One Definitive Film, Many Versions

An Exclusive Report for CapedWonder™.com by Bill Williams

On December 15, 1978, the cinema world as we knew it changed forever, as “Superman: The Movie” made its long-awaited debut. The blend of beautiful cinematography, a sincere and enjoyable script from writers Mario Puzo, David and Leslie Newman, Robert Benton, and Tom Mankiewicz, spectacular visual effects, the grand musical score from composer John Williams, attentive direction from Richard Donner, and Christopher Reeve’s sensitive and honest dual portrayal of Clark Kent and the Man of Steel all contributed to what made “Superman” a box-office sensation. During its theatrical release in 1978-79, the film grossed over $134 million in the United States and a then-record $245 million worldwide, making it at the time the highest grossing film in Warner Bros. history. The film would beget three sequels during the 1980’s, each one of which attempted to continue in the spirit set by the first film, though at times failing to live up to the quality and standard of the first film. To this day the first “Superman” remains a beloved classic in the hearts of its stars, creators, and many fans around the world.

It would only be a matter of time before fans would soon be able to own “Superman” in the then-growing trend of home video. In the late 1970’s home video technology was quite expensive, and video recordings were limited to just two formats, Beta and VHS. Cable television was beginning to make its mark in homes across America, with access to different cable channels, pay-per-view programs, and movie networks. As the popularity of home video exploded in the 1980’s, so did technology itself, along with the affordability for the home viewer. Over the next two and a half decades we would see the fall of Beta, the rise of VHS, the rise and fall of Video CED and laserdiscs, and the birth and explosion of the DVD format, video-on-demand, and the Internet. Through it all, like so many films along with it, “Superman” would follow into the future and be discovered by new generations of fans all over again.

With the growth and popularity of the film came many incarnations that would continue to expand upon the film’s aura and legend. Each time the film was reborn into a different format, fans would soon analyze and dissect its many aspects and approaches, in turn sharing that information with many other fans around the world.

In the case of “Superman”, the film can be classified into three major categories, the 1978 original theatrical release, the Salkind international cut (or the extended television versions), and the 2001 restored Special Edition. Each category has many interpreted versions of the film in and of itself, each one bearing significant merit on its own, with varying lengths of running time and quality. Let’s go back in time and see how this beloved film has been reinvented and rediscovered over the past quarter century.

The original 1978 theatrical version

For fans everywhere, this is where “Superman” all began, with its first theatrical release on December 15, 1978. At a running length of 143 minutes, the film perfectly captured the splendor and awe of the planet Krypton, the Americana of Smallville, the fast-paced environment of Metropolis, and the romance and adventure Superman would soon encounter. Cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth shot the film in glorious Panavision format, with skillful editing soon to follow at the hands of editor Stuart Baird. The film would be remixed in glorious Dolby Stereo, with 35- and 70-millimeter prints taking advantage of the film’s visual and audio quality. This remains, in the eyes of many fans, the definitive version of the film.

It was a matter of time before “Superman” would first appear on home video. In 1979, Warner Home Video issued the first-ever videocassette release of the film. The videotape was housed in a black cardboard box with liner notes on the outside and a listing of the film’s main credits on the inside. A small note was also included with the videotape, alerting viewers to the fact that the film had been edited to fit onto a single videotape. In comparison to the original theatrical release, this version is quite an abomination in terms of picture and sound quality. Because of the limitations of video technology at the time, Warner Home Video edited the film to a running time of 127 minutes in order to fit the movie on one videotape instead of two. The film had been electronically sped up, with footage edited at times in a number of places during the film, resulting in the loss of several minutes of footage. In order to fit the panoramic images onto a television-sized monitor, the film was roughly edited in a pan-scan format. The editorial choices in the pan-scan process, however, were often atrocious, as the film looked like it had been recorded with a camcorder, with a number of angles horribly cropped. The sound quality of the film was also extremely poor, with frequent sound popping through the film. But the most notorious edit of them all came at the end of the film, when the film’s end credits had been severely edited from the film altogether! Instead of the film’s grand eight-minute end credit sequence, viewers were immediately given the film’s copyright notice, a quick screen of the film’s major credits taken from the theatrical poster, and the final title card that read, “Next Year: Superman II”. Fans deserved a lot better than this.

