superman extended cut

George Lucas is a convenient scapegoat for those looking to cast blame upon the current state of "revisionist cinema." But, in reality, he was only giving a media obsessed culture more of what they want. There is no "final cut" of a particular film anymore, only a funhouse mirror of infinitely edited variations, cut together whenever inspiration (or marketing necessity) strikes. But Lucas is simply a high-profile target for creationist criticism; in fact, the studios have been suffering from "special edition syndrome" for nearly 50 years now.

Case in point, the Extended Cut of Richard Donner's Superman (1978) made its television premiere with over 40-minutes of story added to stretch the debut to a two-night event. Some bits and pieces of this expanded footage has turned up in various incarnations of the film on home video over the years, but we've never had the full 188-minute epic released on hi-def until now. Is it the final say on what many still consider to be the best superhero movie of all time...or too much of a good thing?

As you might imagine, it's a little of both.

Superman was ahead of it's time from the get-go considering Donner actually shot both the original and most of the sequel - featuring General Zod and his evil cronies - back-to-back before being replaced by Richard Lester. And while Donner's version of Superman II eventually saw the light of day (again, thanks to fan demand), it was a compromised version of what could have been. The new Extended Cut of the original still feels like Donner's film, just a more loose and organic version that - depending on your point of view - needs a bit of pruning.

It's difficult and tedious to point out exactly what's "new" here; there are plenty of fan websites for that. Suffice to say that those additional 40-minutes are spread out amongst the entirety of the film, resulting in scene extensions and casual character asides you might not even notice. In fact, a lot of the new footage is almost contextually invisible. And that's a good thing! There are very few moments that stick out as obvious add-ons, nothing that changes the mood or a motivations, no Greedo-shoots-first controversy to debate. But it's also obvious which new scenes are unnecessary; bits needed to be cut short for reasons of narrative content not commercial necessity. In short, Superman: The Extended Cut is the same film, only longer. And in an era of rejiggered, reimagined and often completely reinvented restorations, that's particularly satisfying all by itself.

Warner Archive's Blu-ray edition offers up all the new material in seamless high-definition; there's no noticeable change in quality from one scene to the next. And the 2-film collection in throws in the special edition of Superman: The Movie (previously released on Blu) for comparisons sake. All of the previous special features for that one are carried over, including Donner's commentary, three documentaries, screen tests, additional scenes and a music only track of John Williams iconic score.