Rating: 
Summary: Great Animation from the 40's
Review: The original Superman cartoons are well restored (all but one). Sadly, this DVD was transferred from tape. About half way through, there is a slight ripple where the master tape was creased. Not otherwise bad for $14.00 END
Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous restoration
Review: They did a super job of restoring these old cartoons of Superman. I have a few episodes on tape and the color was washed out and they sounded horrible. Great animation brought back from the dead! If you like the classic animation, you will love this DVD! END
Rating: 
Summary: Bad sound editing.
Review: Stay away from this version. It has "enhanced sounds and effects" which drown out the dialog and sound very much out of place. It sounds as though someone were constantly playing with the volume control...very distracting. The picture isn't that great either.
Pick up "The complete Superman collection diamond anniversary edition" instead. The picture is clear and the sound is crisp. Plus it has all 17 episodes where the inferior "Superman The Lost Episodes" only has eight.
Rating:
Summary: Superman with Style!
Review: Nostalgia buffs, "Superfans,"students of quality animation, and lovers of classic comics will enjoy these 17 cartoons produced between 1941 and 1943 by Paramount Studios. In these little gems, the Man of Steel battles an assortment of monsters, mobsters, mad scientists, and malefactors bent on wreaking havoc in Metropolis and sabotaging America's war effort. Despite the rather formulaic plots, what makes this collection worth having is the outstanding attention to detail in the animation and backgrounds, especially in the first nine 'toons produced by Max Fleischer and directed by his brother Dave. The skyscrapers have a distinctive Art Deco look that gives Superman's world a real personality, a real sense of time and place. Lois Lane shows plenty of spunk long before anyone ever heard the phrase "women's liberation." She bluntly calls Clark Kent a fool, packs her portable typewriter (a 1940s laptop) almost anywhere, wields a machine gun to foil train robbers, and flies off solo, Amelia Earhart-style, to interview a mad scientist.As noted by other reviewers, the quality of the animation and storytelling drop off noticeably in the remaining eight shorts, produced after the Fleischers left Paramount. Overall, however, the series maintains a fairly high standard throughout, probably because associates of the Fleischers also worked on the later entries in the series. Even the lesser quality animation of the later 'toons, to my eyes, looks better than much of the drivel produced for the Saturday morning shows. Modern day viewers may be uncomfortable with the portrayals of Germans and Japanese, but, after all, these cartoons were produced during World War II, when Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan were our mortal enemies. I daresay that if someone were to produce a cartoon adventure of Superman vs. Al-Quaeda today, Osama bin Laden and his ilk wouldn't be portrayed very favorably. All things considered, the Last Son of Krypton has seldom looked better than he does in these cartoons.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Superman DVD Available
Review: Growing up in the '80s these Superman cartoons were my absolute favorite. They were readily available on VHS from numerous companies as they were in the public domain, and as such the quality of the prints was often very poor. I wanted to watch every Superman cartoon, but they were not al available. This DVD set has EVERY Superman cartoon made in the 1940s. Today they hold up just as well, beautiful animation, great plot lines, and some are just plain racist, but they still have all the charm and effect from when I was a kid. Because several, if not all of the cartoons on this DVD are in the public domain, you will find that there are other companies that also release Superman cartoons on DVD, however this is the one DVD to get. These cartoons have been restored, and are well worth the money.
Rating:
Summary: Old School, New Life
Review: Plain and simple, this disc is the classic Max and Dave Flescher rending of Superman. Forget the Fortress of Solitude, the Phantom Zone, Brainiac, and Bizzaro. This is rough and tumble, rough cut, and "unplugged" Superman. The plots are simple, the violence is limited, and the moral fiber is all there. Thank goodness these shorts have been preserved for posterity.
