'Superman' Blu-ray, HD DVD Specs Revealed

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's... the full specs for a trio of the most eagerly-awaited Blu-ray and HD DVD releases of the holiday season.

Though information has been trickling in over the past couple of weeks since Warner Home Video announced the November 28 arrival of the Superman films to both next-gen formats, the studio has at last issued full details on all the releases.

In addition to 'Superman Returns,' for which complete specs were already reported here, Warner will also debut the 2001 extended cut version of 'Superman: The Movie' and the highly-anticipated 'Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut' on both Blu-ray and HD DVD.

Both 'Superman: The Movie' or 'Superman II' will receive 1080p/VC-1 video transfers, and though neither include Dolby TrueHD tracks like 'Superman Returns,' both the Blu-ray and HD DVD editions feature Dolby Digital 5.1 surround tracks encoded at 640kbps (the HD DVD version including the Dolby Digital-Plus designation).

Extras on the Blu-ray and HD DVD versions will be identical. Goodies on 'Superman: The Movie' include the "Taking Flight: The Development of Superman" and "Making Superman: Filming the Legend" featurettes, while 'Superman II' gets "Restoring the Vision." Both films will also include their own respective theatrical trailers, additional deleted footage, and audio commentary with Richard Donner and creative consultant Tom Mankewicz.

Note that Warner is also releasing the massive 14-disc 'Ultimate Superman Collection' on November 28, but as a standard-def DVD box set only. In addition to the three Superman flicks hitting HD DVD and Blu-ray, the set will also include the original theatrical versions of both 'Superman: The Movie' and 'Superman II,' plus the sequels 'Superman III' and 'Superman IV,' the 'Superman' animated series, and more. None of these releases are currently scheduled for either next gen format, though we'd be mighty surprised if they don't hit Blu-ray and HD DVD someday soon. We'll keep you posted.

We've updated the spec listings for all Superman titles to our HD DVD Release Schedule and Blu-ray Release Schedule. Stay tuned for final box art for the Blu-ray versions in the coming days.