly twenty years before Superman would return to the big screen after this disaster.

Movie: 3 (out of 10)
Video Quality: 10
Audio Quality: 9
Bonus Features: 8
Overall Experience: 5
Recommended: Only if you are interested in the bonus features, or if you are purchasing as part of a set

"Bryan Singer's Video Journals" DVD

posted by Tygrrius @ 11:09 PM

Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition
Disc 14: Bryan Singer's Video Journals

Until the release of Superman Returns, I actually managed to stay fairly uninformed about the movie. For one thing, The Film Frontier was in the midst of a hiatus so I wasn't following related news stories as closely as I do today. The other factor was that I had a dialup Internet connection.

This effectively locked me out of viewing the preview trailers online, only one of which I managed to even see in a theater. It also prevented me from watching director Bryan Singer's video blogs detailing the making of the movie, hosted over at BlueTights Network. That's not to say it would've been impossible, but trust me with dialup there would've been very little real point.

By the time I upgraded my connection, I had already seen Superman Returns and knew these journals were coming on The Ultimate Collector's Edition set. I patiently waited until now to watch them.

I must say, I envy those who watched the 27 entries available online before the movie. It was definitely a great strategy by Singer, a kind of grassroots effort to get Superman fans hyped up. As I saw certain tidbits of the film revealed, I imagined the fan reaction.

Of course, there's also something to be said for going into a huge movie like this with very little knowledge. That's harder and harder to do these days, and Superman Returns may have been the closest I've come in a long time to going in almost completely cold. And wow, what a payoff.

All that being said, the video journals actually started out rather slowly to me. I find this excusable, since obviously the early entries in particular could only reveal but so much. The other aspect working against them is that I had already watched the incredible Requiem for Krypton: Making Superman Returns on Disc 2 of Superman Returns: Special Edition. The three-hour documentary was longer than the movie, but quite entertaining.

In the first nine journal entries, the only one that really stood out was #7, "The Call." While in Australia, Singer gets a call from Peter Jackson. Jackson is busy filming King Kong in New Zealand and asks Singer to drop by to help him a bit. Jackson appears completely exhausted and Singer fills in as director for a day.

Things finally get rolling on the Superman front with #10, "To Fly," which takes a look at a flying rig used in the film. I believe there's a common misconception out there that all of the flying sequences in Superman Returns were achieved solely with computer animation.

In fact, I recall reading one review of Superman: The Theatrical Serials Collection that mentioned Kirk Alyn switching into a cartoon in order to fly in the 1948 and 1950 movie serials was not unlike how Brandon Routh flew throughout Superman Returns, except that Routh's Superman had a bigger budget and more advanced technology.

This is only true to an extent, though, as Requiem for Krypton and "To Fly" both prove that Routh spent plenty of time in various flying harnesses for this film. Routh performed the flying sequences with real grace, reminiscent of Christopher Reeve.

The remaining online entries, #11 through #27, kept the pace up and saved what I initially thought was going to be a disappointing disc. #20, "Love Previs," features some of the pre-visualization animatics. I found it interesting to see a very DC-Comics-looking Lois Lane in those CGI sequences, rather than Kate Bosworth.

A couple of entries later, Bryan Singer is shown in a Q&A session at the annual Comic-Con. Unfortunately, the entry is very choppy and suffers from an editing technique that intercuts Singer preparing for/traveling to the convention with scenes of him at the convention. I see what they were trying to do, but it quickly becomes annoying.

However, it was great to see Singer address the number one fanboy question of all time about Superman Returns: "I was wondering, why did you change the Superman costume?"

"Change it from what?" asks Singer.

"Well, the colors are darker and the S is different," notes the audience member.

Undoubtedly knowing the answer but wanting to make a point, Singer asks again, "Different from what?"

"The regular Superman comic books."

Singer replies in his normal, passionate style:

Well, now, in the regular Superman comic book the S has been all kinds of colors and all kinds of sizes. That's what people forget. Since the original Action Comics and the Superman comic itself, it was a tiny S, a yellow S. . . .

You don't want to be playing with these colors too much. You don't want to be playing with these patterns too much. . . . In terms of raising the S, I felt that the silkscreen felt a bit dated when filmed now. And it was also the suit that fit the man.

When I went back and looked at the other suits, the S is too large or it's silkscreen. I must tell you that it would look kind of, at this point, like a billboard or something. It had to be just the right proportions. You really have to go back and look, and see the evolution of the comic. It's transformed immeasurably in ways that would surprise you.

