Recently I published my latest blog on the release of the new Supergirl Blu-ray import from Germany (and also Austria), and as soon as it dropped, comments came out of the woodwork. And let me just say at the start that this was not what I expected.

To briefly recap, Plaion Pictures recently came out with a new 2-disc version of the ill-received 1984 screen debut of the Maid of Steel, which included three different cuts of the film: the 124-minute international cut, the 138-minute director’s cut, and the theatrical cut (which according to the specs on the Blu-ray cover ran approximately 91 minutes long). It also contained many of the bonus features that were first included on the 2002 DVD release from Anchor Bay Entertainment. To have all of that in a single 2-disc collection would have been nice, right?

Wrong. Wrong. WRONG.

As I previously indicated, many of the bonus features from the Anchor Bay release have been ported to this new set, but missing in action are three of the theatrical trailers, including the initial announcement trailer, the international trailer, and the UK theatrical trailer.

Also missing in action are the three TV spots and the talent bios from that set. In my previous commentary I likened this set to a meal, and how these side potatoes and vegetables were left out of the meal, if you understand my analogy.

Now it would have been all fine and dandy if the omissions had been limited to just that, but here’s where the meal goes wrong. Let me put it this way: have you ever had a meal and you were promised soup, but then they bring you out a side of beets that you didn’t ask for? (That actually happened to me!) Well, when you get to disc 2 of this Blu-ray set, what you see is not what you get.

One fan I spoke with online, Matthew Vincenty, had inquired about the film being released on Blu-Ray in high definition format, and this is the response he received from Plaion Pictures:

Matthew informed me that he was told by Plaion Pictures that all three cuts were mastered in HD format. Furthermore, he had been informed that the disc would not ship from Germany, and like me he wound up ordering it from eBay, which was shipped from Germany.

Upon further deep diving on the Blu-ray.com message board, a number of people have chimed in with their opinions and questions about the Blu-Ray, and here is what has surfaced:

The director’s cut appears to be upscaled to Blu-ray from the previous DVD releases. The only thing I can compare it to is when the 10-part “Face of the Enemy” web series was included on the fourth season Blu-ray of Battlestar Galactica in Japan—essentially, while it wasn’t as sharp as the rest of the content, it looked pretty good. While it’s the first time that the director’s cut is presented in a Blu-ray format, it would have been nice if they had taken the time to properly give it the HD Blu-ray treatment. Maybe they didn’t have the tools, or maybe something is in the quality of the print that all they could do is upscale it. (It’s probably the same concerns that the Warner Archive had, which is why all they could give fans was that cut in DVD format with the international cut on Blu-ray.) E for effort. But still, truth in promotion, people.

The German theatrical version, which is included on the second disc, is a mish mash of sources, with some scenes cribbed from a 4:3 copy of an inferior VHS tape spliced into the movie. Also, there are some extremely noticeable jumps in footage from one shot to another within the first 30 minutes of the film, particularly in the flying scenes. Add to it the fact that during the end credits there is a very noticeable jump in the credits. That’s not good.

Going back to the meal analogy, it’s like being promised a New York strip and a ribeye, and you get chopped steak and something that’s really undercooked, and then they throw in the beets, which is not what you ordered in the first place… you see where I’m heading with this?

Now the question is, why use the 91-minute German cut? I did a little digging on IMDb, and I came across this bit of information about the different cuts of the film:

And why use a print mixed with 4:3 footage and jump cuts in the footage and the end credits? It makes zero sense whatsoever.

Still MIA is the 105-minute US theatrical version, which, apart from its release on VHS in 1985 and its later airings on HBO in 1986, has not been issued on DVD or Blu-Ray in any format whatsoever. Why didn’t Plaion locate the US cut and remaster it and give it a proper introduction on Blu-ray to begin with?

What’s also intriguing is the mention of the 150-minute original cut. Where is this version of the film? I’d heard about it from one other person, and it wasn’t until I saw these stats on IMDb that I saw the facts for myself. And what scenes are in this cut of the film that aren’t in any other cut? Twelve minutes of footage may seem negligible, and it may be just fluff filler material. Such a print apparently has not emerged officially, and the closest I can assume of its existence is the 138-minute director’s cut and comparing it with any scenes in the 124-minute international version that didn’t make that cut, and putting them back in (if it’s possible).

Plaion Pictures had something really promising on their hands with this Supergirl Blu-Ray, and in the end they underdelivered not only by scrimping on the extras but by really screwing up the presentation of the theatrical version, with poor quality framing and mastering issues. The usage of a poor quality VHS print on a Blu-ray, and poorly edited at that… I don’t know what the box office returns were in Germany, but if looked that bad on VHS, I can just imagine what fans were thinking when they saw a badly edited movie in the theater and later probably got their hands on the US cut, the Japanese VHS or laserdisc, or the Anchor Bay DVD. And the upscaling of the director’s cut gets a pass but just barely.

This, simply put, is not—I repeat, NOT—how you treat a film on disc. Period. The only thing that makes it look good is the digibook presentation and the textual content from Christian Heiss.

The best thing to do is hold onto your copies of the Anchor Bay DVD (whether you have the 2-disc set or just the single-disc international DVD) and the Warner Archive Blu-ray combo for the best quality presentation of the film and the most complete presentation of the bonus features. Maybe one day we’ll get a better and more comprehensive package, but until then don’t hold your breath.

And if anyone has a good quality transfer of the US cut, let’s talk.