Thundarr The Barbarian has arrived on DVD thanks to the WB Archive Collection.
This DVD set is the complete series being 21 episodes placed onto four discs. This does not include any special features. The transfer of the episodes is pretty nice. They by no mean look remastered, but they don’t have any encoding issues like the Pirates of Dark Waters DVD.
Thundarr The Barbarian is a very odd and poorly animated 1980’s kid show. I mean the show starts off by saying that in 1994 a runaway planet sucks out Earth’s white cloud while the Moon breaks in half. Um… a planet? Of course that causes ‘cosmic destruction’ and humanity’s civilization has been cast in ruins. But of course life must continue so lets jump 2,000 years into the future where Earth is a strange new world and for some reason Thundarr begins to fight for justice. Of course he’s not alone – he’s got his pals Ookla the Mok. Say what? He has also the beautiful Princess Ariel. Under the sea! Wait wrong cartoon…
Wow that was some deep stuff there and that’s all within the intro.
So Thundarr is either a series that you either enjoy because of its limitedly animated action or cheesy stories and dialog. There’s really nothing beyond that. Even if you do enjoy either or both of those elements, it’s really difficult to sit through hours of this show. It becomes a show about what will Thundaar attack next for no particular reason. Oh look it’s another Wizard! By the Lord of Light we will destroy these demon dogs. Ok…
Again there are great one-liners in here that make you want to replay those moments, but there aren’t that many that would keep a newcomer to the series entertained throughout the entire episode. Maybe if you saw Thundarr The Barbarian as a kid and wanted to watch this series once more, then I think that this DVD will be a fine collection for you to have. For everyone else you might want to run in the opposite direction from this blonde bimbo, his dog, and mistress.