I can understand some of the reservations about the suit prior to the release of the film. The publicity photos just didn't capture it or Brandon Routh very well. Though I still think they went a bit overboard with the S's all over the boot soles and patterned on the main S, I'm definitely very happy overall with the way the suit looked in the actual movie.

Most of my nitpicks about it aren't even visible onscreen, anyway. I think the muted colors worked extremely well and that the three-dimensional S was a nice upgrade. As for Routh, I've noted a number of times here before that once I saw the film he convinced me he was Superman.

Bryan Singer's Video Journals was a disc that I had high hopes for, because my favorite bonus features on all three of the Star Wars prequel DVDs were the collections of web logs featuring the making of the movies.

While Bryan Singer's Video Journals doesn't quite match up to the web logs presented on the Star Wars prequel trilogy discs, they are still worthwhile viewing experiences. Incidentally, despite being their namesake, Singer doesn't actually appear in all of the video journals.

Requiem for Krypton is definitely better overall, and obviously much more structured. Superman Returns: Special Edition doesn't really lose anything by leaving the journals out, though they do make a nice addition to the collector's set.

BlueTights Network has a great discussion thread detailing the recommended viewing order of chapters of Requiem for Krypton and installments of the video journal.

There are also two "bonus" journals that were not made available online. #28, "Outré," begins with an interesting tidbit as to why it was not previously released:

Originally slated as Blog #12, "Outre" began as a sequel to the wildly popular "The Call."

Soon after, Bryan realized more than a few people actually believed he stepped in and directed part of KING KONG.

Bryan felt this blog, depicting another director taking over the reins of SUPERMAN RETURNS after he'd been unknowingly fired by the studio, might not be such a good idea...

Who would actually fall for that whole Bryan Singer directing King Kong for a day thing? Being the seasoned reviewer that I am here on The Film Frontier, I was with it all the time. You can't put one like that past me. Really.

"Outré" isn't actually all that funny, though, and the "replacement" director isn't even named Richard Lester or some variation thereof. Kate Bosworth does seem genuinely surprised when given the news that Singer had been replaced, but she is an actress after all so it's hard to tell if she was in on the gag or not.

The other exclusive entry, "KR83.80" is another poor attempt at humor, a look at the element Krypton featuring Kal Penn. No big loss that it didn't make it online.

There are some video problems, most notably parts of the on-screen text (and, presumably, the picture) being cropped off at times despite being presented in a letterboxed format. This is likely due to the Web origins of the blogs, though I don't recall running into this problem with the Star Wars discs.

Overall, this is a nice disc and a good companion piece to Superman Returns: Special Edition. It's not one I'll play often, but I may have to try it in sequence with Requiem some day when I have five hours to kill.

Features: 8 (out of 10)
Video Quality: 7
Audio Quality: 8
Bonus Features: N/A (the entire disc was a bonus feature)
Overall Experience: 8

"Superman III: Deluxe Edition" DVD

posted by Tygrrius @ 11:18 PM

Superman III: Deluxe Edition
The Christopher Reeve Superman Collection, Disc 7
Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition, Disc 8 (replacement version)

1983's Superman III has come to be known as "The one with Richard Pryor." It has also been judged as a disappointing follow-up to Superman and Superman II. The conventional wisdom is that the bulk of the movie's problems lay on Pryor's shoulders. Too much emphasis on Pryor and not enough on Superman.

Executive Producer Ilya Salkind disagrees with this assessment. In the film's commentary, he notes that the problems with the movie have little to do with Pryor or his performance. And I find myself agreeing with him, at least on what wasn't wrong with Superman III.

Superman III isn't a bad movie. Franchise film series tend to have peaks and valleys. Watching the ten Star Trek movies is a roller coaster ride of quality, for instance. The Superman franchise had two peaks in a row, and Superman III simply failed to live up to its predecessors. After Superman and Superman II, fans were expecting greatness and Superman III didn't deliver.

Salkind contends in his commentary that the main reason the movie failed to reach as wide of an audience as the first two films is that kids may have been baffled by Superman's darker personality traits taking over due to the kryptonite variant. He feels that those in the 5-to-7-year-old range in 1983 may have found the nearly evil Superman and his interactions with blonde bombshell Lorelei (Pamela Stephenson) confusing and the transformation of Vera Webster (Annie Ross) into a cyborg frightening.

I was barely eight years old when Superman III hit theaters, so I was pretty close to the age range Salkind talks about. I had no trouble understanding Superman's personality split at the time. In fact, I thought it was pretty cool--especially seeing "good" Clark fight "bad" Superman. The movie makes it obvious that the sudden change is due to the modified kryptonite.