Home Box Office would soon come to the rescue. In October 1980, HBO showcased the first telecast of “Superman”, and this would mark the first time since the film’s 1978 theatrical release that fans would be able to view the film in as complete a format as possible. (HBO would occasionally present their own full-frame versions of films that were different in panning and scanning as opposed to their home video counterparts, which they, along with some fans, felt deserved a much better video presentation, in order to provide viewers with a vastly improved product in terms of picture content, quality, and presentation. Among the films HBO provided alternate full-frame presentations during the 1980s were “Superman”, the original “Star Wars”, “Supergirl”, and “St. Elmo’s Fire”, among others.) The running time on this version of “Superman” was 142 minutes, a significant improvement from the original VHS release at 127 minutes, and while it provided viewers with a better product in terms of presentation, there were some minor nips and tucks along the way. The HBO telecast version of “Superman” would be repeated twice more in 1981, and it has not since been shown in this version to this date. It is also unknown as of this writing if anyone managed to record this version of “Superman”.

In the early 1980s, Warner Home Video released a 2-disc set of the film on a format called Video CED, the precursor to the laserdisc format. Manufactured through RCA, the Video CED produced superior quality visuals compared to the original VHS release, with a presentation of approximately 63 minutes of content per side. This would allow a comfortable presentation of the film in its entirety, though it would mean flipping the disc from one side to the next, or changing from one disc to the other, in order to continue the film. (“Superman II” and “Superman III” would also be released in Video CED format) as well. It is unknown as of this writing whether “Superman” was presented in a full-frame format or a widescreen format, though the former is believed to have been the case.

As the 1980s progressed, Warner Home Video again reissued “Superman” on home video, this time in its complete, uninterrupted 143-minute format. Having the original theatrical cut on VHS was a vast improvement over the previous videocassette release. The formatting of the film, however, was a bit on the static side, as all of the panning was done electronically. Colors were highly evident in this presentation of the film, and the sound quality had a muted feeling to it. Still, it marked the first appearance of the complete original theatrical version on VHS. As the 1980’s progressed, this version would be shown on HBO, ABC, and CBS, though the ABC and CBS telecasts contained minor edits in terms of language and mild nudity, as well as for added commercial sponsorship.

The first appearance of the original theatrical version in a widescreen format came in 1990, when Warner Home Video released a 2-disc laserdisc of the film (Warner Bros. had already released a pan and scan laserdisc of “Superman” a few years earlier). By this time, laserdisc became a very popular alternative to VHS, and while the price of laserdiscs was relatively high in many cases, many laserdiscs of films came in widescreen format with extra features including isolated audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes production featurettes, original theatrical trailers, still galleries, and deleted scenes, among others. The laserdisc of “Superman” was a 2-disc set, with up to 60 minutes of video content spread out per side with no further content issued on laserdisc. Like the Video CED format, this necessitated switching sides of discs or switching discs altogether in order to continue watching the film. But for the first time since its theatrical release in 1978, fans could enjoy the film in its original panoramic aspect ratio of 2.35:1. However, the sound mix on the widescreen laserdisc of “Superman” again sounded rather poor, relegated to a two-channel mix only, as opposed to the growing trend of the Dolby AC-3 and the THX formats, which provided very high quality sound reproduction similar to theaters. Still, this was the only way to view “Superman” in its original, uncut format, and to this day it remains one of the most popular versions of the film to be released on home video. In 2000 American Movie Classics would telecast the widescreen version of the original theatrical cut, and fans rejoiced at seeing the film on television the way it was meant to be seen.

The 1990s saw two more VHS releases of “Superman” again in full-frame format once again, this time in a newly transferred print. The first of these two releases came in a standard cardboard VHS case, while the second was marketed in a white clamshell case. Where the VHS releases of the 1980’s provided static electronic transfers, the releases of the 1990’s were much more fluid and lifelike, often mirroring natural eye movements. However, the print used for the VHS transfer was almost washed out, exhibiting much dirt and grain, as well as a lot of red color throughout the film. The sound mix remained the same as in the previous versions, a two-channel format. As “Superman” neared its 20th anniversary, fans feared the worst for the film. If it couldn’t be cleaned up and saved, it would be lost forever. The latter 1990’s VHS release in the white clamshell marked the final release of the original 1978 theatrical version of “Superman”. The print used in this transfer was the same as the previous VHS transfer from the early 1990’s and contained the same amount of grain and red color tint throughout the print. Since that time, it has been shown on various cable networks in this format.

