Rating:  -
In Spider-Man: The Ultimate Villain Showdown, a wonderful set of episodes gathered together, you get everything. After a showdown with Doctor Octopus, Spider-Man leaves damage done to a medical facility, putting him in deep. He thinks of throwing in the towel, but with the advice of Madame Webb and the faith of one little girl, Spider-Man is soon back to slinging webs. Just in time to deal with the arrival of the Green Goblin. Also contains Spidey's origin, and several appearances from Spider-Man creator, Stan Lee, in addition to information and clips of some of the best Spider-Man villains, this is one DVD any Spider-Fan will die to have.
Rating:  -
No one expected much from this disc. With the big box-office take of Spider-Man (2002), it was inevitable that they'd compile some episodes on DVD as a quick cash-in. The fact that Buena-Vista didn't attempt to explain just what an "ultimate villain showdown" included made everyone even more skeptical.
Fortunately, Buena-Vista has done an excellent job with this DVD, at least with respects to the presentation. Menus are colorful, with animated transitions and the theme music from the 90's series. There are also a lot of extras that feature new interviews by Stan Lee himself. While I don't know how much of this information is new to die-hard Spider-Man fans, it's always nice hearing the original creator do a retrospective, and I'm glad Buena Vista took the time to consult with him.
However, the main feature of the DVD, the 4 episodes from the 90's series, are below par. Now I actually enjoyed the 90's version, theme song, story arcs, and all. Upon repeated viewing, it *does* become painfully obvious that chunks of the animation were recycled or badly animated, but overall the series seemed to capture the essense of Spider-Man's history like the Batman animated series did. To Buena-Vista's credit, the four episodes are in order, even if they are from the middle of the series. But WHY, oh WHY did they have to be these four episodes?? I can understand the Green Goblin episode, as it ties into the movie, and another episode deals with Spider-Man's origin. But the second part of the Dr. Octopus story is embarassing (tired plot of little child who nobody believes in saving superhero) and the last story piles on the morals in a disgustingly thick way without even offering a cool villain! What happened to all those wonderful villains listed in the extras section of the DVD? Also included is the pilot episode of the old Spider-Man series. I never watched enough of these old episodes to become a fan, but it was enjoyable, especially with the classic theme song. My only complaint is the time spent web-slinging, which seems to go on forever.
If you like Spider-Man, it's worth picking up. However, most of the main feature isn't very exciting, so although there are good extras included, I can't give this disc another star. Hopefully Buena Vista's next collection will do better, or maybe even be a season set.
Rating: -
I was so psyched when I heard of Spiderman TAS episodes on DVD. Unfortunately, I felt ripped off. All the episodes (with the exception of the Green Goblin episode) were plain stupid. I expected better episodes. Perhaps the story of the Black Costume Saga(Origin of Venom). Nevertheless, the special features on this DVD were outstanding. An interactive super villains gallery, original spiderman episode, and the interviews almost made up for the disapointing choice of episodes. Despite my negative criticism, its a must-have for Spidey fans.
Rating: -
I wonder if the series producer John Semper reads these reviews. If so, he might remember me from GEnie, where I was a well-intentioned, fairly good-natured critic of the series. What I remember from those long-ago days is that his heart always seemed to be in the right place.
And there are some good things about the series. Spidey is basically Spidey. The soap opera elements are important to the character. The voice acting of Spidey and Jameson (Ed Asner!) is good.
But the whole thing seems a bit laboured -- a bit mechanical. Much like the somewhat jerky animation which jumps between computer and traditional-looking far too often. Also, Spidey's always has been a chatterbox, but it seemed to me that he talks just a bit too much to work outside of the comics page. (Mind you, I'd like to see the movie Spidey be a bit more chatty.)
As for the individual episodes, I don't think they are the best of the series. But we do get to see a lot of classic bad guys -- always a good thing. Two episodes are somewhat based on the classic "The Kid Who Collected Spider-Man" story. That basic, warm story is not improved when the whole Doc Ock, Octobot, amnesia plot is graphed onto it. A half hour of Spider-Man visiting the girl in the hospital would have been more enjoyable, and the Doc Ock stuff dilutes that.
There's also The Origin of Spiderman (sic) episode from the 1960s series. Ah, now talk about limited animation. And stock footage. But I love those funky Ralph Baskhi-directed backgrounds. And it's a pretty good adaptation of the comic origin. And hey, I loved it as a kid. Nostalgia produces a kind of blindness.
The special features were pretty good. The gallery of villains was a nice round-up. I was particularly amused by Stan Lee comments on the bad guys who he didn't co-create and didn't really know.
Oh, and I'm really glad that Carnage and Venom weren't the bad guys on this DVD. Young whippersnapper upstarts!
Next year, I could see a special crossover DVD featuring the Daredevil and X-Men episodes to promote their new movies.
Allen
Rating: -
Ok, so it's a topical 'buy' right now, but if you've ever been a fan of the series, you'll probably appreciate this DVD. The quality is not too bad (not great either), but it does have a few neat features.
Aside from the main story and that very-dated first episode of 1967, you'll also get bonus material of a select villain 'bios' (each with an accompanying interview with Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee). While Lee didn't create all of these bad-guys, the main ones are covered and their 1st introduction to our lives is chronicled in the volume/number classification (with date).
The 1st episode is very dated (as I said) but could be because we're a much more sophisticated audience now. However, the perspectives are pretty amateur (surprising) as are the clearly recycled panels that are constantly being re-introduced. The editing between interview (of creator Lee) and flashes of animation are abysmal too (alas). However, as an inexpensive addition to your library, this really isn't too bad a buy.
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