Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

The Adventures of Batman: The Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Not his finest hour.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III February 28, 2023

It stands in stark contrast with most other Dark Knight variations, but the impact of 1966's Batman TV series simply can't be ignored: with its colorful characters, campy vibe, and over-the-top performances, this three-season wonder has endured as much more than just a cult classic. Released on the heels of that show's success was Filmation's The Adventures of Batman, a 1968 Saturday-morning animated adaptation (and one-half of The Batman/Superman Hour) that, despite its good its intentions, mostly fails to capture that same level of lightning-in-a-bottle energy.

Or any energy, really, as these nugget-sized adventures are diluted to even lower levels than typical kid-friendly fare from the era; this is nowhere close to the crowd-pleasing Jonny Quest or even the Honeymooners-style antics of The Flintstones, which runs circles around The Adventures of Batman even with a laugh track. What we get during each outing is a very basic adventure where our heroes -- which also include Batgirl later on -- team up to fight a rotating and occasionally combined Rogues' Gallery of villains (The Joker, The Riddler, Catwoman, The Penguin, Mr. Freeze), or at least watered-down variants tailored to the sensibilities of very young audience members. While the lightweight tone of these outings certainly retains that loose 1966-style vibe and is kinda-sorta highlighted by booming narration from Ted Knight, the formula gets old long before the end of The Adventures of Batman's first and only season. I know it's important to remember that these were produced for the single-digit crowd... but I'm not above "hindsight roasting" the shows I grew up with, so this half-assed production shouldn't get handled with kid's gloves either.

Are there any redeeming qualities here? Sure, if you squint hard enough. The Adventures of Batman at least attempts to emulate a workable format, often using cliffhangers to keep the kiddos hooked during what used to be commercial breaks. The voice acting, though certainly limited, is at least capably handled with the best being Olan Soule and Casey Kasem as The Dynamic Duo; Soule was already an established voice-over vet with almost 20 years of work under his utility belt, while the much younger Kasem (soon to catch his big animated break on Scooby-Doo) had only a pair of previous TV credits to his name. But aside from more than a little (mostly unintentional) comedy, there's not a lot going for The Adventures of Batman. Even die-hard fans of the franchise can admit this is far from Batman's best animated adaptation... but again, if you've got a strong nostalgic attachment, by all means click that "Buy" button.

34 adventures are included on this slim two-disc set: one longer (relatively speaking) one and a very short second one, grouped into 17 pairs in accordance with The Adventures of Batman's original 1968-69 broadcast. (This means we also get the original garish red-and-blue flashing title card seen during the opening sequence that rightly warrants a seizure trigger warning notice when each disc loads.) Each episode pairing is preceded by said opening sequence as well as closing credits, both of which can be easily bypassed as two of the five separate chapter stops.

DISC ONE

My Crime Is Your Crime / A Bird Out of Hand
The Cool, Cruel Mr. Freeze / The Joke's on Robin
How Many Herring in a Wheelbarrow? / In Again, Out Again Penguin
The Nine Lives of Batman / Long John Joker
Bubi, Bubi, Who's Got the Ruby? / The 1001 Faces of the Riddler
The Big Birthday Caper / Two Penguins Too Many
Partners in Peril / The Underworld Underground Caper
Hizzoner the Joker / Freeze's Frozen Vikings
The Crime Computer / The Great Scarecrow Scare

DISC TWO

A Game of Cat and Mouse / Beware of Living Dolls
Will the Real Robin Please Stand Up? / He Who Swipes the Ice, Goes to the Cooler
Simon the Pieman / A Mad, Mad Tea Party
From Catwoman with Love / Perilous Playthings
A Perfidious Pieman Is Simon / Cool, Cruel Christmas Caper
The Fiendishly Frigid Fraud / Enter the Judge
The Jigsaw Jeopardy / Wrath of the Riddler
It Takes Two to Make a Team / Opera Buffa

The Adventures of Batman: The Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Much like Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? and countless other low-budget animated productions from this particular era, The Adventures of Batman doesn't exactly feature detailed character designs and smooth, fluid movement. It's quite simply stiff as a board and pretty repetitive, with familiar compositions recycled several times during each episode as if layouts were chosen from a very short stack. Though certainly workable and almost charming in its campy simplicity, Filmation's low-grade animation has nonetheless made a reasonably satisfying transition to Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Bros. -- it clearly fares better than Scooby-Doo, even if there's still some room for improvement.

Whether due to the better condition of its source elements or just a steadier hand turning the knobs, The Adventures of Batman retains its scruffy, simplistic roots on Warner Bros.' 1080p transfer but without any egregious signs of artificial sharpening or contrast boosting. There's a bit of room for improvement on the "film grain" side of things: its original textures are present in some capacity, but it's obvious that noise reduction was applied to an extent. Yet there's at least a passable middle ground achieved here; line detail and the overall aesthetic of this show's particular art style have not been compromised, enough so that only the most staunch purists will find room to complain. A few stray artifacts and other anomalies can be spotted here and there... but these episodes look good even running at a modest 15-20 Mbps, likely due to the flat colors and 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Color saturation is uniformly excellent, showing off those 1960s Batman vibes with bold primaries, vivid backgrounds, and outlandish wardrobes. So while this isn't quite a perfect 5/5 effort, it's certainly good enough to please die-hard fans seeking a little dose of Silver Age nostalgia.

The Adventures of Batman: The Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Since Warner Bros. is finally on their audio game, it's no surprise that I've no complaints with the DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix here. As expected for a release of this type and vintage, it's not exactly a sonic powerhouse but perfectly encapsulates that vintage "Saturday morning mono" experience with crisp dialogue, sound effects, and music cues. Everything sounds relatively crisp and bright with a decent dynamic range, and no obvious source-related defects could be heard including clicks, popping, and hissing. A clean and perfectly good mix; nothing more, nothing less.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during each episode.

The Adventures of Batman: The Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc set ships in a standard dual-hubbed keepcase with Silver Age-inspired artwork and a matching slipcover; no inserts are included, but an episode list (repurposed above) is printed on the back. Unfortunately, as with Warner Bros.' 2014 DVD edition, no bonus features of any kind are on board.

The Adventures of Batman: The Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Filmation's short-lived animated series The Adventures of Batman (one-half of The Batman/Superman Hour) is, quite simply, a failed attempt to bring the fun and campy 1966 TV show to even younger audiences. It lacks the energy and enjoyment of even that somewhat divisive production, mainly due to its unavoidably flat animation, dull plots, and watered-down Rogue's Gallery villains. Even so, those with nostalgic attachment to this series will enjoy Warner Bros.' Blu-ray package; its surprisingly solid A/V presentation more than makes up for the lack of extras.