The most refreshing thing about these cartoons is that they are not anime. The odd angles, weird facial features, and mysterious blue and green hair are missing. The edges are rounded, the lines curved and the colors subdues. Personally, it is easier on my eye to look at this. And the 1940's backdrops make me laugh--just compare the curved and lumbering Studebakers and De Sotos to the harsh and razor-edges lines of the more recent super-autos, and you see my point.
These classic toons not only retain the early moral fiber, but the charm of the a far more innocent day. I wonder if, in the intervening half-century we have gotten any better.
Rating:
Summary: FINALLY A COMPLETE, AND GREAT LOOKING SET!
Review: The AWESOME set of the great Fleischer Superman Cartoons of the 40's is the ONLY set to own. These are out there on so many lousy public domain versions for a few bucks, but spend the extra money and get this set. The Popeye cartoons and Betty Boop notwithstanding, this IS the Fleischer's best work. All 17 Superman cartoons have been fully restored and are simply some of the best animation ever.
I've seen these so many times over the year and never get tired of seeing the brilliant, movie-like animation. The fluidity, the colors is simply dazzling. This is why I love animation. It does not get any better.
This was the classic Superman of the early 1940's, battling mad scientists, saboteurs, giant robots, and all kinds of criminal elements. Here are my favorite episodes:
"The Mechanical Monsters" A mad scientist is using a collection of giant robots to steal money and precious items around Metropolis. The Mad Inventor sends his robots to a jewelry store to steal a large collection of gems. During the chaos, Lois Lane tries to stop the robots, but is trapped inside the hull of one of the gigantic mechanical monsters. Quickly, Clark Kent heads into a phone booth and changes to Superman. He follows the fleet of giant robotic crooks, but is stopped when he becomes tangled in a power line. Lois is found by The Scientist and is tied to a chair, and is about to be placed under a kettle of molten metal. Superman escapes the power lines and flies to the mountain hideout of the renegade inventor. He not only saves Lois Lane, but he destroys the robots and captures their crazed creator.
"The Mummy Strikes" - An Egyptologist is found dead in the tomb of an ancient Egyptian king, and his assistant is mistakenly convicted of the crime. Clark Kent is summoned by one of the dead professor's colleagues to try to find the truth of the matter. Clark discovers what really killed the professor, but, in so doing, accidentally awakens the ancient, giant mummies who guard the tomb. Lois and Clark are trapped with the reanimated mummies. Clark has to become Superman in order to save Lois and the professor.
"The Underground World" Underground caverns and the promise of an exclusive story for the Daily Planet make this an exciting adventure for Lois Lane and Clark Kent. Clark, Lois and a professor journey to a lost underground cavern. There, they find a lost race of birdmen! The excitement turns to danger when Lois is captured by the giant bird people. Lois and the professor are to be sacrificed and Superman has to save the day.
"Jungle Drums" - Lois Lane's plane goes down in Nazi-controlled territory in Africa while she is in possession of top-secret military intelligence documents. She is captured and taken to a secret Nazi base in the jungle. It's up to Superman to save Lois from death at the hands of natives (with bones in their noses) who are controlled by a Nazi dressed as a jungle god.
"Superman" The very first superman toon! In this, the first Superman cartoon, we see how The Man Of Steel first came to Earth. After Krypton's tragic destruction, he was found by the side of the road in rural Kansas and spent most of his childhood in an orphanage. An adult Clark Kent becomes a reporter for The Daily Planet. Perry White assigns Clark and Lois Lane to get information about a mad scientist who is threatening to destroy the city with a new super ray gun. But Lois wants to cover the story alone. Lois flies to the mad scientist's lab and is captured by the renegade inventor. Watching helplessly, Lois witnesses the super ray gun destroying many of the city's landmarks, including the Daily Planet building. Clark Kent changes into Superman and flies to the scientist mountaintop lab where he destroys the ray gun, saves Lois and brings the mad inventor to justice.
This set really has it all...Sci-Fi, Fantasty, Horror, monsters, Robots, Nazis...truly a dream collection. Highest recommendation possible!
