It’s been a good summer for Superman, with the Man of Steel’s new movie meeting with robust box-office (at least domestically) and all kinds of archival Superman titles receiving new home video releases. At the top of the list is LOIS & CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (1993-97; Warner), the ‘90s edition of the classic comic book characters which, under the guidance of creator Deborah Joy Levine, skewed towards romance and a lighter touch than other iterations of the Jerry Siegel-Joe Shuster creations.

Dean Cain’s Superman is also a different portrayal than the likes of Christopher Reeve on the big screen prior to him, as well as Tom Welling, his small-screen successor on “Smallville.” What Cain does, quite effectively, is make Clark the “real” figure with Superman the “heroic alter-ego” who’s basically a part that he’s playing. Once you realize what Cain is doing, his Superman becomes a lot more interesting (many thought he was simply bland at the time), and certainly he has great chemistry with Teri Hatcher’s Lois Lane – a performance that needs little introduction to anyone who watched “Lois & Clark,” as her Lois was the engine that really kept the show going.

The series’ writing was strongest when Levine was on the series, principally on its first season, before she departed over creative differences; her replacement, Robert Singer, was a seasoned TV vet (“V: The Final Battle”), but “Lois & Clark” became a bit more action-oriented and lost a little of its charm during the transition. More villains beyond John Shea’s not terribly interesting Lex Luthor also began to populate the series, though ratings began to drop off in the third season once viewers felt teased a few too many times by the prospects of Lois & Clark’s wedding. Sadly, that trend continued as viewership during the fourth season crashed so badly that ABC paid to get out of a contract to produce Season 5 (as a result, there’s no real ending to the show, since the producers thought they were returning for at least one more season).

Still, “Lois & Clark” had a strong fanbase and earned solid viewership for more than half of its ABC run, and the performances of Cain and Hatcher, and their chemistry together, makes it a standout part of Superman’s film and TV adaptations.

Warner Home Video has brought the entire “Lois & Clark” series to Blu-Ray in a Complete Series set housing all 87 episodes. The 1.33 framed episodes offer vivid colors and some VFX sequences that drop in resolution due to their pre-HD rendering, but these are only momentary occurrences with the majority of the series looking lovely throughout. The 2.0 DTS MA stereo tracks are also quite nice with all the legacy extras from the show’s DVD sets (pilot presentation and commentary; featurettes; Making Of) brought over for good measure.

Another fan favorite series, KNIGHT RIDER (aprx. 72 hours, 1982-86), makes its way to 4K UHD in brand-new HDR10 transfers courtesy of Universal.

Glen Larson’s NBC series propelled David Hasselhoff’s career thanks to his role as Michael Knight, the ex-cop saved from death by Edward Mulhare’s private crime-fighting justice organization (FLAG) which gives him a new identity and – let’s be honest, more significantly – the coolest talking car known to man, K.I.T.T. Voiced by William Daniels, K.I.T.T. has his own personality and functions as a surrogate in Michael’s adventures, with the duo taking on assorted crime and villainy across the country.

“Knight Rider” is firmly formula TV from its era but the execution is top-notch, buoyed by Hasselhoff’s natural charisma and K.I.T.T. itself which adds a major element of fun into every episode. Together, they carried the series to a four-season run (and mostly unsuccessful, later revival attempts) and a fond, enduring place in the heart of kids (myself included!) who grew up in the ‘80s.

Universal has released a good-looking, if somewhat problematic, 4K UHD box-set of all four seasons, with every episode in HDR10 (1.37, DTS MA 2.0 mono) and housed in its own, respective season case.

The good news is the use of HDR is effective – the bad news is the compression isn’t terribly good, with some noise evident in the image. What’s more, a number of two-part episodes are derived from their cut syndicated versions – while the audio is mono in Season 4, which was the one and only season that was broadcast in stereo. Some issues involving music edits/clearances are also unavoidable (as they are with most series from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s), but the encoding on these discs should have been better, which could’ve offset the set’s few cut episodes, music replacements and fourth-season mono sound.

Universal’s box does include interviews, a Hasselhoff commentary, brand-new one-hour documentary on the series, and the solid “Knight Rider 2000” standalone movie. Still recommended, albeit with some reservations.

