On DVD: Swamp Thing The Series

 

 

Directed By: Lyndon Chubbuck

Starring: Dick Durrok

 

Swamp Thing started its life as a traditional style comic book in the early 70's from DC Comics.  It drew the attention of some of the best writers and artists in the business making the comic book a classic.  The eventual film spawned a sequel, an animated series, toys, and of course a television series.

 

The Movie

 

If you're unfamiliar with the comic books or movies the story follows a scientist working in the Louisiana Bayou.  When criminals try to steal his work he ends up escaping his exploding lab by diving into the swamp.  A while later a giant swamp monster with the conscience of the doctor appears to take down evil doers who come to the swamps.

 

The television series picks up with Swamp Thing still doing his work this time fighting the constant efforts of Dr. Arcane.  Swamp Thing befriends a young boy who is new to the swamp area with his Grandmother at first and his mother later.  The show distills the comic book series down to its most basic of stories often making it feel like a copy of The Incredible Hulk.  He is sad because he's not human and is ultimately alone but he does care about those around him so he comes out of the swamp to rescue them.

 

The comic books actually features some deep stories and complex themes that this television series only slightly touches on unfortunately.  This is 80's TV though, and with that in mind this series is at least fun and sometimes a little surprising in its depth.  The great failing of the series, and the success if you like unintentional humor, is the poor acting by some of the characters.  The most notable poorly executed character is Jim a young kid that becomes friends with Swamp Thing.  This kid can't act and neither than some of the actors playing other side characters.

 

It may be a little tough for you to figure out just how much of the series you're getting in this box set because it simply says "The Series" on the box.  What you actually end up with are the first two seasons.  At any rate the series is mostly only mildly amusing with some stand out episodes.  If you're a fan of the character or you like big hair (amazingly big in some cases) 80's science fiction then Swamp Thing The Series is worth a look.

 

6.5/10

 

The Video

 

This full frame presentation is fairly awful with darker scenes becoming very murky and brighter scenes featuring some blown out contrast.  Beware if you have a high end setup with a progressive scan system because the series looks terrible because it's not properly set up for the progressive scan environment.  Detail fluctuates and skin tones don't look very realistic either.  You can see it but it doesn't look very good.

 

3/10

 

The Audio

 

The Dolby 2.0 presentation is fairly flat but listenable.  Balance is acceptable.  It's basic but it'll do.

 

5/10

 

The Packaging and Bonus Features

 

The four disc set comes in two slim amaray cases inside a cardboard box with simple but effective artwork for the series.

 

There are two brief interviews adding up to around 19 minutes with the original creator of the comic books and Dick Durrock who played Swamp Thing in the movies and the television series.  These interviews are pretty basic in presentation but they offer a nice evolution of the character because the creator focuses on where the creator came from and how he changed throughout the comic books and Durrock talks about his work on the movies and in the television series.

 

Not a lot here but what we do get is interesting.

 

6/10

 

It's not deep but it can be amusing sometimes purposefully so and sometimes not.  One thing, why didn't Shout Factory put "Season 1 & 2" on the box?  If you're a fan of 80's sci-fi give this one a look.

  

Overall (Not an Average) 6/10

The Review

The Movie 6.5/10

The Video 3/10

The Audio 5/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 6/10

Overall (Not an Average) 6/10

 

-Stephen Lackey