Rating:  -
As with so many nostalgic chunks of youth of the 70s, SUPER FRIENDS holds up better when it's just a rose-colored memory; The actual cartoon is mostly just painful to watch, unless you enjoy counting the many bloopers (Green Lantern with three arms; fingernails on gloves; Wonder Woman with six fingers; Batman with a bat logo on his cape; disappearing and reappearing utility belts) or laughing at the many examples of lazy cartoon logic that were rampant in adventure cartoons of this era (Ancient Romans speaking English; highways that lead right off of a cliff; mortal humans breathing in space).
The introductions by story editor Jeffrey Scott are interesting, but too short. A few very quick flashes of model sheets remind us of how poor Alex Toth (the brilliant cartoonist / storyboard artist / character designer who put more effort into his work than anyone else at H-B ever did) is once again given the shaft with the bad redrawing of his Super Friends portrait that graces this cover.
This is your typical weak Warner Home Video compilation that is obviously geared towards children rather than collectors.
Which is fine if you have children; Certainly, CHALLENGE OF THE SUPER FRIENDS is a fine thing to sit down and watch with your kids (you can test how smart they are by seeing what ridiculous plot points they question), but if it's actual semi-adult superhero entertainment you want, stick with the Bruce Timm cartoons of the 90s (even if those DVDs are wanting as well).
Rating:  -
The "Challenge" run of Superfriends is the most popular incarnation of the series (and second in accuracy to the comics only to the seasons tied into the Super Powers toyline), and it's easy to see why. The most popular DC heroes (Superman, Batman, Robin, the Flash, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Aquaman, and Green Latern, plus newbies Black Vulcan, Apache Chief, and Samurai) versus some of the biggest villains from the comics-Bizarro, Giganta, Captain Cold, Solomon Grundy, Grodd, Sinestro, Brainiac, the Scarecrow, the Riddler, Black Manta, Cheetah, the Toyman, and Lex Luthor in a number of broad (and sometimes silly) adventures.
The episodes themselves look excellent, not like the fuzzy and faded prints that currently air on Cartoon Network. (Nitpickers will also notice that the byline identifying Hanna-Barbera as "A Taft Company" in the end credits isn't blacked out like it is on TV.) The audio is the standard mono track, which continues to serve the series well.
The special features are extremely slim, with a game, bios of the Legion of Doom (with voice overs about the Legion, in addition to video clips of each villain beating down on the Superfriends), and intros by story editor Jeffrey Scott. Of course, this has been fairly standard of Warner's DC-related DVDs, so no one should be all that surprised. However, if you want pristine copies of the first four episodes of this incarnation of the Superfriends, this disc is for you.
Rating: -
Boy, I've been waiting for a "Superfriends" DVD to come out for a long time. I got it the first day it came out and I practically ran home like a little kid to watch it. I wasn't disappointed. The sound is great, the picture looks fine and there are some cool extras...including a terrific Legion of Doom gallery with the villains' history and a short video montage for each one. Highly recommended for folks who grew up in the '70s and who eagerly watched the show every Saturday morning.
Rating: -
To those who grew up on this series:
There will be people who may now complain about the lack of realism in the stories or the characters in this animated series. However, if you're a person who's able to put oneself back to that simple place of appreciation that you had as a kid, then you're going to be very pleased with this dvd. This is an *excellent* print. Watching it on my computer's dvd player makes this a more visually and sonically satisfying experience than ever before.
Cheers for Warner Brothers. I can only hope that they'll reissue the rest of the series on dvd in the future.
Rating: -
I'll admit I don't really remember watching this as a child (I preferred Rainbrow Brite), but as a mom I cringed at the available "boy" cartoons out now -- to call the violence excessive is an understatement.
Stumbled onto these and we all love them (our youngest is 5). This dvd, and all of the old batman live-action from the 60s, are favorites in our house. The good guys are good guys and the bad guys are bad guys, yes it's simple, but isn't it supposed to be?
This includes four complete episodes (all tie together, can be watched together or one at a time quite easily). The introductions for each episode are brief, but still interesting. Haven't really looked at the Villains Gallery (I think that is what it was called), but did play the game. There must have been something more to it than I saw (pictures of the bad guys, five of them are good guys in disguise - you just guess if it might really be a good guy?), I'm sure if you sat down and studied it, there is a point - we were just in a hurry :)
Anyway, I highly recommend it!
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