Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The misadventures of two modern-day Stone Age families, the Flintstones and the Rubbles.
Animation | 100% |
Family | 89% |
Comedy | 89% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (192 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
English SDH, French, Spanish, Dutch
Blu-ray Disc
Ten-disc set (10 BDs)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Note: Due to the vagaries of how our database works, this release is classified as a bundle, since it contains two Flintstones
films
as supplements. However,
The Flintstones and WWE: Stone Age Smackdown! we link to as
part of the bundle is presented in 1080p on its standalone release, but on this release is offered as a 480i upscale. Therefore I've included seven
screenshots as part of this review in
positions 21 through 27 from this 480i presentation, so that those interested can see what it looks like. Since there was no pre-existing standalone
release of The Man Called Flintstone, I have
uploaded seven screenshots to the separate review of that supplemental film (see the
Supplements section for a link directly to the review).
Considering what an inestimable impact it had on the early days of television in particular, but arguably upon American culture generally, The Honeymooners was actually a rather surprisingly short lived
phenomenon in terms of its original broadcast run as a series (as opposed to sketches). And in fact if judged only in terms of the length of its
original broadcast run, The Flintstones, often called an animated version of The Honeymooners for obvious reasons, far
outlasted its perceived progenitor. The Flintstones, whatever its genesis, belongs in the history books of network television if for no other
reason than that it was the first prime time animated sitcom to air on a national network. ABC didn't have a ton of huge hits back when The
Flintstones premiered in 1960, and the success of the series obviously didn't escape attention, since within a relatively short expanse of time,
ABC attempted to launch The
Jetsons, another Hanna-Barbera property that basically took the basic idea of The Flintstones, i.e., a family sitcom placed in an
alternate time, and simply rejiggered it for the future rather than the past. (It's notable if perhaps just a little inexplicable that The Jetsons
didn't fare nearly as well as The Flintstones, meeting its demise after one season in its original network run.) It isn't that much of a
stretch to think that someone like Paul Henning
may have himself paid attention to this gambit, since he did a similar "reverse" strategy, albeit with a disconnect between affluent urbanites and
more rustic rural types rather than a time period, after The Beverly
Hillbillies hit paydirt (and/or "Texas Tea") and Henning came up with Green Acres.
The Flintstones: The Complete Series is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1 (for the broadcast episodes, see my comments below in the Supplements with regard to the two "films" included). The video presentation is probably by far the best thing about this release, at least with an understanding that the audio is lossy and all of the supplements are upscales. The palette is regularly beautifully suffused throughout all of the seasons (there does seem to be an overall quality falloff toward the end of the series, which may have just been attrition of some sort), and line detail is consistently strong. There's an organic look to the presentation which offers a natural grain field. There are some baked in issues in terms of things like optical dissolves, and there is also occasional flicker and even momentary frame instability at times. Overall, though, this is a wonderfully vibrant and enjoyable viewing experience.
The Flintstones: The Complete Series features only lossy audio in the form of a Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track. This may seem especially unfortunate considering the glut of goofy sound effects the series regularly employs, but it probably suffices well enough, if not optimally, for presentation of the dialogue. For any Baby Boomers with faltering memories (ahem), don't freak out when the first couple of season offer an instrumental theme which is weirdly reminiscent of "This is It" from The Bugs Bunny Show. The more instantly recognizable "Meet the Flintstones" theme begins in Season 3. But the musical element is another facet that may strike some audiophiles as being woefully underserved by a lossy presentation. There's no noticeable audio damage to report, in any case, and optional English subtitles (along with some other languages, see above) are available.
Disc One
There are both pluses and minuses to this release in my estimation. The big plus is the video quality of the actual series, which looks sharp, organic and generally really beautifully suffused. The minuses include only lossy audio and the fact that all of the supplements, including the ostensible "films", are in 480i and have resultant less than optimal video. While I personally would have preferred lossless audio and 1080p presentations of at least the "films" (especially since the WWE film had a previous 1080p release), having the series looking this good is wonderful. With caveats duly noted, Recommended.