Product Details

• Actors: James Denton, Anthony Lapaglia, Christina Hendricks, Matthew Gray Gubler, Linda Cardellini
• Directors: Sam Liu
• Writers: Dwayne McDuffie
• Producers: Bobbie Page, Bruce Timm
• Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: February 22, 2011
• Run Time: 75 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (173 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B004EE30C8
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,706 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "All-Star Superman [Blu-ray]" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Based on the award-winning graphic novel series by Grant Morrison, this DC Universe Animated Original Movie posits the ultimate question for Superman fans--how would the Man of Steel spend his final days on Earth?--in a unique and genuinely thought-provoking feature film. Exposed to solar radiation by Lex Luthor (voiced by Anthony LaPaglia), Superman (James Denton) learns that he is dying, and devotes his remaining time to Lois Lane (Mad Men's Christina Hendricks), to whom he grants 24 hours of super powers. Their bittersweet finale is interrupted by a host of villains, including the Parasite and the supercomputer Solaris, as well as Luthor himself, who uses Superman's own powers against his archenemy in one final battle. The action is plentiful and sprawling against a densely plotted backdrop, but what sets All-Star Superman apart from other DCU features is what made Morrison's source material so special: how does one man--even one as invincible as Superman--seek to define his life and legacy? The late Dwayne McDuffie's script addresses the subject in mature and fulfilling terms, while the vocal cast, which includes Ed Asner (as Perry White), Arnold Vosloo (Bar-El), and Frances Conroy (Martha Kent), present a range of performances that compare favorably to the Tim Daly/Dana Delaney-led cast of Superman: The Animated Series. The single-disc edition is light on extras, with only previews of DCU's Green Lantern: Emerald Knights and Superman/Batman Apocalypse on the disc. --Paul Gaita

Product Description

Fueled by hatred and jealousy, Lex Luthor masterminds an elaborate plot to kill the Man of Steel – and it works. Poisoned by solar radiation, Superman is dying. With weeks to live, he fulfills his life’s dreams – especially revealing his true identity to Lois Lane – until Luthor proclaims his ultimate plan to control the world with no alien hero to stop him. Powers fading, Superman engages in a spectacular deadly battle with Luthor that could truly trigger the end of Earth’s Greatest Protector. This startling and gripping DC Universe Animated Original Movie stars the voice talents of James Denton, Anthony LaPaglia, Christina Hendricks and Ed Asner.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An emotional and dark Superman story! March 2, 2011

By John Lindsey VINE™ VOICE

Format:Blu-ray

Lex Luthor (Anthony Lapaglia) had made a plan to poison Superman (James Denton) with solar radiation as the man-of-steel is dying. He has weeks to live as he must fulfill everything he's always dreamed of including revealing his secret identity to Lois (Christina Hendricks) and must do everything he can to live his life through the weeks of dying for he also must do battle against his old foes besides Lex like Parasite (Michel Gough, Atlas (Steve Blum) and even Samson (John Dimaggio).

Nicely done adaptation of Grant Morrison's graphic novel is an emotional and exciting Superman animated adventure and one of the better DC animated movies. The designs are quite different on the characters as if they appeared to look more like Peter "Aeon Flux creator" Chung's designs and i also like how this was the first appearence of Superwoman to appear. The animation is very good and so is the music, there is plenty of great action here and a great ending.

This Blu-Ray offers crystal picture and sound quality with terrific extras like featurettes, commentary, all-star Superman digital comic, sneek preview of "Green Lantern Emerald Knights" and two bonus Superman episodes.

34 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It took me of guard February 24, 2011

By M. Adams

Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase

I never read the comic series of All-Star Superman so I didn't no anything about it except what I saw in the trailers. I saw Public Enemies and Apocalypse, the Superman/Batman team-ups, they were very good. The mood and the action in the story were driven by emotion and that was something I've never seen in a superhero story before, it was true to the character of who Superman is in my mind. It's heart felt, its funny, it has action and romance, its one of the best works from Dewayne McDuffie who recently deceased. The best Superman story I have ever seen a must for your collection.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars An Intriguing Tale Not Up To DCAU's Standards August 28, 2011

By ONENEO TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Allow me, for the sake of justifying my complaints about this piece from the onset, to say that I am a subscriber to the theory that the DCAU crew is responsible for the absolute best incarnations of the DC comic characters of all time. Whenever I begin to burn out on the whole animated comic hero industry, a trip to my Batman the Animated Series collection or through a few Justice League Unlimited episodes are all it takes to remind me of everything that is right about the concept of turning static comic panels into animated life.

That said, I've noticed many of the crew responsible for the aforementioned properties (Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, the late Dwayne McDuffie and company) have since shifted gears from weekly serial production to animated feature film work exclusively. While a few of these features have been pretty darn impressive (I enjoyed Batman: Under the Red Hood, Superman/ Batman Public Enemies and Justice League Crisis on Two Earths to mention a few) but All Star Superman is one of the oddest animated films I've encountered, DCAU or otherwise, in quite some time.