The Salkind International Cut

As the film and its sequels enjoyed its popularity in the early 1980s, producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind took it upon themselves to prepare the film for its eventual television broadcast. In order to market the film to television stations around the world, the Salkinds re-edited the film with approximately 45 minutes of additional footage not released in theaters. Whereas Richard Donner had complete directorial control in editing the film for theatrical release, the Salkinds had control of the film for international distribution and television marketing, and the film was re-edited without Donner’s approval. The added footage brought the running time of the film to 188 minutes, the longest known version of the film to be assembled and shown to audiences around the world.

Many additional moments fleshed out the story even further, with additional scenes involving a longer discussion between Jor-El and the Kryptonian Council on the Phantom Zone, the Council dispatching a security officer to investigate a series of power drains from Jor-El’s quarters, additional moments extending the destruction of the planet Krypton, an additional clip involving Jonathan and Martha Kent discovering the infant Kal-El, additional scenes involving the teenaged Clark Kent in Smallville, an extended version of the building of the Fortress of Solitude and Clark’s interaction with the spirit of Jor-El, additional moments with Clark and Lois at the Daily Planet and Metropolis, an extended introduction to Lex Luthor, Otis, and Miss Teschmacher, additional clips of Superman during his first night in Metropolis, a brief cameo appearance from Richard Donner, an additional moment involving Otis and Miss Teschmacher discussing Superman’s background, an extended version of the missile hijacking, Superman searching for Luthor and running the gauntlet of doom, additional moments involving the military’s reaction to the missiles’ trajectory malfunction, extended dialog between Superman and Miss Teschmacher, an added scene of Superman intercepting one of the missiles, several added moments of Superman counteracting the West Coast peril, an added moment between Superman and Jimmy Olsen, added dialog between Lois and Jimmy toward the end of the film, and Superman rescuing Miss Teschmacher from Luthor’s “babies”. Fans rejoiced at seeing these additional scenes for the first time, as they truly began to paint a larger tapestry of Superman’s first cinematic adventure.

In addition, a number of musical cues from John Williams’ original soundtrack were restored to the film, some of them not heard in the theatrical release of the film nor on the popular two-disc soundtrack album. Additional cues underscoring scenes on Krypton, the planet’s destruction, and Otis’ journey through the Metropolis subway tunnels were heard for the first time, while other cues underscoring the launch of Kal-El’s starship, Superman intercepting and hurling the missile into space, the aftershocks of the earthquake, and Superman in action, all previously heard on the original soundtrack album, were restored to the context of the film. It would not be until February 2000 that the complete John Williams score would be released in an official capacity.

To fit the film within television broadcast standards, “Superman” underwent minor trims, removing the brief nudity of Kal-El upon arrival on Earth and editing both of the brief occurrences of profanity present in the theatrical version. With the telecast of the extended version, other instances of profanity were dubbed over or removed from the film completely. These minor trims did not slow the overall pace of the film, however.

The first U.S. telecast of the extended version of “Superman” came on February 7 and 8, 1982, when ABC broadcast “Superman” as a two-part movie event during its “sweeps” month. The running time of the ABC telecast came to 182 minutes, minus commercials. The first part ended on a cliffhanger note during the helicopter sequence, with the movie stopping in mid-action and the words “To Be Continued” superimposed onto the screen. A brief preview of the following night’s conclusion was shown, along with a slightly edited version of the end credits – only the final title card “Next Year: Superman II” was removed from the televised broadcast. The second part began with a brief reprise of the main title credits, a quick recap of events narrated by the late Ernie Anderson (who also narrated the documentaries “The Making of Superman” and “The Making of Superman II”), followed by the movie’s continuation. It was during the second part’s telecast that some moments from the film were edited for time constraints, to fit the second half of the film into a two-hour time slot. Among the moments missing from the film were the complete version of Superman and Lois’ night flight, parts of the dialog between Luthor and Miss Teschmacher discussing Superman’s first appearance in Metropolis, portions of the missile hijacking sequence and Clark Kent at the Daily Planet, and other secondary moments. Both parts of the extended telecast of “Superman” garnered very high and very successful Nielsen ratings for the month, at numbers 2 and 1, respectively.

