New York was the first stop for duel screening events for the premiere of All Star Superman (the other date is California February 17th). This is the 10th DVD release from DC Universe Animated and Warner Premiere. Metal Machine Entertainment was front and center for this screening, held at the Paley Center in NY…on of all days, Valentine’s Day. I guess when you look at it; Valentine’s Day was the appropriate day to hold this screening as All Star Superman can be viewed as a love story. Several people involved with the DVD were in attendance. Christina Hendricks of Mad Men fame voices Lois Lane, writer Dwayne McDuffie and voice caster Andrea Romano also walked the Red Carpet. The screening commenced shortly after and boy do I have to say, this was a doozie. This movie premiere was so popular that over 1,500 people vied for tickets to the event with only a few hundred allocated to the public. Even press tickets were scarce. There was such an over whelming demand that The Paley Center had to open up several closed circuit screening rooms to accommodate attendance. All Star Superman is based on the equally titled poplar comic book written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quietely. The movie opens just as the comic book does, with a manned expedition to the Sun, headed by Dr. Leo Quintum, and as in the book, a clone monster controlled by Lex Luther attacks the team from within the spaceship and chaos ensues. As expected, Superman comes to the rescue, but this time, that rescue comes with a price. It seems that Supermans close proximity to the sun has caused his powers to over maximize and overload all in one, and the exposure to such a large amount of solar radiation has caused his body to overproduce and begin to decay, thus killing him from inside.

I don’t want to ruin the DVD for those going to purchase it this week, but the basic premise of the story remains the same. For those who have read the books, Sampson and Atlas show up and try to usurp the time Superman is spending with Lois on her birthday, after Superman tells her that Clark Kent is Superman. For her birthday, Superman makes Lois a serum that will give her powers equal to him, for 24hrs. Where the movie differs from the book is in several areas. You won’t see Jimmy turning into Doomsday, and there isn’t a return to the past to visit Pa Kent. But Lex’s niece Nasthalthia makes an appearance. There is a slight difference to the ending of the DVD as opposed to the ending in the comic book. McDuffie does a great job refining the story to fit into DVD movie form. James Denton voicing Superman/Clark Kent sounds great. He seems to capture a more humanistic aspect of Superman that resonates to the storyline. Christina Hendricks does a great job as Lois. She exudes tough and sexy at the same time. Anthony Lapaglia voices Lex Luthor and holds his own. The rest of the cast is stellar, Edward Asner as Perry White, Frances Conroy as Martha Kent, Mathew Gray Gubler as Jimmy Olsen. Over all, All Star Superman hits its marks, and you can’t go wrong with having writer Dwayne McDuffie on this project. (Justice League Unlimited, Ben 10) He put 12 issues worth of story into a DVD less than 2 hrs. All in all, All Star Superman is one of the best of the DC Universe Animated and Warner Premiere releases. Go out and do yourself a favor and pick up All Star Superman, you won’t be disappointed.