As for the undertones of the scenes between Lorelei and Superman, they went way over my head back then. In fact, I didn't notice them at all, but it certainly didn't stop me from understanding the overall movie.

And Vera Webster was much scarier before she became a cyborg.

As a kid, I liked Superman III just about as much as I did the first two. I suspect it was actually older audiences that stayed away from repeat viewings and thus brought the earnings down. I don't know about you, but as a kid I generally didn't get to go see the same movie twice--no matter how much I loved it. It was high school and college students who were known for multiple viewings of movies like Star Wars.

While entertaining, Superman III doesn't really have a lot to come back for a second time. As an adult, I also see that it has three major flaws compared to the first two movies.

Though he does not really acknowledge it as a problem, Salkind actually remarks on the first of the flaws. He states that he viewed III as an "episode" of Superman, but "not part of the overall saga." While some credit must be given for not simply copying the first two movies, the problem here is that the first two movies establish something incredible. To simply ignore what came before and move on to an average episode was asking for trouble.

The film should have been treated as an event, as part of the saga. Richard Lester takes a lot of punishment from a lot of fans out there, and I don't want to beat up on him too much here. I'll simply say that his direction of the Metropolis and most of the Superman scenes are muddled, filled with gags and other distracting camp. Lester is at his best in the Smallville scenes, with Clark and Lana. He was great with the smaller, character moments, but didn't seem to have a firm grasp on how to handle Superman himself. Years later, he would've fit in quite well as a director on Lois & Clark.

Superman III's second major problem is that it lacks a villain worthy of Superman. The first Superman movie had Lex Luthor who, despite a lack of superpowers, proved to be a formidable and dangerous opponent. Superman II, of course, had Zod--admittedly a tough act to follow. With III, the villain is ostensibly business tycoon Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn). Webster seems to be no more than a weakened version of Luthor, though, and never poses a serious threat to the Man of Steel while trying to take over the coffee and oil industries.

Of course, the other major "enemy" of the movie is the super computer, or maybe computers in general. A quick sidenote: While Superman and Superman II have somewhat of a timeless feel, not often dated to the 1970's, Superman III is very much rooted in the 1980's. The treatment of computers, in particular, lends to this effect.

Lastly, the climax of the movie just doesn't deliver. After a great battle between "bad" Superman and "good" Clark, the good Superman taking on the super computer seems to only prolong the movie on its way to an inevitable conclusion. I can guarantee Mr. Salkind that no kid in 1983 for a moment thought that a super computer would be a match for Superman.

I've mentioned before on this site that the junkyard battle between Clark and Superman should have been expanded into the movie’s climax. The potential for evil that exists even within Superman should have been expanded into the main plot of the movie, rather than being wasted as a subplot.

Bonus Features

For me, the best bonus feature on Superman III was Salkind's commentary. Unlike his Superman commentary, he spent most of the time on the actual film rather than miscellaneous stories and often tied what he was saying into the on-screen action. Producer Pierre Spengler spoke a few times but, as on Superman, the commentary was almost all Salkind. (I have not yet watched Superman II: Special Edition, so I'm missing the "middle" of their three commentary tracks until I do so.)

As a movie fan, I love hearing about alternate concepts for movies--particularly alternate concepts for movies that didn't fare very well at the theater. Salkind briefly describes his original treatment for Superman III, which would have involved Mxyzptlk teaming up with Brainiac to take on Superman and Supergirl in an interplanetary battle. Brainiac also would have devised a way to control Superman, turning him into his "super henchman."

Sounds like a nice concept, and certainly of the larger, epic scale that I think would have helped the movie. There was one other piece to Salkind's concept, though. Superman and Supergirl would have fallen in love with each other during the course of the movie, before finding out at the end that they were cousins. Ick. Maybe Salkind should have made movies with George Lucas.

Salkind's concept was rejected for being too costly and they decided instead to do an Earth-based story centering on Richard Pryor, who had expressed an interest in appearing in the next Superman movie on The Tonight Show. A year later, Salkind would make a Supergirl movie, though without Brainiac, Mxy, or Superman. Given Salkind's plans, maybe it's for the best Superman wasn't in it.

Along with the obligatory preview trailer (which was unremarkable--possibly another source of box office trouble), ten deleted scenes are included, almost all of which are actually expanded versions of existing scenes. None of them are terribly interesting, nor would they have helped the movie had they not been cut.

The 1983 television special The Making of Superman III rounds out the bonus features. While I enjoyed 1978's The Making of Superman: The Movie on that DVD, this one is not nearly as interesting. I often felt like I was watching a 1950's era educational film, but without the assistance of Mike and the bots to make it more palatable. The special also shows just about every major scene of the movie, even Clark defeating Superman is given away. The special teases, "Does Superman survive?" during the final showdown with the super computer, indicating that you'll have to see the movie to find out. Then it shows you the destruction of the super computer. All that smoke may have actually been Superman III's box office potential going up in flames.