The second U.S. telecast of the extended version of “Superman” came in November 1982, this time in a four-hour time slot during Thanksgiving weekend. The film once again contained nearly all of the same edits and inclusions, with the only exceptions of the helicopter sequence shown in its entirety and a commercial break following Superman’s rescue of Air Force One. This would be the last time ABC would telecast the extended version of the film, as all subsequent showings of “Superman” would be relegated to the original theatrical version in a three-hour time slot.

By 1990, the extended version of “Superman” had entered into syndication. By this time three more theatrical sequels had been released, along with the failed theatrical spin-off “Supergirl” and the successful syndicated series “The Adventures of Superboy”, again produced (with the exception of “Superman IV”) by the Salkinds. With the extended version of “Superman” now in local hands, television stations could be free to edit the film as they saw fit or broadcast it either over two nights or in a four-hour time slot. One of the most widely seen syndicated versions of the film had been as a two-part telecast, with the first part edited and shown very much like the 1982 ABC telecast and ending in the same cliffhanger moment during the helicopter sequence. The second part, however, suffered the most edits, as the film began with a 20-minute recap of moments from the first part. This led into the continuation of the helicopter sequence, followed by the remainder of the film in a very heavily edited form. More of the footage from the original theatrical version had been removed in favor of the majority of the extended sequences, and in some instances a number of the extended sequences had also been removed, in order to keep the second part within a two-hour format. When removing all of the commercial breaks from both of the telecasts, followed by the end credits shown during the first part, and the recap from the beginning of the second part, the film ran approximately 160 minutes long. Fans wondered if the complete extended version of “Superman” would ever be seen in the United States.

It would not be until 1994 that American audiences first saw the complete extended version of the film. KCOP-TV in Los Angeles, at the time a syndicated television station, ran the Salkind international version of “Superman” on its network, marking the first time that the complete extended version of the film had been shown on television in the United States. Foreign markets had been showing the Salkind international cut for years prior to 1994, but it was not until KCOP-TV had acquired the broadcast rights to the film that viewers would see for themselves just how much had been missing from the film and its previous extended TV broadcasts. It was this telecast that became a highly sought collectible by fans, continuing to this day. Meanwhile, European and Australian markets screened the complete 188-minute Salkind international version regularly, beginning in 1982. All of the footage that had been excised from the ABC telecasts and the 1990 syndicated TV broadcast, including the trimmed nude footage and the profanity, was preserved in the film. But the most significant footage did not occur until halfway through the broadcast. Following Superman’s rescue of Air Force One, the film showed a new scene of Superman conversing with the spirit of his father Jor-El in the Fortress of Solitude. This scene marked the only on-screen dialog between actors Christopher Reeve and Marlon Brando in the film (though the two had filmed other scenes for “Superman II”). Using music lifted from the cue “Destruction of Krypton” from the original soundtrack, the new sequence added significant emotional depth to Superman’s character. This marked the first time that the complete extended version of “Superman” was shown on television.

Viewers were also treated to additional footage between Lex Luthor and Otis, as well as a large amount of footage focusing on comic moments between Luthor, Otis, and Miss Teschmacher during the missile hijacking. Another sequence that first appeared in the KCOP telecast was a re-edited version of Jimmy Olsen at Hoover Dam, followed by an alternate introduction of Lois’ interview with the Indian chief. This sequence is of importance because it uses as an underscore an alternate version of “Misguided Missiles” that omits the Love Theme motif from the track. (This cue remains unreleased to date in an official capacity.) Another scene extension that makes its first appearance in the KCOP telecast is a discussion between the Army general and a senator about the cost of the XK-101 project. The scene was trimmed from the ABC telecast due to the presence of profanity in the scene: “Two hundred eighty million dollars spent on this project, and not a (profanity deleted) thing we can do about it.”

