Superman - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Superman



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
As someone who criticized Zack Snyder’s direction with Superman, I was actually really looking forward to Superman originally. I love Guardians of the Galaxy and was really tired of how banal and morose Man of Steel and the subsequent Snyder films were, DESPITE absolutely loving Henry Cavill. So when I heard that James Gunn was getting a crack at things, I perked up. I would have personally loved it if Gunn had continued with Cavill and just tweaked things a bit, but who cares? Snyder was having less and less success with his “Snyderverse,” and a fresh take on Supes was needed. But then came the second Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, and Blue Beetle, and I started getting REAL hesitant. Don’t get me wrong. I loved the direction of Peacemaker and Suicide Squad. James Gunn is an edge lord who loves quirky and bizarre aspects of comic book films, which means that he was going to be much more amenable to leaning into the crazier aspects of the comics. BUUUUUUT, it was becoming more and more obvious that Gunn had a hard time separating the edginess that made Guardians of the Galaxy and Peacemaker work so well from his direction when it came to more serious superheroes. Then came all of the pre-release press issues, and it was looking like 2025’s Superman was going to be a mess. It was supposedly the most woke thing that ever woked if you listened to some people, and it was the best thing ever, and if you didn’t love the film, you were a fascist who wanted for Mussolini to rule in the west. Reality? My first fears were actually the most accurate. The film isn’t “super woke” if you’re on the right, but neither is it a great film either. The problems begin and end with James Gunn himself, as his fingerprints are ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL over both the good and negative aspects of the film. And each extreme suffers from his excesses a bit more than anyone really wants.

The film starts out with a well-established Superman (David Corenswet) taking an absolute beating from a metahuman known as “The Hammer of Boravia” after inserting himself into the way of the Boravian Dictatorship, who wants to take over his neighbors to the south. But little does the world know that this is all a ploy by the maniacal Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), who is using the Boravian government for his own ends. Which is mainly finding a way for the rest of the world to give him permission to take out Superman. So, using a super soldier (who magically has the same powers as Superman) that he genetically created, known as “Ultraman”, breaks into the fortress of Solitude and steals a message when Kal-El’s parents and uses that to frame the Supes and turn the public against him. Basically, giving him Carte blanche to step in and neutralize his archenemy and set his REAL plan in motion.

Superman is a mix of good and bad, with the good actually outweighing the bad by a slight bit. For now, let's talk about the good. I really enjoyed the fact that Gunn didn’t waste time going through an origin story for our hero once more, instead dropping him into his universe as an already established superhero. He’s all for truth, justice, and the American way, and the audiences have already seen Clark Kent’s introduction enough times, so why waste time redoing it once more? I also LOVE Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. Nicholas has grown from being that nerdy guy who played awkward side characters to becoming one of the better actors of our time. I honestly have a hard time finding fault with his Lex Luthor portrayal in any way. He hams it up to level 11 without being absurd, yet is still villainous enough to be taken seriously. He’s vile, twisted, and completely sociopathic in ways that mirror the comic books to a T. The same can be said of Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner. NO ONE can play smarmy and smug like Nathan Fillion, and Gardner is 100% comic book accurate, yet still actually weirdly likable. He’s a jerk, he’s a creep, and yet he still manages to be worthy of holding the rank of a Green Lantern. And let's face it, he steals the scene every time he gets screen time. The same can be said of David Corenswet. He does a good job as Superman. Better than I think anyone expected. He’s not the regal and impressive-sounding Christopher Reeve, nor does he have Henry Cavill’s dark and brooding presence. Instead, he’s a more hopeful and light-hearted Superman who looks and acts the part of a youngish Supes before he got a bit more jaded in the New 52 reboot era. I honestly thought he and Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi) were some of the best parts of the movie. They just WORKED.

Now onto the bad. That bad pretty much happens to be James Gunn’s signature moves, sadly. For every bit of good that Gunn infused into the story, there was an equal and opposite reaction. Gunn has a difficult time reigning in his desire to be an edgelord and also subvert expectations. So we have gag humor bits like Mr. Terrific’s garage door not opening fast enough, or the change to Superman’s parents' motives that may some people off. It’s a HUGE chance for Canon for that bit, and while it kinda works in the context of the story, it feels like James Gunn was behind the camera cackling and pointing at the audience’s shock while saying “see! We subverted your expectations!”. The story is also all over the place. Gunn went full-on balls to the walls, injecting every little bit of weirdness from the comics into this one. Pocket universes (which were actually pretty cool), squid baby monsters, a maniacal plan that involves Rick Flagg senior (who is a holdover from Snyderverse), and, of course, Superman and Lois having a full-blown argument about politics on screen. Even for a 2-hour film, the flick just feels bloated and overstuffed, despite the plot actually being excruciatingly simple. Lex wants to kill Superman cuz he’s jealous, and so we fight. By the end, I was feeling overwhelmed and conflicted, as I was yo-yoing between being excited at seeing a really cool bit of story, only to get bounced back to feeling like “dude, James should have had someone else direct this thing.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for violence, action, and language.




