allaboutduncan

Swamp Thing Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD

// October 22nd, 2007 // No Comments » // DVD

TVShowsOnDVD have announced that Seasons 1 and 2 of USA Television’s Swamp Thing series will be released on DVD on January 22, 2008. I never thought this series would be released. I created my own DVD set of this show a few years ago and it was one of the harder shows I’ve tried to locate. I went through several people until I found decent quality VHS recordings. After all of that, the quality was still lacking, so I’m really looking forward to this release.

Sleep tight naughty evildoers! Don’t let the Swamp Thing bite! Enter into a mind-bending world where a humanoid mass of plant life matter fights to protect his swamp home, the environment and humanity from various supernatural and evil threats as the comic book superhero Swamp Thing comes to life! On January 22, 2008, Shout! Factory will unleash the Swamp Thing: The Series DVD box set, packed with all original 22 original suspenseful episodes culled from Seasons 1 & 2 of the cult TV series, in the order they were meant to be seen. Special revealing bonus features include exclusive interviews with Swamp Thing co-creator Len Wein, actor Dick Durock and more!

It’s really unbelievable the amount of shows that are being released on DVD. It’s no secret that TV on DVD is popular with consumers. As the DVD format ages and the most popular shows get released, more and more rare and odd shows such as this will finally see the light of day on DVD.

Pre-order your copy of Swamp Thing: Complete First Season today.

Young Indiana Jones DVDs

// October 16th, 2007 // No Comments » // DVD

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones – Volume One DVD set looks great. Somehow I missed the series when it originally aired (probably because that was my senior year in high school and the year before I went to college). The few episodes I’ve gone back and watched were quite a departure for TV at the time. The show feature more action, effects, and historical content than anything on TV at the time. Now, 15 years later, we’re all spoiled by shows that have huge effects budgets and computer effects at their disposal. At the time, Young Indy was groundbreaking.

Despite the high price tag on this (and following) sets, I’d still like to pick them up. Just watch the video above for an example of th extra content George Lucas and LucasFilm have put into this DVD set. Young Indy has been one of the most requested shows on DVD since the format began. Lucas always stated he wasn’t going to put the set out until had time to archive it as he wanted. He envisioned a DVD laden with extra features and historical content that accented each episode in the series. With the Star Wars prequels out of the way, it looks like he found the time and delivered on his promise. The first volume set has only 7 (of 22) episodes, but they’re spread across 12 DVDs. Just part of the extra feature on the volume one set include:

The 38 historical companion films are original works from the Lucasfilm documentary unit, headed by CBS News veteran David Schneider. The documentaries complement the episodes with insights from scholars, historians and luminaries from a wide range of disciplines, bringing remarkable and fresh insight into The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones. They include interviews with Gen. Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger, Gloria Steinem, Martin Scorsese, Barbara Boxer, James Earl Jones, Hal David and Deepak Chopra, along with some of the world’s pre-eminent academics.

The “episodes” included on the DVD will be the 2-hour versions. Lucas envisioned the show as a throwback to the serial films of his youth and every two episodes of the series combined for larger story. Later VHS releases edited the episodes together. There were 44 episodes originally produced and since the DVD touts only 22 episodes, it’s safe to assume the versions being released wil be the 2 hour, edited together episodes.

One last comment, I like that the packaging mirrors the box set of the Indiana Jones films. These will look nice sitting on a shelf together. I can’t wait to pick these up and start watching them with Carter. It should be a fun way to introduce the concept of “history” and important characters from the world’s history.

Confessions of a Superhero

// October 9th, 2007 // 3 Comments » // DVD, Movies

Confessions of a Superhero looks like a fascinating documentary. Here’s the summary from the movie’s myspace page:

CONFESSIONS OF A SUPERHERO is a feature length documentary chronicling the lives of four mortal men and women who work as characters on the sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard. This deeply personal view into their daily routine reveals the hardships, and triumphs, that these characters endure in pursuit of becoming famous. The Hulk sold his supernintendo for a bus ticket to LA, Wonder Woman was the homecoming queen, Batman struggles with his anger, and Superman is consumed with the character he portrays. The Walk of Fame may be right beneath their feet, but their path to Stardom is a long, hard climb. Explore the fascination, obsession, and allure of fame, through the eyes of some very unique people struggling to make it in Tinseltown.

Documentaries are such a mixed bag. They require a good balance between an interesting subject and quirky characters. If you veer too far off one path, you risk losing the audience. Seeing this trailer reminded how much I like the work of documentary duo Bruce Sinofsky and Joe Berlinger. Hoping to find a new film I had not heard about, it seems the pair have not made a documentary film since 2004′s Metallica: Some Kind of Monster. The Paradise Lost films are the ones that introduced them to a wide audience, but for a great look into another person’s life, I’d highly recommend Brother’s Keeper.

