Superman: The Movie Blu-ray

Superman: The Movie

 (1978)

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty and Margot Kidder star in this enduring adventure spanning the Man of Steel's life, from his Krypton infancy and Midwest boyhood to his career as Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent, and through his titanic struggle with archnemesis Lex Luthor.

For more details about Superman: The Movie on Blu-ray, see the Superman: The Movie Blu-ray Review

Starring: Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Ned Beatty
Director: Richard Donner

Superman: The Movie Blu-ray, Video Quality

 

With its VC-1 encode at 1080p, the resolution of this Blu-ray is far superior to even the most recent DVD version. Still, the picture is not what anyone would call perfect. Most scenes are quite vivid and sharp, with superb color vibrancy and good depth. In other scenes, the vibrancy is lacking and the picture appears to emerge from behind a thin layer of noise. Still, even the moments of weakest picture quality are no worse than one would expect from a movie three decades old. Overall, the definition is very good and watching the film in its true aspect ratio at 1080p is a revelation. It may not compare favorably to reference quality BDs, but compared to every previous version of Superman: The Movie, the Blu- ray appears more lifelike.

The night scene when Superman is first making an impact fighting crime in Metropolis is especially clear and vivid. With good gradation between blacks and greys in the darkness and shadows, colors and resolution are of equal clarity to daylight scenes. For that matter, watch the excellent depth of the shots of the countryside as Lois Lane's car meanders the open roads during her investigation of Luthor's land grab. The hillsides and foliage show good definition. While some grain is visible, few will have complaints about the video performance of this Blu-ray disc. It is a very significant upgrade from NTSC versions of Superman: The Movie in terms of the resolution and film-like qualities of the picture.

Superman: The Movie Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 

It would be nice if Warner included a lossless PCM track on all of its catalog titles, but unfortunately they didn't. Part, if not all, of the reason was that Warner released the same titles on HD DVD at the time, and needed to develop content that would fit on the lower-capacity format. It is likely that is the reason that the BD version of Superman: The Movie has only a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track encoded at 640 kbps. Surprise--that is the exact same content as the HD DVD version, even though a BD-50 disc was used, with much of the capacity going to waste. Too bad, as one can hear the somewhat thinner soundstage and imprecise definition reminiscent of DD. The good news is that this particular mix is not bad at all, with ample LFE and surround content, and a strong vocal presence and orchestral score that is virtually free of distortion.

The DD track features very good detail, but it can get a bit muddled during busy passages when many sounds are vying for attention in the mix. The busy Metropolis scenes do an admirable job in resolving the orchestra, street traffic and some dialog, without becoming too congested. Listen to the scene when Luthor's sidekick, Otis (Ned Beatty), makes his way through the crowded streets into the subway while being tailed by police, all while a comical score played. The audio is crisp and clear and doesn't sound like it was recorded too "hot" even when the train roars by. There is definitely much room for improvement, but the DD is better than average. Certainly it is no reason to avoid the BD.

Superman: The Movie Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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