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Warner Archive New Releases

Even if it’s a wee bit stilted, there’s widescreen pageantry of the CinemaScope variety on-hand in KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE (114 mins., 1953), noteworthy for being the first MGM picture shot in the anamorphic widescreen process. This colorful, if leisurely, telling of the Arthurian legend stars Robert Taylor as Lancelot, who’s disgraced after falling in love with Arthur’s (Mel Ferrer) Guinevere (Ava Gardner), only to return in order to defeat the villainous Modred (Stanley Baker).

Much of the personnel behind MGM’s hit “Ivanhoe,” from Taylor to composer Miklos Rozsa and director Richard Thorpe, returned for this landmark MGM costume epic. F.A. (Freddie) Young likewise did as well, shooting on-location in Ireland and England and providing a true sense of widescreen grandeur to drama that falls short of passionate – the mood is definitely a bit “placid,” yet the visuals and Rozsa’s score should keep Golden Age fans invested throughout.

Warner Archive’s Blu-Ray looks spectacular, working off a new restoration with a warm and lovely new 1080p (2.55) presentation and full-bodied 2.0 DTS MA stereo sound. Extras include two Cinemascope supporting shorts (“Jubilee Overture” and the cartoon “One Droopy Knight”), plus the trailer, newsreel footage of the premiere, and an archival introduction by Mel Ferrer.

Thorpe had sandwiched THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (101 mins, 1952) in between “Ivanhoe” and “Knights,” but this remake of the 1937 Ronald Colman/David O. Selznick classic was not nearly the success of its predecessor. Stewart Granger takes over for Colman and steps into the dual role of the King of Ruritania and the Englishman who impersonates him after the real royalty is kidnapped; he subsequently falls for Princess Flavia (Deborah Kerr) while trying to battle the villains at the heart of the conspiracy.

Alfred Newman contributes a spirited score and the cast is terrific, but Thorpe’s workmanlike handling is no match for the Selznick version, despite the picture working from the same James Balderston script, retained here with few alterations. Warner Archive’s Blu-Ray (1.37, 2.0 DTS MA mono) includes another strong Technicolor restoration with mono sound and extras including the 1922 Lewis Stone silent version and two radio adaptations featuring Ronald Colman.

A medical drama that’s more all-star gloss than anything else, THE COBWEB (124 mins., 1955) served up the blueprint for many a soapy Hollywood genre production to follow, with doctor Richard Widmark overseeing a mental health clinic and its various issues at the same time his home life unravels. Vincente Minnelli helmed this adaptation of William Gibson’s book in CinemaScope which finds Lauren Bacall, Charles Boyer, Gloria Grahame, Lillian Gish, John Kerr, Oscar Levant and Susan Strasberg participating in a polished, if mostly poorly-reviewed, slice of old-fashioned studio melodrama. Leonard Rosenman provided the score for “The Cobweb,” remastered here in a 1080p (2.55) AVC encode with 2.0 DTS MA stereo sound; the 1955 MGM promo short “Salute to the Theaters”; Cinemascope cartoon” The Egg and Jerry”; and the trailer.

Long before “Dirty Dancing” there was TWO WEEKS WITH LOVE (92 mins., 1950), a breezy MGM musical confection with teenagers Jane Powell and Debbie Reynolds trying to show their parents (Louis Valhern, Anne Harding) that they’re grown up enough for romance – Powell with an older man (Ricardo Montalban), Reynolds with a younger local boy (Carleton Carpenter) – while on vacation in the Catskills. Set at the turn of the (20^th) century, this Technicolor production offers a superior John Larkin-Dorothy Kingsley script, good chemistry between Powell and Montalban, the memorable “Aba Dada Honeymoon” and some enjoyable Busby Berkeley musical numbers. Warner Archive’s Blu-Ray sports yet another fine transfer with color and detail (1.37, 2.0 DTS MA mono) and extras including two shorts, a Tex Avery cartoon, the trailer, and a TCM “Reel Memories” segment with Powell and Robert Osborne.

Fans of ‘70s Blaxploitation should groove to the MGM release MELINDA (109 mins., 1972, R), an enjoyable mix of genre elements starring Calvin Lockhart as a DJ trying to clear his name after the title character (Vonetta McGee) dies in his L.A. apartment. Lockhart teams up with karate specialist Jim Kelly – in his screen debut – to avenge her death at the apparent hands of a Chicago mobster in this entertaining effort from director Hugh Robertson with a stellar funk score by Jerry Butler and Jerry Peters backing the action. Rosalind Cash co-stars with Warner Archive’s Blu-Ray (1.85, mono) featuring an excellent new transfer with the trailer included for good measure.

