Black Scorpion - The TV Series

Rating:
Summary: Roger Corman's Lifetime Work
Review: At the time of its filming, Roger Corman described the Black Scorpion tv series as his ultimate life's work. He believed in it so much that he poured his life savings into making all 22 episodes without going through the usual procedure of making a pilot episode and approaching television channels. As a result there was a two-year gap between the filming of the series and its first airing. Was it worth it?

First of all, what was the goal of the series? It was meant as a respectful homage to the 60's Batman series, combined with the sexy fighting females so common in Corman's films. The bat became a scorpion, the man became a woman. The tongue-in-cheek humour and camp nature of Batman were to be retained.

As a crime-fighting icon, Black Scorpion is an immediate success. While the 60's needed a male hero, our 21st Century is better fitted with a powerful female to bring law and order. Michelle Lintel proves to be an adequate replacement to Joan Severance, who played Black Scorpion in the previous films. Her self-confident entrances with corny jokes are the equal of Batman at his best. The colourful villains are made even better by their inherant lack of credibility. This is escapism at its best, not reality! The references to Batman are strengthened by casting Adam West as Breathtaker and Frank Gorshin as Clockwise. Other elements used as sub-plots to the series are the incompetent police force, the corrupt politicians, and the budding love affair between Black Scorpion's alter-ego and a police detective.

However, the series has weaknesses that need to be addressed. Despite the large budget, the car chase scenes are constantly re-used, which I find grating. Gangster Prankster's character is based so closely on the Joker that Corman can be accused of plagiarism. But the greatest weakness is that the comic elements are overdone. It's one thing that the police are incapable of dealing with super-villians -- that's why Black Scorpion is needed -- but it's another to portray the police as layabouts who throw baseballs about in the station instead of trying to solve crimes. Scott Valentine is a credible detective, but Shane Powers and Steven Kravitz are totally out of place. The running humour between the scientific genius (B.T.) and his scatty girlfriend (Enya Flack) is so silly that it just isn't funny. How could a man like that love a woman like that?

Overall, the series is a success, and the DVD box set is good value for money. It's a crime that until now Black Scorpion has rarely been aired and still remains unknown. If Roger Corman has any money left, he should make a second, improved series of Black Scorpion, toning down the sillier humour. The series has the potential to become a classic, but based on the evidence of the first series, it isn't quite there yet.

Rating:
Summary: classic comic book fun
Review: Black Scorpion is a flash back to the style of the comic books of the 60's with one major exception: Michelle Lintel is far hotter than anything in those old comics! If you like old comics and also love beautiful women then this will do the trick. It's a beautiful DVD set too. I can't get over how great this set looks!

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Escapism.
Review: I agree with seawasp's review. This is very entertaining with tongue firmly in cheek. The set comes with excellent artwork and the 16 page booklet is full of colorful stills of the super villains. An added bonus is Behind The Sting: The Making Black Scorpion hosted and narrated by none other than our favourite hero ADAM WEST, who also happens to appear in four episodes as 'The Breathtaker'. Interviews with Roger Corman and other cast members are both informative and entertaining as is the audio commentary on the first two episodes.
It is also good to see Frank Gorshin as Clockwise make a memorable appearance.
Buy it now you will not be sorry.

Rating:
Summary: check out this beautiful babe's beautiful set of...DVDs
Review: Michelle Lintel is the funnest tv super heroine ever She's great to look at too. if you are a fan of Black Scorpion then you gotta get this collection. All the episdes of Black Scorpion are here and the box set is almost as very nicely put together as Ms Lintel. Well almost. She's pretty impressive. The episodes look fantastic and everything you loved about the show is here. Lots of campy humor, a great car, sinister over the top bad guys, and Ms Lintel kickin' major butt. This set is a must for B movie and comic fans. Thanks for the fun Michelle and thanks to you too Mr Corman.