Rating:
Summary: The only early animated collection you need.
Review: Having seen a number of the early Superman cartoons on other "public domain" compilations, I can say with confidence, DON'T BUY THE OTHERS!!! Bosko Video has a reputation for putting out high quality products and this collection is nothing less than fantastic. The images are superbly clear and the audio is nearly flawless (no, there are NO new or altered sound effects added).
As much as I love the continuing modern adventures of super heros like Superman, Batman, and Spiderman, the earlier stories and artwork for each hero have always been my favorites. The Fleischer cartoons capture the early art-deco look and feel of the original Superman / Action Comics era. The artwork is great and the stories are timeless. This is the series that spawned the well know lines: "Faster than a speeding bullet...... More powerful than a locomative....able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.....Superman" These cartoons are the epitome of early American comic book heros.
The only complaints I have (and really, this is nothing) is that each episode starts with an added supscript "Originally Released October 1942" for a few seconds. Having this appear before the cartoon starts at all would have been better instead of inserting over the actual film itself. It would have been better suited to a booklet, which leads to my other complaint. There is no booklet. They do make up for it with a nice video intro regarding Superman and the cartoon series however.
This set is a real steal for the price, and it contains all of the early episodes, complete and fully restored. I would suggest this set for fans who prefer the early look of comic book heros, art deco animation, and Superman in general. Fans of period-look films like The Iron Giant or Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow will also love this (especially when Superman fights robots). Fleisher cartoons have always been great, but all too often the are butchered in the public domain. This is a rare example of Fleisher's work presented in such quality.
Rating:
Summary: IT'S A BIRD...IT'S A PLANE...IT'S SUPER-COOL!
Review: "Superman", the Max and Dave Fleischer animated version, just might be the closest thing there is to seeing the world's greatest superhero at his birth. These cartoons were the very first Superman on screen, made when the comic books were only four years old. You'll be very impressed- I know I was- with the animation art, including faithful character sketches and amazing deco-noir Manhattan settings. This DVD includes all 17 of the Fleischer/Famous episodes, made from 1941-43, complete with the nifty- and catchy- WWII military march-style theme music that, for those of a certain age, will definitely conjure up vintage wartime newsreels. Did you know there was also an alternate intro? I didn't, and it's a great bit of Super-trivia ("Faster than a bolt of lightning!"). You'll also get a kick out of the things Superman fights off: a giant Siberian dinosaur that thaws out of his iceberg ("Arctic Giant"), Egyptian mummies that come to life ("The Mummy Strikes"), and a sabotaged train full of gold bars ("Billion Dollar Limited"). But no matter what obstacles await, Superman always rescues Lois Lane, drags in the villains and returns to his mild-mannered city desk- just like the '50s TV show we all remember. The dialogue is very sparse, but we see the genesis of feisty, witty Lois whenever she speaks.
These cartoons are, wisely, presented uncut and unadorned, with no extras- though the edition I saw included a crude "Private Snafu" take. (That was Warner Bros.' wartime cartoon series, in bare-bones black and white.) The second half of the series, with the "Famous Studios" credit (the Fleischers sold the business in '42), is a bit formulaic but, thankfully, the animation quality didn't suffer and there are even glints of sassy New York humor, probably courtesy of "Betty Boop" alum Izzy Sparber.
So if your Super-memories are a bit hazy, like mine, and want to see how it all began on screen, check out this set and you, too, will not only be humming the theme music, but saying "Look- up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's..." ah, you know the rest!
Rating:
Summary: Bad sound editing.
Review: Stay away from this version. It has "enhanced sounds and effects" which drown out the dialog and sound very much out of place. It sounds as though someone were constantly playing with the volume control...very distracting. The picture isn't that great either.
Pick up "The complete Superman collection diamond anniversary edition" instead. The picture is clear and the sound is crisp. Plus it has all 17 episodes where the inferior "Superman The Lost Episodes" only has eight.
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