Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition - Part VI

Had it really been nearly 20 years since Superman was last seen on movie screens everywhere? During that time, so much had changed both in the Man of Steel's world and in our own. Superman died in battle, was reborn, finally got married to Lois Lane after a 60-year courtship, and experienced numerous revamps and restarts in the comics and television fields. Several different incarnations, both live-action and animated, came and went. Its most recognizable portrayer faced his greatest battle ever which ultimately claimed his life, but not without becoming a real-life hero in the process. And then there was the Internet, which spawned many fan web sites across the world. Still, one question remained: when would we see Superman return to the big screen? So many attempts both low-budget and big-budget tried and failed without getting anywhere, to the delight of some fans (like me) and concern of others.

Enter Bryan Singer. The director of the critically acclaimed "The Usual Suspects" and the hugely popular "X-Men" and "X2: X-Men United" had wanted to see a new version of Superman brought to the screen, one that was faithful in sprit to both the comics and to Richard Donner's classic first film. It took three years and an epic budget of almost titanic proportions, but when "Superman Returns" arrived in June of last year, the anticipation was more than well worth it.

I have to admit my biases here, seeing "Superman Returns" through 40-year-old eyes is a whole lot different than seeing the first "Superman" film through 12-year-old eyes. Back in 1978, it became THE film that made its indelible mark on me. While Kirk Alyn and George Reeves came before me, nobody it seemed would ever replace Christopher Reeve in my eyes as the definitive Man of Steel. Of course, as with Tarzan, Flash Gordon, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, and Batman, each generation would have its own interpretation of Superman both successful and failed. Quite simply, Donner and Reeve set the bar extremely high as to how Superman should be presented, and prior to Singer's interpretation only one version ("Smallville") seemed to come close. So I was quite surprised to find myself enjoying "Superman Returns" more than I thought I would.

Singer and screenwriters Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris kept the film on track with what had been established in Donner's work on the first two "Superman" films (sending the failed third and fourth entries into an alternate universe of their own), remaining truthful yet taking things in different directions. Five years had passed since Superman's disappearance from Earth. The world had changed and moved forward without him. So did Lois Lane (now portrayed by Kate Bosworth), who is now a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist with a fiance' in Richard White (James Marsden) and a young son named Jason. So did Lex Luthor (perfectly played by Kevin Spacey), who went through five years of his own personal hell in seeking vengeance against Superman and, now a free man, seeks to renew his stake of the world's real estate for his own personal agenda.

Of course, all that changed with Superman's return to Earth. Now portrayed by Brandon Routh, Superman and Clark Kent both came back to Metropolis to find a world in need of a hero. And what better way to re-emerge in spectacular fashion than a daring airborne rescue of NASA's latest space shuttle and a 767 jetliner? From there things continue to escalate, as Luthor seeks to use the one thing closest to Superman as the very weapon against him in his continuing vendetta against the Man of Steel. Not to mention a number of interesting twists and surprises that Singer and company bring to the table.

Visually, this is the most stunning Superman project ever, even more stunning than Donner's own film, which was done before the advent of CGI. The effects are simply breathtaking, and the flying is more believable than ever. The music from composer John Ottman (who also edited the film) is true to the spirit of the original John Williams score and not a rehash of the same music over and over (as Ken Thorne and Alexander Courage did before him); though Ottman reuses some of the essential Superman fanfares from three decades prior, he imbues the score with its own newness of direction and original themes for Superman, Lois, and Luthor. And there are signature moments right out of the Superman comics themselves. It's really hard to pigeonhole this film into one particular era, there are so many elements from different decades that make it work. It's part art deco, part futuristic, and altogether wonderful for the most part.

Everyone is almost perfectly cast in this film - notice I said almost, which I'll get to in a moment. The most perfect bit of casting in this film is with Spacey. Ten years prior, when Tim Burton had been in the running to direct a new Superman film, rumors went left and right that Space would take on Lex Luthor. Had that film come to fruition, Spacey's involvement would have been the only thing good about it - everything else would have been pure crap. (And to think we almost had Nicolas Cage and Courteney Cox as Superman and Lois!) Here, he holds his own weight against Routh. Parker Posey gives her character of Kitty Kowalski a run for Miss Teschmacher's money. Veteran character actor Frank Langella brings a confident presence in his portrayal of Perry White, and young Sam Huntington gives Jimmy Olsen a new wrinkle or two. Of course, no Superman project would be complete without appearances from past stars, as Jack Larson and Noel Neill return once again in a pair of interesting cameos. We even see a return from the late Marlon Brando as Jor-El, in footage taken from 30-year-old outtakes. Of course, I was a bit hesitant about Kate Bosworth as Lois at first, but her maturity as an actress qualifies her portrayal as a very effective one.