Huge Amazon.com Animated DVD Sale

// September 19th, 2007 // No Comments » // Cartoons, DVD, TV, Web

Amazon.com has a great sale on a lot of their older animated TV shows on DVD right now. Check out the Amazon widget above for some of my favorite sets (and comments too).

Fantastic Four Cartoon Gets Full Season DVD Release

// September 13th, 2007 // 2 Comments » // Cartoons, DVD

If you’re a fan of the new Cartoon Network Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes cartoon, there is good news for next year. According to an ad in the recently released Volume 2 DVD, a full season set is in the works. That’s good news for U.S. fans, because the show has bounced around and been delayed on Cartoon Network’s schedule numerous times. In the one year the show has been airing, only 14 episodes have aired.

Seven episodes aired through October on 2006. The show was put on hold to be picked up when the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer movie was released. Five more episodes aired starting in June of 2007 until the show was dumped (without notice) to an early Saturday morning slot, where only two more episodes have aired.

It wasn’t a perfect show, but it had a cool style and the dynamic between the characters was perfect. It was a weekend ritual for Carter and I to watch the latest episode on TiVo. Hopefully the Season 1 DVD set will be released and we can catch all of the episodes when we feel like it.

All New SuperFriends Hours DVD in 2008

// September 11th, 2007 // No Comments » // Cartoons, DVD

Toon Zone News is reporting that TVShowsOnDVD announced that the All New SuperFriends Hour Volume 1 will be released on DVD on January 8, 2008.

The 2 disc set will contain 32 cartoons and features the debut of the Wonder Twins. Each cartoon will consist of the following:

1. Core team: consist of two core members of the Superfriends (example: Superman & Wonder Woman, or Aquaman with Batman & Robin).

2. Wonder Twins toons: Zan, Jayna & Gleek helping kids in trouble.

3. Whole team: Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the Wonder Twins team up to save the world.

4. Guest hero: Toons that feature a core member with a special guest hero, wether it be Black Vulcan, The Atom, or the Green Lantern.

That’s great. We’re getting closer and close to having all of the DC animated series released to DVD. However, I don’t think the math in the press release (at least the way it was reported) adds up correctly.

The All New SuperFriends Hour was made up of 5 shorts in each episode, some of which are reported above. Each episode consisted of:

1. Core Team: This short teamed up 2 of the regular members of the SuperFriends
2. Whole Team: Split into two parts, this was the featured episode of each show. The core group would stop a villain or disaster of some sort.
3. Wonder Twins: These shorts (3-5 minutes) had the Wonder Twins dealing with kid/teen topics like Hitchhiking, Responsibility, etc.
4. Magic Trick, Safety Tip, Health Tip or Craft Project: These are not mentioned above, but they were usually sandwiched between the main cartoon and the commercials. Only a minute or two in length, a hero would show a Magic Trick, Safety Tip, Health Tip or Craft Project before the commercial and then explain how it was done in a 2nd part later in the episode.
5. Guest Hero: The episodes would usually finish up with a guest hero teaming with one of the regular cast members. These were always natural disaster type stories, with no real villain.

Since there were only 16 episodes, my guess is the first volume will contain 8 episodes. Not counting the Magic Trick portion, each 1-hour episode contained 4 shorts, which would total up to 32 cartoons. So, 2 DVDs X (4 episodes X 4 shorts) = 32 cartoons. Hopefully, later in 2008 we’ll get volume 2 with the remaining 8 episodes (32 cartoons). Chronologically, these should be the first episodes on Volume 1.

Episode 1
1.Invasion Of The Earthors
1.The Brain Machine
3.Joy Ride
4.The Whirlpool
Episode 2
1.City In A Bottle
2.Invasion Of The Hydronoids
3.Hitchhike
4.Space Emergency
Episode 3
1.Will The World Collide?
2.The Marsh Monster
3.Runaways
4.Time Rescue
Episode 4
1.Day Of The Plant Creatures
2.Doctor Fright
3.Drag Racing
4.Fire
Episode 5
1.Super Friends vs. Super Friends
2.The Monster Of Dr. Droid
3.Vandals
4.Energy Mass
Episode 6
1.Voyage Of The Mysterious Time Creatures
2.The Secret Four
3.Tiger On The Loose
4.The Antidote
Episode 7
1.Planet Of The Neanderthals
2.The Enforcer
3.Shark Attack
4.Flood Of Diamonds
Episode 8
1.The Mind Maidens
2.The Collector
3.Handicap
4. Alaska Peril

Swamp Thing TV Series Coming to DVD

// August 20th, 2007 // No Comments » // Comics, DVD

According to TVShows on DVD, that seems to be the case. Shout Factory, the same group that produced the amazing Freeks and Geeks DVD set has supposedly acquired the DVD rights to the 1990 USA Network series. Based on the DC comics character, the series took the basic idea of the character and spun it into a genre heavy series that thrived on a threat/monster of the week theme.

