Jonny Quest - The Complete First Season

Rating:
Summary: Possibly the best animated series ever
Review: I was born in 1972 and loved watching Jonny Quest as a child. In my opinion this is one of the most imaginative, interesting, and entertaining cartoons ever made. Now married with young children, my wife & I got the kids this series on DVD as a Christmas gift. The kids *love* it, outside of a few older cartoons (Tom & Jerry, Looney Tunes, Scooby Doo) this is all they want to watch lately.

These cartoons feature imaginative plots, charismatic and interesting villains, interesting storylines, and lots of action and humor. Most adults are going to enjoy this cartoon as much as the kids. Several friends of our children, relatives, and adult friends have watched an episode or two and been enthralled with the show.

The premise behind the show is following the adventures of Dr. Benton Quest (Jonny's Dad), Race Bannon, Jonny, Hadji, and their dog Bandit. Dr. Quest is a government sponsored scientist, Race is a bodyguard/mentor/tough guy who watches out for Dr. Quest and the boys. Hadji, an East Indian boy, is Jonny's best friend and introduced a few episodes into the series. Bandit is along for comic relief and of course Jonny's role in the adventures is the main focus of the show. Dr. Quest and the rest of the group live on a private island in the Florida Keys but are constantly traveling around the world to explore strange phenomena, perform scientific experiments, perform some type of investigation for the government, or help out friends in need. They invariably get into some sort of trouble in each episode, and in many ways one can draw alot of parallels between this show and James Bond movies. The villains are excellent. A good villain needs to be charismatic enough to be "marginally likeable" but at the same time be intelligent enough to seem dangerous. In Jonny Quest they are like this, and there is one very good recurring villain (Dr. Zen) in several of the episodes. There are a few recurring characters of interest as well such as "Jade", Race's love interest who helps the group out from time to time. There is a great deal of interesting technology used in the show (much of which was speculative and didn't actually exist when the show was made) and the group is in a different exotic locale for every episode. Enemies and villains run the gamut from energy eating invisible monsters, nazi war criminals, pirates, criminal organizations, mummies, flying dinosaurs, robots, & jungle tribes among others.

The technology and equipment in the show are really fun. The group uses equipment such as hovercrafts, lasers, sleeping dart guns, jetpacks, rocket sleds, bazookas, "Harrier" type aircraft before they were ever invented, various guns, and advanced computer equipment that while laughable from today's standards seemed very advanced when the show was made.

I am pleased to say the show is very "politically incorrect", which is very refreshing in these days of delicate sensitivities. Jonny and Hadji pray before bedtime in some episodes, there is a great deal of gunplay in many of the episodes, some smoking by certain characters, and alot of stereotyping of accents and mannerisms of people from different geographical locations. In Jonny Quest everyone is good or bad, there is none of this gray area "he's kind of good and kind of bad" tripe that is prevalent in a lot of tv today. There is no mistaking who the villains are and who the good guys are. Some of the bad guys may die from time to time in the show, but there is nothing I can recall that would seem graphic or disturbing to a young child. It's generally of the variety where a bad guy does himself in by for instance shooting glacier ice that collapses on him or the like. There is indeed a lot of violence in the show, but it generally has consequences unlike the watered down politically correct garbage shown on tv these days.

I haven't had any technical problems and the color looks great to me. The Dolby Digital track could have stood to be done a bit better but it's not bad. (At least it *is* encoded in Dolby Digital!!) The extras are a bit on the light side but not bad.

This is good, clean entertainment for the entire family and I give it 5 stars stars from an entertainment perspective. Maybe 4 stars from a DVD perspective due to the subpar Dolby Digital encoding and the editing out of a couple of phrases and scenes. Leave the originals alone Hollywood! We don't care if you are PC elitists and out of touch with reality. Leave our favorite shows from the past alone and unedited.

Rating:
Summary: The All Most Definitive Jonny Quest DVD Set...
Review: I grew up watching Jonny Quest during it's many re-showings on Saturday Morning television during the 70s. I wasn't around to watch the series during its original run in the early 60s. With all the awful, poorly conceived and animated shows that aired on Saturday mornings during my childhood Jonny Quest was a breath of fresh air. This series had interesting characters, exciting situations, intelligent stories and fantastic animation which was miles above what was being broadcast at that time.