The reason I said the casting was almost perfect was for two reasons. One, Brandon Routh has to have more time to develop Superman and Clark Kent into his own portrayal. At times it seems he's borrowing from Reeve's portrayal to make it work. At other times we see Routh's own personality emerge. It's this latter quality that I would like to see Routh bring forth in full blossom in future film entries. Two, and this is where I have a real problem with the film - what in the hell is Kal Penn doing slumming around in this film (or any film, for that matter)? Couldn't we have done without this guy to begin with? He brings absolutely nothing to the table as one of Luthor's minions, and when his demise occurs toward the film's climax we couldn't care at all. Hey Kumar, it's back to the White Castle for you! Why this guy continues to get work is beyond me.

Warner Home Video's DVD release of "Superman Returns" is quite an attractive presentation. The film itself is presented on Disc 10 in the Ultimate Collector's Edition, in anamorphic widescreen format in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. There is some slight image artifacting that occurs, but nothing overall that detracts from the presentation. The colors are vibrant, at times subdues, and the blacks are rich and deep. In terms of extras, there is only a sole Easter egg feature of a hidden code that will allow you to unlock a bonus level of EA's "Superman Returns" video game - it's nice if you have a gaming system, pointless if you don't. (The film is also available in separate full-screen, widescreen, and 2-disc special editions, as well as HD-DVD and Blu-Ray versions, the latter two of which were unavailable for review.)

It's on the second disc (Disc 11 of the UCE) that things begin to come forth. First of all, we have a collection of 10 deleted scenes and one extended scene, all presented in anamorphic widescreen format and Dolby 2.0 sound. Most of these cut scenes add wonderful character quality to Clark's return in Smallville, and we see some glimpses of moments that made it into the preview trailers, TV spots, and TV documentaries but not the final film. One extended scene of the teenage Clark Kent (Stephan Bender) is obviously in unfinished form, but we get the essence of the moment. Some of the other extended clips are a waste of time and contribute nothing to the story.

Next up we have a brief music video-style feature called "The Resurrection of Jor-El", showing how the 30-year-old Brando footage was re-edited and used for "Superman Returns" through the use of CGI digital effects. While this is a great visual narrative, I for one would have preferred a narrative commentary to accompany the video.

We also have a collection of different preview trailers, including the teaser and second theatrical trailer for the film, along with two EA Games previews for the "Superman Returns" and "Justice League" game releases, and a trailer for the Christopher Reeve "Superman" Collection and "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut". Why the first theatrical trailer or the different TV spots were not included in this set is beyond me. There's also a little Easter egg on this disc of outtakes from the film featuring Kevin Spacey.

But the most important extra is the documentary "Requiem for Krypton: Making Superman Returns". This three-hour piece, directed by Robert Meyer Burnett ("Free Enterprise") and divided into seven chapters, is where the real meat can be found. Here we go behind the scenes for a real in-depth look at the making of the film. Unlike a lot of behind-the-scenes features, many of which is interview fluff, this has actual substantial material to it. We see how serious Bryan Singer is in honoring Donner's film by intending a similar opening prologue to his film. We see the origins of the film, with Singer's proposal and treatment before approaching Warner Bros. executives about it. We get a seat at the production table with Singer and his crew, which sometimes gets a little heated. We see how Brandon Routh was chosen for the fole in a very funny runabout way. We have set construction and rehearsals, discussions with the cast and crew about what to bring to the film, scenes of Routh in physical and stunt training for the role, dress rehearsals with the cast - the list goes on and on. We even have another cut scene that didn't make the film, of a conversation between Superman and Perry White, and some really funny bloopers from the film's production. This is one of the best making-of documentaries produced for DVD that's come down the pike in quite a while.

Granted, there's some requisite stuff that's been left off this DVD set, including director and cast audio commentaries, as well as a major deleted scene from the film's opening, of Superman's return to Krypton, that's been well documented in other sources. There's also all of Bryan Singer's video blogs, which was included on Disc 14 of the UCE - this disc should have been utilized as the proper third disc for the set (I'll comment on the video blogs next time). Furthermore, different stores have featured different bonus extras with their individual releases. Best Buy included a booklet on the comprehensive guide to Superman; Circuit City featured a bonus National Geographic special entitled "The Science of Superman"; Target had a couple of vintage radio shows from the 1940's; and Wal-Mart offered buyers a $2 download of the film with the purchase of the separate DVD. These incentives really baffle me - I mean, who would want to buy a download of the film for their computer when they already have the DVD to begin with? For that matter, why track everything down to have all of the store-exclusive bonuses? That doesn't make any sense at all.

Still, this is a good DVD release with a wonderful documentary feature. Don't be surprised if Warner Bros. double-dips this title down the road in an expanded version in anticipation of the forthcoming sequel.

Next time I'll conclude my analysis with looks at the remaining extras of the UCE. See you then!