Rating:  -
Every Saturday I would wake up at 5 AM just to watch syndicated Spiderman episodes. Some of my best memories of childhood were of tuning in to these classic renditions of Spider-man battles and quietly swinging my fists in unison with those of Spidey, so not to wake my family.
And now they are all in a DVD, each leading with the infamous Spider-man theme song. Classic villains such as Doc Ock, Lizard, and Green Goblin make appearances, as well as villains designed solely for the show (for example, Parafino).
This is good for long-time Spiderman fans, it is good for family entertainment on those nights where TV has nothing to offer, and for anyone who is big into comics. It is a great example of classic comics come to life; the battle with Mysterio is almost a direct transcript of the two first meeting in Amazing Spider-man. I think it is great.
Rating:  -
As others have mentioned in accurate detail , the only real disappointing point of this set is that the final disk , #6 , is so bizarre, poorly written , animated and generally dull that one is unlikely to watch it again anytime soon after the first viewing ( if you make it that far ! ) . Sadly , it holds 10 episodes . It still may suffice as background noise, however, if you wished , but I think even big Spidey fans would have difficulty calling these even slightly decent.
That said , however, this is still a good set if you enjoy Spiderman . The voices are well cast and there is enough entertainment in the remaining episodes to warrant a purchase.
Rating: -
I had been regularly checking amazon.com these past several years for a complete DVD box set of the original 1967 Spiderman cartoon, hoping and assuming it would be available at some point, especially after the popular Spiderman movies hit the theaters these past few years. I never expected the whole 52 episode collection would be available for under $50.00!!!
Others have had minor complaints that not all the episodes are fully re-mastered, and that there are no extra features. The bottom line is that if you watched the Spiderman cartoon when it originally aired back in 1967, and loved the episodes, characters, theme song, incidental music, and general "mood" of the series, like I did, then you will love this collection. I actually got goose bumps when I saw the opening graphics and heard the first few blarring notes of the opening theme together on the TV screen for the first time in over 30 years. No complaints here!
Rating: -
To me this is still the best incarnation of Spiderman and that includes the recent movies.
Kids really like this set as I found out when I gave it to my nephew. He's about 3 or 4 now and he watches them over and over.
I realize now that shows like this were like my close friends back when I would come home from school. I'm grateful to all the tv stations that used to show them. The kids today don't realize how lucky they are to be able to watch their shows anytime they want, rewind them, etc..
The only other series I can think of that comes close to this is the old Fantastic Four series from Hanna Barbara. I don't think that's been released on dvd.
Although the (relatively) recent Justice League series is good,
especially Justice League Unlimited.
Jeff Marzano
The Death of Superman
Space Ghost and Dino Boy: The Complete Series
Jonny Quest - The Complete First Season
Birdman and the Galaxy Trio: The Complete Series
The Pink Panther Classic Cartoon Collection
The Pink Panther Classic Cartoon Collection, Vol. 6 - Inspector Cartoons
Rating: -
I'm old school to the hilt. Spider- Man, the original... I've hunted VHS tapes for years to only find those taped in EP (or SLP) directly from a UHF station in Philadelphia, and I was charged a premium at a comics show years ago. Now, original Spidey's on DVD! All of the original episodes, finally. Several episodes aren't cleaned up as well as others, but after watching the old VHS tape that was probably a 4th generation copy, why be so picky. Spiderman fans from the 60s will love this. Revisit it.
The DVDs are numbered one to 6, and the episodes burned on each disk are in the same order as they were broadcast. Because the first 2 disks and the first half of the third were done by another company, I'm not as fond of the artwork or music that accompanied those episodes as the ones when Ralph Bakshi took over. I understand that he caught some heat from people who felt that he oversaw alot of regurgitating scenes and even whole episodes as the series continued. But he took over when budget cutbacks forced the producers to step away from the previous animation group. Bakshi did what he could with the budget he was given and the time to produce them in. Some even slammed Bakshi for not following the comics for the stories. But to me, Baksi's episodes are the most fun! Look at the color and the types of creatures Krantz animation produced, and how sinister the episodes seemed. Before I knew what other said about these, I felt like I was on some kind of mental trip with the colors and music. All the arch rivals wind up wanting to rule the world (or swamps and even an island) and talk about making slaves of the people. And check how many times Spidey talks about hallucinations in the Bakshi cartoons. Spidey even falls into a bed of mushrooms in at least one toon!
The DVDs are very sparse in any extras, except for the "In Color" lead they played for each episode, but each DVD is around 3 hours, they say. It gets old seeing the lead- in and end credits for each of the -- what -- over 50 episodes? But they are keeping the cartoons in their original content, and not changing voices or other sounds, like the original music.
About the original music... I had thought that the episodes done by Krantz animation were the first ones, probably because one of them was "The Origin of Spider- Man." The artwork seemed so much more involved and in- depth, and the music seemed more expansive. What incredible music, by Ray Ellis and Bob Harris. Everyone knows the theme music, but I want you to try that gorgeous, rich, full background music they jammed, especially in disk 4 and the least half of disk 3, just to get a feel of how they must have loved doing those jam sessions! WOW. The sound is mono (the original sound was), but the music fills your spirit. Try the background jams to Molemen and Neptune's Nose Cone (my favorite) in DVD #4.
The story line seemed so weak by the 6th DVD. I don't remember all these episodes in the reruns I watched. But the decision to release these DVDs is outstanding. I'm happy to have this, finally.
I only wondered, what in the world did my parents ever think about the cartoon series when they walked by the TV set to see all the weird scenes, monsters and green- faced enemies, along with all those comments about hallucinations?!
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