Customer Reviews

Swamp Thing - The Series

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

 

 

Well ive been wanting this one to come out for a long time. In high school this was one of my fave series on tv. It was a saturday night ritual along with several other shows that me and mine watched durring its run in the ninties..
Tis awsome that Alec and his buddies finally made it to dvd. The quality is good.. the transfer seems really nice and there are come color corrections to it that i never noticed on my lousy tv and on broadcast tv. Well I hope you all like it as much as I do.. Only two small gripes.. 1) lack of specail featuers(though the Dick Durrock interview was nice) and 2) how bloody long do we have to wait for the second half!!?
laters!
Angel

After a campy but enjoyable first film directed by Wes Craven, and an ungodly bad sequel, Swamp Thing got himself his own live action TV series (a short-lived cartoon would follow as well), with none other than longtime stunt man Dick Durock reprising his role from the films as the tortured, muck monster. First off, it should be noted that Swamp Thing was quite low budget, but for its time, the show somehow managed to pretty much work for what it was. However, what really hurt the show was the schizophrenic writing, which would focus on Swamp Thing one minute, and then treat him as a back seat, supporting character the next. As a whole, the show was a mixed bag, yet at the same time, it managed to be pretty enjoyable. The supporting cast, which included Mark Lindsay Chapman as Swampy's old nemesis Dr. Anton Arcane, Carrell Myers as the friendly Tressa, and a young Kari Wuhrer who briefly appears as Abigail. If you enjoyed the show when it originally aired, this DVD set is worth picking up, and if you're an old fan of the DC character, this may be worth a look, although those fans might feel better off sticking with the classic comics by Alan Moore instead.

I had totally forgotten about this great tv series. Its more like the comics than the films but has the same guy playing swamp thing. The make up effects are just as good as the movie and since they are so many episodes you really get to explore the character in a way the movie never did. Highly recommended for any super hero / comic fans. Too bad this was on in the early 90's, it probably would have been a big hit now.

This is great to see on dvd and watch again. But don't be fooled. The episodes are out of order according to my list on the dvd cover and the list on IMDB.

And Vol. 2 still has some episodes missing and out of order. Again according to the list on IMDB, the air dates for the episode are out of order and missing.

There are supposed to be 72 episodes, the 2 vol set only has 33.
The list shows HALF the 3rd season episodes are missing.

Great to watch again, but not worth the money as they screwed up the episodes and left over 1/2 out of the set.

Fans of the "Swamp Thing" have 22 reasons to Shout! Based on the DC comic book character, the "Swamp Thing" made his debut in 1990 for the first time on television following the two movies from the 80's. For the first time ever fans can see all 22 episodes comprising of seasons one & two the way they were meant to be seen, in order. When the show was originally broadcast on the television the episodes were shown out of order making the story hard to follow at times.

Dr. Anton Arcane is looking for a secret elixir; some would call it the fountain of youth. Through his research Dr. Alec Holland believes he has created a new chemical composition and its value could be immeasurable to the world. After being immersed with chemicals and set ablaze Dr. Alec Holland's badly burned body is thrown into the Louisiana swamp by the ruthless Dr. Arcane. After some time in the swamp Alec's body has begun to regenerate itself and it has now mutated into some form of plant & swamp creature. No longer human the "Swamp Thing" sets out to destroy the person responsible for causing his mutation. Welcome to the "Swamp Thing" seasons one & two on DVD.

This half hour show wasn't always the best. Some stories were better than others and the show was definitely campy entertainment, but the swamp thing creature was well done and Dick Durock was good in reprising his role. This four disc set from Shout Factory is a must for any fan of the show. All 22 episodes are spread out over four single sided discs with great artwork and packaging. The video transfer in my opinion is excellent and the sound is crisp and clean. I have really enjoyed watching the first 22 episodes in order and gained a new appreciation for this show.

