Jor-El (Brando) knows that his planet, Krypton, will soon be destroyed, so he decides to send his infant son to the distant planet Earth where he will be safe. Taken in by the Kent family, the young boy, now named Clark, begins to discover he possesses some unusual powers. Knowing he must hide these powers from the mere mortals on Earth, he becomes a man of two identities: the mild mannered reporter for the daily planet, and the most versatile good guy ever...Superman! Christopher Reeve is dashing as the man of steel. The film won an Oscar® for visual effects.
The special features can all be found on the DVD reviewed in Issue 50: audio commentary by Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz, the isolated music score, the Superman screen test, the theatrical trailer, teaser trailer, and a TV spot. There are also documentaries: Taking Flight: The Development Of Superman (30 minutes) and Making Superman: Filming The Legend (31 minutes),
The 2.35:1 Blu-ray Disc picture often looks washed out, with undersaturated colors and bloomy whites. Skin tones are pallid, and details are not convincingly well resolved. (Danny Richelieu)
The Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack is mixed well, utilizing each of the available channels at key moments. Dialogue generally sounds thin, and can often distract from the movie with a sparkly distortion and poor spatial integration. (Danny Richelieu)