Samurai Jack: Seasons 1-4

"Samurai Jack", in this critic's honest opinion, is the fourth greatest action cartoon of all time (and its fifth season revival on Adult Swim certainly helps). The only ones I consider better than it are (in order) "Gargoyles", "Avatar TLA", and "Batman TAS". I also say that without bias as I throw out favoritism when judging these sort of things. To be one of the best action cartoons ever, you have to rely on things such as quality and ambition rather than toy sales (which is why you wouldn't see "Transformers" or "GI Joe" on my list).Most of the ambition for this series lies in how it's presented. Rather than being full of dumb action, dialogue, etc. it likes to tell its stories visually and cinematically. Widescreen, fullscreen, multiple screens, almost no speaking roles, however they believe is the right way to frame their shots or tell their stories, they do it! You'd almost think that the show is low budget due to the fact that not only are the story boarders the actual writers, that the creator is involved in co-directing or being the sole director of every episode, that the same people in almost every department are behind every episode, but also that they even hired a couple of the best voice actors in the business (Phil Lamar and the late Mako Iwamatsu) yet sparingly use them--indeed, the villain Aku is not seen as much as audiences would hope for and it's his influence that is more felt rather than his presence. This all goes in the face of most viewer expectations and, as a result, would turn off most casual and amateur viewers--of which I admit, I was one of them. When you dare to go that route, you can't say that a project like this isn't ambitious.Of course, that's not to say you don't get your fill of the hero and villain throughout this series' run. Mako provides such energy to the all-evil and all-powerful Aku that whenever he is onscreen, your attention is grabbed and is not let go! Jack himself (even though his character is not truly named) is as stoic a hero as any out there thanks to the work of Phil Lamar as his character tries (yet fails) to find a way back to the past in order to defeat this demonic being. This duo makes up perhaps one of the greatest (and most white and black) hero and villain rivalries out there, putting them in strong contention with the likes of Batman and Joker, Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, and Optimus Prime and Megatron.Genndy Tartakovsky, one of the best animators in the business today, approached this series first with his imagination: he pictured a world overrun by mutants and tried to survive in this world with his girl by his side and a sword in his hand. He then turned to some of his favorite movies (as explained in the Season 1 DVD intro written by him): Conan the Barbarian (most of all), Blade Runner, Star Wars, Seven Samurai, etc. He follows the T.S. Elliot quote stating "Bad artists borrow, good artists steal" by making each of these stories and references into his own tales and presenting them to their fullest effect. The idea of a "chosen one" samurai character, displaced from his own time, to a totally different world at odds with his own way of life is good enough ("Gargoyles" also did this quite well) and to turn each episode into a fight for his life and/or what is right adds even more intrigue. Each setting is different allowing Genndy and his team to tell mini-movies if you will and come up with different stories, which according to Eric Radomski was the same approach for the great "Batman TAS" even though on his show it would always take place in or around Gotham. Indeed, the very first episode itself will have you hooked and wanting more. I myself would put it up there as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, premiere cartoon episode of all time as well as the Season 3 episode "The Birth of Evil I-II" as one of the greatest origin stories ever put to animation.If you're a collector of great TV shows, animated or otherwise, you need this series as part of your collection.

Loved the series when it was on television and couldn't pass up the chance to get the original run series when it came out on DVD at a decent price. The original run of Samurai Jack series from Cartoon Network. I'd expect another set might come out in the near future, featuring the complete series (Seasons 1-5) when the Adult Swim season finishes up on television, but this is good find, until such a time comes.The DVDs are in great shape and would have given a 5th star, but the DVDs and even the inside of the cases needed to be either wiped down or shaken over a trash can as there was paper, cardboard, and misc. stuff either on the DVDs or in the containers. The DVD's play fine and have no problems that I've seen or noticed. Don't know if this was a storage issue or something that happened back when they were originally packaged, but something to warn about.

In this review I won't review the content because everyone who decides to buy it will already know what it's about and will know how awesome the content is.So I'll concentrate on the quality of the DVDs:The DVDs have all in all a very good quality. The only set back is that the covers are made out of paper, because of this you can easily see how the Paperback's quality get worse with every time you watch it. The adventage of this cover is the great design which can be admired when you put outThe DVDs itself have very good quality too. They look very expensively made.The ratio is the original one (1:1.33) so you will have two black stripes on the sides of your widescreen TV which is only an adventage but I thought I should mention it.Yeah and when you are from abroad beware the price because I had to pay an extra tariff(I bought a bit more than only these episodes but I would inform myself better about it the next time.)

I had wanted this set for years and the new, final 5th season prompted me to buy. If you are a Tartakovsky fan it's a must have. All of the episodes are here, it's my understanding not all of them made it to air. The quality is very good, they are not in HD aspect ratio but that is how the series was produced. It looks fantastic on my 50" TV. Of particular value are the features - interviews and biographies of the team that created this beautiful animated series. It's not entirely for kids, some of the content is a little dark. If you are looking to buy this you probably know that. I'm completely satisfied with my purchase and I consider this a "collectible".

If you haven't seen Samurai Jack, and you are fond of Samurai action, as well as a culture buff, reward yourself with Samurai Jack. Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, before he made Star Wars: Clone Wars Vol.1 and 2, and Sym-Bionic Titan, Samurai Jack tells the story of a samurai transported from Feudal Japan to the distant future by an all powerful Wizard who he seeks to destroy to save the Earth. The action is stellar, the characters are rich with cultural references to popular culture, and the art work and style in each episode is the reason I purchased this entire collection, even though I had previously seen all of them. It is a complete series, so making this purchase will mean you never need to buy updates to your collection. It is so worth it! I am not selling my copy! That is a sincere review!

My husband and I both love this series. Incredible animation and graphics. Fun stories. Fabulous creativity in the whole series. The colors and landscapes are so stimulating and soothing at the same time. Wish the series had never ended. This is definitely a 10 our of 10 star animated creation. Kudos to the originator and all involved. It gives us great pleasure. Such a relief from all the reality on TV. Our minds and souls need the break. We all need to keep some of the child in us alive to survive!!

I was just recommending this animated series to my boss at work. He hasn't heard of or seen Samurai Jack! "What?!" I yelled... "You haven't lived!!!!" This animated series of a lonely Samurai trying to find his way back to the past to defeat the "evil that is Aku". Aku is one of the best baddies I have ever come across, constantly planning and plotting to destroy Samurai Jack using well trained and sometimes, the dumbest bounty hunters the world has ever seen. This cartoon if filled with parodies from the stone age to the 21st century, and cleverly blended in to the future where Samurai Jack exists. So if you are out there and haven't Seen this.... I say to you "you haven't lived"

Se trata de una serie mítica. Sin embargo, es una pena que esta colección sea incompatible con los reproductores de la zona con código Europa. No se entiende que la descripción de este artículo catalogado en una página Europea de Amazon esté encabezada por el engañoso título [Reino Unido] cuando es un producto exclusivamente para disfrutar en aparatos de EEUU y Canadá (o en ordenadores con lector de DVD, que no es mi caso). El contacto inicial con el vendedor ha sido excelente.

We use these at our cabin when it just isn't great to go outside. We love the different seasons but some are obviously better than others. Wish Samurai Jack had continued so we would have known if he ever won.

So awesome to see the classic animation again and to introduce the characters to my own kids.This purchase was well worth the money.

very nice