Customer Reviews

Four Film Favorites (Superman The Movie / Superman II / Superman III / Superman IV: The Quest for Peace)

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

For those who still don't believe that a man can fly, this four-DVD pack provides a wonderful opportunity for children of any age who haven't yet discovered the timeless magic of the late Christopher Reeve's performance as the legendary Man of Steel.

The four films (I-1978, II-1981, III-1983, and IV-1987) are presented here double-sided (I/II) and (III/IV) in their theatrical release form. Each movie will features a trailer and a producer's commentary, in addition to a few extra goodies (i.e. tv commercials, a "Superman III" documentary, and some deleted scenes). Perhaps the best deleted scene is from "Superman II," offering a rare glimpse inside the Fortress of Solitude as Lois gently offers Superman a few baking tips. Its amusing romantic context is much appreciated as an added attraction.

In terms of rating the film with their extras:

"Superman: The Movie": *****
"Superman II": **** 1/2
"Superman III": ***
"Superman IV: The Quest for Peace": ** 1/2

Overall: **** (plus an additional * for the generously low cost).

The good news, for a very good price, you get the first four "Superman" movies starring Christopher Reeve, in their original theatrical cuts.

The bad news, in addition to the excellent 1st film and solid 2nd movie, you're also gonna get stuck with the disappointing 3rd movie and the godawful 4th movie.

Furthermore, you don't get the 2006 Richard Donner Cut of "Superman II" that dug up older footage to reassemble the movie as close to the intended version as they could. Also, completists won't get "Superman Returns", although that's a pretty inexpensive DVD to grab these days.

In case you care, I think "Superman: The Movie" (1978) is a marvelous piece of entertainment, that only suffers from being a little too long (trimming 10 minutes down to a 2hr-10min picture would've made everything tighter, I think).

The 1980 version of "Superman II", to be fair, was very good for its time. However, the sillier elements are made worse since we found out over time that there was another version that was mostly finished before the producers fired Richard Donner (director of the 1st movie). Still, the second movie retains a lot of the fun and character that made "Superman" so much fun to begin with.

I will always enjoy "Superman III" (1983) as a comedy, but to quote my brother, Superman is a guest star in his own movie. After finishing and reshooting "Superman II", Richard Lester was hired to deliver this third outing. I'm afraid that although there are some fine elements to it (Clark Kent visits Smallville, and later becomes an evil doppelganger), the movie can't possibly be taken seriously. I enjoy the movie, but admit that it's not really a Superman feature.

In fact, "Superman IV: The Quest For Peace" (1987), as dreadful as it is, is more of a Superman movie than the 3rd movie. However, due to the well-documented troubles in production, this 4th movie is a catastrophe. This whole mess is filled with a non-sensical plot, silly scenes, ridiculous villains, and literally impossible action sequences (wait till the evil Nuclear Man kidnaps the damsel in distress...to the Moon!). Aside from a good scene here and there, the best way to enjoy this one is to create a drinking game around it...... and I don't drink.

We can all be grateful to Warner Bros. for letting Superman be treated with the great balance of seriousness and adventure so that future superhero stories could be later released as feature films. But we can also condemn Warner Bros. for letting an iconic character be so poorly handled. I dunno, half of this 4-disc sert is good, the other is a letdown. Flip a coin, I guess.

"Superman: The Movie" (1978) = 9.0 / 10
"Superman II" (1980) = 7.0 / 10
"Superman III" (1983) = 5.5 / 10
"Superman IV: The Quest For Peace" (1987) = 2.0 / 10

Nowhere are you going to get a better deal than on this here. You get all the Superman films that starred the late Christopher Reeve in one collection that is more than 1/2 off the standard collection price. The only downfall is being only on 2 discs and being double sided. That is why I only give it a 4 star rating. Don't let that deter you from buying this great item though because it is a great collection still and at the price of 13.99 it's a must have. Just have to be a little extra careful handling the discs.

We watched the first two Superman movies with the kids, neither were age appropriate. The kids are 7 and less. Apparently, in the early 80's everybody said "hell" and "damn" in every other sentence. OK for some folks, not for our family.

When I picked this up in the store I had to do a double-take. All 4 Superman movies for $9.99? Maybe I was missing something. But no, it really was all 4 movies for just ten bucks!

