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

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- Reviews BEFORE Release?????
Why are people submitting "reviews" BEFORE THE DVD IS RELEASED???

A Better question - why does Amazon allow them to do do so.

I prefer to read reviews by people that have actually seen the product.

Rating:

- Faster Than a Speeding Bullet
Although this 3rd and 4th year compilation of the classic tv series forgoes the commentaries that marked the two preceding releases, these radiant color episodes are marked with the same intriguing premises and generally fine production values. OK, maybe some of these "adventures" of the Man of Steel are fairly silly, and by now even the most rabid fan must be annoyed by Lois, Perry and Jimmy's inability to recognize Clark Kent's real identity, but the flying sequences are even better this time around. Jack Larson as Jimmy dominates the other players and deservedly so, but Noel Neill has a nice turn when she imagines she marries her longtime love!!!!

Rating:

- It's a bird... It's a plane... It's out of focus!
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a huge fan of George Reeves and company. But if you're thinking about ponying up for this set like I did, there's two questions you need to ask:

1) How are the prints?

First of all, don't expect the same quality as the B&W season 1 & 2 sets. There's a stock 1957 opening that's a little rough. And luckily none of the episodes seem to have the excessive print damage that say "The Stolen Costume" had in the first season set. However, the colour isn't perfect. In many cases, the technicolour picture is perfectly sharp and crystal clear - amazing for prints that are 50 years old. But then the camera will quickly cut to a more soft, washed out shot or scene - from a 100% sharpness to about 80% resolution - and it gets very distracting at times. This happens constantly. I've read they had a lot of restoration work to do on this one and it's too bad they couldn't correct this so the print is uniformly sharp. You get used to the picture after a while. But it is disappointing considering what they were able to pull off with the first two season sets.

2) How are the stories? I heard they turned it into a kids' show!

Well, in terms of the storylines themselves, many of the shows have devolved to the standard two thugs "Whadda we do now, boss?" type of situations. Sure, it's still highly entertaining and George Reeves is still letter perfect. But the show has certainly lost a step in these seasons compared to the second and particularly the first season's harder edged radio serial leanings.

As for Lois Lane, Noel Neil has her moments. But at this point in the series, she seems far too sunny and perky for the role and has very little rivalry with Clark - although the softening of the scripts don't help her out here. For my money, Phyllis Coates just nailed Lois perfectly in the first season - she's the damsel in distress obviously (and what a screamer!) but still the feisty, business-like, tough as nails reporter (unlike Noel here). For instance, when Clark takes over the editor's chair from Perry White in "Peril By Sea", Noel's Lois couldn't be happier for Clark - while Phyllis' Lois would've torn a strip off him!

So to recap, it's still wildly entertaining - but the inconsistent prints and storylines make this Superman a little less than stellar.

Rating:

- Good series. Poor DVD quality
"The Complete Third and Fourth Seasons" would not be bad except for two reasons. The most bothersome is that my first DVD set had a defect that would not allow me to play episodes 16 and 17 on disc 3. The replacement set did the same thing. I tried the disc on 4 different DVD players and my two computers. The players ranged from a high end Sony to a low end Magnavox and mid priced Samsung. The computers tried were a new IBM laptop and my two year old Compaq decktop. None of them would play these episodes without either hanging up or skiping. The other problem is the poor quality of the video transfers. The color quality changes with almost every scene change. It can be very good or very bad with washed out color. Warner Brothers needs to use more care when bringing out these great sets.

Rating:

- Super DVD
I was so thrilled to get seasons 1 and 2 last year, and have been eagerly awaiting more episodes. I ordered this as soon as I saw that it was available, and have no regrets. It's such a good show, and it holds up pretty well after half a century. I can't wait for the rest of the series to become available. As far as seasons three and four being more comedy and less drama, I suppose that's so, but it's just so much fun watching, and remembering.

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