The Adventures of Superman - The Complete First Season (DVD, 2005, 5-Disc Set)

The legendary Man of Steel assumes the secret identity of Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for the Metropolis Daily Planet. And with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men, he battles for truth and justice as Superman. The first ever Superman TV series! Originally aired in the 1950's, it features George Reeves as Superman and enjoyed tremendous success during its broadcast. The TV series premise was established a year before its broadcast via the theatrical release of "Superman and The Mole Men" in 1951.

Actors: George Reeves, Phyllis Coates, Jeff Corey, Walter Reed, J. Farrell MacDonald
Directors: Lee Sholem
Format: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Subtitled, NTSC
Language: English
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 5
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Release Date: October 18, 2005
Run Time: 662 minutes
DVD Features:
Available Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
26 episodes on five discs
The 1951 feature-length film Superman and the Mole Men

This is an outstanding item. The 5 discs are presented in a very colorful, elegant case within a box. Each episode is well summarised. I have only watched the movie and one episode at this stage. The 1951 movie, Superman and the Mole Men, which is the precursor to the television series, is really good. The first episode introduces Superman from the Planet Krypton to Earth and takes us through his childhood to his job on the Daily Planet. The quality of the film and episodes is also outstanding - the digital remastering has been expert, to say the least. For all those Baby Boomers out there - I would be very surprised if you didn't absolutely love this set - to say nothing about the hunky Georges Reeves! Bring on Series 2. Even though the price was a bit high, I think it was really worth it, but would like to see any subsequent series priced a little lower. Well done.

I bought this series for my father because he has fond memories of racing home from school during his lunch hour to watch it. I am no dvd expert that I can say, the sound was this, the picture, tone quality was that. It was the clearest I have ever seen the show. I love the menu, designed like a little comic book with moving images in the selections. The only thing I didn't care for was Lois Lane in Season one. She had no chemistry with Clark, and was dry as toast...a real ice queen. Most likely because it was Phyllis Coates and not Noel Neill, the original and best Lois on TV. Other than that, it was very enjoyable to have.

This multi disk set is truly a collector's dream for fans of either or both Superman comics and early TV programs. The commentary alone offers an eye-opening look behind the scenes of how 1950's post MacCarthy TV was produced.

The stories themselves are all "mini-film noir" period pieces set against the backdrop of a fictional Metropolis (New York City) and reflect the paranoid times that spawned them. One particular story depicts an escaped "Communist" scientist entrusting his daughter to bring his world saving "formula" to the President of the United States and to give it to no one else. And even Superman can't do anything but wait for the police to come up with clues in many of the 27 minute films.

The "Mind Control Device" episode is well worth the look aas it sternly opposes anyone's efforts to control the mind of another. Even Superman is not opposed to taking a cheap shot to protect his identity as he clobbers the innocent pilot of a plane he (as Clark Kent) is flying in trying to ferret out the villians.

All in all the stories are fun and done with a certain amount of flair that modern TV is sorely lacking. While todays programs (with the notable exception of LOST and 24) hit their audience over the head with obvious clues or just outright tell us the plot with a "spoon feed them" mentality these old TV programs didn't "dumb it down". Rather they made you use that powerful tool called intelligence to suss out the story along with the lead characters.

I shall certainly be looking forward to many more offerings from the 1950s and so should you. TV was still in it's infancy and hadn't been stricken with Altzheimers yet.

Sam Hawley
"Just my nickle"

I ordered this set after having watched the movie "Hollywoodland", so I would say curiousity was my reason for buying it. While I was not born yet when these episodes aired, as a young boy in the 60's I recall seeing re-runs on TV. All of our parents and the older kids all claimed that George Reeves really thought he could fly and died trying to fly from a high story building. While that wasn't what happened,the shows were good. The first season shows were good. If you expect a 50's version of "Smallville"...you will get that in the first episode. While obviously dated, the episodes are still fun to watch. The extras are nice, and include 3 Kellogs Frosted Flakes commercials. To pique your interest, and heighten your viewing enjoyment, I highly recommend that you purchase the DVD "Hollywoodland" , and watch that first.