The set is made up of two double-sided DVDs, with one movie on each side. The transfer of the sound and picture seemed fine to me. And there's plenty of bonus stuff here too: documentaries, commentaries, trailers, etc. But it was great to just sit down and watch each film in its entirety, which I haven't done in years.

The only reason I can possibly think of for not buying this set, is that maybe there's already another Superman DVD set with even more bonus material or they're planning yet another set soon. But if you aren't a die-hard completist, this set is all you need. And you can't go wrong with the price.

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### ABOUT THE 4 FILM FAVORITES SERIES ###

Warner Brothers/New Line's "4 Film Favorites" is a line of two-disc sets consisting of four films that are part of a series/franchise or center around a common theme. Each disc is dual-sided, with the contents of each side being a bit-for-bit copy (a "disc image") of a previous DVD release. Usually the very first DVD release of a film is used as the master for each side, which could be either single-layer or dual-layer. If the DVD master that is used first came out at the infancy of DVD production (the late 1990s), there may be little to no extras, and even a poor film transfer when compared to a later re-release. Also, if that original release was a two-disc set, or a dual-sided disc (see: Lethal Weapon 4), only Disc 1 or Side A will be used. The "4 Film Favorites" line is priced with the budget-conscience consumer in mind, with Target having the lowest price at 9.99 each (occasionally on sale for 8.99). Other stores will inevitably be priced higher, though I don't recommend paying more than ten dollars for each two-disc set.

### ABOUT THE SUPERMAN COLLECTION ###

SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE
* Year: 1978
* Runtime: 2:22:57
* Video Format: 16:9 Widescreen
* DVD Production Date: December 5, 2006
* Region: 1, 2, 3, 4
* Layers: 2
* Audio Languages: English, French
* Subtitle Languages: English, Spanish, French
* Extras: Commentary by executive producer Ilya Salkind and producer Pierre Spengler, Teaser Trailer, Theatrical Trailer, TV Spot.
* Notes: This is actually Disc 1 from what was originally a four-disc set. This is the PG-Rated Theatrical cut of the film (an Extended cut also exists).

SUPERMAN II
* Year: 1980
* Runtime: 2:07:20
* Video Format: 16:9 Widescreen
* DVD Production Date: August 1, 2006
* Region: 1, 2, 3, 4
* Layers: 2
* Audio Languages: English, French
* Subtitle Languages: English, Spanish, French
* Extras: Commentary by executive producer Ilya Salkind and producer Pierre Spengler, "Superman's Souffle" Deleted Scene, Theatrical Trailer.
* Notes: This is actually Disc 1 from what was originally a two-disc set. This is the PG-Rated Theatrical cut of the film (a "Richard Donner Cut" also exists).

SUPERMAN III
* Year: 1983
* Runtime: 2:04:54
* Video Format: 16:9 Widescreen
* DVD Production Date: July 19, 2006
* Region: 1, 2, 3, 4
* Layers: 2
* Audio Languages: English, French
* Subtitle Languages: English, Spanish, French
* Extras: Commentary by executive producer Ilya Salkind and producer Pierre Spengler, "The Making Of Superman III" Vintage TV Special, 11 Deleted Scenes, Theatrical Trailer.

SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE
* Year: 1987
* Runtime: 1:29:42
* Video Format: 16:9 Widescreen
* DVD Production Date: July 25, 2006
* Region: 1, 2, 3, 4
* Layers: 2
* Audio Languages: English, French
* Subtitle Languages: English, Spanish, French
* Extras: Commentary by screenwriter Mark Rosenthal, 15 Deleted Scenes, Theatrical Trailer.

How can you go wrong with a bundle like this for an awesome low price?
Just know that the second movie (Superman 2) is the original threatrical version, and not the Richard Donner cut.

All four films on two DVDs, it doesn't get much better! All of these films are absolutely outstanding, the plots are somewhat predictable, but for the great story of Superman, you don't get a better actor than Christopher Reeve. And for a villain, how much more fun can you get than Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor?

The films come on two flipper discs with one film on each side. Packaging could be better and will bother some folks, but if you take care of your discs and be careful about fingerprints, the dvd's should last a long time. The quality is great each film is from the seperate dvd release transfers which are very good. This is a great value for some classic films.

Everybody know who superman was and even though the films are not the best (bad effects and stories) they are classics.

Well we all know the films start well and get progressively worse, but the major problem is that the dvd is poorly manufactured, and one of the films on my dvd will not play completely. Can't get a replacement copy.