Customer Reviews

Challenge of the Super Friends - Attack of the Legion of Doom

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Considered the best in the series, Challenge of the Superfriends features an all star line up of DC Comics flagship and popular characters: Superman, Batman and Robin, Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman. They are joined by Samurai, Apache Chief and Black Vulcan.

The vilains: The Legion of Doom, headed by Lex Luthor. All of the major bad guys are here, from Bizzaro, Black Manta, Cheeta, Giganta, Riddler, Toyman, Gorilla Grood, Solomon Grundy, Scarecrow, and Brainiac!

Expect nothing short of a Royal Rumble when these two teams collide against each other. This is the best interpretation of the DC comic books into animation. No other series involving Super Heroes has ever matched it. Hanna Barbara did outstanding work on this series, possibly one of their best on television. The voice talents were also good.

A lot of creative forces, who are now legends in the comic book business, were involved in the series: Alex Toth, who did an outstanding job designing the characters for animation. DC staff, such as artist Carmine Infantino, writer and afficinado E. Nelson Bridwell and of course, editor Julius Schwartz (who was a major contributor to the Silver Age of Comics with his revamping of the Flash and Green Lantern)

This DVD has been long awaited by fans. Never before has there been an official video release of the series. A must have for anyone who is interested in Super Heroes. (WB, release the entire series on DVD, I have my dollars ready :)

I know, I know... now that we've grown up, most of us who watched this cartoon as kids find it silly and archaic. When compared to new, sharply animated and written cartoons such as Batman The Animated Series or Justice League, we tend to cringe when we happen to come across it on Cartoon Network.

However, I continue to enjoy this cartoon because of the memories it brings back. I love it based on its nostalgic value. My brother and I would watch it religiously every Saturday morning, and when the repeats began to be aired in the afternoons on a local UHF channel, our appetites for it only increased.

Although the Super Friends tended to be a little softer in the physical displays of force category, it more than made up for it in many ways. The stories were fun, the plots were creative, and The Legion of Doom episodes which this DVD showcases, were the best of the series. Pitting each Super Friend against his or her arch-enemy was fun to watch. Superman outwitting Lex Luthor, Wonder Woman sparring with The Cheetah, or Aquaman defeating Black Manta was always exciting and entertaining.

True, there was a lack of grit and "Superheroness" in it. For example, you never saw Wonder Woman get smashed through a concrete wall, only to come flying back out and decimate her adversary like you do on Justice League. Batman never pulverized The Scarecrow or Toyman the way he does The Joker in Batman The Animated Series. However, there were some episodes that were pretty intense for kids. An episode that sticks out in my mind had The Legion of Doom raising the dead out of a swamp to defeat the Super Friends. Another episode featured the villains actually killing each Super Friend with a powerful crystal.

I'm glad this cartoon is being released on DVD. I plan on buying it and watching it with my son. I'm sure he'll enjoy it as much as my brother and I did. It's sure to bring back memories of sitting in front of the TV on Saturday morning with a big bowl of sugar cereal in hand, waiting to see what new challenge awaited the Super Friends.

My 3 1/2 years old son watches this dvd over and over again.

I have bought him all 3 justice league dvd which are the newer version with better color, sound... But, for a 3 years old this does not really seems to matter much since after I got him this DVD I have a hard time playing him the justice league ones.

I highly recommend this one for your kids. They will enjoy this one over and over and over again.

I'm all over this like a fly on...well, you know.
This is my favorite of the early days of the Superfriends. No Wendy and Marvin, no silly "don't talk to strangers" messages from Wonder Woman...just flat out rock 'em - sock 'em fun when the Superfriends meet their evil equals from the Legion of Doom.
I always get a chuckle out of these because it seems the LOD can do ANYTHING! They can travel through time, space, send our fearless heroes into famous storybooks...whatever makes an entertaining story. It's always a hoot watching Wonder Woman float in space wearing her bustier, hot pants, boots and a plastic bubble on her head with no breathing apparatus on her back.
Cheers to Cartoon Network for releasing this series first. I hope all the episodes involving the Legion of Doom are available soon!

Plain and Simple. I have waited for over 20 years for this to come out ever since it was pulled from TV. What's more, they put on DVD arguably the best and most memorable of the series which is vs. The Legion of Doom. Whoever did this has my vote for best release of the year.

Where are the other 12 episodes? Only the first 4 are on the DVD. I've already watched it the DVD and it was good, but would have been better with the full series.

Hopefully WB has plans for more DVD releases.

The "Challenge" run of Superfriends is the most popular incarnation of the series (and second in accuracy to the comics only to the seasons tied into the Super Powers toyline), and it's easy to see why. The most popular DC heroes (Superman, Batman, Robin, the Flash, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Aquaman, and Green Latern, plus newbies Black Vulcan, Apache Chief, and Samurai) versus some of the biggest villains from the comics-Bizarro, Giganta, Captain Cold, Solomon Grundy, Grodd, Sinestro, Brainiac, the Scarecrow, the Riddler, Black Manta, Cheetah, the Toyman, and Lex Luthor in a number of broad (and sometimes silly) adventures.

The episodes themselves look excellent, not like the fuzzy and faded prints that currently air on Cartoon Network. (Nitpickers will also notice that the byline identifying Hanna-Barbera as "A Taft Company" in the end credits isn't blacked out like it is on TV.) The audio is the standard mono track, which continues to serve the series well.

The special features are extremely slim, with a game, bios of the Legion of Doom (with voice overs about the Legion, in addition to video clips of each villain beating down on the Superfriends), and intros by story editor Jeffrey Scott. Of course, this has been fairly standard of Warner's DC-related DVDs, so no one should be all that surprised. However, if you want pristine copies of the first four episodes of this incarnation of the Superfriends, this disc is for you.

This DVD brings back the memories of being a kid, and enjoying the best of the years of Superfriends cartoons --- the "Challenge of the Superfriends" where they are pitted against the Legion of Doom. Fantastic voices, cheesy (but fun) storylines ... this DVD is pure fun. Its light fare when compared to the 90's Batman Animated series but still provides a good time.

I purchased this dvd for my kids who are now in to the superfriends. We had watched several of the newer superfriend episodes and they are not the same ones we watched growing up. They really loved this dvd of the older superfriends.

My 5 year old son loves these Superfriend cartoons more than most current day cartoons. Great shows and no violence to worry about.