Cheap The Flash - The Complete Series (DVD) (Danny Bilson, Mario Azzopardi, Bruce Bilson (II), Christopher Leitch, Aaron Lipstadt, James A. Contner, Gilbert M. Shilton, Gus Trikonis, Jonathan Sanger, William A. Fraker) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Flash - The Complete Series

The best superhero series
My biggest complaint with this series is that it lasted only one season. I think it did the best job of capturing the "feel" of reading super hero comic books. I grew up in the "silver age," and The Flash was one of my favorites. <
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>What really makes or breaks a show in any genre is the scripts. The Flash was, for the most part, very well written, and the characters were well drawn and engaging. Lt Garfield was a bit of a stereotype but not objectionably show. The character was given enough individuality and depth to hold up. The other supporting characters usually didn't play like they were lifted out of a hundred other shows you've seen before. They were individuals, and seemed to exist beyond their basic story functions. <
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>This show did an excellent job of hitting the right balance. They fantastic elements are taken seriously enough to work as adventure / suspense, and yet there is just enough humor to keep it light and fun. After all, there are inherent absurdities in any super hero. It is basically fantasy, and it should be fun. (Many modern super hero stories are unpleasantly dark and try too hard to be "realistic," which only makes the fantasy elements seem even more ridiculous. Super heroes are not part of the real world. Too much phony "realism" cheapens the fantasy and destroys the point of the genre.) <
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>The special effects are striking, without being overdone and distracting. Too often, special effects seem designed to make you go "Wow! Cool!" and pull you right of the story. A good special effect is one you don't recognize as a special effect until later -- at the time it is simply a part of the story. The semi-abstract blurring effects they used to simulate Flash's speed work very well. <
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>Most of the episodes were strong, though there were a few duds (true of most series). One of my favorites is "Ghost In The Machine" which introduced The Nightshade, a retired earlier superhero (apparantly created solely for this series). Nightshade put in another guest appearance later in the series. If The Flash had gone on another season, it would have been nice to see more of him. <
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>When the show first aired, I had minor quibbles of differences from the comics I grew up with. Barry Allen is supposed to be a blond. Several characters (primarially villians) have the same names but little else in common with their comic book counterparts. Captain Cold was a particularly disturbing change. It worked as an entirely new character, but I question the need to echo the names of the originals instead of creating new names for what are really entirely new characters. In the pilot, I wish they had called his girlfriend/fiance (who dumped him and was never heard of again) something other than Iris West. In the comic books, Iris eventually married Barry, and her personality was entirely different from this rather shallow, self-centered person. For that matter it is hard to imagine Barry Allen (either the TV version, or the comic book original) ever getting involved with someone like the TV Iris. <
>As I said, these were mere quibbles, and certainly would bother anyone who didn't grow up with the comic book originals. For the most part, the supporting characters were new with the TV series, and that was probably a wise decision. <
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>Some have complained about the absence of bonus materials. Well, a lot of times there really aren't any worthwhile bonus materials available. The show itself is the important thing, and I'm delighted to have all the episodes. While I usually watch bonus tracks, I have to admit, they are usually a waste of time, and almost never are worth watching a second time. <
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>The episodes of The Flash are worth watching and re-watching. And that, to me, is the only real reason to buy a DVD box set. <
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Flash: A Very Well Done Series
The Flash was an under rated TV series, in my opinion. I used to watch it when it was on the air and really liked it. The character and storylines were true to the silver age Flash comics and John Wesley Shipp did a good job as the "eager to fight for what's right" Barry Allen. An added bonus is seeing so many stars before they hit big, most notably Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine on "Star Trek: Voyager" and Ronnie Cook on "Boston Public") and Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar on "Star Trek: The Next Generation"). Also, Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker in the original "Star Wars" trilogy) is in an episode and Richard Belzer also appears. Amanda Pays is good as Barry's colleague and friend and the quality and clarity of the episodes is quite good. Most importantly, I think it's suitable for kids, unlike much of the superhero stuff out there nowadays. I strongly recommend the set.

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After seeing all 22 episodes, I'm impressed
I decided to replace my "intial impressions" review with a better one after watching all the episodes of The Flash. Here are my comments: <
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>- There were many more than I remember seeing. I think I saw about six when it originally aired, missing most because of the changing schedule, student life, and the used VCR that I was trying to set to a moving target. <
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>- The content: Most of the series is shot on a set which has large murals and giant wall art, with excessive use of colors (must have been trendy for the 90's). But, you get used to that easily. The special effects are still very good considering a whole decade and a half have passed. <
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>- The episodes are good stories, bringing out the diversity you'd expect in a comic book. If you compare this with the Batman (Michael Keaton onwards) the stories here have a broader scope even though some basic crimes remain the same (bank robberies, fur coat robberies, etc) much like the comics. <
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>- The character of the Flash is very true to the comic books, but adds a tad more reality not unlike the recent Spider-man movies, at times. Of course, financial issues are not of the same magnitude, but there are other social, personal and health-related things that remind you that this is still an ordinary man gifted with powers and cursed with the responsibility. Sometimes I keep expecting Spider-man's reflexes and spider-sense in the Flash. But I'm sure Marvel has those patented :-) <
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>- While there are no deleted scenes or other bonus materials the DVD's are well laid out with the episode names, and then the content guide is in the DVD as well. You can definitely pick out the episode you want to watch, even read a brief synopsis on the DVD case. <
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>- Initially I thought my six-year-old would enjoy these, but the content is mature enough (say PG or PG-13) and the story/plots are interesting enough that my wife and I ended up watching the DVD's and she's not even a big comic book fan. <
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>For any fan of comic book superheroes, this set is really worth getting. I wish they'd make another season or five, or even a movie.