Franchise Collections
Throughout the film series' history, three box sets of the films have been released by Warner Bros. The first occurred on May 1, 2001, when The Complete Superman Collection was released both on DVD and VHS, containing that year's DVD/home video releases of Superman: The Movie, Superman II, Superman III, and Superman IV. The set was valued at US$49.99 for the DVD release and US$29.99 for the VHS release, and received positive reviews.
The four Christopher Reeve films were again released on November 28, 2006, in new DVD releases to coincide with Superman Returns, also released in that year. Superman: The Movie was released in a four-disc 'special edition' similar to Superman II, which was released in a two-disc special edition. Both Superman III and IV were released in single disc 'deluxe editions', and all four releases were available together in The Christopher Reeve Superman Collection, an 8-disc set that was valued at US$79.92. Like the 2001 set before it, The Christopher Reeve Superman Collection received positive reviews.
Also on November 28, 2006, a 14-disc DVD box set titled Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition was released, containing Superman: The Movie, Superman II, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, Superman III, Superman IV, Superman Returns, and Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, among other releases. All contents of the set were housed within a tin case. The set was valued at US$99.92, and received extremely positive reviews when first released. However, after only a day on the market, Warner Bros. announced that there were two errors discovered within the set. The first was that the 2.0 audio track on Superman: The Movie, was instead the 5.1 audio track already on the disc. The second was that the Superman III disc was not the 2006 deluxe edition as advertised, but the 2001 release instead. The set was soon recalled, and Warner Bros. offered a toll-free number to replace the faulty discs for people who had already purchased the set. Due to popular demand, a corrected set was released and Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition returned to store shelves on May 29, 2007.
On October 14, 2008, another Christopher Reeve Superman film collection was released, entitled Superman: 4 Film Favorites, containing all four films, but with far less bonus material than previous sets. The collection was a 2-disc DVD-18 set that included the first disc of both special editions from the 2006 release and both deluxe editions as well. The list price was far cheaper than previous collections, at US $19.94.
On April 1, 2011, it was announced that the entire Superman Anthology would be making its way to Blu-ray for the first time. The anthology box set was released on June 7, 2011. The 8-Disc set includes both the theatrical and expanded edition of Superman: The Movie, the original version and The Donner Cut of Superman II, Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (both making their debut on Blu-ray) as well as the 2006 Superman Returns. The set includes over 20 hours of bonus footage, including the never-before-seen opening sequence of Superman Returns. The movies will include an English DTS-HD-MA soundtrack and all films will be presented in a new hi-def transfer.
Read more about this topic: Superman In Film
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