Customer Reviews

ReBoot: The Definitive Mainframe Edition

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

THIS IS THE SET I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR! Some die hard fans have already purchased it from the Shout! website but I have been waiting for it to be released in a retail store. It will have been worth the wait to own the complete series in one nicely packaged set with a healthy supply of extras. Some fans may have bought ReBoot: Seasons One & Two, they can complete their collection with Reboot-Seasons 3 & 4 which will also be released soon. I personally will be buying this Definitive Mainframe Edition that contains all 47 episodes, or all 39 episodes and two complete TV movies depending on how you look at it, on 9 Discs.

Season 1

The Tearing
Racing the Clock
Quick and the Fed
Medusa Bug
In the Belly of the Beast
The Tiff
The Crimson Binome
Enzo the Smart
Wizards, Warriors and a Word from Our Sponsor
The Great Brain Robbery
Talent Night
Identity Crisis
Identity Crisis (2)

Season 2

Infected
High Code
When Games Collide
Bad Bob (*Classic Episode)
Painted Windows
AndrAia
Nullzilla (1)
Gigabyte (2)
Trust No One (3)
Web World Wars (4)

Season 3

To Mend and Defend
Between a Racoon and a Hard Place
Firewall
Game Over
Icons
Where No Sprite Has Gone Before
Number 7
The Episode with No Name
The Return of the Crimson Binome (1)
The Edge of Beyond (2)
Web Riders on the Storm (3)
Mousetrap (4)
Megaframe (1)
Showdown (2)
System Crash (3)
End Prog (4)

Season 4 or the Two Movies (Daemon Rising and My Two Bobs)

Daemon Rising (1)
Cross Nodes (2)
What's Love Got To Do With It? (3)
Sacrifice (4)
My Two Bobs (1)
Life's a Glitch (2)
Null-Bot of the Bride (3)
Crouching Binome, Hidden Virus (4)

And with that the first ever computer generated series left us on a huge cliffhanger, though for those who don't know, an online comic was created that continued the story and showed a resolution. It can be easily found by visiting Reboot.com(I still have hope that somehow, someday the resolution may be shown in animation). It was the first Computer Generated show and it is still one of the best, especially once it moves into the second and third seasons with proper story arcs and character development. While at the time I almost wished in light of the fourth season cliffhanger that it had ended with season 3 I do enjoy having the two movies now in retrospect and fans that don't want to regard them can simply not watch them.

Special Features Are:

An Included 20 Page Booklet
Fast Forward: A Special on the Making of Reboot
A Look Back At Reboot: with co-creator Gavin Blair
Original Animated Character Models
Commentaries featuring: Producer Christopher Brough, Designer/Storyboard Artist Blair Peters, Animator/Director Zeke Norton, Voice of "Bob" Michael Banyaer, voice of "Glitch Bob" Ian James Corlett and Voice Director Michael Donovan (who also voiced "Mike the TV" and "Phong")

*Note: These commentaries are actually just long interviews with the voice actors speaking over episodes. Each one speaks over the length of three episodes, so you do get a lot of general information just not about the actual episodes they are talking over. They are nice but I would have liked some more immediate discussion of the episodes by the writers.

The set is in full frame video with 2.0 stereo audio.

In closing I will say that I have seen the episodes on a friend's DVD Set, they look good rather than great and the animation is dated but most buying this set will do so for pure nostalgia like myself and the quality looks at least as good as when they aired on television so it shouldn't bother anyone too much. I'm so glad Shout! got the rights to this series, at least they always include some extras for fans like myself! 5 Stars for Reboot!

**For fans of another beloved computer generated series you may not be aware of this release,Transformers Beast Wars: The Complete Series . I own the old, now discontinued, Rhino sets of this series but I am quite excited that Shout! will be rereleasing the series with extras that were seriously lacking in those old sets. It's a great year for CG fans!

Listen, it's like this: there has never been a definitive DVD release of ReBoot before. There have been lots of little one-offs, VHS releases, out of print stuff, et cetera. But there has never been a complete release before. This is it, and for what it is, it does a solidly good job.

All of the episodes of the original cartoon, including the fourth season produced for Cartoon Network. The transfer quality appears to be quite good. The grpahics are definitely showing their age but the story is timeless, and is every bit as awesome as you remember.