In 2009, a group of fans began work on an ambitious restoration of this longest cut of the film. Utilizing numerous source elements including VHS recordings, DVD releases, and a 16-millimeter print of the film (from the CapedWonder™archives), work began on what would come to be known as “Superman: The Movie – Restored International Cut”. This cut of the film seeks to preserve all of the footage that appeared both on television and on video in the highest quality format possible. The project is currently targeted for completion in 2011.

The 2001 Special Edition

At the turn of the 21st century fans had continued to clamor for a restored and expanded special edition of “Superman”. With the popularity and success of Rhino Records’ expanded 2-CD set of the complete John Williams score, Warner Bros. was underway in the restoration of the film, produced and supervised by Michael Thau and Jonathan Gaines. Some eight minutes of film had been restored to the original 143-minute cut, the original film negative was cleaned and in some cases tweaked, and a new Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix was given to the film. Director Richard Donner felt satisfied with the new special edition and gave his blessings to the project.

Among the scenes restored to the film were extended sequences involving Marlon Brando’s Jor-El on Krypton, the Kryptonian Council sending an officer to investigate the sudden power excess in Jor-El’s quarters, an added scene of Martha Kent at the Kent farm, a brief exchange between Clark Kent and a passerby on the street (a cameo appearance from director Richard Donner), and additional moments of action and peril. The two most significant additions to the film were a sequence involving Superman’s conversation with Jor-El (the only face-to-face interaction on screen between Brando and Christopher Reeve), and the extended sequence of Lex Luthor testing Superman in the underground gauntlet of doom. At the end of the film, the “Superman II” title card was removed in favor of slightly extended end credits music to account for the inclusion of additional title cards crediting the people who had worked on the Special Edition of the film. In all, eight minutes of footage had been restored back into the context of the film, thereby bringing the film as close as possible to Richard Donner’s original three-hour cut of the film. All of these additional sequences had been previously glimpsed in the various extended versions of the Salkind international cut since 1982, so fans who had been familiar with the different extended versions were not completely surprised by their inclusion in the Special Edition.

In March 2001, the restored version of “Superman” premiered in limited theatrical release in San Antonio, Texas. Fans rejoiced at the return of “Superman” to the big screen, while simultaneously bemoaning the loss of the film’s original sound mix in favor of the new Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. A 90-second preview trailer for the Special Edition, announcing its release in spring 2001, premiered at the same time on the Internet to instant fan excitement. This soon led to the suggestion that the new version of “Superman” would get an expanded national theatrical release. Sadly, this would not be the case. However, theaters would pick up on the new Special Edition prints and provide limited edition theatrical releases. This would be as close to a complete theatrical release of the Special Edition that theatergoers would receive.

The most significant and widespread release of the Special Edition came on May 1, 2001 with the first-ever release of “Superman” on DVD. The DVD’s widescreen presentation of the 151-minute Special Edition, presented in a DVD-18 format, carried with it an isolated audio commentary from Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz; a second isolated audio track of the John Williams score as heard throughout the film and presented in Dolby 5.0 sound; two behind-the-scenes featurettes hosted by Marc McClure (Jimmy Olsen) on the film’s development and turbulent history, with new interviews featuring Donner, Mankiewicz, Williams, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, and Gene Hackman; a third behind-the-scenes featurette hosted by optical effects supervisor Roy Field on the creation of the film’s visual effects; screen tests for Christopher Reeve and the various actresses auditioning for the roles of Lois Lane and Ursa, with optional audio commentary during the Lois Lane screen tests; the film’s original teaser trailer, a theatrical trailer, and a TV spot; two deleted scenes running an additional three minutes in length; a textual commentary on the history of Superman; and a separate score presentation of additional cues and alternate tracks from the John Williams score, also presented in Dolby 5.0 sound.

The DVD would be released separately, along with the other three films, as well as part of the four-disc Complete Superman Movie Collection, and also in a limited edition box set with reproductions of the original movie poster, eight lobby cards, the original theater program, and a senitype of an actual film frame from a print of the movie. Simultaneously, the Special Edition would be released on VHS, with the film’s theatrical trailer and the screen tests for Reeve and the actresses auditioning for Lois Lane as the video’s only extras.

