To be honest, Bryan Singer's homage to Richard Donner's Superman can be a tad dull at times; aiming much of its focus on Brandon Routh's emotional vulnerability, rather than obvious displays of power or a sense of threat.

However, there's no denying that it looks great, and it has some of the most impressive CG sequences committed to film. We're looking forward to the inevitable sequel – hopefully there'll be a little more oomph in it.

The 2.40:1 transfer is often amazing. With the movie being colour-treated to ape the films of the fifties, it has a less demanding colourfield than other HD releases, but with an almost 3D sense of depth thanks to strong detail-retention.

Sound is excellent too, especially on the Dolby TrueHD mix. Superman Returns also features some high-definition extra material; the deleted scenes are rendered in glorious 1080p. However,the rumoured ‘in-movie' experience that Singer claimed he was working on is absent from this HD DVD release, making us suspect an extended cut of the flick may be coming soon to HD, with even more extras.

HD DVD, widescreen, Dolby
TrueHD/DD Plus

THE PICTURE
THE SOUND
THE EXTRAS

THE MOVIE