* * *

Lana's son, Ricky, has a great line in Superman III that summed up the movie fairly well:

"Superman, you're just in a slump! You'll be great again!"

It took 23 years, but Ricky was right. Thanks to Superman Returns, we can finally say "Superman Super Again."

Movie: 7 (out of 10)
Video Quality: 8
Audio Quality: 9
Bonus Features: 7
Overall Experience: 7
Recommended: Only if you do not already own the 2001 edition, or if you are purchasing as part of a set

Related Film Frontier Articles

"Voltron—Collection One: Blue Lion" DVD

posted by Tygrrius @ 8:43 AM

Voltron, Defender of the Universe—Collection One: Blue Lion (DVD)

Some of the things that entertained me as a child still entertain me now. The Film Frontier, after all, primarily covers Star Trek, Superman, and Star Wars. I loved those franchises back then, and have pretty much kept up with them ever since.

Returning to a once-entertaining movie or series without watching it for many years can sometimes be a jarring reality-check, though. As the old saying goes, “you can’t go home again.” Some things are best left to the fond memories of childhood. What can I say, Knight Rider, Miami Vice, and The A-Team seemed like top-notch entertainment at the time.

Voltron hit big when I was in fourth grade, elementary school. I had already discovered Star Blazers by this time by accidentally waking up extremely early one Saturday morning. I remember being awed by its realism. It was an animated series that felt live-action. Getting up early each Saturday to watch Star Blazers soon became my routine.

Voltron came along as a weekday, afternoon series. At first, I thought the show was somehow linked to Star Blazers because the animation style was similar. I quickly became hooked on this as well. And how could I not? It featured five lion spaceships that formed a “robot” warrior, Voltron.

I may have been a member of the school playground’s Masters of the Universe fan club, but I was president of the Voltron fan club. Though I remember disliking the diminutive Pidge, pilot of Green Lion, for the most part Voltron wasn’t dumbed down for kids. Yes, there were the “space mice” and (eventually) their mouse version of Voltron, but those were just minor distractions in an otherwise great series.

When the Vehicle Force replaced the Lion Force for a season, I found it harder to keep watching. What was once cool had become mundane. When the Lion Force finally returned, the airings moved to a time when I was still in school. We didn’t have a VCR for another few years, so I mourned that timeslot change. For me, Voltron was gone.

Voltron, Defender of the Universe—Collection One: Blue Lion compiles the first fifteen episodes on three DVDs. Twenty years or so later, I wondered if the magic would still be there. Or would Voltron go the way of the talking Trans-Am?

If you’re willing to throw out continuity guffaws (likely due to the series’ unique origins), Voltron actually holds up pretty well. Putting everything else aside, a robot gladiator formed by five lion spaceships is still a cool concept.

As many cartoons do, Voltron often fell into a predictable formula:

1.) Zarkon complains that Voltron is still a thorn in his side
2.) Haggar creates "the most powerful robeast ever" and sends it to Arus
3.) One of the five Voltron pilots is separated from the others
4.) Four of the five lions battle the robeast unsuccessfully
5.) The fifth lion finally shows up and they form Voltron
6.) Voltron battles the robeast to a draw with various weaponry
7.) Voltron finally forms blazing sword and destroys the robeast

Once I noticed the formula as a kid, the show lost a little something for me. As an adult, I was worried that the episodes would be that much harder to watch.

Collection One, anyway, doesn’t fall into the above formula often. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen, but it’s not every single episode. That must’ve been later in the series.

Five space explorers (Keith, Sven, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge) are captured by the forces of evil dictator King Zarkon and taken to Planet Doom. They manage to escape to Planet Arus, where they meet the beautiful Princess Allura—the last survivor of Arus’ royal family after devastating attacks by Zarkon. Allura is a take action sort of princess, along the lines of Leia from Star Wars. She's not one to sit safely in her castle and let others do all the work.

The five explorers become the new pilots of the legendary Voltron. When Sven is severely injured, Allura joins the team to replace him as pilot of Blue Lion. These early episodes feature various campaigns by Zarkon’s space fleet commander, Yurak, to conquer Arus.

By the end of the collection, Yurak has failed time and again. To make up for this, he agrees to be turned into the most powerful robeast ever in order to defeat Voltron. Zarkon’s son, Prince Lotor, takes over the fleet and begins a new campaign. As this collection draws to a close, Lotor’s obsession to destroy Voltron is outweighed only by his obsession to enslave Princess Allura.

