KryptonSite's DVD Review Column #6: The All-New Super Friends Hour Vol. 2
Reviewed by Craig Byrne
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Read previous installments of the KryptonSite DVD Column:
#1 (10/08) Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 3 & Supernatural Season 3
#2 (10/08) Doctor Who: The Brain Of Morbius, Trial Of A Time Lord, & The Sarah Jane Adventures
#3 (11/08) Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series
#4 (11/08) Primeval: The Complete Series 1 and 2
#5 (1/09) Doctor Who: War Machines & Four To Doomsday

The All-New Super Friends Hour: Volume 2
Warner Home Video
8 episodes on 2 discs
Release Date: January 27, 2009

As a kid, Superfriends was always a treat to see. It would usually only air before 3pm on the local Washington, DC station, so the only times I'd get to watch would be when I happened to get out of school early.

On January 27, Warner Home Video released a second collection of hour-long Superfriends episodes, and although the Challenge of the Superfriends episodes have their own charm and storyline, I have to say that this collection might be my favorite thus far. (Full disclosure, though: I don't have Volume 1 though I assume it is just as good)

These episodes are from the 70's and as a result, you'll see some really cheesy stuff. The phones look funny, the cars look funny. The animation frequently has errors with characters going off model, Batman's oval changing colors, and that sort of thing, and some of the episode topics are incredibly outdated, such as a Wonder Twins episode about racism that shows how far our country has come in just 30 years. These hour long episodes feature several things in the same hour; riddles, magic tricks, life lessons, and of course team-ups and superhero adventures.

Upon my intial viewing, I thought I'd relegate a DVD set like this to just being good background noise, but actually watching it, I had a lot of fun. Yes, it's not as detailed as Justice League Unlimited but I'd watch it before the new Brave and the Bold anytime.

A featurette on this disc takes a look at the Wonder Twins with several people remembering that Osmond-like duo where one of them becomes an animal and the other becomes, well.. water. (Thank goodness for Gleek and his bucket) At one point, a writer jokes about the cheesy laugh-outs that would end every episode, usually with a bad pun and everyone laughing. This may be where I got my terrible sense of humor from. Superfriends - featuring the Justice League teaming of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Robin, and the Wonder Twins with guest stars like Flash or Black Vulcan - is such a fun time capsule of super-hero animation from another era. It's not a toy commercial as Super Powers is, and although there are the life lessons, it's several hours of great fun. I recommend this disc and give it 4 super-stars out of 5.

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Here's a clip from the DVD for those of you who may be interested:

 

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