DVD : Max Fleischer's Superman/ Superman: The Lost Episodes

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Rating:

- Bad sound editing.
Stay away from this version. It has "enhanced sounds and effects" which drown out the dialog and sound very much out of place. It sounds as though someone were constantly playing with the volume control...very distracting. The picture isn't that great either.
Pick up "The complete Superman collection diamond anniversary edition" instead. The picture is clear and the sound is crisp. Plus it has all 17 episodes where the inferior "Superman The Lost Episodes" only has eight.

Rating:

- Superman cartoons great, watch out for DVD editions
I've bought complete collections of these Superman cartoons 5 times now. Twice on VHS and now 3 times on DVD. The cartoons themselves are great, but look out for which DVD edition to buy. Since these reviews seem to come up no matter what DVD edition is selected on Amazon, this should be helpful.

The set from Win Star Home Entertainment (1998/99)features all 17 original cartoons in very good picture quality. The drawback is that the audio has been remastered to surround sound (!) with added sound effects. While to some this may enhance the enjoyment of these cartoons, frankly I find it annoying. The enhanced sound is quite obviously fake and not original, and it was certainly not how these cartoons were meant to be viewed/heard.

A similar set was put out by GoodTimes Home Video in 2002. It also features audio restoration with added sound effects. Video quality is generally very good. However, some openings and closings are missing.

The third DVD set is from Bosko Video and I believe it is the best one. It (thankfully) does not feature any unneeded jazzing up of the soundtrack, and the picture quality is superb. IT IS THE DEFINITIVE SET TO GET!!!!!

To sum up, most DVD versions offer good picture, but if you want the cartoons the way they were truly meant to be seen, get the Bosko Video version.

Rating:

- Fleischer's Superman/Lost Episodes
First of all, l was less than pleased with this DVD set, and also the one that preceeded it. The sound has modern sound effects dubbed over the original sound track (why? the original sound effects are fine) and the original sound track has been messed up to sound "tinny" and like it's coming out of a tunnel! Image Entertainment has also released a DVD set with all 17 cartoons on one set. I originally bought the laser disc version of this release, some time ago. On the laser disc, picture and sound where fine, except they had the opening title only on the first short, with the end title, only on the last short. Someone elses review on the dvd version said the quality was not good, well then l would have to say to collectors, do not buy either of these dvd releases. You are better off with the laser disc set, or the vhs tapes, which are all better quality, and no tampering with the sound on those!

Rating:

- A great collection, with some minor glitches
This two-pack is a great value and a must-have for Superman fans and fans of animation in general. The presentation obviously was by folks who appreciated the value and importance of the Fleischer/Famous Superman cartoons. The restoration work is well done (although it seems a couple of the cartoons didn't give the restorers much to work with), and, particularly on the Lost Episodes disc, the story summaries and history blurbs are well-researched and informative (if you can excuse the many typos). Unfortunately there are some glitches. On the first disc, Max Fleischer's Superman, all of the story summaries and histories are the same throughout (at least they were on my disc). On the Lost Episodes disc, the cartoons are allowed to awkwardly fade out at the ends. On both discs, the restoration demonstration is impressive, but it would have been nice to have some narration or at least some text frames to explain how the restoration was achieved (was it digital restoration, or physical repair to a print or negative?) Also, the restoration demo on the first disc doesn't even use the Superman cartoons as examples (that happens on the second disc). If you purchase this set, first read the overview and historical information on disc two, then pop in disc one to see the cartoons in some semblance of order.

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