4K Video: Video:

Despite being a superhero film with all of the costumes and trappings that one might associate with the excessive color saturation levels and brightness levels of Dolby Vision and HDR10, Superman is a surprisingly restrained-looking image that relies more on being precise and accurate than being showy or gaudy. Sure, we have tons of colors, and the classic Red and Blue costume for Supes himself, but the film doesn’t go overboard. It’s rather more intent on being accurate and precise, with flashy bits here and there, but not going overboard on the color saturation levels. Fine details are super, with a nice clean digital look that suits the film well, as well as a unique 1.90:1 aspect ratio that is a bit taller than your average scope image, but still not as tall as 1.78:1. It works for the presentation and gives it a close up and intimate look, while still adhering to the grandiose nature of a more scope presentation. All in all, I couldn’t find anything wrong with the image. It’s got great detail levels, wonderful black levels, and strong colors without being flashy. Great picture all the way around.





Audio:

Right along with the video is an absolutely killer Dolby Atmos mix as well. The dynamic mix is a superhero mix to the core, letting the audience know in the very opening scene that this is going to grab them by the hackles and throw them around like Krypto after catching hold of one of Mr. Terrific’s orbs. The film’s LFE channel is in near constant use, adding serious weight to the superhero battles, as well as a nice rumble to the classic Superman score. Surrounds and overheads basically don’t ever have any breaks from activity, ranging from the rumbling hum of the pocket universe portal generator to the swooshing sound as Superman tears down the entire city, protecting us from Ultraman. Dialog is still perfectly balanced and upfront, but the massive dynamic range will have you leaping out of your seat right after a quiet conversation between characters. All in all, this is a raw, powerful, and AGGRESSIVE superhero mix that we all wanted, and it’s well worth the price of admission alone.








Extras:

• Krypto Saves the Day!: School Bus Scuffle
• Adventures in Making Superman Featurette
• Icons Forever: Superman’s Enduring Legacy
• Lex Luthor: The Mind of a Master Villain – Featurette
• Kryptunes: The Music of Superman – Featurette
• Paws to Pixels: Krypto is Born – Featurette
• Breaking News: The Daily Planet Returns – Featurette
• The Ultimate Villain – Featurette
• The Justice Gang – Featurette
• A New Era: DC Takes Off – Featurette

Digital Only Extras
• Director’s Commentary with James Gunn
• Gag Reel
• Deleted Scenes

Final Score: ​

At the end of the day, Superman was a solid enough movie, but it suffers from the excesses of James Gunn to the extreme. Every bit of greatness that the movie shows is 100% the best of James Gunn, and every fault on screen is from his fault as well. Gunn has a great handle on quirky and edgy projects like Peacemaker, Suicide Squad, and Guardians of the Galaxy, but when given a project that requires a more serious take on things, his own excesses and extremes that give him that signature “James Gunn flair” were his own undoing. I liked large portions of the film, and I loved many of the performances. But at the same time, I spent half the movie rolling my eyes and getting frustrated at Gunn for not being able to show nuance. The movie looks and sounds great on 4K UHD, with one of the best audio mixes I’ve heard in years, and a moderate array of extras as well. Worth checking out, but sadly a bit more polarizing of a film than I wanted for Superman.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Alan Tudyk, Bradley Cooper
Directed by: James Gunn
Written by: James Gunn, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster
Aspect Ratio: 1.90:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English DVS, Spanish, French DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
Studio: Warner Bros
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 129 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: September 23rd, 2025

Recommendation: Polarizing Film

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[Gerry Iaria]

I've watched this on HBO MAX, the picture was fine but the sound wasn't, I normally watch something at -28, which for me it's loud enough, this one had to go at -10, and still didn't sound right, might have to get the disc and see if it's better, I enjoyed the film though