Superman - Salkind International Cut

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I have the extended version of Richard Donner's 1978 Superman, which my Dad taped in probably about 1985 or '86. This so-called Salkind Internation Cut is 49 minutes longer than the original theatrical release and has a huge amount of music by John Williams that hasn't been released on CD before as far as I know.

There is even music in different scenes that didn't even appear on the 2001 DVD release. For example, when the two cops are sneaking after Otis at Grand Central Station, more of the scene is scored and material that appeared on the DVD is in different places in the scene. That's just one example I can think of right now. Which version of the film did Williams score first, the theatrical or the extended cut?

I don't have the 2000 Rhino release of the score, but as far as I know, the cues that appear in the extended cut of the film don't appear in the 2-CD set. A re-release with absolutely everything would be nice sometime in the future.

[Lurker 5]

I don't have the 2000 Rhino release of the score, but as far as I know, the cues that appear in the extended cut of the film don't appear in the 2-CD set.

The Rhino album is everything. It has all of the music that can be heard in the extended television version except for the source cues heard on the radios (heard only in the television version, I might add).

Neil - who thinks Drax should get the Rhino album

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

To Obi-Wan you listen.

[A24 4,331]

Is the DVD also 49 min. loger?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

No.

[A24 4,331]

OK.

[Lurker 5]

Is the DVD also 49 min. loger?

No, it's 8 minutes longer and I think it only has a small amount of music restored during "The Trip to Earth" and "Superfeats" (stuff heard on the original album). Any other music heard during the extra scenes is tracked, usually from "The Destruction of Krypton".

Neil

[A24 4,331]

49 min. longer seems pretty long.

[Lurker 5]

49 min. longer seems pretty long.

The TV version is about that much longer. When it first aired on ABC it was shown over 2 nights. Later, in syndication, even more footage was added.

Neil

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

The Rhino album is everything. It has all of the music that can be heard in the extended television version except for the source cues heard on the radios (heard only in the television version, I might add).  

Neil - who thinks Drax should get the Rhino album

Right away! After I can scramble up $44.95.

[Eplicon 53]

Only a few extra segments of score was restored for the DVD as Neil said. You hear the ascending strings from the tail end of "Destruction of Krypton" that leads into "Starship Escapes" (a cue that was badly butchered following the Superman fanfare section, when the ship makes its ascent). And there are a few more bits of "Lex Luthor's Lair" heard over a wideshot of Grand Central Station. But there are also some notable differences with the music heard in the film and the isolated score track, too.

[hips 0]

Some time ago, I made a digitally edited recreation of the Salkind International Cut on 2 DVD-Rs. I used all that I had on hand, including the 2000 Director's cut restoration, the LaserDisc of the theatrical cut, two 16MM prints of the ABC version, and a 16MM print of the Salkind version that aired on L.A.'s KCOP. In my version, nearly all the music has been reinstated except for parts of "Superfeats" that remained unused in any version of the film. And, in some cases, some TV scenes were remixed to stereo.

Of course, I used special software to pull it off. Not bad with what I had on hand back then, but sometime in the future I wouldn't mind doing another remaster using better quality material.

But it is the best version of "Superman" I could come up with, and even better than the theatrical versions.

[fommes 153]

Wow.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Some time ago, I made a digitally edited recreation of the Salkind International Cut on 2 DVD-Rs.  I used all that I had on hand, including the 2000 Director's cut restoration, the LaserDisc of the theatrical cut, two 16MM prints of the ABC version, and a 16MM print of the Salkind version that aired on L.A.'s KCOP.

How lond did that run for?

[Dean1700 4]

I also have the extended version that Drax below refers to (am in Sydney, Aust also). It was shown on Channel 10 in late 1986 and I taped it onto Betacord at the time, later re-taping it onto VHS for longevity. It is approx 173 mins long (without commercials!) which is still 20 plus minutes longer than the current DVD version which is the third release of the film here in Australia. Past incarnations of Superman onto video have been 129 mins, 137 mins and the current 143 mins (approximations only).

The "extended" TV version has those scenes included into it that appear on the DVD as "Deleted Scenes" and others which aren't on the DVD anywhere.

In my opinion it is far superior to the current DVD version, if not in quality, and I refuse to buy the DVD until its length equals or betters the extended version I have. Of course I'll change my mind if I find it for $5 BUT i'll only get for the isolated score (not that I need it since I have the Rhino release!)

I also stumbled onto a superman website long ago that said there was an even longer version of 3 Hours plus. I'd like to see that.

I have the extended version of Richard Donner's 1978 Superman, which my Dad taped in probably about 1985 or '86.  This so-called Salkind Internation Cut is 49 minutes longer than the original theatrical release and has a huge amount of music by John Williams that hasn't been released on CD before as far as I know.

There is even music in different scenes that didn't even appear on the 2001 DVD release.  For example, when the two cops are sneaking after Otis at Grand Central Station, more of the scene is scored and material that appeared on the DVD is in different places in the scene.  That's just one example I can think of right now.  Which version of the film did Williams score first, the theatrical or the extended cut?

I don't have the 2000 Rhino release of the score, but as far as I know, the cues that appear in the extended cut of the film don't appear in the 2-CD set.  A re-release with absolutely everything would be nice sometime in the future.

[hips 0]

My version of "Superman" runs 197 minutes (188 min. for the feature, 9 min. for Overture, Intermission, Entr'acte, and Exit Music [constructed from the Rhino soundtrack]).