Special features include two versions of the unaired Voltron pilot. Note, this is the pilot for the Americanized version, not the original Japanese episodes. The pilot features scenes from several of the early episodes. All of the music, some pieces of animation, and snippets of dialogue are different. I found the pilot hard to sit through, especially twice. The aired versions were much better.

There’s also a documentary about the making of the American version of Voltron. Though it is not an extremely well-made documentary, I still found it interesting mostly because I’ve never seen a behind-the-scenes look at Voltron before. It reveals that the Lion Force came about by accident.

World Events ordered two Japanese anime series for American adaptation, Armored Fleet Dairugger XV (what we know as the Vehicle Force) and Light Speed Electric God Albegas (what would have become the Gladiator Force). A third series, Hundred Beast King Golion (what we know as The Lion Force), was shipped accidentally. When World Events saw Golion's potential, they secured the rights to it as well and launched it first.

An amateurish documentary examines Voltron's restoration for DVD. If you can get past the horrible narration, it is worth watching to see how the episodes were "painstakingly restored." You hear that phrase a lot, but it seems to be true here.

The restorers went back to the original Japanese masters, rather than the Americanized ones, because they were in better condition. Once the masters were restored, each episode had to be individually re-edited to match the American versions—which are significantly different (on the visual side, for instance, religious references, violence, and sexuality were toned down or eliminated). This was a frame-by-frame process. I don’t envy the folks that had to do this.

The results are spectacular, though, and well worth a look by other old-time Voltron fans.

Episodes: 8 (out of 10)
Video Quality: 10
Audio Quality: 10
Bonus Features: 5
Overall Experience: 7
Recommended: To Voltron fans. You have to watch at least one set, and these are among the best episodes.

Related Film Frontier Articles

"Superman: Special Edition" DVD

posted by Tygrrius @ 4:48 AM

Superman: Special Edition
The Christopher Reeve Superman Collection, Discs 1-4
Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition, Discs 1-4

Were it not for the DVD premieres of Superman Returns and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut on the same day, a 4 DVD set for Superman would have been an event of its own.

The 2001 release of 1978's Superman is one of my favorite DVDs of all time. Is this 2006 edition worth the double-dip?

Disc 1 (replacement version)

On DVD for the first time, this disc presents the original, 1978 theatrical version of Superman. Since this disc was temporarily out of my hands due to Warner's replacement program, it was actually the last of the four Superman: Special Edition discs that I watched. I must admit, I was surprised.

Since the release of the 2001 DVD, I had thought that I much preferred the "Donner Cut/Expanded Edition" presented on that release over the original. However, I had not actually re-watched the 1978 version since that time to truly compare them.

Now, having watched them within days of each other, I am somewhat surprised to find that I actually prefer the 1978 version of Superman over the 2001 expanded edition. While both versions are long, the theatrical version benefits from better editing choices and being slightly shorter. The film just flows better.

The one scene I do miss from the expanded edition, though, is the complete version of the cameos by Kirk Alyn (Superman/Clark Kent in the 1948 and 1950 serials) and Noel Neil (Lois Lane in the serials and seasons 2-6 of The Adventures of Superman TV series). It features dialogue establishing the little girl on the train that Clark outruns in Smallville as a young Lois Lane and the pair as her parents. Was it absolutely necessary for the theatrical release? Probably not, but it was only a few seconds long and a nice nod to Superman's Golden Age.

Another surprise for me was the sound. In order to upgrade it to Dolby 5.1, audio for the 2001 DVD was altered. In many cases, brand new sound effects were added and the over all mix was changed. Generally, I'm not picky about this sort of stuff. I remember loving the sound on the 2001 DVD the first time I watched it. Just the opening credits shook the house.

The missing component of the initial version of Disc 1 prior to the replacement was the option to hear the original 1978 sound mix in Dolby 2.0. Honestly, I probably would have never bothered to send in Superman: Special Edition Disc 1 to Warner Brothers were it not for what I considered the more serious issue present on the Ultimate Collector's Edition version of Superman III: Deluxe Edition (accidental use of the 2001 bare-bones DVD version, without bonus features). I figured, since I was sending that disc in, I might as well send this one in, too.

I'm glad I did. Now, I can finally hear why so many other fans have been complaining about this since the 2001 DVD. The 1978 audio is better than the 2001 mix. I understand why Michael Thau had to overhaul the sound in 2001 to achieve Dolby 5.1, but it is nice to have the true 1978 theatrical experience by hearing the original audio. One of the main differences is that the 1978 version often has the John Williams music much higher in the mix. And I'm always in favor of that.

