Super Friends, Vol. 2: Season 1

Back in the late 70's/early 80', there was no Marvel cinematic universe or DC films. If you wanted to see your comic book heroes on a screen, you were limited to the Christopher Reeve Superman films and a handful of live action tv series. The only other real outpost were the various incarnations of the Super Friends cartoons. The Super Friends was Saturday morning fare targeted at children, and the simplicity of the show speaks to that, particularly when compared with most modern superhero cartoons. The Super Friends are not edgy, conflicted heroes with a dark side, but are versions of some of DC's most popular characters, written and drawn to be as approachable as possible for any audience.It has been said that the Super Friends are the Justice League in a form where instead of destroying the bad guy's doomsday device, they must trick said bad guy into destroying it himself. This attitude is visible in most stories, as the Super Friends spend most of their adventures getting their butts kicked, becoming trapped in near impossible to overcome situations, and only just managing to overcome their foes with a desperate, last gasp plan. Watching the Super Friends is watching familiar characters with their super powers on mute or low.The animation of the Super Friends is not of the highest quality but is acceptable. Those familiar with the Super Friends would agree that the animation in this edition is lower than the later 'Super Powers' team entries in the franchise.This incarnation of the Super Friends is perhaps most effective when the episodes are structured around some sort of pre existing mythology or characters, ex. Sinbad. A good example of this is the episode the 'Battle of the Gods,' where the Super Friends must face various creatures from Greek mythology. Placing the Friends in the context of ready made settings and characters, with slight alterations, helps frame the episode stories and carry the plot. Still, expect the Super Friends to lose, and lose again, for the first 2/3 of each story, only to overcome the odds near the end and just carry the day. The Friends episodes seems to be more effective when the entire team is not featured and there are less characters that require filler dialogue. Stories featuring, for example, a combination of Batman, the Twins, and Wonder Woman seems to get the job done better than the entire ensemble at once.The lineup of the team is not the entire JLA, and is a smaller cast that the older 'Challenge of the Super Friends' series and the later 'Super Powers' lineup. Superman and Batman are here of course, and Batman is written as a less powerful mirror of Superman. Robin is included as Batman's sidekick and to be another 'skills and gadgets' only member of the team. Aquaman serves as a blonde version of Superman and Batman. Wonder Woman is a female presence on the team. This version of Wonder Woman is not as strong or confident as later animated versions. This later approach to the Amazon princess is hinted at a bit in the 'Battle of the Gods' episode, another reason the episode seems to be the gem of the collection.The presence of the Wonder Twins and Gleek is to add a bit of comedy to each episode and serves to cement the show's 'just for kids' status. Super Friends fans have a range of opinions on the twins from Exor and their simian sidekick, and those do not need to be rehashed here. However, in finding similar types of characters in other cartoons from the period, one wonders why producers did not trust their audiences more, and not realizing that kids would rather have more screen time for Batman and Superman as opposed to scenes featuring more Zan and Jayna. This type of plot device appears to have worked itself out of modern cartoons, as creators seem willing to trust their audience to enjoy the show without trying to force laughs using 'created for the show' sidekicks.Overall, this is a nice purchase for those of us who grew up with the series

First off, everyone has an opinion on the entire SUPERFRIENDS series. Sticking with the episodes at hand on this DVD i liked them all. Before i read any reviews on here, i watched the DVD and i actually liked the story of the Anti-Matter Monster. The little, subtle things like Aquaman for example being taken to Atlantis in "World Beneath the Ice" is a good use of character history. I have my favorite episodes from the DVD, however. The favorites for me are "Rokan: Enemy from Space", "Battle at Earth's Core", "Terror from the Phantom Zone" which features Superman aging after being exposed to red Kryptonite and his having to travel to the asteroids of the blown up Krypton and recover blue Kryptonite to reverse the aging process, and "Attack of the Vampire" on DVD #1 and "Anti-Matter Monster", "World Beneath the Ice", and episodes #13 through #16 on DVD #2: "Batman: Dead or Alive", "Battle of the Gods" which makes good use of Wonder Woman's nemesis, Hara, and other mythical Gods more specifically Medusa. "Journey Through Inner Space" is just a knock-out episode...giving Aquaman center stage and using radiation and an underwater disaster to transform Aquaman into...well...i won't give the plot away. The last episode on DVD #2 is another good one. It involves an actual comic book villain, Superman's foe, Mr Myxlpltk. I know i have the name spelled wrong...it's pronounced "mixel plick". All in all, the DVD isn't as bad as it is being let on to be...plus, in my opinion, the Wonder Twins are what created the hype when these episodes were first being aired. Like them or not, they did bring in the viewers...keeping the show a success in re-runs and in first-run syndication for a few years. If i were to have a complaint it would be the use of Flash and Hawkman and Apache Chief on the DVD fold-out cover...scenes that took place on CHALLENGE OF THE SUPERFRIENDS are shown on the fold-out cover. Those characters are NOT on this DVD. Oh, of course, scenes from the actual episodes on this DVD are also shown in small thumbnail pictures on the fold-out cover, too.

I love how I can relive my childhood by watching these old cartoons that used to air on Saturday mornings. Man, those were some good times. Waking up early in the morning before the sun came up and munching on Cap'n Crunch, or Froot Loops, or anything else to make you hyper and your teeth rot. Back then I loved Superman, and Wonder Woman. I wasn't all that crazy about Batman, and Robin. I actually thought they were dorks. I do love the newly revamped versions of the Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder, though. I liked some of the other heroes as well but not as much as the aforementioned ones. Great children's show. It should definitely be passed on to future generations.

This version of the Super Friends is minus the Hall of Doom, and minus any supervillains. They battle electric monsters and tar monsters. It is NOT nearly as good as the BEST Super Friends series 'Challenge of the Super Friends', however, I like it because I watched it on Saturday mornings with a big bowl of cereal, so the quality is not all that important to me. Get 'Challenge of the Super Friends' FIRST, then if you don't mind a more silly version with less Super Friends, then rent this one from the library/video store and see if you like it. For me, it reminds me of being a kid, and I love that!

Watching this ruined a little of my childhood. I always thought this cartoon was awesome and inspiring, but watching it with my son made me feel super old. What is the purpose of the Wonder Twins anyway? What is the monkey for? Who in their right mind made Dick Grayson as Robin a member of the Justice League? Why did Robin seem to have more of a voice in the League than did Wonder Woman? ALL are questions I didn't need answered until I received this dvd.

Came in as I expected. Good as new.

Good show to watch if you love superheroes. The picture and sound is good and still hold up today. This show is more for children to watch over and over and over again.

great cartoon only last 3 episodes will not play for some reason

This is a television series from 40 years ago, so given its age, the animation and the stories in the series are clearly dated with its simplicity and wholesomeness. On the one hand, the series is safe for children to watch, but on the other hand, children might lose interest in the series if they are used to watching the more recent animated superhero stories of the 21st Century.

memories, waking up early on Saturday mornings, lost in the super-hero universe with honor and respect.

Great dvd.