Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4378 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-10-17
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 493 minutes

DVD Description
For the first time ever, THE COMPLETE SUPERMAN COLLECTION is available to buy on DVD. All four blockbuster films from the phenomenally successful series starring Christopher Reeve presented together in a stunning collector's box set.

The legend of Superman has become the essence of boyhood dreams ever since Christopher Reeve donned the blue tights and red cape. These films also feature stand out performances from Marlon Brando, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty and Terrence Stamp.

Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace are available for the first time ever on DVD, completing the line-up. The set includes the previously released special edition of the first film that's packed with hours of enhanced content.

Synopsis
The Superman box set. In Richard Donner's blockbuster, the Superman myth is well told, from his birth on the doomed planet Krypton to his childhood in a small Kansas town and beyond. After he comes of age, young Clark Kent, as his Earth parents have named him, learns the truth of his alien birth on a voyage of discovery to the Arctic. It is there that he learns through a link to his long-dead birth parents of his superhuman abilities and his responsibility to preserve and protect truth, justice and the American Way. Once he adjusts to life in the big city, Metropolis, he discovers that hiding his superpowers as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent isn't easy as he flirts with hard-nosed Lois Lane and battles supervillain Lex Luthor. Also includes Superman II, III and IV - The Quest For Peace.

Customer Reviews

Two super dvds got exposed to synpthetic kryptonite and two inferior dvds followed...
Firstly I must say that although I found the Superman films were always great to watch when I was a kid, I have personally gotten a bit bored with the franchise now. However I still cherish the first few films for what they were.

I bought this boxset just over a year ago because I thought that a) it would not only give me the first two films but the third and fourth ones as well and b) I mistook the Christopher Reeve Collection for this one so then I thought it would give me the deleted scenes of Supes 4 that had been locked away in the vaults of Warner Bros for that long time. Sadly I was wrong and ended up with the finished product and theatrical trailer for it only. However I was glad at the time to get Supes 3 for myself where he turns evil and I', sure some other users have read my old review for it. Well although the concept of the third film is good, villains after the worlds oil, Superman turning evil after being exposed to synthetic kryptonite and it was nice to see a lot of the Clark Kent scenes taking place in Smallville with his old flame Lana Lang. However there are a few faults such as Richard Pryor's Gus Gorman, who can be amusing in places but sometimes gets irritating and overacted and actually gets nearly the whole entire film to himself when his character is only co-starring, and Margot Kidder gets about five minutes screentime. Also the opening slapstick sequence is not neccassary except for the Superman rescue. The second film had it's annoying comical moments but they didn't dominate the film like they nearly did in the third and at least the first three were complete (cough, Superman 4, cough, cough).

What is great about this package though is that on the disc for the first film you get an extra 8 mins that had never been seen before in cinemas or on telly or video and on the other side of the disc you get a handful of extras.

Worth checking out.

The one and only Christopher Reeve
Possibly the all-round best comic book movie, Superman is a classic of late 1970s cinema up there with Jaws and Apocalypse Now. For the first time, a major filmmaker was handed a comic book as his source material, and for the first time he treated it with respect and reverence. Everything about this movie gels perfectly, from Marlon Brando's majestic cameo at the start, to the small town Americana scenes that dominate the first third, to Christopher Reeve's wonderful dual turn as Clark Kent and Superman, his romance with Lois Lane, the action scenes once Superman takes flight, and Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor, a masterclass in how to make a villain both funny and scary at the same time. Reeve deserves special praise for what he does with his dual role; in every other version of Superman, in the comics, the cartoons, the 1940s' serials, and the 1990s' TV show, Clark Kent was basically Superman wearing glasses; he rarely showed any cowardice or awkwardness to differentiate himself from Superman, and thus the idea of him keeping a dual identity is increasingly unlikely. In the Reeve movies, the actor goes to deliberate attempts to portray two totally different characters, a particularly impressive feat considering this was only his second movie role. The movies would subsequently dip sharply in quality, but Reeve continued to carry them expertly.
Superman II is the best of the three sequels, largely due to the deepening of the relationship between Lois and Clark, another great turn by Hackman, and Terence Stamp's superb performance as Kryptonian war criminal General Zod. Around half of it, including all the Hackman scenes, was shot at the same time as the original, whilst the rest was redone by Richard Lester a couple of years later. There are a couple of wrong notes (the early scenes at the Eiffel Tower are pretty crap, due to the presence of fat luvvie Richard Griffiths playing a terrorist), but overall it's a good watch. Superman III is good as well, despite the fact that for long stretches it seems to be a Richard Pryor special. I have always been a fan of Robert Vaughn's performance as the villain (`A great man, I think it may have been Attila The Hun, once said "it is not enough that I succeed; everyone else must fail"'), and Mrs. Billy Connolly, Pamela Stephenson, is very sexy as his girlfriend. The notion of Superman's dark side is an interesting one, and I always enjoy the scene in which Clark finally conquers the evil Superman in the scrap yard and opens his shirt to reveal a clean costume. It's not a great film, but it's a good one.
The same cannot be said of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, which was one of the biggest flops of the late 1980s. Visibly under-budgeted, some scenes are jaw-droppingly cheap. Because it was filmed in England, most of the supporting cast are British; two of Lex Luthor's henchmen are played by Jim Broadbent and that bloke who played Richard Briers' neighbour in Ever Decreasing Circles (no, not the cool guy, the soft one with the moustache). Nothing wrong with that of course, except that they have to fake American accents. Gene Hackman seems bored this time around, and Jon Cryer, now the star of Two and a Half Men, is atrocious as his nephew. Margot Kidder is looking much older than she did in the third film, and the bloke who plays Nuclear Man has no talent at all (his voice is even dubbed by Gene Hackman). Much shorter than the other movies (under ninety minutes; the others all run over two hours), it isn't over fast enough. Much has been made of Reeve's final line (`See you in twenty'), but when Superman returned in 2006, Reeve was of course long gone.

Became Less Super after the first 2 installments
When released in 1978, Superman heralded Hollywood's fixation with superhero movies. The production values were expensive with Marlon Brando payed for the most expensive starring role per minute ever. Yet, the end product was satisfying.
Superman 2 was also well done and is one of my personal favourites. Loved the scene where one of the baddies says that Superman's weakness is his compassion for life.
Superman 3 just didn't make sense and looks even tackier than its 2 predecessors, 25 years on .
Superman 4 was just a filler...nothing else.