So, now that the Jonny Quest series has made it to DVD I should be overjoyed, right? Well, the DVD set is good and does contain every episode of the original (real) series (please forget Hanna-Barbera's horrible modern Jonny Quest attempts) and they do look clean, crisp and colorful but the set does have its flaws. First, the extras really stink. The documentary about the series is poorly done and features nothing more than a group of people I don't know and never heard of offering their memories of the series. Who cares? I want to know about the complete history of the show with profiles of all the creators and voice actors who participated in its production. The documentary was a BIG disappointment. Secondly, having read the reviews on Amazon, I have learned about the various PC edits that have been made to the shows. This, of course, doesn't sit well with me. Also, as someone else stated the music that plays on the main DVD menu window is ridiculous. It sounds like the theme to some old game show or something. Why didn't they play the theme or music excerpted from the series instead? Bad decision guys.

What would I have liked to have seen? How about a real tribute to Doug Wildey, Jonny Quest's creator. They really needed to have included a something of substance for this great man. They could have also included, assuming it still exists, the original pilot film for Jonny Quest (when I believe it was going to be based on Jack Armstrong). Scenes from the original pilot film appear at the very beginning of the end credits. You know, the scenes with the hover craft and the angry African natives throwing spears.

I would give a full five stars to the show itself but have to give the DVD set less due to my above comments.

Rating:
Summary: "Ahh, we meet again, Dr. Quest..."
Review: Having a bit of a hard time with this one...
I loved the series as a kid... every young boy WANTED to be Jonny Quest, myself included. As someone who lived for "Jonny Quest" nite, and who has dialog indelibly burned into his memory, I am a little bit PO'd at the "thought police" for making this classic "politically correct" (stupid, Stupid, STUPID move!!!), but whatever, this was really a wonderful blast from the past for me- cheesy animation (but great for it's time!), lame dialog, phony science, ridiculous plots and all!
The good stuff... Remembering how much I hated "Bandit" and wished he'd found a way to get lasered by an evil villian's death ray, Race 'rasslin' alligators, etc., "Sim, Sim, SalaBim",
"Dr. Zin", the spider-looking "robot spy", "Jade" (pretty hot for a cartoon babe, at least back then!), cool theme music, how all the villians smoked cigarettes, hovercrafts, lizardmen... I could go on and on.
Finally, I need to mention that the "extras" included the original "PF Flyers" sneaker commercial. Man, every little boy wanted a pair of "PF's", since Jonny Quest wore 'em. Of course, this was in the days before even Converse "All-Stars" were popular!
In short, if you were a fan of the old show, expect a few disappointments, but sit back, put the old brain on "hold" and enjoy anyway!!

Rating:
Summary: I LOVE CLASSIC TOONS
Review: HEY GREAT SHOW ALTHOUGHT IM NOT OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE SEEN THIS IN ITS EARLY 60'S PRIME I GREW TO LOVE THIS SHOW ON EARLY 80'S RERUNS ,IT WAS GREAT THEN AND STILL KICKS THE HELL OUT ALMOST ALL CRAPTOONS THAT ARE ON NOWADAYS ..AS FAR AS THAT IDIOT PREVHS OWNER MAYBE YOU SHOULD CALL YOURSELF PREBRAIN OWNER AS IT SEEMS YOU HAVE NONE ..ANY IDIOT WHO WOULD COMPARE A CLASSIC CARTOON SHOW WITH JAMES BOND MOVIES OBVIOUSLY HAS NO SENSE OF DEPTH OR PERSPECTIVE... I CANT UNDESTAND ALL THESE IDIOTS THAT KEEP WRITING IN ON DVD REVIEWS ONLY TO SAY BAD STUFF ABOUT A SHOW THEY'VE NEVER BEEN A FAN OF ..AND GET THERE ROCKS OFF BY COMMENTING NEGATIVELY ON ANYTHING THAT THEY DONT EVEN LIKE .BUT HAVE NO LIFE SO THEY HAVE TO GO AROUND MAKING NEGATIVE REMARKS ON GOOD SHOWS SO THEY CAN HEAR THEMSELVES TALK ..SO TO ALL OF YOU REJECTS OUT THERE WHY DON'T YOU START YOUR OWN WEBSITE SO YOU CAN CAN COMPLAIN TO EACH OTHER ABOUT ALL OF THE HORRIBLE SHOWS OUT THERE ACCORDING TO YOURSELVES AND THEN YOULL SEE HOW IT FEELS TO LISTEN TO YOUR CRAP

