SuperHeroBooks - Superman Returns [Blu-ray]

List Price: $34.99
Our Price: $19.70
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Manufacturer: Warner Brothers

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Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: Blu-ray
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 0012569829657
Label: Warner Brothers
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
Manufacturer: Warner Brothers
Publisher: Warner Brothers
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2006-11-28
Running Time: 154
Studio: Warner Brothers

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Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: Best deal. great quality!
Comment: I couldn't find this DVD in Wal-Mart (believe that?), so I went on Amazon and found it for this great price (about $6.00) BRAND NEW! It works great. I have no complaints at this time.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Hi Def????
Comment: I rated this movie 5 star... I like this movie very much. I own both version DVD and the Blu Ray version.

But what dissappoint me is the picture quality of the Blu Ray version. I do comparison between both format, absolutely no difference.

So for them who Superman big fan who already own the DVD version, just save your money. Absolutely no worthy to own the Bluray version.

Customer Rating:

Summary: The Title Says It All
Comment: After missing from film screens for nearly twenty years and nearly twenty eight years since the first Christopher Reeve film, the question everyone was undoubtedly was if the franchise could be resurrected and as this film proves the answer is a most definite "yes" with this film which may actually be better then the 1978 film that started it all.

A film is about as good as its leading actor and without the right actor playing Superman the film could easily have failed. But with newcomer Brandon Routh in the role many fears were laid to rest. Routh, like Reeve before him, slips into the role so well that within moments of his appearance as the Man of Steel he BECOMES Superman. Physically he is a perfect fit for Superman with his black hair, blue eyes, height, build and everything in between. But it just isn't the physical nature that Routh fits into the role, it's also in his acting ability. Drawing inspiration from Reeve's performances in Superman and Superman II in order to perfectly fit into the roles of both Superman and Clark Kent, Routh is successful in marinating the strong masculine side of Superman and the clumsy, almost geeky, nature of Clark Kent. In short, Routh is Superman.

The rest of the cast draws no complaints either. Kate Bosworth, despite being only 23, fits into the role of Lois Lane just as well as Routh as Superman. While she does lack some of the spunk of Margot Kidder's Lois Lane, she does play the sensitive side of Lois very well and her scenes with Superman are a highlight of the film as are her humorous exchanges with Perry White. Frank Langella slips well into the role of Perry White with comfortable ease as he is a foil for Lois and personifies the public's excitement about Superman's return. James Marsden does well in the role of Richard Perry, though his character does at time become a little annoying. Sam Huntington brings a lot of comic relief to the movie in the role of Jimmy Olson. Eva Marie Saint makes a welcomed appearance as Martha Kent and does very well in her few scenes in the film.

And there is of course Kevin Spacey. If there was anyone out there who could possibly pull off the role of Lex Luthor besides Gene Hackman, it would be Spacey. And Spacey does it well. Spacey makes the role his own in more ways then one, brining a more humorous touch to the role. But while he brings more humor to Luthor, he also brings menace. When he has to be, Spacey can be more menacing then Hackman's Luthor ever was as demonstrated on the Krypton Island during one of the film's most shocking scenes. If there's a sequel (which is almost assured) I hope that Spacey, along with the rest of the cast, returns because you can't imagine a Superman movie without them now.

Behind the camera, there is also a lot of talent at work also. Bryan Singer takes the realism and emotion from his X-Men movies and brings it to the film with great results. With a script by the two X-Men writers that they cooked up with Singer, the film's storyline is for the most part inspired. The idea of using Superman's disappearance as a catalyst for a story is inspired to say the least and the films' action sequences share the originality that the first two Christopher Reeve's film had in them. But it's the films plot that brings about the film's only major flaw. Luthor's plot seems to be a bit outlandish (even more so then say sinking California into the ocean) and the various schemes that he goes trough to get to that point serve to slow down the pace of the film considerably and create the only boring parts of the film.

But what sets this film apart from other comic book movies / sequels is that there is an obvious love for the Christopher Reeve films present throughout the movie. From the film's opening credits, done in the style of the first movies legendary credits, to Marlon Brando's narration and brief appearance during the film, it is obvious that the film is both a sequel and homage.

This is evident in two areas specifically: the production design and the music. John Barry's designs for the Fortress of Solitude in particular shines right trough onto the screen in all of its original glory along side with new designs for the Daily Planet and in many respects Metropolis itself, representing the infusing of the new with the old to create something better.

But it is in the music that the greatest homage can be found. The opening frame of the film treats us to a new version of one of the greatest film scores of all time: John Williams score to Superman The Movie. The film opens with the Krypton theme and then goes into a full out rendition of the classic theme and it does so to the point that one is left in awe at the end of the opening credits as the theme not heard in full force since 1978 marks the return just as much as anything else in the film. The classic love theme also makes itself heard in the film and it adds to the majesty and wonder of the film. But composer John Ottman also brings out new material to accompany the classic Williams pieces and the music stands up next to the Williams score and holds it own.