Many fans who were unable to attend the San Antonio premiere rejoiced at the first-ever DVD release of “Superman”, though reaction to the new Dolby 5.1 sound mix was mixed at best. Fans felt that while the new film looked and sounded even better than before, they felt that they should have been given the original 1978 theatrical release on the DVD as well. All that would change in 2006.

To promote the DVD release of the four “Superman” movies, Warner Home Video prepared a number of marketing materials for print and televised media. Among them was a 30-second TV spot to promote the release of the single-disc DVD and the Complete Superman Movie Collection. The advertisement aired on television as part of CBS’ telecast of the American Film Institute special “100 Years, 100 Films”. Interestingly enough, the advertisement promoted the film with the erroneous rating of PG-13, as opposed to the film’s original PG rating. This is the only known promotional spot to carry the erroneous PG-13 rating.

This leads to the next variation on the Special Edition. On June 28, 2001, Turner Classic Movies telecast the restored Special Edition of “Superman” as part of its film showcase, marking the first time that the restored version would grace the television screens in widescreen format. However, upon its telecast viewers soon discovered that this presentation was more like the original 143-minute theatrical version rather than the recent Special Edition DVD release. This version of the film maintained the original theatrical cut’s length and editing, while carrying with it the restored Dolby 5.1 sound mix and the added Special Edition DVD end credits. It was later revealed that this 143-minute restored theatrical version had in fact been intended for inclusion on the DVD but was left off the DVD due to lack of space. This version has played on TCM since its 2001 premiere.

The 2006 Special Edition

In November 2006, Warner Home Video reissued “Superman” as a four-disc special edition DVD, which was also included in the eight-disc Christopher Reeve Superman Collection and the 14-disc Superman Ultimate Collector’s Edition. The new 4-disc set repackaged the 2001 Special Edition and its supplements (minus the text commentary on the history of Superman) and offered a host of new and additional features. Chief among them was the inclusion of the original 143-minute theatrical version of the film on Disc 1 of the set. What made this appealing to fans was that not only did it include the 2001 sound remix in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, but it also promised the inclusion of the original 1978 sound mix in Dolby 2.0 sound as well. The only minor omission from the theatrical version on the DVD was the omission of the Special Edition end credits, which was included at the end of the Turner Classic Movies telecast of the film in 2001.

However, upon its release fans were outraged to discover that the 1978 2.0 sound mix was not included in English, as originally advertised, but in French. This was due to an honest production omission on Warner’s part that affected Disc 1 in the four-disc Special Edition, the Christopher Reeve Collection, and the Ultimate Collector’s Edition. This led Warner Home Video to offer a replacement program whereby fans could send in the defective disc and request a replacement with the corrected English 2.0 sound mix, which continues to this day. As of this writing, plans are underway to sell off the existing sets in the market and reoffer the sets with the corrected disc in each of the respective packages.

In addition, Disc 1 featured a new audio commentary from executive producer Ilya Salkind and producer Pierre Spengler, in which they discussed the financial aspects of bringing “Superman” to theater screens, the much-discussed production history, and the trouble of shooting two films simultaneously. Disc 1 also recycled the teaser trailer, the theatrical trailer, and the TV spot that were included in the 2001 DVD release. This disc would also be individually released on DVD in 2006, separate from the four-disc set.

Disc 2 recycled the 2001 expanded version, the audio commentary with Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz, and the isolated John Williams score track, while Disc 3 recycled the production commentaries, screen tests, deleted scenes, and additional audio tracks. Disc 4 offered up the lion’s share of new features, starting off with the vintage TV special “The Making of Superman”, hosted by Christopher Reeve and narrated by Ernie Anderson. At 50 minutes in length, the TV special focused on some of the production and casting challenges of the film, though to a much lesser degree than the 2001 documentaries. In addition, Disc 4 featured the 1951 feature film “Superman and the Mole Men” starring George Reeves, which had been previously included as an extra feature on the first season DVD set of “The Adventures of Superman”.