The only problem with this set - and it's a big one - is the audio problem described by other reviewers. The audio exhibits an effect that I can only describe as "pulsing," as if someone were rapidly altering the volume ever so slightly. It's somewhat hard to describe. I've watched far worse quality DVDs before, especially in the early days of the format, but it's still quite annoying. It's not so noticeable during dialogue, but when the audio is quiet and all you can hear is a quiet music track, it can get on your nerves. I can't even figure out if it's exhibited in all episodes or not, so hard is it to hear in dialogue or action heavy sequences. But it is definitely there.

The packaging is quite good as well. It actually includes the individual season 1/2 and season 3/4 boxes, plus an extras disc and booklet, all in those new handy flat pack cases that are so friendly on shelf space.

If the audio problem didn't exist, this would easily be a five star release. The only reason I rated it so low is because the audio problem is such a big deal - you'd think someone would have noticed it. But audio glitches or no audio glitches, if you're a ReBoot fan, you will want this.

I already ordered this DVD set direct from the manufacturer back when it was a limited edition, now sold out. I would have given this set 5 stars but a few quality control issues made me knock it back a star.


There is an odd trend starting on one of the discs where an audio pop occurs at exactly 17 minutes and 6 seconds into alternating episodes. Starting with the Seasons 1 & 2 Disc 2, it occurs on Enzo The Smart and Identity Crisis Part 1. Then on Disc 4, it's Gigabyte and Trust No One. Usually, this manifests itself as just a slight pause in the audio. On Identity Crisis Part 1, though, the audio pop sounds an awful lot like Megabyte saying the single word Hack.


I've not gotten to Seasons 3 and 4 yet, but, I've read over on the Shout Factory forum for Reboot that there are other mastering errors present in those episodes.


Barring that, though, this gets 4 stars because of the strength of the quality of the scripts. The episodes are just plain fun and it's great for computer enthusiasts to look around for hidden references.


One thing I didn't like is each episode has a new company logo attached to the end of it, for Rainmaker studios. Rainmaker is apparently the new name of the same company that produced Reboot originally. These weren't present in the episodes when they originally aired and they shouldn't be there now. I'm one who prefers my media in the exact way it was originally presented, with no new edits or company logos.

I love the fact that this box set has a few more extras than the Season Sets it includes, but it loses a star because of the lack of other features it could include.

The audio commentaries state that there were two IMAX rides in the ReBoot franchise. Where are they included on the DVD package?

There was also an alternate ending to the episode The Madusa Bug. What happened to that footage?

Still, for what it's worth, the complete collection of episode is a joy to revisit and I never get tired of the show. I still recommend it to anyone who knows a lot about computers and geek culture, as there is something in each episode for both.

This box set has been a great way to relive TV moments of my childhood. Any big fan of Reboot should consider purchasing this DVD set. All episodes are high-quality image and sound and true to their original format. The ONLY downside is the lack of subtitles; absolutely none are available and I like to use them so I can keep the sound down so I don't disturb my roommate (plus the obvious: it makes it more difficult for hard of hearing individuals and non-English speakers to enjoy these DVDs).

After watching this entire collection I am beyond pleased with my purchase. First off, this show is every bit as great as you remember it. There simply isn't anything this intelligent being produced for kids in this day and age. If you have kids this might be a great gift idea! Season 3 has a story arc that could easily lend itself to a worthy adult sci-fi television show.

I was very impressed with the picture quality which has been fully restored and obviously originates from the digital source. Given the age of the material (it was the first fully CG produced show) some limitations can be seen but the restoration work here is admirable. I was paying close attention to the sound 'defects' that so many people have mentioned, and while I did notice several 'pops' in certain episodes (only 3 of them), they in no way were severe enough to detract from the experience. These defects are minor and should not turn people off from buying this set. It appears Reboot did its job well on its kid fans in the 90s - they all grew up into super calculating, picky audiophiles who nit-pick everything demanding computerized perfection lol.

The extras are not plentiful but were a welcome addition to this set. Each documentary clocked in at nearly 25 minutes.

This has got to be one of the Best shows from the 90s. The story, premise, and just the way it all comes together is awesome. I never got to see anything past the 3rd season. So I was giddy being able to watch the Daemon and My Two Bobs. There's only 1 thing I really wanted that wasn't in this was a trailer for a new movie. Other than that it's sooo nice to have this entire series in 1 go after these many years.

I can't tell you how long I've been waiting for this DVD box set.
If you're not a fan, now is the time to become one.
Highly recommend.
A must buy.

I love this show and am thrilled to have it on DVD... finally! It's as awesome as I remember from 10 years ago. Now I wish they'd finally bring the show back!!

I have loved Reboot since it first came on. This DVD set is the only way I know to have all of the episodes. Yeah, the audio is poor but everything else is very, very good!