For the sum of its parts, Superman Returns is the resurrection of one of the greatest characters of all time. Not only does it resurrect him, it also brings the character soaring back to new heights in surpassing the films that made this film pays homage to so much.. Superman Returns indeed and we can only hope he's here to stay.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Superbland
Comment: This only just merits 3 stars. It really is far too long, and loses a star for that. It loses another star for the frequent and painfully obvious use of CGI and if I was being unkind it would lose more for its over sentimental and sugary styling. How much music with heavenily choirs and strings are we expected to take?

I wasn't especially impressed by Brandon Routh, who was clearly copying the Christopher Reeve formula but he was wooden by comparison. The best by far was Kevin Spacey, but he wasn't given a lot to do. The films I've seen that have been directed by Bryan Singer have in general been very good, for me this is his first failure.

By all means buy it, if you can get it very cheap, but its not worth spending much on!

Customer Rating:

Summary: How many f's in catastrophe?
Comment: No offense to Brian Singer because I really did enjoy the X-Men movies, but I still don't understand who decided that re-making Superman was a good idea. Even more obvious in my head then Micheal Keaton is Batman, Christopher Reeve *is* Superman. It took the phenomenal talent of Christian Bale to shift the idea of who The Batman could be and make me believe it. How could any less be expected of the next actor to fill Reeve's blue tights.

What Christopher Reeve did was to create two separate and individual characters who just happened to be played by the same actor, and although we occasionally see them merge together for a moment or two, brief reminders that Clark Kent is Superman in disguise, it's that dedication to playing them as total polar opposites that makes Reeve's Superman iconic.

Unfortunately, as hot as he is, all Brandon Routh did was to remind me that he isn't Christopher Reeve. He looked the part well enough and mimicked Reeve's performance close enough that I didn't throw popcorn at the screen, but there was nothing that made me think, oh, yes, he is Superman. I was entertained, but mostly I just thought of how much better Christopher Reeve was in the part.

Kate Bosworth never even came close to Margot Kidder's Lois Lane, but then I never expected her to and so there was no real disappointment. It looked like they tried to age Bosworth into the part, which only made her look like a teenager playing dress-up. I didn't believe her as a mother for one minute, but doesn't necessarily require age to make believable. Acting chops, however, would have helped.

The rest of the cast was mostly negligible. I didn't care for the attempt at externalizing the love triangle between Kent, Lois and Superman by introducing James Marsden as Lois's capable, hunky Superman-esque fiance. He was, I think, meant to represent a melding of the two characters and I found that extraneous. Because of the type of film it was, I wasn't expecting Lois to leave her fiancé for the Man of Steel and without at least the hint of that possibility, we loose a lot of narrative tension.

Gene Hackman continues to reign supreme as Lex Luthor. Kevin Spacey did nothing to convince me of otherwise. I did, however, adore Parker Posey as Luthor's Pomeranian carrying girlfriend, Kitty. I was initially reminded of Miss Tesmacher in the original Superman, but that didn't last for long. Parker's ditzy, emaciated brunette was just screwball enough to make me forget (or forgive) her similarities to Miss Tesmacher.

Overall, I was surprised that I didn't hate Superman Returns, that I was just entertained enough to watch it til the end and was even invested in him recovering, like we knew he would, from the Kryptonite poisoning (How he managed to lift that giant coral reef of Kryptonite and hurl it into space, I will never understand, especially considering how it was COVERED with Kryptonite AND he had Kryptonite fragments still in his body -- but oh well, handwave, as they say).

Maybe if there hadn't been so many successful re-inventions of the Superman mythology then I would have been more satisfied with the movie. I don't, for example, ever compare Smallville with the Superman movie franchise, or Tom Welling with Christopher Reeve. In my mind they are two different things. Same goes for differences between the films and the cartoons (Animated Series and Justice League). I can only lay blame at the feet of a movie that invoked a superior film without successfully reimagining it into something new and fresh.

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Editorial Reviews:

Warner Brothers Superman Returns (Blu-ray)
The Man of Steel flies back to the silver screen in this thrilling adventure directed by Bryan Singer ("X-Men"). Following a five-year absence from Earth, Superman (Brandon Routh) resumes his old life as Clark Kent and discovers that Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) is living with her longtime boyfriend and has a child who may possess some extraordinary powers of his own. But when old foe Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) sets in motion a deadly real estate scheme, Supes faces themost dangerous challenge of his life. Co-stars James Marsden, Parker Posey, Frank Langella, and--inarchival footage--Marlon Brando.