From the Warner Bros. studio archive itself come a trio of new releases from Warner Archive.

THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON (141 mins., 1941) is an epic about the life of General George Armstrong Custer, from his West Point days and military service during the Civil War, through the tragedy of Little Big Horn. Raoul Walsh staged this WB epic which marked the eighth – and final – on-screen pairing of stars Errol Flynn and Olivia De Havilland, who handle the picture’s various episodic vignettes and tonal shifts with ease. They’re terrific together, and the movie’s climax is presented with rousing, old-fashioned Hollywood panache. Max Steiner’s score also lends a major assist, as does a supporting cast including Arthur Kennedy, Anthony Quinn, Regis Toomey and Hattie McDaniel among other familiar faces.

This Warner Archive restoration (1.37 B&W, 2.0 DTS MA mono) is significant as it includes some brief footage not seen in the movie’s theatrical run. There’s also a retrospective featurette, the trailer, and a full “Warner Night at the Movies 1942” viewing option with Leonard Maltin’s intro and news reel, military short, cartoon and trailer offered for good measure.

Gary Cooper stars as a tobacco king who returns to his North Carolina hometown and attempts to get revenge against the local tycoon (Donald Crisp) who drove him out, while also establishing a new cigarette empire, in Michael Curtiz’s BRIGHT LEAF (110 mins., 1950), a Warner production not remembered as a classic but bursting with sufficient, sturdy studio quality. As “Brant Royle,” Cooper grounds this fictional biography opposite Lauren Bacall and Patricia Neal in a surprisingly downbeat drama graced with a strong Victor Young score. Two cartoons are offered in Warner Archive’s Blu-Ray (1.37 B&W, 2.0 DTS MA mono).

Not to be confused with the 1983 sci-fi fantasy of the same name, BRAINSTORM (105 mins., 1965) is a tidy, mildly effective thriller with Jeff(rey) Hunter as a scientist who saves the mysterious Anne Francis, only to find out she’s the wife of his boss (Dana Andrews). Hunter’s plan of faking insanity after killing Andrews off works – all too well – in Mann Rubin’s script, helmed here by producer-director William Conrad in Panavision. The B&W cinematography looks terrific in Warner’s new Blu-Ray (2.35, mono) with extras including a pair of classic cartoons and the trailer.

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New & Noteworthy

MANIFEST – The Complete Series Blu-Ray (2018-21; Warner): NBC series carries a compelling premise – what happened to a missing flight and its passengers from the night it disappeared through its sudden reappearance five years later, with none of its occupants having aged – yet struggled to develop a coherent drama in the span of its first season. Bits and pieces of the supernatural (“Lost”) meld with a government conspiracy plot and “Touched by an Angel”-esque drama in a show that held onto its central mystery long enough to maintain its core audience for a second season – one which ended up over at Netflix for its concluding frames.

Warner’s Complete Series Blu-Ray of “Manifest” offers 5.1 DTS MA soundtracks and 1080p transfers, all of which provide a good-looking, cinematic backing for the drama. Packaging is typical for these sorts of complete sets with stacked discs housed in an oversized “clamshell” case.

THE TROUBLE WITH JESSICA DVD (90 mnins., 2025; Music Box): Black comedy from director Matt Winn finds couple Shirley Henderson and Alan Tudyk holding a farewell dinner in their about-to-be-sold London home when the guest (Indira Varma) their friends (Rufus Sewell, Olivia Williams) bring along decides to hang herself in their backyard. Social satire and more explicit comedy mix in this well-performed piece now on DVD from Music Box (2.39, 5.1) with supplements including a featurette, image gallery and the trailer.

WOLF CHILDREN Blu-Ray (117 mins., 2018, PG; Gkids/Shout): Poignant anime from director Mamoru Hosoda chronicles the tough choices a human mother has to make for her half-wolf children after her wolfman love, their father, is killed. After moving to the country, Hana has to let her kids go and make the ultimate choice about what world they should live in – making for a bittersweet fairy tale from Hosoda now on Blu-Ray from Gkids. Their Blu-Ray includes a 1080p (1.78) transfer, 5.1 Japanese/English audio tracks, director interview, “Stage Greetings” and trailers.

NEXT TIME: Arrow/MVD August wrap! Until then, don’t forget to drop in on the official Aisle Seat Message Boards and direct any emails to our email address. Cheers everyone!