Note that the disc defaults to the 2001 Dolby 5.1 sound. From the menu, choose Languages and then English (not English 5.1) in order to get the 1978 sound. They don't exactly make it obvious, but at least it is there now.

Disc 1's bonus features are the original teaser and theatrical trailers, a 1978 TV spot, and movie commentary by executive producer Ilya Salkind and producer Pierre Spengler.

The trailers are fun, particularly the teaser which was made quite awhile before the movie was complete. It featured credits flying through clouds, set to Jerry Goldsmith music originally recorded for Capricorn One. Audience reaction was so positive to the flying credits of this trailer that a similar style was used for the opening credits of the actual film.

Incidentally, Goldsmith was originally to score Superman, but fate fortunately intervened and Williams ended up with the job instead. I don't think Williams' contribution to the success of Superman can be overestimated. Trying to imagine Superman without John Williams is like trying to imagine Star Wars without . . . John Williams.

Director Richard Donner and creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz came out swinging against the Salkinds on the 2001 DVD commentary track. Noticeably lacking back then was Salkind's side, and Ilya Salkind finally delivers that in the commentary.

I think I've made it pretty obvious elsewhere on this site that I'm a huge fan of Donner's films, as well as his story work so far in Action Comics. However, there are multiple angles to every dispute and I'm glad Salkind has the opportunity to tell his version.

Also present on the commentary track is producer Pierre Spengler. A member of the Salkind camp, his areas of responsibility included management, scheduling, and budgeting.

Though edited together, the Spengler and Salkind audio tracks were recorded separately. I generally find it more interesting when multiple commentaries are recorded at the same time, since it obviously allows for more interaction between the speakers. Spengler has little to say, though (unless it is simply edited out), for Salkind rarely stops talking throughout the film.

Salkind spends almost the entire length of the movie talking about all of the events leading up to the filming (securing financing, writers, Brando, Hackman, etc.). He spends little time on the filming itself, and the rest of the time on post-production and the actual release. This is balanced out by the Donner/Mankiewicz commentary on Disc 2, though, which understandably spends more time on the filming.

Salkind's comments are sometimes defensive. This is only natural given many of the comments, rightly or wrongly, made about him over the years. His running story doesn't often relate to what is happening on screen--which hits another of my commentary pet peeves. I like to feel as if I'm watching the movie with the person, not just hearing a long, rambling interview played in place of the film's normal audio.

He does occasionally reference the on-screen action, though. When Superman tells Lois, "I never lie," Salkind laughs and points out something that I've never really thought about when it comes to Superman. Despite standing for Truth, Superman lies all the time. The whole Clark Kent in Metropolis disguise is one big lie.

Though I wasn't sure what to expect, the Salkind commentary is usually entertaining. He comically seems to mark his life based upon which "ex-wife" he was with at the time. It was one of Salkind's ex-wives who recommended Donner to him, when Guy Hamilton, originally hired as director, left the picture. (Don't expect a Superman: The Guy Hamilton Cut at any point in the future, though, since he left prior to filming and before Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder were even cast.)

Salkind notes that Donner had an "incredible passion" for the film and that the two were "close and in symbiosis" on the epic approach to the movie.

Salkind wanting the movie to be epic rather than campy, before Donner was even brought aboard, seems to be one of the points he most wants to drive home. Donner often points to some of the campier aspects of the Puzo and Newman scripts, prior to the Mankiewicz rewrite that he mandated.

Though I suspect he'll address this more on his Superman II: Special Edition commentary, Salkind actually doesn't get into his disputes with Donner very much. He notes that, by the end of the filming, he and Donner were no longer speaking. Instead, Salkind hired Richard Lester to act as a sort of go-between. What's missing is how they went from being in symbiosis to not speaking.

Donner continues to sound rather bitter towards Salkind, as evidenced more recently in his 2006 commentary track for Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut. Salkind, however, does not sound as if he harbors such ill-will towards Donner. For the most part, he talks respectfully of him.

I don't think ultimate "blame" or "fault" can really be assigned to one side or the other in the whole Donner vs. the Salkinds debate. The reality is that there's probably plenty of blame to go around.

For whatever reasons, their working relationship disintegrated. Their fallout and inability to work out their differences robbed Superman fans of a high-quality Superman III and who knows how many other Superman movies.

To anyone who thinks the Superman movies were destined to degrade over time simply because they were sequels, I point you to the Lethal Weapon series. All four entries are top-notch, quality movies. The third and fourth are as good as the first and second. And all four are made by Richard Donner.