Rating:
Summary: COOLEST CARTOON EVER!
Review: Having purchased this box set on a whim, I am glad I did! This set brings back great memories. It does however have a voice edit on the Ho-Po show. I believe however, that the person who thinks that the "shadow of the Condor" show was edited has mistaken this episode with "The Dark Tower". The Dark Tower has the scene that shows the Nazi soldier throwing a hand grenade at the Quest team from his plane when they are trapped on the side of the mountain. I don't recall a scene ever in
"shadow of the condor" that has the pilot throwing a grenade. I may be wrong but I believe this set is complete and unedited except for the voice editing on the Ho-Po showing.

You wont be disappointed with this purchase. It will bring back many memories and is quite to fun to watch even as an adult after all these years. Get it you wont regret it!



Rating:
Summary: You Should Buy This Because You Love Jackson Publick.
Review: I don't remember watching Johnny Quest when I was younger. My dad seems to remember... I don't know if he remembers actually watching it, or seeing me watch it, or if he was thinking of a completely different cartoon. But he says he remembers. And you have to listen to him.

I saw this in the store. ( And it cost more money at Wal*Mart than it does here at Amazon. So you should buy it here. That's the only part of my review that's actually helpful. ) And I was like, ``JOHNNY QUEST! SO COOL! I WANT TO OWN!" So why would I even want the DVD of a show I don't even remember watching? DUH. Because Venture Brothers rocks my socks off.

So if you watch Venture Brothers, then you have to buy this. Because Jackson Publick wants you to so you know when he's parodying Johnny Quest. Here's a quick guide to stuff.

Dude = Dr. Venture
Little Dude = Dean
Johnny = Hank
Race Bannon = Brock
Dog = Scamp

If you watch Johnny Quest, and use this guide ... It will be funnier. Because Venture Brothers pwns Johnny Quest something awful.

I'm done.



Rating:
Summary: Blast from the Past
Review: Protect your eyes and your memories! Before starting the JQ DVD, adjust the color on your TV so that is barely above B&W. With the picture acquiring the palor of a well-aged photograph, you will then be more completely transported to your youth as you begin your viewing journey. The top menu is nice but the sound track lapses into something akin to the 'Dating Game' theme; you don't want to go there, so hit 'Episodes' quickly.
There is no need to comment on the show itself. It's a classic. Yes there is the PO HO edit AND (I don't think this has been mentioned) an edit in the "Shadow of the Condor" episode; the scene has been removed where the German pilot tosses a grenade at the plane flown by Race.
Now that the price has dropped from the excruciating $50+ to below $30, it is time to run, not walk, to the "Order Now" button.

Rating:
Summary: For Jonny Quest Fans
Review: As I was quick to find out, my kids didn't really care that much for these dvds. I grew up with J. Quest, and I think they're pretty good. Overall, a great job of remastering some great cartoons.

Rating:
Summary: What the heck is the deal with the pricing on this thing?!?
Review: This review pertains to the pricing of this particular item, as I have not yet purchased a copy. My complaint is that the price keeps fluctuating. Initially it was a good thing, dropping from the overpriced online fee of almost $50, to $40 and finally, to a reasonable price of $29.99, the price that was listed earlier in the day, 14 Sep. However, I signed on early morning 15 Sep, within twelve hours or so of the previous price quote, intending to purchase the set, and the online price is back up to around $50!!! What the heck?!?! I'm all for companies earning a profit, but this latest attempt to squeeze out an extra buck is ridiculous.