This is fantastic and godawful news all in one deft blow! Warner Home Video has announced that, at long last, they will do their best to replicate the massive 14-DVD Superman Motion Picture Anthology boxed set they released back in 2006, on a brand new, gussied up, 8-Disc Blu-ray set. This box marks the debut of several films (and versions of films) as well as documentaries in high-def.

I’m over the moon about this because I was so, so, so tempted to pony up for the DVD set way back when, even though I knew Blu-ray was right around the corner. And since then, I’ve forced myself to hold off picking up the individual BD releases of Superman: The Motion Picture, Superman II: The Donner Cut and Superman Returns, in hopes that this set would one day be released. And now, here it is. Ready for release on June 7th. And yet still, it’s not all I was praying it would be.

As much as I adore the best of the Superman feature films, and as happy as I’ll be to have them all in HD, I would trade every last one of them to have the Fleischer Superman cartoons presented in 1080p. And according to this announcement, that’s not going to happen. Not in this disc set anyway. It’s great that the animated shorts are being included along with the films and the myriad of additional content, but I really lament that the cartoons, perhaps the finest incarnation of the character put to celluloid, are relegated to to the lowly, fuzzy world of standard-def. Perhaps it’s early enough for Warner to make a change here? Would you pay a little more for this set if it were to include an additional disc with the Fleischer cartoons? I sure as hell would.

Expect Amazon pre-orders for the set to go live any day now. I’ll keep you updated of further announcements, if there are any.

UPDATE: Amazon pre-orders are now live!

Special Features:

Disc #1

• Superman: The Movie, Original Theatrical
• Commentary by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler (Original Theatrical Version)
• The Making of Superman: The Movie [1978 TV special]
• Superman and the Mole-Men [1951 feature]
• Warner Bros. Cartoons
  • Super-Rabbit [1943 WB cartoon]
  • Snafuperman [1944 WB cartoon
  • Stupor Duck [1956 WB cartoon]
• Trailers

Disc #2

• Superman: The Movie, Expanded Edition
• Commentary by Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz (Extended Version)
• Taking Flight: The Development of Superman
• Making Superman: Filming the Legend
• The Magic Behind the Cape
• Screen Tests
  • Superman
  • Lois Lane with Optional Commentary
  • Ursa
• A Selection of Restored Scenes
• Additional Music Cues
• Main Titles
  • Alternate Main Titles
  • The Council’s Decision
  • The Krypton Quake
  • More Mugger/Introducing Otis
  • Air Force One
  • Can You Read My Mind (Pop Version)
• Music Only Track (Donner Cut)

Disc #3

• Superman II, Original Theatrical
• Commentary by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler (Original Theatrical Version)
• The Making of Superman II [1980 TV special]
• Deleted Scene
• First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series
• Fleischer Studios’ Superman
  • Superman
  • The Mechanical Monsters
  • Billion Dollar Limited
  • The Arctic Giant
  • The Bulleteers
  • The Magnetic Telescope
  • Electric Earthquake
  • Volcano
  • Terror on the Midway
• Theatrical Trailer

Disc #4

• Superman II – The Richard Donner Cut
• Commentary by Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz (Donner Cut)
• Introduction by Richard Donner
• Superman II: Restoring the Vision
• Deleted Scenes
• Famous Studios’ Superman
  • Japoteurs
  • Showdown
  • Eleventh Hour
  • Destruction, Inc
  • The Mummy Strikes
  • Jungle Drums
  • The Underground World
  • Secret Agent

Disc #5

• Superman III Theatrical Version
• Commentary by Iilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler
• The Making of Superman III (1983 TV Special)
• Deleted Scenes
• Theatrical Trailer

Disc #6

• Superman IV The Quest For Peace Theatrical Version
• Commentary by Mark Rosenthal
• Superman 50th Anniversary Special (1988 TV Special)
• Deleted Scenes
• Theatrical Trailer

Disc #7

• Superman Returns
• Requiem for Krypton: Making Superman Returns
  • Pt. 1 Secret Origins and First Issues: Crystallizing Superman
  • Pt. 2 The Crystal Method: Designing Superman
  • Pt. 3 An Affinity for Beachfront Property: Shooting Superman- Superman on the Farm
  • Pt. 4 An Affinity for Beachfront Property: Shooting Superman- Superman in the City
  • Pt. 5 An Affinity for Beachfront Property: Shooting Superman- Superman in Peril
  • Pt. 6 The Joy of Lex: Menacing Superman
  • Pt. 7 He’s Always Around: Wrapping Superman
• Resurrecting Jor-El
• Deleted Scenes including the never-before-seen original opening to Superman Returns
• Bryan Singer’s Journals – Video production journals
• Trailers

Disc #8 Additional Bonus Material

• Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman [Hi-Def]
• You Will Believe: The Cinematic Saga of Superman
  • Pt. 1- Origin
  • Pt. 2- Vision
  • Pt. 3- Ascent
  • Pt. 4- Crisis
  • Pt. 5- Redemption
• The Science of Superman [Hi-Def]
• The Mythology of Superman
• The Heart of a Hero: A Tribute to Christopher Reeve
• The Adventures of Superpup [1958 TV pilot]

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