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Challenge of the Super Friends - Attack of the Legion of Doom
Challenge of the Super Friends - Attack of the Legion of Doom (1978)
Movie rating: 7/10
DVD rating: 6/10
Release Date: April 22, 2003
Running Time: 86 minutes
Rating: NR
Distributor: Warner Home Video
List Price: $19.98
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Disc Details
Special Features: Episodes introductions by story editor Jeffrey Scott
Hall of Doom
Super Friend or Super Foe?
Video Format: Full Frame (1.33:1)
[SS-DL]
Languages: English (Dolby Digital Mono)
Espanol(Dolby Digital Mono)

Subtitles: English, Espanol
Captions: Yes
Casing: 1-Disc Snap Case

Review
For many, the DVD arrival of "Challenge of the Super Friends" marks the return of a childhood favorite. A nostalgic compilation of the classic 1978 TV cartoon, Superman leads a team of all-star DC Comics superheroes (including Batman & Robin, Flash and of course the super sexy bikini and armor clad Wonder Woman), against a team of 13 of the most notorious DC Comics supervillians. There were 16 episodes of this landmark animated series, but only four have been included in "Attack of the Legion of Doom." Episodes include: Wanted Ten Super Friends, Invasion of the Fearians, The World's Deadliest Game, The Time Trap.
*note: Amazon.com falsely lists an additional episode, Trial of the Super Friends, which is in fact not included in the disc.

The Disc
Likely to bring a chuckle now, considering how well written and animated the current "Justice League" and "Batman: The Animated Series" are, the nostalgic value of "Challenge of the Super Friends - Attack of the Legion of Doom" can't exactly be expressed in words. The cheesy narrative introduction and equally flat animation have a certain irreplaceable charm. Warner Bros. has done a good job cleaning up the four episodes included, and the addition of a very short introduction by Story Editor Jeffrey Scott at the beginning of each episode is a nice little feature. Still, one wishes that they could have included more than just four episodes on this latest DVD.

Picture Quality: 7/10
For a 25 year old animated series, Warner Bros. has done a pretty quality job cleaning up the image where they can. Colors are a little soft in places, an obvious result of natural film aging.

Sound Quality: 7/10
Again, preserving a 25 year old audio track is a daunting taks, but Warner Bros. has done a decent job with the Dolby Digital mono track included in the disc. Clearly audible, the sound complements the picture well.

Menu: 8/10
Nice, simple menu system. When selecting episodes, you can click on two icons next to each episode title. One will take you to an introduction by Story Editor Jeffrey Scott for that particular episode, and the other to the episode itself. There's also the option to play all episodes at once.

Extra Features: 4/10
An introduction by Story Editor Jeffrey Scott at the beginning of each episode is a nice little feature, as is the cheesy "Hall of Doom" bios, which feature all thirteen Legion of Doom characters and a short video highlight sequence for each one. My favorite has always been Bizzaro, Superman's arch nemesis, who comes from Bizzaro world and looks just like Superman, only uglier and with a backwards "S". Super Friend or Super Foe is a silly game not really worth your time.

The Final Word:
Likely to bring a chuckle now, considering how well written and animated the current "Justice League" and "Batman: The Animated Series" are, the nostalgic value of "Challenge of the Super Friends - Attack of the Legion of Doom" can't exactly be expressed in words. The cheesy narrative introduction and equally flat animation have a certain irreplaceable charm. Warner Bros. has done a good job cleaning up the four episodes included, and the addition of a very short introduction by Story Editor Jeffrey Scott at the beginning of each episode is a nice little feature. Still, one wishes that they could have included more than just four episodes on this latest DVD.

Stephen Wong

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