Rating:
Summary: she is SO HOT
Review: OMG, she is so hot! Ya there are studid plots....bad acting....poor action scenes, but we need to get past that, the sereies is great for saturday afternoon fun. Did I mention that she is SOOO HOT, as are most of the other women in the series. order this for fun and very nice looking things to look at!

Rating:
Summary: Incredibly Entertaining!
Review: This is a great show and a wonderfuly packaged box set with great extras. Yes it is incredibly cheesy, but that's what makes it so fun! Michael Lintel is BEAUTIFUL, Scott Valentine is perfect as her partner, the villans are classic campy comic book characters, the vixens are too and are HOT, ADAM WEST ROCKS, FRANK GORSHIN IS AWESOME, and the writing is extremely fun and humorous. Check out Black Scorpion the movie and Black Scorpion II if you are a fan of the show. I enjoyed the films and fell in love with the show too. For fun escapist 'B movie' styled viewing you can't beat the Black Scorpion.

Rating:
Summary: Roger Corman Strikes Again!!
Review: This is an irretrievably stupid TV show... needless to say, I love it! Roger Corman was executive producer and this certainly has the Corman touch. Shoddy sets, ridiculous dialogue, earthquake/disaster scenes from other movies or stock footage, barely adequate acting, the same flying car crash in nearly every second episode, cheesy (but fun) special effects. The master is definately up to his old tricks. The same stuff he was up to in the 60s and 70s. The end result though, as in IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA, DEATH RACE 2000, etc. is a rollicking good time. The trick is to put your brain in neutral and suspend all logic and reason. The only thing more stupid than this TV show is the poor unfortunate who takes it seriously. I pity the sci-fi fan who has just gotten too clever and cynical for his own good. Too much knowledge is a killjoy as far as this kind of thing is concerned. We can no longer fantasize about an alien flying saucer base on the dark side of the moon or that the Titanic can be raised. But this is just dumb fun. So what if nothing makes sense. Who cares? Everybody knocks this program for being ridiculous. Remember Batman and Robin used to change into costume just by sliding down the Bat Pole. James Mason, Pat Boone and a duck walked a couple of thousand miles to the Earth's core through giant underground mushroom forests using a clear pathway which was lit up like a fairy grotto only to be spewed up by a volcano, riding the stream of lava in a giant dish. What about "Fantastic Voyage" where scientists were shrunk down to microbe size and injected into a guy's blood stream? And those films are considered classics!! So, as Weird Al would say: "Dare to be stupid!" It's fun! Plus, Michelle Lintel is as cute as a button, she looks great in that revealing Black Scorpion suit, and is convincing with her martial arts. The villains are colorful and over-the-top. The silliness might take a little while to get used to (and the first episode ain't too hot) but I actually sat through 3 in a row and stopped only because I had to pick up my wife from the airport. Nicely presented dvd. 22 episodes on 6 picture discs in a fold out case. You also get a 16-page booklet.

Rating:
Summary: The Most Fun I've Had in Years
Review: This show isn't afraid to go over the top. So many television series are conservative these days. The plots, characters, stunts and special effects have to be realistic. Add in a TV-sized budget, and you're in for some boring, low-key footage. Even recent superhero shows have villains in plain clothes who often do nothing but talk.

What I admire with Roger Corman is what he can do on such a small budget. Don't expect blockbuster polish. But do expect explosions, natural disasters, fistfights, villains with colorful costumes and gimmicks, super powers in action.

The Black Scorpion is like the 60's Batman series, updated to today's technology. The costumes are better; the fights are better; the special effects are better, and the props are much more realistic.

This isn't drama. It isn't Emmy material. And it never tries to be realism.

But it's fun. The most fun television has been in years!

Rating:
Summary: a must for fans
Review: This was a really fun series and it's quite an impressive DVD set. One of the nicest looking DVD sets I own as a matter of fact. I loved this show and every episode of the series is here on DVD to enjoy over and over. A great buy for Scorpion fans.