The Cast:
Dick Durock......Swamp Thing
Mark Lindsay Chapman....Dr. Anton Arcane
Carrell Myers....Tressa Kipp
Scott Garrison...Will Kipp
Kevin Quigley....Graham

Seasons 1 & 2 Episodes:

1. The Emerald Heart
2. Falco
3. Treasure
4. From Beyond the Grave
5. Blood Wind
6. Grotesquery
7. New Acquaintance
8. Natural Enemy
9. Spirit of the Swamp
10. Legend of the Swamp Maiden
11. The Death of Dr. Arcane
12. The Living Image
13. The Shipment
14. Birthmarks
15. The Dark Side of the Mirror
16. Silent Screams
17. Walk a Mile in My Shoots
18. The Watcher
19. The Hunt
20. Touch of Death
21. Tremors of the Heart
22. The Prometheus Parabola

Bonus Materials Include:
-The Men behind the Muck: Len Wein, Swamp Thing Co-Creator
-The Men behind the Muck: Dick Durock, Actor

From Comic (Swamp Thing Vol. 1: Saga of the Swamp Thing) to movies ((Swamp Thing) and now TV screen the Swamp Thing had a run like no other DC character other than Superman or Bstman. His translation to TV was good and lasted three seasons. Remarkable for a NON MAJOR DC hero

The adventures of a man-turned-muck monster. Swamp Thing was once a man named Alec Holland, but after being caught on fire, doused with strange chemicals, and dumped into the Louisiana swamps by the evil Dr. Anton Arcane, Alec's body mutated. No longer is he human, or even an animal. His body is made from the muck and plants of the swamp. He's super strong and can make plants do his bidding. Good thing he's on our side

This muck monster with a heart owes a debt to Frankenstein legend. Mark Chapman (not a relation to John Lennon's killer) plays the Thing's foil, Dr Arcane, a mad doctor who is doing expierements on mutations.

The make up other than Swamp Thing costume was not always the greatest. For example, the Episode where Paul Mark Richman was man/falcon looked slightly cheesy, but it did seem to convey it..similar to some of the monsters from the 70s-80s Dr Who

Dick Durrock plays the Thing with a heart. His origins were unexplained but in bits and pieces through the shows run, but it worked and made this a hit

Now on DVD, you can relive the episodes. The episodes were tight without major sub plots and major character devices. These shows were told in half hour episodes which seem to work

Its format was a simple good vs evil and it works

It is rated four stars because they could have put some sort of commentary on a few episodes. There is extra of interviews with Lein Wein (who created the comic version) and Dick Durrock who played the monster

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

I spent six bucks on this and I feel like I got my six bucks worth, a guy in a fake looking rubber suit, some of the cheasest acting in history, a budget that would not buy a good box lunch and they don't even start with how the swamp thing was made. If you got six bucks and a few hours to kill.....go for it.

Swampy ROCKS!!
...was Sue's standard end of show outburst back in the days watching swamp thing at my bachelor pad.

Well, I picked this up at the walgreens for $6 + cutters way for free.
I'm a big swampy fan since the original 70's comic, but did not remember the show at all, I did remember Sue liked it so...
I just finished the run and, even though i'm forgetting the episodes as I write this, I can proudly say I have ordered season 3.

Let me start by saying I am a Swamp Thing fan and a DC Comics fanatic. Compared to the comics or even the movies, this series is a pretty big letdown. Its obvious that they had some major budget issues because we get 95% of all episodes filmed in the daylight (no money for lights) and everything appears to be filmed within a 300 foot wide swamp setting. There is not a lot of exploration of the city they live in and even when people venture into the swamp its always the same few spots that they visit. The costume design for the Swamp Thing character is pretty good, but the costumes of the other creatures are humorous and pretty pathetic. The storylines as well really don't involve Swamp Thing in any major way, he is just kind of there to give sage advice and occasionally break out his plant power. There is one shining star and that is Mark Lindsay Chapman as Anton Arcane. I have never hated a villain so much since Dr. Pretorius in "Bride Of Frankenstein" or Bill the Butcher in "Gangs Of New York". You may not be crazy about his abilities, but it takes a really talented actor to make the audience hate him or her! I guess I have no complaints about Dick Durock's acting either, but considering the series is named after his character he is way too underutilized. I purchased it from Amazon for 6 or 7 bucks so it was worth getting, but if you're a real Swamp Thing nut and you are expecting dark, supernatural storylines then you should probably just stick with the comics or the Wes Craven film. After the first season it does get better, but overall it is still only worthy of 3 stars.

I didn't known this series before i bought it and i find verry good,a little bit too much for younger audience, but great special effects.