Superman: The Ultimate Collector's Edition Tuesday, November 28th was a fantastic day for me. It was the day that I finally got to see missing footage of Christopher Reeve as Superman. What follows is my review of the 14-Disc Superman DVD Set. I'll examine each movie separately, and then add my final verdict to the whole set at the end. Note: Even though each DVD doesn't have it's own cover in this set, I'll still be grading the covers for the individual releases.

	The Whole Bloody Case The Good: This is a really nice collection, and for the price (I paid $84.99) it's really worth it. To buy each of these alone would cost nearly $120. The collection includes the documentary Look Up In The Sky! as well as Bryan Singer's Video Journals from the making of Superman Returns. A nice booklet that outlines each disc of the set, and a reproduction comic book come included as well, and there's a mail-away for five free reproduction posters. The packaging is beautiful, and comes inside a nice tin case to keep it nice forever. This set is loaded with special features that made me drool. Finally I can see lost footage, and vintage TV specials that I haven't seen since I was a kid. The Bad: There were errors on the initial shipments of the Superman III disc and the first disc of Superman: The Movie. Warner Brothers issued replacement discs, but it kind of slows down the excitement without all the special features. Also, apparently you can only receive free reproduction lobby posters if you live in the USA with your UPCs. And I live in Canada. Crap. I personally prefer to have individual cases for DVDs within a set with their own covers, but I'm gonna bit the bullet on this one because the set folds open like a nice book. Some of the special features, while nice to see, could have been replaced with something more meaningful. The inclusion of 3 Looney Tunes cartoons was nice, but I would've rather had some 1988 Ruby Spears Superman cartoons instead.
	Superman: The Movie The Good: Superman: The Movie was the flick that made us all believe a man could fly. It made a household name out of Christopher Reeve, and was probably the reason why I ran around the house with a red towel around my neck. I'll continue to say what I've always said about the first Superman movie. It's so special because it is so full of charm. There's a certain innocence to watching Reeve as Superman, and you can't help but stare when he flies. Both versions of the movie (1978 Theatrical, and 2001 Expanded) are included in this set. The cover is nice too. There are several deleted scenes that are incorporated into the Expanded edition, and two other scenes that are not. The Making of Superman TV Special is also included and instead of just technical mumbo-jumbo, there are plenty of interviews with the actors. A handful of Fleischer Superman cartoons from the 1940s round out this set with George Reeves' Superman and The Mole Men Feature. The Bad: You'll see that there are more Fleischer cartoons on the Superman II disc... why wouldn't they just put them all on one disc for convenience? The only real new feature for this set is "The Making of..." because the other 3 documentaries were on the 2001 DVD Release. So if you have that DVD already you might shy away from getting this one. The Verdict: It's nice to have both versions of the film on DVD, but I think this set could've been trimmed down to 3 Discs. Still, this movie rules after all those years and I give it 7/10.
	Superman II The Good: This is my favorite movie ever made. Superman has to save the world from three evil villains from Krypton. But uh-oh! The Man of Steel just gave up his super-powers so he can make the love to Lois Lane! I could watch this movie every day and never get bored. It's full of incredible action, memorable lines ("KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!"), and some genuine emotion. Like the first movie, this set also contains the vintage TV Special "Making of Superman II", but even more geek-tacular to me is the special from 1988, Superman's 50th Anniversary. I had half of it on tape growing up, and being able to see it all again was very special to me. Eight more Fleischer cartoons are included in this set. And there's a deleted scene of Superman cooking a souffle. The Bad: There should've been more deleted scenes. I know they exist. I have a copy of the TV version of Superman II and there's footage from that that didn't end up in the Richard Donner Cut. The DVD cover is fine, but needs some minor tweaks. There's far too much empty space (on all of them, actually) and it doesn't make sense why they replaced the "S" on Superman with the one Brandon Routh wears in Superman Returns. As it turns out, this cover was only online, and the real DVD has the classic "S". The Verdict: Even though many people say this movie is really campy (and it is at times), when you include that 50th Anniversary show you have my full attention. 10/10.
	Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut The Good: Holy moly! Finally! After all these years the lost Superman II footage is recovered and re-edited to show us how Richard Donner intended Superman II to be. This version is so different from the original. The tone and timing give it a more serious feel, and even the use of the original John Williams music make the film that much more in touch with the original Superman flick. I honestly can't pick which version of Superman II I like better. I'm just happy to have two different versions of my favorite movie. All of Marlon Brando's scenes are in this cut. There's a great scene at the beginning of Lois trying to uncover Superman's identity. General Zod is much scarier now. There's more Luthor scenes. I could go on and on. A bonus feature that details the Superman movie legacy from concept to... well, crumbling is a nice bonus as well. The Bad: If this movie suffers from anything it's that it was never complete to begin with. Some of the edits seem forced. They needed to use screen test footage of Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder for a scene that was never actually filmed. At one point it seems we go 25 minutes without seeing Superman on screen. I won't complain though, because I'm happy to have this in any shape or form. The Verdict: I don't think the Richard Donner cut will ever replace the Theatrical Superman II that was directed by Richard Lester, but it sure makes for a nice companion to it. This one also gets 10/10.
	Superman III The Good: There are several deleted scenes that are really fun to watch, and I remember them from my TV version that I had when I was a kid. The Making of Superman III is another special feature that doesn't give us much that we haven't seen before, but it's always fun to see the stars walk around the set in costume while they aren't acting. The Bad: It's Superman III. The movie itself has a lot of problems that I'm not going to get into because those problems have been preached to death for the years. As for the cover... why aren't Richard Pryor and Anette O'Toole there? They were far more important to the story. The Verdict: I've seen this movie about 100 times, and even though it's pretty bad I still love it. It was upsetting to get home and find out that this disc needs to be replaced. It took two months for my replacement disc to come, but I don't hold a grudge. In the end I got what I paid for. Some of you might think that no special edition can make Superman III seem like it was ever any good, but I've always enjoyed the film for what it was. So I'll give it 6/10.
	Superman IV: The Quest For Peace The Good: Some people consider this to be one of the worst movies ever made. They're probably right too. It will always have a special place in my heart though. Superman decides to rid the world of all nuclear weapons and so Luthor creates a Nuclear Man to do battle with the Man of Steel. Deleted scenes! I know what you're gonna say... "Superman IV was really bad. Can you imagine the stuff they took out of it?" And for the most part, you're right. The quality of the deleted scenes aren't the best but it is really nice to see Superman footage I've never seen before. The Bad: If I were in charge, I probably would've tried to touch up the special effects in this movie. Maybe then there wouldn't be as much complaining about it. Oh people would still not like the movie, but maybe not as much. The top half of the DVD cover is fine... but looking near the bottom, what the hell is wrong with Luthor's head? The Verdict: Without any features added to it, Superman IV would've received a pathetic 4/10. But since the deleted scenes were rumored to have been destroyed in 1987 and now they're here I gotta give this DVD a 6/10 for trying.
	Superman Returns The Good: Superman has been missing for five years and returns to Metropolis just in time to find out that Lois Lane has moved on, Luthor is back in the land business, and he has a little Superboy of his own. This is agood movie. I loved James Marsden as Jimmy Olsen. Brandon Routh did a superb job as the Man of Steel, especially seeing as how he had some big red boots to fill. Some neat deleted scenes, and a lot of "Making of" footage. I'm not totally done watching the making of stuff because there's just so much of it and I get bored easily when I see the art director's third assistant talk about what he saw the art director do. Know what I mean? The Bad: There are many aspects of this movie that bother me now more than when the movie first came out. I'm still not cool with Superman spying on Lois with his X-Ray vision. And at no point should Lois ever have such a hate-on for the Man of Steel. She's supposed to be madly in love with him and chasing him completely. And why did they have to rip off the original 1978 movie so much? C'mon guys, get your own ideas. The Verdict: Superman is definitely back. Hard to say anything that hasn't already been said by this point. 6/10.
	Okay, let's do the math. Add it up and we get 45/60, which works out to about 7.5/10. I'm proud to have purchased this collection, and urge all Superman fans to get it. Trust me, you'll want all the deleted scenes and footage of Chris Reeve hosting the TV Specials.

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