Superman: The Movie (Special Edition)
August 2001 Reviewed by: Anthony DiMarco Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

I was amazed at how much this film still affected me, despite its simplicity. The scene was picture perfect both in shot composition, it’s depiction of pure Americana, and it’s ability to pull compelling drama from the simplest of moments.

After receiving some fatherly advice, a young Clark Kent races his adoptive father (Glenn Ford) the last few yards to their farm in Smallville. The race is meant to demonstrate the devotion between father and son, but it also tragically serves to end the life of the compassionate patriarch. Within moments of nearing the end of the short run, the elder Kent’s face becomes awash with both pain and despair as he clutches one arm with the other. Despondently muttering a fearful "Oh, no," the foster father of Superman drops to the ground dead.

The unembellished impact of this scene is completely overwhelming and utterly true to life. Glenn Ford’s facial expressions and performance are brilliantly understated, while Director Donner shrewdly keeps his camera back and wide as the young Kal-El goes to the aid of his fallen father. There is no melodrama, no inconsequential cliché of last words -- as a son cradles his dying father -- just the stark reality of death and the feeling of loss. It is through this scene, and those preceding the passing and burial of Jonathan Kent, that we witness the young Superman’s vulnerability to those emotional aspects of human frailty. Even despite his ability to defy gravity, repel bullets, and run faster than a locomotive, Clark is like any other insecure human, wondering where his place in life resides. It is this quality that humanizes Kal-El’s character and anchors the subsequent fantasy of Metropolis, with a measure of reality.

Most of Superman: The Movie’s magic comes from the excellent cast, direction, and tone conveyed in its storytelling. We all know the Marvel Comics fable. A Kryptonia child is sent to earth by his loving, yet desperate, parents just short of their planet’s destruction. After crashing on Earth, he is raised by a childless couple. As an adult, he lives in disguise as a mild mannered newspaper reporter, who, unbeknownst to those around him, is capable of superhuman powers. But what Donner and Tom Mankiewicz (Creative Consultant) infuse into the story is a sense of humor that winks a clever eye at the audience without undermining the awe and wonder of the fantasy. The result of this reverential handling yields what I consider one of the best superhero film adaptations ever made. Only the most recent X-Men and Tim Burton’s Batman come close.

Visually speaking, the Special Edition DVD production crew managed to pull nice images from most of the effects sequences, although one could argue that some of the screen-projected and matte-painted effects looked more two dimensional. Even with these slight discrepancies, though, the video quality was quite good and did a fine job highlighting the slightly diffused cinematography of Geoffrey Unsworth (2001: A Space Odyssey).

Sound-wise, though, the 5.1 mix did have its share of problems. I don’t want to come off as too harsh, after all we are talking about a 23-year-old film and a cast whose current lives and past deaths probably nixed any hope of re-recording sessions. Still, there is no denying the overall effect using old voice tracks had on the balance of the mix. Ironically, which is the case with original analog recordings of music mastered to CD, the superior resolution of digital audio caused all the warts of the older recordings to show through. Age-related dropouts, noise, and dynamic compression were no longer masked by the restrictions of analog playback. Even though the soundtrack’s shortcomings weren’t horribly catastrophic, I found the sum of its weaknesses contributed to a diminished home-theater experience.

Feature-wise, the Special Edition DVD was pretty good and included three documentaries, alternate music channels, and a humorous commentary by Donner and Mankiewicz. Narrated by Marc McClure (Jimmy Olson), the documentaries gave interesting insight into the production’s logistical issues as well as those personal relationships behind the scenes. The Special Edition DVD version of the film also added two enjoyable sequences that were surprisingly cut from the theatrical release. One scene that immediately followed Lois’ helicopter rescue finds a proud Clark being counseled by a disembodied Jor-El about why he needed to keep his true identity a secret. Another fun sequence shows off Superman’s indestructibility as he traverses Luthor’s "Gauntlet of Death." In both instances, I found these additions completely beneficial to the overall plot and enjoyment of the film. Less flattering and beneficial to this quintessential fantasy was the treatment applied to its DVD packaging.

Presented in a Warner Brothers standard issue cardboard case, the two-sided DVD pressing came across as an exercise in efficiency and cost cutting rather than a distinguished send-up of an American icon. I’m not one for maliciously wasting natural resources, mind you, but Warner Brothers could learn a thing or two from New Line about presentation. It’s Superman! By all means charge me the extra two dollars it costs in materials and outrageous markups for a two-disc set sporting high-quality silk screening and leave such piss-poor packaging for those atrocious Saturday Night Live films or, even better, Barney!

If you haven’t seen this version of the caped crusader, by all means rent it. A film of epic scope and substantial humanity, Superman: The Movie is a highly entertaining saga that recounts the classic with the care and attention it deserves.

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