Most importantly, Disc 4 showcased the first nine segments of the Fleischer Superman cartoons from the 1940′s (the “Superman II” Special Edition would feature the remaining eight segments). Though the vintage cartoons had been released over the years by numerous video labels in varying degrees of quality, this marked the second time that Warner Home Video had issued the Fleischer segments in an official capacity (the first time occurred in 1988, when Warner issued four of the segments with its four-tape release of segments from “The Adventures of Superman”) and the first time that Warner would release the series in its entirety. Pulled from pristine 35-millimeter prints, the animation and colors looked more vibrant and energetic than ever.

On June 7, 2011, Warner Home Video re-released both versions of the film on high-definition Blu-ray disc as part of the eight-disc “Superman: The Motion Picture Anthology – 1978-2006”. All of the contents of the four-disc set (minus the Fleischer animated segments) were recycled for the first two discs of this set, with no new additional content included. (The Fleischer animated segments were moved to Disc 3 of the Blu-ray set with the “Superman II” Special Edition content.)

The Lost Cut

While the original theatrical version, the Salkind international cut, and the 2001/2006 Special Editions account for the three primary versions of “Superman” that have been released in an official capacity, there is a fourth major variant on the film that was prepared and has never been seen in any format: Richard Donner’s original cut of the film.

As the editing of “Superman” began, Donner’s original cut of the film ran 180 minutes long. This would roughly correspond to the 188-minute Salkind international cut, in terms of scene placement and running time, though the editorial choices of some scenes suggest something equally similar in content to the 2001 Special Edition. Since this version has never been shown to the public, as of this writing, it is impossible to determine what was represented in Donner’s original cut of the film. Audiences can only view the Salkind international cut and the Special Edition in context with each other to get a feel for Donner’s original vision of the film.

The Lost Scenes

Even with the original theatrical version, the Salkind international cut, and the 2001/2006 Special Editions, there are a number of scenes from “Superman” that still remain unseen by the public in an official capacity. While most of these scenes cannot be verified as of this writing as having been filmed during production, at least one of the scenes can in fact be verified and confirmed.

In the April 1977 script of the film as written by Tom Mankiewicz, a three-part sequence occurs in the middle of the film. It starts off with Superman’s flight alongside the Concorde, followed by a spectacular rescue at sea, as Superman saves an oil rig from disaster, and leading into Superman’s flight with a bald eagle. This three-part sequence occurs just after the discussion in Lex Luthor’s lair and would have preceded the missile hijacking sequence. Of the three parts of the aforementioned sequence, only one segment can be confirmed as having been filmed: the Concorde sequence. This was included as part of the Salkind international version of “Superman II” and was first shown to viewers on television in 1983-84.

Further indications that the remaining scenes may have been filmed can be gleaned based on this script and from other sources. In “Superman III”, once Superman has returned for good, he rescues the oil tanker at sea. The pacing of the sequence is similar to what Tom Mankiewicz had originally written in 1977, which would seem to indicate that the scene could have been filmed in 1977-78. To this date there is no verification whether or not the original version of the scene still exists or if it had in fact been filmed.

Also, in an undated British news report circa 1979-80, a number of never-released outtakes and alternate scenes were telecast as part of the 12-minute news report on the Zoptic projection system. At the end of the report is a lost outtake featuring a practical joke played on Christopher Reeve, as a stuffed bird is lowered next to him. Reeve laughs, claps his hands, and playfully punches the stuffed bird away. Based on this outtake, this would indicate that the scene of Superman’s flight with the bald eagle could have also been filmed in 1977-78. Again, there is no verification as of this writing whether the actual scene still exists in a film vault.

Furthermore, the British news report contains several outtakes and alternate takes on scenes, most of which focus on Superman flying. One of the unreleased alternate takes clearly reveals a different angle of Superman’s approach to Lois Lane’s wrecked car, while other outtakes are extensions of Superman’s pursuit of the XK-101 missile. This British news report is the only known source of these outtakes as of this writing, and the outtakes and alternate takes remain unreleased to date in an official capacity.

