Ariel! Ookla! We REVIEW!
Dec. 15th, 2010 05:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegargantuaHey,
So I picked up the complete 4-volume DVD set of Thundarr the Barbarian the other day.
Even my inner 8 year-old is kinda like "Dude, this is not as cool as I was hoping for".
Here's the deal: When you get DVD sets you sorta expect that there will be some extras. There might be deleted scenes or commentary or a "making of" mini-documentary in it or something. This set is just, straight-up, all 24 episodes split out over 4 disks. The DVD menus are so spartan as to be almost non-existent.
Well, OK, not a whole lot of bells and whistles...
But the other thing you expect from DVD sets is a clean image. Maybe not a remastered original (though you often get that), but a crisp, clean print. Yeah, no, not so much here. There are very obvious video artifacts in a number of the episodes that make it look like they video-taped a television playing someone's old VHS cassettes of the episode. It's not overwhelming but it crops up enough that you feel that quality control was asleep at the switch.
Sadly, Thundarr is probably just popular enough to warrant a DVD set, but not popular enough to justify spending any money on it.
As for the episodes themselves -- they still have the gonzo, post-apocalyptic feel that I remember. I'd forgotten how heavily they re-used stock footage of our heroes riding about and their continuity guys were drunk most days ("We must recover my Sun Sword!" "You mean the one still on your wrist-holder for some reason?"). But what can I say? I was 8 and it was awesome. Given the show's popularity, this is probably the best I can hope for.
It occurred to me that a modern day remake would best be served by letting Genndy Tartakovsky take a shot at it. Then it occurred to me that Samurai Jack is the direct spiritual descendant of Thundarr and thus I should just shut up and look into the Samurai Jack DVD set.
Oh, if you feel like you want to see some Thundarr but don't want to pony up for a wretched DVD set, let me know and I can be persuaded to lend it out.
later
Tom
So I picked up the complete 4-volume DVD set of Thundarr the Barbarian the other day.
Even my inner 8 year-old is kinda like "Dude, this is not as cool as I was hoping for".
Here's the deal: When you get DVD sets you sorta expect that there will be some extras. There might be deleted scenes or commentary or a "making of" mini-documentary in it or something. This set is just, straight-up, all 24 episodes split out over 4 disks. The DVD menus are so spartan as to be almost non-existent.
Well, OK, not a whole lot of bells and whistles...
But the other thing you expect from DVD sets is a clean image. Maybe not a remastered original (though you often get that), but a crisp, clean print. Yeah, no, not so much here. There are very obvious video artifacts in a number of the episodes that make it look like they video-taped a television playing someone's old VHS cassettes of the episode. It's not overwhelming but it crops up enough that you feel that quality control was asleep at the switch.
Sadly, Thundarr is probably just popular enough to warrant a DVD set, but not popular enough to justify spending any money on it.
As for the episodes themselves -- they still have the gonzo, post-apocalyptic feel that I remember. I'd forgotten how heavily they re-used stock footage of our heroes riding about and their continuity guys were drunk most days ("We must recover my Sun Sword!" "You mean the one still on your wrist-holder for some reason?"). But what can I say? I was 8 and it was awesome. Given the show's popularity, this is probably the best I can hope for.
It occurred to me that a modern day remake would best be served by letting Genndy Tartakovsky take a shot at it. Then it occurred to me that Samurai Jack is the direct spiritual descendant of Thundarr and thus I should just shut up and look into the Samurai Jack DVD set.
Oh, if you feel like you want to see some Thundarr but don't want to pony up for a wretched DVD set, let me know and I can be persuaded to lend it out.
later
Tom
