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Rating:  -
Since the movie of Superman and the Mole Men is packaged with this, I'll be doing a double review.
First the movie: For only being an hour and on a very low budget, this is a very entertaining film. It's more enjoyable than the Pryor Superman III, the overly long Superman Returns and, sad to say for me as I am a proud defender, Superman IV. George Reeves is my favorite Superman/Clark Kent, not that Christopher Reeve didn't do a good job it's just that I hate that he portrays Clark as a bumbling idiot. Reeves' Kent is smart, quick witted and able to hold his own ground against criminals. His, along with Reeve's, interpretation make me feel proud to be an American and be patriotic. It's mystifying that they didn't remove the whole bit of "Truth, Justice and the American Way" and make it feel like Superman Returns when Perry White says "Does he still stand for Truth, Justice...all that stuff?" But I digress. Anyway, Phyllis Coates' Lois Lane also is probably my favorite out of the live action portrayals. Her interpretation of the character is strong, considering this was done in the fifties, and she hardly needs to be saved at all in this movie compared to later versions of the character. The plot is well written, given the probably short time they had to write this. Special effects are to a bare minimum, more than likely because they hadn't worked out how they were going to show him flying. All in all, a very entertaining piece of nostalgic Superman history.
The show I also have nothing but praise for. Reeves and Coates have an abundance of chemistry. John Hamilton is my favorite Perry White because they actually give the character something to do. Jack Larson's Jimmy White is also a favorite and his portrayal is not as annoying as what future actors to play the part would do. The stories are, like the movie, well written and thought out. Quality storytelling, that unfortunately wouldn't last the entire series run (mainly seasons 3 and 4), with interesting villains that didn't have some piece of Kryptonite lying around (Kryptonite wouldn't even be used until season 2 and only play a minor role, at that, as a plot device throughout the series' run). The flying scenes are probably some of the best special effects for television that I've seen, not as a retrospective for how far we've come, but its just the way Reeves takes off and lands for the flying that seem more believeable than just being lifted off with wires. A very entertaining series that won't fail to entertain.
Rating: -
We all now the saying It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman! Thanks to Warner Studios we can repeat that saying over and over with this release of season one on DVD. This is the first and only "Superman" in my opinion and George Reeves will always be my favorite man of steel. I have nothing bad to say about the others who portrayed "Superman" I just liked George the best. While working as the mild-mannered reporter for the Metropolis Daily Planet News , "Superman" disguised as Clark Kent keeps a watchful eye on the citizens of Metropolis. Join the man of steel as he uses his special powers to battle the forces of evil in the pursuit of truth and justice for all. Warner has done a decent job with the first season, providing all 26 season one episodes spread out over 5 single sided discs with nice artwork and packaging. The video and sound quality varies from episode to episode as the episodes do contain dirt, debris and scratches, especially in the stock footage segments. I had read that initially this release contained defective discs; fortunately I haven't encountered any problems with my set.
DVD Features:
- Retrospective documentary -- "Adventures of Superman: From Inkwell to Backlot" featuring Jack Larson, Leonard Maltin, and others
- 1951 theatrical feature Superman and the Mole Men, later to be televised as the two-part "The Unknown People"
- Pony Express Days: Vintage Warner Bros. historical short starring George Reeves
- Commentary on four key episodes by Superman chroniclers Gary H. Grossman and Chuck Harter
- Original Kellogg's cereal commercials
DVD Episodes:
Superman on Earth
The Haunted Lighthouse
The Case of the Talkative Dummy
The Mystery of Broken Statues
The Monkey Mystery
A Night of Terror
The Birthday Letter
The Mind Machine
Rescue
The Secret of Superman
No Holds Barred
The Deserted Village
The Stolen Costume
Treasure of the Incas
Double Trouble
Mystery in Wax
Runaway Robot
Drums of Death
The Evil Three
Riddle of the Chinese Jade
The Human Bomb
Czar of the Underworld
The Ghost Wolf
Crime Wave
The Unknown People Part 1
The Unknown People Part 2
Rating: -
This is an awesome Superman DVD if anyone likes superheros that grew up watching this but I just got into it and I like this dvd it's a good show to watch for anyone who loves old tv shows like I do I think people should buy it it has all the episodes and plus they have bonus featurs at the end witch is really cool so if your a fan of Superman then buy it you would like it.
Rating:  -
The First Season of The Adventures of Superman, is the best of the Adventures of Superman series.
For fans of Superman serials, this series was a major breakthrough in technology. In the earlier serials, the producers neither had the technology nor the budget to make Superman fly, so they used animation (and poor animation at that) for the flight sequences. In contrast, even by today's standards, Superman's flight in the opening sequence looks remarkably real.
The plots reflect the issues and concerns of the 1950's time period. For example, in "The Stolen Costume", Russian spies steal Superman's suit and a troubled Clark Kent struggles to explain to his insurance agent that he was the victim of a theft without actually telling what was stolen. In another episode, another foreign agent tries to get Superman to reveal his identity through the use of drugs.
The first season was filmed in black and white and makes excellent use of the "film noir" technique (known for adding a downbeat, yet melodramatic feel to the shows).
Another one of my favorites is "Mystery in Wax", where an evil fortune teller predicts death, but actually kidnaps the unfortunate victims instead. "Crime Wave" is also a favorite, done in a classic newsreel style which was also popular during the 1950's.
I also like the extras, which adds an excellent narration to key episodes. The narrations in the other seasons lack the detail of those in the first season.
There are only two shortcomings. First, although the quality of the shows are much better than I remember on my old black and white TV, I believe the remastering could have been better. Second, I would have liked to see more extras tying this season, to the mood of this country during the time period in which it was filmed. Not many people today realize that this season was filmed during the McCarthy era, where many writers and performers were blacklisted, mostly due to perceived ties to communism. This was one of the reasons why "Truth, Justice, and THE AMERICAN WAY" were emphasized in each episode.
this collection would make an excellent addition to any DVD library.
Rating: -
Being a Superman fan makes it essential that you go to the roots of television's first presentation. We watched this first season and enjoyed every corny minute of it. If you were a child in the 50s and early 60s you will be instantly transported back to wonderful memories.
These are good quality products but remember the technology and budget for these TV show was very low... enjoy!Adventures of Superman - The Complete First Season
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