As the film draws to a close, Salkind gets very emotional talking about the deaths of Christopher Reeve and Alexander Salkind, Ilya's father who produced and secured financing for Superman and passed away in 1997.

If nothing else, I believe the commentary helps to humanize Ilya Salkind and move him away from the demonized image some may have.

Discs 2 & 3

Discs 2 and 3 provide essentially the same content as the 2001 DVD release of Superman. The 2001 version was a double-sided DVD, while this content is better presented as two separate discs.

Disc 2 contains the 2001 "Donner Cut/Expanded Edition" of the movie. Though only eight minutes or so longer than the 1978 version, it feels so much longer. While I love having the option of watching this extended version, it is also a great example of what an important role editing plays. The 1978 version will now be my "go-to" version of this movie, rather than the 2001 cut.

Surprisingly, the transfer of the expanded edition presented on the 2006 DVD is not the same as presented on the 2001 DVD. Though I thought the 2001 edition looked great, the 2006 edition looks even better. At first, I thought my eyes were deceiving me, so I pulled out the 2001 DVD and verified by comparing the two. Nice extra effort on the part of Warner Home Video.

As for bonus features, Disc 2 includes an isolated music score and the 2001 commentary track by Donner and Mankiewicz.

Every single movie with a John Williams soundtrack should feature an isolated music score on the DVD, which is where only the music plays while you watch the movie--no dialogue, sound effects, or anything else.

Trust me, this is a beautiful way to watch Superman. His music is so perfect that it tells the story without needing the other sounds. Reminiscent of watching silent films from so long ago, the isolated score presents Superman as a series of musical emotions and is a testament to the true genius of Williams. What I wouldn't do this for option on Star Wars or The Empire Strikes Back DVDs.

The Donner/Mankiewicz commentary track is probably my favorite on any DVD I own (astronaut Jim Lovell's commentary on Apollo 13 would probably be the only other leading contender). Like Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, the pair are obviously sitting in a room together watching the movie. Though I'm sure parts of it are, it sounds unscripted and as if you are just listening to two old friends remember how they made one of your favorite movies.

Disc 3 is bonus features, all of which are from the 2001 edition.

Taking Flight: The Development of "Superman": An excellent documentary, directed by Michael Thau. For whatever reason, this 2001 look at the pre-production aspects of Superman is far superior to the more recent documentary, You Will Believe.

Perhaps it's the presence of Christopher Reeve in the 2001 documentary that makes it feel more complete. At one point, the wheelchair-bound Reeve reflected on the role:

I felt a torch had been passed from previous generations of actors and readers, who had loved Superman. So, I felt that during the 70's and 80's, I was the temporary custodian of a part that is an essential piece of American mythology.

Marc McClure (Jimmy Olsen) hosts and narrates. Taking Flight examines finding a director, casting, and production design.

Making "Superman": Filming The Legend: This documentary, also hosted by McClure and directed by Thau, concentrates on the actual filming and is also stronger than You Will Believe. The documentary notes that at one time, 11 units were filming simultaneously over three continents with over one thousand crew members.

Regarding the Superman costume design, it is noted that the goal was to "stay as closely as possible to how he was drawn in the comic book." Note that there are no cutesy little S's on the soles of Superman's boots for instance.

The documentary also includes a nice piece on cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth, who passed away prior to the release of Superman--which is dedicated to him. If you ever wondered who he was when watching the opening of the movie, this is the documentary to watch.

The Magic Behind The Cape: Directed by Thau, narrated by McClure, and hosted by Roy Field (Superman's "Creative supervisor of optical visual effects"), this documentary unfortunately is not quite as well assembled as the first two. It has a disjointed feel, but is interesting. It took a lot of work to make a man fly. Given how great the first two are, my guess is that there was a rush to complete this one in time.

"Superman" screen tests: Hosted by casting director Lynn Stalmaster, a couple of Christopher Reeve's screen tests are presented here. Some of this footage would later be used in Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut.

Lois Lane screen tests: Snippets of screen tests from various actresses trying out for Lois Lane are presented: Anne Archer, Lesley Ann Warren, Debra Raffin, Margot Kidder, Stockard Channing, and Susan Blakely. There is optional commentary by Stalmaster. I'll save you the trouble, though, and let you know that he pretty much felt every actress except Kidder was "too glamorous" for the role. Looking at these screen tests, I think they made the right choice in Kidder.