Other sequences that remain unverified to date include a scene in which a cab driver hits Clark Kent not once but twice in the film! Both of these moments occur prior to the first appearance of Superman in Metropolis, according to the April 1977 shooting script, yet neither version appears in the final film. A passing reference is made, however, during the news report on television, as a news anchor reports on a cab driver hitting a pedestrian. (This moment would eventually be reprised and filmed by director Richard Lester during production on “Superman II” in 1979-80.)

Another sequence that remains unconfirmed is the film’s original cliffhanger ending, in which the XK-101 missile thrown into space hits the Phantom Zone and frees the three criminals from Krypton. This sequence would have set up the continuation of the first film’s story in “Superman II”. (Writer’s note: Donner filmed some of the elements of this sequence with Terence Stamp, Jack O’Halloran, and Sarah Douglas, though the scene would not be completed until 2006 and appear in completed form for the first time in “Superman II – The Richard Donner Cut”.)

In addition, there is the possibility of additional scenes occurring in Smallville involving Jonathan and Martha Kent (Glenn Ford, Phyllis Thaxter) and Clark as a young boy. A series of on-set still photographs feature young Clark learning to write “My name is Clark Kent” in different languages, helping Pa Kent out on the farm, and interacting with Ma Kent. The actors playing young Clark Kent at ages older than three but younger than 16 are not identified. The Mankiewicz script does not reference those specific scenes, though photographs of those scenes were clearly taken. It is uncertain whether those scenes were taken for still photographs to be seen during the final film, whether the scenes were filmed to begin with, or, for that matter, if the actual footage from those scenes exists to this day. (The photographs can be viewed in the “Donner Years – Smallville” section in the gallery on this web site.)

There are also a few scenes referenced in the Mankiewicz script but may or may not have been filmed. Among them are a scene of 18-year-old Clark Kent (Jeff East) refusing a ride by a passing truck driver on his way north; the adult Clark’s (Christopher Reeve) run-in with a taxi cab, which occurs not once but twice in the script; an additional coda to the Air Force One sequence in which other reporters question Lois (Margot Kidder) who her mysterious “friend” is; additional dialog between Lois and Clark; and an additional sequence involving Superman running through Lex Luthor’s gauntlet to stop a poison gas pellet, which, as opposed to the final filmed version, was an actual threat.

A reference to the taxi run-in is mentioned in filmed dialog heard in the final film, though the gag was eventually seen in Richard Lester’s version of “Superman II”. Whether the version referenced for the first film was actually filmed remains unknown, though it is believed not to have been filmed.

Much of the gauntlet scene survived into final filming and appeared in the extended version and the 2001 Special Edition DVD of the film, which in the context of the film proved to be nothing more than Luthor luring Superman to his lair. The first time the scene occurs, according to the Mankiewicz script, the threat is real. This later supports Otis (Ned Beatty) commenting to Luthor, “You mean, fire and bullets can’t hurt this guy…” which supports the first occurrence of the gauntlet scene in the script. Whether this variation of the scene was filmed remains unknown, though it is believed that it and the other scenes mentioned were not filmed, since no documentation of this or the other scenes mentioned exists beyond the script.

Conclusion

Since its premiere in 1978, and through many different incarnations on television, film, and home video, whether live-action or animated, “Superman: The Movie” remains the benchmark by which all other comic book-themed films have tried to reach, with its combination of production values, solid storytelling, and convincing performances. A number of films since then have not only met but also exceeded the quality and popularity originally set by “Superman”, among them Tim Burton’s first “Batman” film, the two Christopher Nolan installments “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”, the first two “X-Men” films from Bryan Singer, and the first two “Spider-Man” films from Sam Raimi.

In 2003, Christopher Reeve appeared on a highly popular segment of the Superman-based series “Smallville” as Dr. Virgil Swann, who inspired young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) to pursue his destiny, thereby passing the torch to a new generation. Most recently, Singer brought the Man of Steel back to theater screens in 2006 with “Superman Returns”, featuring Brandon Routh in the title role, which paid homage to the original Donner classic. And Zack Snyder, the director of the film adaptations of “300” and “Watchmen”, has begun work on the next feature film entitled “Superman: Man of Steel”, with Henry Cavill in the title role.

With these films and many more, as well as its various incarnations, future generations can look back on this film and see the significant importance of this true American classic.