All-Star Superman, on which this picture is based, is a twelve-issue comic book series featuring Superman that ran from November 2005 to October 2008. The series was written by Grant Morrison, drawn by Frank Quitely, digitally inked by Jamie Grant and published by DC Comics.

The film incarnation is actually the tenth in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line released by Warner Premiere and the first in the line that is rated PG (as opposed to the usual PG-13 rating).

The plot goes like this: Dr. Leo Quintum and his P.R.O.J.E.C.T. Team are exploring the Sun when they are sabotaged by a booby-trapped, genetically enhanced Lex Luthor clone.... Superman saves the doomed crew, but it turns out that in the process has been overdosed with radiation that, while responsible for increasing his power initially, is actually slowly killing him. Luthor, having orchestrated the death of Superman while under the employment of General Sam Lane, is arrested thanks to Clark Kent's article and sentenced to death.

Playing off the unique angle of the arch nemeses responsible for the inevitable death of the other, there is a lot of potential in this plot structure. Sadly, I felt as though the delivery of these ideals never manages to live up to the possibilities.

For starters, this 76-minute film suffers from the undeniable feeling of trying to fit entirely too many key moments from the 12-issue book run into a little over an hour's worth of narrative. As expected, this mash of plot threads often comes off as completely disconnected from one another. Characters appear frequently, do something completely contrived, then vanish for the duration of the film. Detours like Superman's encounter with Samson and Atlas and even the Kryptonian scientists will leave even the most diehard fans of the franchise scratching their heads in "what in the world was that?" theatrics.

These threads work out in the books on which this film is based simply because they are given due time to develop. Perhaps had they been integrated here more subtly earlier on and allowed to play out in the background to the seriousness of the larger issues at hand, they may have worked out here as well. Instead they come off as unnecessary plot devices.

However, in all fairness there are a few qualities here that prevent this one from sinking like a cinder block. Among these are the opportunity to witness Frank Quitely's bright crisp art work come to animated life and a modern take on the Lois Lane character.

In all though the end result here is quite a muddled mess. The story itself is interesting and arguably tragic enough to warrant looking into the mini-series but the film will most certainly under-whelm both fans of the books and of past DCAU efforts alike. Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars All Star Superman February 26, 2011

By Justin A. Stewart

Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase

This movie is very well done and I highly recommend this movie for any DC fan. The movie is based off the Graphic Novel I don't know how accurate it is to the Graphic Novel but from what I saw it seemed to be very close to being accurate. For anyone who read the novel should watch this movie makes me wish I can be the man of steel!

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, Morrison and Quietly brought to life February 22, 2011

By Michael G. Mclendon

Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase

Superman may be my favorite hero, though in recent years my young adult cynicism has had me leaning towards the Dark Knight who is in a veritable golden age of creative expression due in no small part to Nolan and Grant Morrison himself. With the constraints that a 75 minute animated film affords, this tale explodes in this format with some of the finest hand drawn animation I have seen from the DCU films and quite comparable to the slick action of Young Justice. That being said, this film is fully aware of its unique yet timeless take on the man of steel, and the spirit and style of the Morrison/Quietly comic is all here. As a fan of the big blue boy scout, I found this to be a very satisfying feature and an indispensable addition to not just the DCU library but the grand picture and myth of the last son of Krypton.
Did I mention the wonderful extras? It includes some insightful interviews with Dan Didio and Grant Morrison that give insight not just into this story but the creative process
I think I may have enjoyed the doc/featurette "Superman Now" as much as the animated movie.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Uneven February 4, 2013

By Kirk A. Campbell

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

The major problem with ALL-STAR SUPERMAN is that it tries too hard to emulate the original 12-part storyline, but without the creativity or pacing that storyline contained. Grant Morrison was able to take several seemingly random & quirky plot elements, and make them work because he's just that good of a writer. It also didn't hurt to have Frank Quitely as an artist.

Unfortunately, you had people on this film who simply read the comics at face value and attempted to make a carbon copy animiated film out of them. And not suprisingly, it just doesn't work. The subplots come across as out-of-place and it takes away the emotional impact of the central storyline and conclusion. None of it really felt connected. It also didn't t help that the voice acting is very uninspired - as if the actors were just reading their lines as they come across a teleprompter.

So why give it 3 stars? Because I do applaud them for NOT deviating from the source material as they did with SUPERMAN: DOOMSDAY. There is a strong effort to stay true to the original storyline, even if they didn't execute it properly. And the animation is outstanding in spite of the poor pacing.

My recommendation would be to try and watch this via NETFLIX, and not necessarily waste money on the individual BLU-RAY or DVD.