Ursa screen tests: A quick but entertaining series of screen tests, featuring Rohan McCullough, Carinthia West, Dana Gillespie, and Marilù Tolo trying out for the villainess Ursa. (Based on one of the audition scenes, I think they should have named this segment "Kneel Before Ursa.") No mention is made of Sarah Douglas' screen test, which, if it exists, is not shown. Douglas won the role.

But wait, there's more...

Deleted scenes: Collects the ten scenes restored back into the 2001 expanded cut, as well as two other deleted scenes (feeding time in Lex's Lair, shown in the ABC television version in the early 80's). I suppose it's nice to have the ten restored scenes separated out now that the set includes the theatrical cut. I thought this was kind of a dumb space-filler back in 2001, though, since the scenes are actually in the expanded cut.

Additional Music Cues: An audio-only feature, the following songs appear, 1) Main Titles, 2) Alternate Main Titles, 3) The Council's Decision, 4) The Krypton Quake, 5) More Mugger/Introducing Otis, 6) Air Force One, 7) Chasing Rockets, and 8) Can You Read My Mind (Pop Version). A nice feature, mostly for the alternate main titles. Not a different theme, really, but kind of an expanded version.

Present on the 2001 edition, but missing on this 2006 set, are enhanced features for PCs. Most of this stuff was fluff (access to "Web Events" and chat rooms), but one notable exception was Storyboard to Screen. It features about a half dozen scenes, including a "Lost Scene" -- Lois jumping out a window to prove that Clark was Superman (recently restored for Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut). If you want to have this feature you'll need to hang onto the 2001 edition.

Disc 4

If the first three discs haven't sold you on this release yet, there's another full disc of bonus features. Though not all relate directly to the 1978 Superman movie, all of them are part of Superman's cinematic legacy, which dates back to 1941.

The Making of Superman: The Movie (TV Special): This vintage 1978 special is a fun, if superficial, look at the making of the film. It's always nice to see things like this in their original context. Plus, I can remember watching this special as a child. Reeve's enthusiasm for the role here is not to be missed. There's also an interview with Neil and Alyn about the train scene.

Superman and the Mole Men: This 1951 movie, which played in theaters, later acted as a pilot of sorts for The Adventures of Superman TV series.

The first full-length, non-serialized Superman movie is also George Reeves' first outing as the Man of Steel. Here, he is made up to look a lot more like Kirk Alyn, the first man to play the role, than he would later on. For instance, his hair appears to be dyed black. The effect is that he actually looks more like Superman than he would on the TV series.

Though not the first man to portray Superman, Reeves is the first one to be shown actually flying. In the low-budget Alyn serials, Superman would abruptly change into a cartoon in order to fly.

Clark and Lois are sent to a mining town to cover the deepest hole ever dug into the Earth. When furry "mole men" emerge from that hole, Superman must defend them from the hysterical townspeople who want to kill them. The fact that the "alien invaders" here are not the enemy is interesting, considering the timeframe of this movie. Superman defending the Mole Men against the townspeople is certainly well within the character I know and love.

Unfortunately, I just didn't find the movie that engaging though. I would chalk it up to a generational thing, but there are plenty of movies from the 1940's and 1950's that I enjoy watching. It just kind of plods along to an abrupt ending.

Phyllis Coates makes her first appearance as Lois Lane. Her Lois is rather cold, lacking the appeal of Neil, Kidder, Hatcher, or Bosworth.

It makes for an interesting piece of Superman history and fans of the TV series will undoubtedly enjoy it more than I did. The film was later adapted into the two-parter, "The Unknown People." As a bonus feature, it's nice to have. I'll give it another try some day.

Fleischer Studios "Superman" Cartoons: The first nine Superman cartoons round out the set. These cartoons appeared in theaters, beginning in 1941 - only three years after the debut of Superman in Action Comics.

I first became interested in watching these after seeing clips on the Look Up In The Sky documentary on television last year. Once I found out that fully restored versions would be included on this set (and Superman II: Special Edition), I held off on buying any of the many DVD editions already available.

The animation is breathtaking. And most of the stories are actually pretty good, too, considering the time period. This is early Superman, back when he really was just leaping tall buildings rather than truly flying.

Surprising for 1941, Lois is revealed to be quite headstrong. And, as always, she's trouble-prone. Either incredibly brave or galactically stupid, she must be saved by Superman in every single episode. Still, she is shown wielding a machine gun at one point, as well as piloting an aircraft.

After the letdown of Superman and the Mole Men, the Fleischer Studios Superman cartoons turn out to be the real treat of Disc 4.

Verdict

Superman: Special Edition is a great set, chock full of bonus features. The "new" material on Discs 1 and 4, particularly the theatrical version of Superman, complete with original sound, and the Fleischer cartoons, makes it well worth