Customer Reviews

Benji, Zax and the Alien Prince - The Complete Series

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I was younger, in an unnamed country in Europe, this was one of three shows on television during the day. The rest was aggravating hiss. I never conceived the idea of owning this little part of my childhood history forever, but it's here, and this is what I think of it:

It's exactly what it says on the box...the complete series. If you're looking for special features, fancy special effects, and all the magic that made movies like The Incredibles huge hits, you will more than likely be disappointed. There is no fluff, no special features, nothing fancy. In fact, it will be painfully obvious during some episodes that Zax was put into the picture later, especially when he is flying.

But before you sigh and click the back button on your browser, let me suggest this:

Given the year of production, the DVD transfer turned out to be remarkably clear, free of any artifacts that would detract from a pleasurable viewing experience, and the sound is quite clear as well. So, as far as technical reproduction goes, it's great.

And, if you remember watching this show at some point in your life, and it had some impact on you, memories will come flooding back, and you will probably find yourself watching it for the nostalgia. And if happy memories are not a good enough of a reason to buy some things in this world, then what is?

Length:: 8:35 Mins

I was in 6th grade in Lincoln, Nebraska when Benji, Zax, and the Alien Prince first aired back in 1989 from September 17th to December 17th and turned 12 during the run of the series. Being a rather unusual girl and very bright, this story of an exiled prince from the planet Antars striving to survive and evade capture from Zanu's bounty hunters held special resonance with my own difficult life experience. I was living an especially harsh home life and struggling to deal with spiritual abilities no one around me understood and largely persecuted me for--empathy and sight. So it should be no surprise that I found (and find) Yubi's story and situation very familiar and easy to relate to and immediately, about five minutes into the first episode, had fallen for this handsome prince, my first real crush in my life. Yubi and I could understand each other. His journeys to evade capture, to evade dangers from humans who see his cipher as a sign of wealth, and simple struggles within himself are things I could and can especially understand--as I think everyone can. In my review, I express my adoration for this series and Yubi in particular, show you the four disk covers, tell you a little about Chris that I discovered, provide tips for watching, let you know which episodes to watch to learn about Yubi's character, and even review the special effects in their 1983 context.

The only thing I object to in this release is that there are too few episodes per disk and too many disks. There were 13 episodes so there should have been only 2 disks with 7 episodes on disk 1 and 6 episodes on disk 2.

I won't lie and say I enjoy watching these serials, it's a bit dated and kind of silly but my grandson absolutely loves them. Definitely a worthy purchase and quite enjoyable for VERY young children.