DVD : Adventures of Superman - The Complete Third and Fourth Seasons

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- Superman Forever!
What a foresite of an idea in 1957, shoot a TV show in color...long before there were any color TV sets. Actually it is a little odd at first to see the brilliant color of his suit, however it all works brilliantly!

I grew up on all of George Reeves series of Superman. The other Supermen have been good, however show their age (regardless 70's or 06). Other than the classic cars, clothes and lack of real technology, the imagination and characterization of Superman, by George Reeves, is truely timeless. There is no romance, just sincerety to the role of ensuring truth, justice and preserving the American way!!!

Very fun, exciting series of shows, you can't go wrong with any of these sets

Rating:

- Classic Superman
Whether or not you were around for the original Superman TV series, this DVD series of those shows is still the best portrayal of the Man of Steel. George Reeves does a great job of acting Clark Kent as well as Superman, and the rest of the cast is in classic form. This series, to me, is closest to the comic book stories, and to this day sets the standard in that regard.

Rating:

- It's not season one
Whats missing are those great scripts and Phyllis Coates and most of all that tough Superman.

Rating:

- It is really super! Man what a great series Got free tickets too!
It brings back all of the memories when I saw this as a kid. Truth, Justice and the American way! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's SUPERMAN! Super cool!

Rating:

- LOOK GREAT COLOR , FUN AND LAUGHS FOR ALL AGES
Overall George Reeeves is excellent. He makes an
intelligent Clark Kent. He is the definitive
investigative reporter; not the bumbling, goof-ball
that the movie Superman portrays him to be. The color
TV episodes are much funnier and lighter than the
black and white season one episodes and the color is
fantastic and weel preserved except where I note
below.

The characters are wonderful too. You will see
STERLING HOLLOWAY (the future voice of Winnie the
Pooh) as daffy scientist Prof. Twiddle in "Through the
Time Barrier", CLAUDE AKINS (the future Sheriff Elroy
P. Lobo and AAMCO Transmissions spokeman) as a
plotting submarine commander in "Peril by the Sea",
CHUCK CONNORS (the future Lukas McCain a.k.a. THE
RIFLEMAN) as a country bumpkin in "Flight to the
North", PAUL BURKE (future DYNASTY TV series' Neal
McVane) in "The Phantom Ring", JOHN BERADINO (later to
become Dr. Steve Hardy in TV's GENERAL HOSPITAL from
1963-96) in "The Unlucky Number". All are fast moving,
action packed episodes.

If you remember that George Reeves really loved to
bust through walls and doors and just about anything
to make the TV epsode more thrilling, you'll really
get a real kick out of it when you see him do it again
and again in almost every episode. He actually helped
plan many of the stunts and was very atheletic. He
would jump off a ladder to do the landings and would
bounce off a spring board and do a forward-roll onto a
mattress for the take-offs; many times right over the
cmera-man.

My biggest complaint, which may seem minor to many
other fans, is that the opening color sequence where
we hear the announcer say, "Faster than a speeding
bullet! More powerful that a locomotive...", all the
way to the end, comes from a certain 1957 episode and
is badly scratched and deteriorated, especially at the
beginning. It is used to open each and every episode
of the entire 1955, 1956 and 1957 seasons that are on
this DVD set. Why the DVD production team picked one
of the worst condition openings to subject viewers to
over and over again is beyond reason. "Copyright 1957"
is seen at the bottom of each 1955 and 1956 episode.
The episode's correct copyright date appears in ROMAN
NUMERALS at the end of the episode just prior to the
cast credits.

For trivia fans only: they changed the revolver from a
Smith and Wesson (which was used in the black and
white episodes) to a Colt in the color episode opening
sequence. The DVD freeze frame feature allows you see
that the color photographed revolver's cylinder
rotates upward (clockwise: Colt) while the B&W
revolver's cylinder revolves downward
(counter-clockwise: S&W).

By the way, Noel Neill (Lois Lane) and Jack Larson
(Jimmy Olsen) have bit parts in the movie "Superman
Returns". Noel Neill is the dying billionairess in the
opening sequence and Jack Larson is the old bartender
with the bowtie. Too bad that film didn't have more
humor in it and move a little faster.

Iunderstand that the 5th and 6th Seasons are due out in November, 2006.
With only 16 episodes left, I wonder with what extras the producers of the DVD set will fill the five discs. See my list of episode titles for the 5th and 6th season under that listing.

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