DVD : Adventures of Superman - The Complete First Season

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- The Best of the Golden Age of Television
Season one of The Adventures of Superman was the best of the best. This was the Gold Age of television, and The Adventures of Superman was pure magic. Even though the first season didn't compare to the following seasons in special effects and lack of color, it had something the other seasons did not. The scripts were good and well directed; they were actually written for mature audiences, even though kids loved it. (TV Guide back then listed the show as "mystery", not "children"!) Many involved with the season that first year were veterans of 40's movies, particularly film noir. The plots, acting and direction were so good that you actually felt that you really were seeing great special effects. I can actually remember that as as kid, when I was watching the first runs episodes of later seasons, I would actually perk up when they showed a rerun from the first season. We appreciated the difference in production quality even back then. Everything about the first season production was terrific. I have always felt that Phyllis Coates was the "official" Lois Lane, but then that may only be because Noel Neill never had the benefit of the crew that had been assembled for the first season. (And also the insistence by the TV brass that the so-called violence ot the first season be toned down.) Season one of The Adventures of Superman is not only the best of the series, it's one of the best examples of children's - and Golden Age -television. And it stars the best Superman ever - George Reeves.

Rating:

- Great shows, so-so running commentary
Superman was a great "comfort" show for me growing up. Watching the first season again, as an adult, I love the film noir aspect. Superman berating an entire town for behaving like "Nazi Stormtroopers" in the Mole-men movie could not have been done better by Eastwood, Seagul, or Norris. The scene of the townspeople subsequentially trying to beat Superman up was definitely not out of any kiddie program guide I know of.
I was disappointed, however, with the running commentary to some of the shows. Too many repetitive comments on "how I felt as a kid turning on the Adventures of Superman" or "Doesn't George Reeves look great in this shot?", not enough commentary on the relation of the shows to the contempory American society. Is the episode in which Lois Lane testifies before a government committee analogous to the Estes commission of that day? Was the ". . . and the American way" flag-waving intro an explicit attempt to establish an anti-communist position or just the cultural naivete of the day? How did Adventures of Superman compare to other shows of the day? Granted these last two questions are rather general, more suited for an end-of-disc interview-type commentary. But that is the type of insight I look for during a running commentary.

Rating:

- yahooooooooooooooo!
That is my sons comment! He really likes this set of DVD's and has had me order some more. My son says they did a good job with special effects. He likes this version of Superman the best.

Rating:

- Kenny's review of the first season of 'The adventures of Superman' DVD set
There is only one superman,and that is George Reeves.This series has been digitally restored and remastered from the original camera negatives.This show has been shown around the world every day of the week since it's inception 55 years ago.The video is sharp and so is the sound.I remember as a child watching these shows in the early 1960's(I was born in 1958)and thinking how thrilling they were to watch then.Thanks to digital technology we can now enjoy watching this series on DVD.The audio commentary is great and not drawn out and boring as is the case with many DVD sets with audio commentary.Warner Brothers deserves 100 stars for bringing the greatest and most popular television show in the history of television to DVD.WOW!!.

Rating:

- The Adventures of Superman
The DVD is excellent.Amazon.com is always on time. I loved it.

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