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Released by: Warner Archives
Released on: 10/26/2010
Director: Bill Carruthers, Chris Darley
Cast: Jeff Altman, Charlie Callas, Gabriel Dell, Frank Gorshin, Howard Morris, Mickey Morton, William Schallert, Burt Ward,Adam West
Year: 1979
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The Movie:
Two hour long television specials were produced by Hanna-Barbera in 1979 featuring the DC Comics crew and released as Legends Of The Superheroes. These two live action oddities have been favorites on the bootleg convention circuit for years but finally receive their first official home video release thanks to Warner's MOD archive program, and though the quality is rough in spots, it trumps the grey market versions that had been floating around until now.
At any rate, the first part of this abomination of comic book comedy is entitled The Challenge and it shows us how Doctor Sivana has created the ultimate doomsday device and he, along with his super villain cohorts - made up of Sinestro, Solomon Grundy, Mordru, The Riddler and the Weather Wizard - intends to use it to wipe everyone off of the face of the Earth. The catch? It's got to warm up for an hour, so to pass the time The Riddler (Frank Gorshin) decides to give the Legion Of Superheroes some clues as to how to stop it. This lets the bad guys entertain themselves by watching the good guys - Batman (Adam West), Robin (Burt Ward), Captain Marvel, Black Canary, Flash, Green Lantern, The Huntress and Hawkman - run around trying to figure out how to save the world. At the end, everybody fights.
The second part is called The Roast and it quite literally follows the Friars Club format. Hosted by Ed McMahon, here we see many of the superheroes roasted by their friends and fellow superheroes as well as their super villain enemies. This episode also features cameos from superheroes past, such as Retired Man, and quite possibly the most politically incorrect superhero of all time, a black guy named Ghetto Man. Oh and Hawkman's mom shows up. Seriously.
Those products of a time long gone are amazing to watch, simply because they're so horribly done that you can't help but be fascinated by them. Set to a completely irritating laugh track that blasts the sounds of a cackling audience through your speakers after literally almost every single line, funny or not, the material here is just completely puzzling. Who decided that we needed a superhero comedy show? Who decided that the show should feature superheroes who don't actually ever seem to use their powers? Why does everyone just sort of wander around aimlessly looking entirely out of place? Who was in charge of the costumes for this show and why weren't the put in jail for their work here? Who put Ruth Buzzi in this thing? Why? Why is Ruth Buzzi here? Why is Ed McMahon interviewing Solomon Grundy? Who decided Mordu should get a musical number? Do we really need to think about what The Atom and Giganta are going to do to each other on their wedding night? Why did they get married? Isn't that weird? Who wanted to see any of this in the first place?
So many questions, and so few answers. Truly a painful viewing experience if ever there was one, you can't help but be fascinated by the horror of it all. Nothing, absolutely nothing, about this material is good. In fact, it's hard to imagine that this could have turned out any worse than it did. The lowest of the low, bottom of the barrel material, absolute crap in every possible way - and yet, somehow simultaneously fascinating. They don't make them like this anymore and while that's definitely a good thing, there's some curiosity value to be had from this mess.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Taken from a tape source, the transfer here looks about as good as the source material can probably realistically allow for. There's some color blooming here and there and occasional tape related quirks and rolls but we're basically left with a watchable transfer. It doesn't look amazing, but yeah, it's watchable.
The English Dolby Digital Mono mix sounds okay. There's a bit of hiss here and there but at least the levels are balanced right and the dialogue is easy enough to understand. There are a few spots where the odd laugh track overpowers the performers but these moments are few and far between. No alternate language dubs or subtitles are offered.
Extras include a handful of deleted scenes and a static menu. The deleted scenes are about nine minutes in combined length, and it's kind of cool to see them, but they're pretty inconsequential. That's it as far as the extras go.
The Final Word:
Wow. It's hard to actually recommend something so horrible but it really does need to be seen to be believed, an experience so astonishing in its awfulness that it absolutely deserves an audience of some sort. Warner's release of Legends Of The Superheroes won't win any awards for A/V quality but it's likely as good as it's going to get. Seriously though, what the Hell were they thinking?
It helps to be a bit buzzed when you are watching it.