Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Shazam!: The Complete Live Action Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 16, 2020

Superhero saturation has yet to reach a breaking point on either the big or the small screen (virus concerns not withstanding) and in fact the genre is likely here to stay, in part because it never really went anywhere. The draw into the world of superpowers, secret identities, heroes, villains, and everything else that comes with the territory dates back more than 80 years when Superman took the world by storm in Action Comics #1. In 1952, Adventures of Superman launched the hero onto screens across the nation. DC's other hot property, Batman, found its wings in the 1966 TV show of the same name that has since become a cultural icon. Following up on Batman was Shazam!, a 1974 Saturday morning live action show based on the Whiz Comics hero (which would eventually be folded into the DC family). But rather than the depicting the battle against evil and building the character, the show weaves together a number of independent morality tales and builds character in its audience by inserting Billy Baston and Captain Marvel into everyday life scenarios where a valuable lesson is to be learned as a result of their, and Captain Marvel's, involvement into the story.

Teenager Billy Batson (Michael Gray) has been chosen by a cadre of god-like "Immortal Elders" -- Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury -- to receive the power of superhero transformation. Simply by uttering the word "Shazam," lightning strikes and Billy becomes a caped superhero named Captain Marvel (Jackson Bostwick, later John Davey) capable of flight and gifted with superhuman strength. But he can only wield this power when and where it's absolutely needed the most. The story follows Billy and an elderly gentleman known only as "Mentor" (Les Tremayne) traveling America's highways and byways in search of opportunity to right wrongs, promote understanding, and seek justice. They are often alerted to an individual in need when Billy is called into the Elders' presence, who not only set him on his physical journey but also prepare him for it with a corresponding knowledge nugget. Billy and Mentor often find themselves in the midst of everyday trouble as young men and women face existential crises and struggle with doing the right thing.

There’s really not a feel of a discernible start to the show. It introduces the concept at its most fundamental level in a brief intro and then simply plows ahead through the episode and with the story. There’s no real exposition, no serious stabs at character development. The show is entirely about the contained narratives and the simple life lessons that the stories engender. It’s a procedural, serialized program if ever there was one, eschewing anything and everything but the basic formula. Audiences won’t learn about Billy or Mentor beyond the actions they take and the words they say in the episodes, which are not geared at telling their story but rather of how they fit into any given story, which are all essentially identical in how they develop and resolve.

Essentially, then, each episode of Shazam! is like a 22-some-minute public service announcement that is not all that dissimilar from the more bite-sized "Knowing Is Half the Battle" epilogues from the G.I. Joe cartoons that would release a few years later, those little tacked-on life lessons that implored children not to run into fires or play with downed electrical lines, how to settle disagreements, or not taking medicine without supervision. Such themes are the centerpieces in Shazam!, too, just in live action and with more fleshed-out though still cookie-cutter stories building towards a similarly compact scene in which Captain Marvel, or Billy, remind the audience of what they've just learned. It deals in good, wholesome life lessons, just presented tritely by contemporary standards.

The performances are just about as flat and funny as the show, but to the actors' credit there's little for them to achieve in terms of building up anything that's not related to the show's basic cadence. They are never stretched or tasked with building character, simply following procedure. The main characters, in fact, often play second to the guest stars who shape each episode's central story, usually a group of children or teenagers who find themselves in some conflict or involved in wrong. The show spends more time building their stories than it does Billy's or Mentor's. Of note is that the actor who plays Captain Marvel changes midway through the run. Since most everything about the series is abstract and just sort of exists in a bubble, that the change occurs is not of particular consequence beyond simply seeing a new face and hearing a new voice.

Shazam!: The Complete Live Action Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Warner Archive's work with Shazam!: The Complete Live Action Series is to be commended. The remastering yields a near perfect viewing experience that is faithful to the original film elements, boasting newfound clarity that brings the show to life like never before. The picture maintains a healthy grain structure, one which is consistent in density and flattering of the innate textures within. The picture is naturally sharp and revealing, showcasing skin details and environmental components -- plenty of manmade places and objects as well as a plethora of natural locations -- with striking clarity and efficiency. Rarely does the picture ever appear soft or inorganically flat. Colors are very good, too, presenting with strong tonal density and pleasing neutral output. Never do tones appear oversaturated or, on the other end of the spectrum, dull, faded, and/or flat. Skin tones appear healthy and black levels are pleasantly deep and true. There are no serious source blemishes of note and neither are there any distracting compression artifacts.

Shazam!: The Complete Live Action Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shazam's DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack begins inauspiciously with garbled, muddy dialogue in the parking lot in episode one, where the kids speak with little distinctive clarity. The presentation improves a bit when the acton shifts to Billy and Mentor though it certainly doesn't offer superior clarity or lifelike reproduction here or anywhere else. Nothing through the series is particularly robust but the track does quickly reach a point of acceptable definition for music, effects, and dialogue, all of which are limited in range and detail but carry the material well enough. Content images to the center without much feel for grand width or even want to stretch. The track is fairly bland and cramped and there are few real technical issues to note, too. A few lip sync problems crop up at times, one of the most prominent coming at the 13 minute mark in episode one. Additionally, listeners will note the occasional example of uneven pitch from time to time, even from shot to shot.

Shazam!: The Complete Live Action Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are included across any of the four Blu-ray discs. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Shazam!: The Complete Live Action Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In Shazam!, it's the heroes jobs to involve themselves in everyday tedium, not battle larger-than-life villains in complexly choreographed action extravaganzas. Captain Marvel is more of a teacher than a hero. Sure he can fly, he has super strength, and he uses his powers to save the day, but it's the lessons learned where the show works to earn its stripes. It's an entirely different animal than even its TV comic contemporaries, and while it's ultra cheesy by today's standards there's a charm to its simplicity and its willingness to put purpose and practicality above razzle-dazzle. Warner Archive's featureless four-disc set delivers very good 1080p video and mostly adequate two-channel audio. Recommended.