I remember watching this show off and on the last few years of high school. It was just a few years before that I had gotten into the classic Swamp Thing series from DC. Writer Alan Moore took a stock horror character and transformed him into one of the most interesting books that DC had at the time. Rick Veitch continued the trend after Moore left, but the series floundered for direction after Veitch abruptly left. The comic had the character increasing in power to near god-like levels and it was hard to find anyone or anything that could challenge the character.

Several attempts have been made to bring the character back, but all have failed. With the success of the 1985-1996 series and the fact that it help found DC’s now popular Vertigo line, DC editorial have been hesitant to remove the character from his horror filled roots and return him to the super-hero filled DC universe proper (despite the recent, constant pleas from DC editorial). I say let them have the character. Past history and success is keeping the character tied to a formula that a few writers had success with, but others have not been able to duplicate in over a decade. Give someone else a chance to see what they can do with Swampy.

For a full history of the character and TV show, be sure to check out Arcane Knowledge and Cult TV Man’s Swamp Thing page.

DC Comics – New Frontier DVD Preview

// August 6th, 2007 // No Comments » // Comics, DVD

DC’s next animated, direct-to-DVD movie (after Superman/Doomsday) is an adaptation of Darwyn Cooke’s New Frontier. Based on the preview footage and the voice cast, I have to say that it looks like at A+ already.

MTV’s The State – Coming to DVD

// July 19th, 2007 // No Comments » // DVD

Man, I used to love this show. It was so cool at the time. Now I’ll finally be able to see the Jedi Talent Agency skit again.

More DC and Muppets DVDs

// July 12th, 2007 // No Comments » // DVD

It’s no secret that I’m a cartoon and comic book fan. Some of my favorite cartoons have always been the old DC cartoons (Superfriends, Superman, Batman). Recently, Warner Home Video released the 1977 New Adventures of Batman and the first season of the Adventures of Superman from 1966. Both sets were great (and replaced a few homemade sets of mine). I’m guessing they sold fairly well, because Warner has announced even more classic DC animation.

Look for Aquaman and the Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians to hit DVD on October 23rd. It doesn’t surprise me that another set of Superfriends is being released. Aside from the original 1973 series with Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog, the upcoming Legendary Super Powers show and the Galactic Guardians will complete the “series” releases of SuperFriends. Hopefully sometime in 2008 Warner will release the All-New SuperFriends 1-hour episodes, along with all the additional 7-minute shorts that were created between 1980-1983.

Aquaman is the release that really surprises me. He’s never been that popular of a character and would be the last series I expected to see on DVD. It makes sense after thinking about it. After these two releases in October, I expect we’ll see DC/Warner release the 1966 Filmation Batman Cartoon, along with the second and final season of the Adventures of Superman 1966 series. That only leaves the original DC Animated shorts (featuring the Justice League, Hawkman, Flash, Atom, and the Teen Titans) and Superboy. Considering the legal ruling in 2004 that the Siegels owned the rights to Superboy, I don’t expect we’ll see that set anytime soon.

Finally, we’re getting another season of the Muppet Show in just a few weeks on August 7. The first season set was great, but the good guest hosts didn’t start showing up until Season 2. You’ll see great shows featuring Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, George Burns, Rich Little, Peter Sellers, Lou Rawls, John Cleese, Elton John, and many more. With the exception of a few great Season 3 shows (Alice Cooper, Harry Belafonte, Raquel Welch), I think Season 2 was probably the best “season” of the show. Not only that, but the set looks to include a few great features and even one show I don’t think I’ve ever seen.

* The Muppets Valentines Special – Starring a young Mia Farrow, Kermit, and some Muppets you might not recognize, this extremely collectible special has aired only twice since 1974, and never before been released on DVD.
* Weezer and the Muppets – The music video for “Keep Fishin’” featuring Weezer backstage at The Muppet Show.
* The Muppets on the Muppets – Personal and revealing interviews from Kermit, Gonzo, Rizzo, and others that will make you laugh, and may even make you cry.