Defenders of the Earth – The Complete Series: Volume Two (Animation)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: B-     Episodes: C

 

 

Flash Gordon…The Phantom too…Mandrake…and all the rest here on The Defenders of the Earth: The Complete Series, Volume Two.  Whereas this is not Gilligan’s Island, at times it is hard not to laugh at the ridiculous nature of the series.  BCI Entertainment does it again and gives comic fans a chance to finish off their Defenders of the Earth collection.  This series was by no means a popular comic book concept and was arguably a huge 1980’s flop.  With a total run of 60 some episodes the series was given a good chance but failed to captivate viewers who were engrossed in episodes of He-man, Ghostbusters and reruns of Batman and Super Friends.

 

The series did not intrigue this reviewer and after 20 some years the series seems a bit dated.  In many ways the series seems shallow and lacks depth.  Unless you are a true fan this DVD set is a skip; instead go buy some good ol’ He-Man.

 

The last 32 episodes included on this 5-Disc set are:

 

• The Gods Awake
• The Ghost Walks Again
• The Book of Mysteries
• The Future Comes But Once
• Kshin and the Ghost Ship
• The Carnival of Dr. Kalihari
• The Mystery of the Book
• Flash Times Four
• The Frozen Heart
• Rick Gordon, One Man Army
• The Rites of Zesnan
• Audie the Tweak
• Return of the Skyband
• Dracula's Potion
• One of the Guys
• 100 Proof Highway
• The Time Freezer
• The Prince Makes His Move
• Prince Triumphant
• The Prince Weds
• The Prince's Royal Hunt
• The Prince is Dethroned
• Lothar's Homecoming
• Suspended Sabotage
• The Call of the Eternals
• The Return of Doctor Dark
• The Deadliest Battle
• The Necklace of Oros
• Ming Winter
• The Golden Queen, Parts 1 & 2
• Flesh and Blood
• Drowning World
• The Adoption of Kshin
• Street Smarts
• Ming's Thunder Lizards

 

 

The technical features of this 5-Disc DVD set leave much to be desired.  The picture is presented in a 1.33 X 1 Full Screen format, but could have seriously used an Anamorphic Widescreen treatment as well as some remastering.  The colors are a bit off and odd, but as this reviewer recalls the series never had the most detailed colors.  The sound is presented in a simple Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono that gets the job done and is just merely adequate.  At times the characters sound a bit distant.  It is up for debate if the color and sound issues are due to bad master cels and production or due to the digital transfers.

 

The extras included on this final 32 episode set are impressive, but not the best BCI has ever done.  Some extras include Interviews with the creators of the series featuring Bruce Malek, David Wise, and Michael Swanigan, some interesting episode commentaries, character profiles, a great ‘bonus movie’ of Defenders of the Earth “The Story Begins” (90 min. pilot from the first set, which might be the better place to start if you must see this show), DVD-ROM storyboards & scripts, the first episode of the 1979 animated Flash Gordon Filmation series reviewed elsewhere on this site, detailed character profiles, original model sheet gallery, trivia/fun facts and 2 collectable 4 X 6 art cards that come on excellent glossy cardboard.

 

This is not the best comic book animated series by any means, but interesting none the less.  No one but BCI could have made a set like this available, let’s keep them coming!

 

See more about the first set at:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4460/Defenders+Of+The+Earth

 

 

-   Michael P Dougherty II