Dungeons & Dragons - The Complete Animated Series [DVD] [1983]

Unlike other reviewers I didn't see much of this the first time round, but I'm very happy we're discovering it with our children now!

The characters and their interactions are really good; They aren't particularly cliched or obviously signalling things, and they often have to make meaningful choices. The story stays interesting and doesn't seem to fall into a repetitive formula. These combinations of things are rare and make this series stand out. This really is miles ahead of much modern material!

So the adults and the children are enjoying this one, and not as a fond memory of youth, but as a new thing now.

I absolutely loved this series as a child and bought it for my Son to watch. He is loving it too and has already watched it through more than once. Definitely going to get my monies worth out of it!

loved this show when i was a kid, couldn't believe they still sold it and when i saw it i had to have it:)

When I started collecting DVDs back in November 1998, one of my biggest wishes was for the powers-that-be to release Dungeons and Dragons - my all-time favourite cartoon series - on this exciting format. Even when the release was finally announced, the release date was put back several times. This collection was originally slated for March 2004 but it wasn't until October 2004 that it finally hit the shops. Individual volumes were released between March and October but I resisted the temptation to buy for I knew that the boxset was worth waiting for.
And I was right. All four volumes containing all 27 episodes are housed in an elegant case made to look like a large tome (a spellbook, perhaps?). The boxset will look great on any DVD shelf but of course its value goes deeper than good looks. I feared that much of the show's magic would have diminished over the years especially when I watched it as an adult but I was wrong. Every episode was as thrilling and satisfying as I remembered as a child.
The extras included are nothing special but there's one or two worth clicking your DVD remote control at. There is an interesting interview with writer Micheal Reeves whose insights into the show's characters provide for a better appreciation of the show. There's also a featurette that looks at the opening sequence made for the second season which is now no longer used (watch it to find out why!). In addition, there are fan commentaries on many of the episodes.
If I had to make a negative comment, it's the fact that there was never a concluding episode made. The show ends abruptly and we never see our heroes fulfil their mission of getting back home. This is rather unfortunate given that the collection's tagline is "Only heroes will make it home". Despite this, Dungeons and Dragons is fantasy viewing at its best. Get your copy now and get spellbound all over again.

I proclaim myself to be 'Dungeons and Dragons'' BIGGEST fan. I watched the cartoon as a child in the eighties; you know - that time when children's tv was broadcast from the BBC's broom cupboard with Phillip Schofield, (Who I really fancied, but then I was only six!), and Gordon the Gopher, with shows like 'He-man', 'She-ra', 'Ulyses', 'Thundercats', 'The Ewoks', 'The Mysterious Cities of Gold', and of course, my all time favourite: 'Dungeons and Dragons'!
I was gutted when they originally axed the show, but always hoped and prayed for a revival. Afterall, it WAS the best show on tv, in my opinion. They just had to! But, alas, it never happened. My poor dad used to rent the series out for me from our local video shop, (Which closed down when I was eight), and ever since I have been left wandering aimlessly round the flea markets or trawling car boot sales endeavouring to find a rare VHS cassette of the show - with no luck!
I almost gave my boyfriend the shock of his life when I noticed it on Amazon back in May last year as I literally squealed with excitement! (He made me wait for the box set, which almost killed me - ALMOST! But I am so glad I did!)
So if you are as enchanted, (And as obsessed), as I am with this wonderful series - invest! It is worth EVERY penny! Just get the house to yourself for a couple of days, get the popcorn, and sit down and enjoy!
And as for the comments regarding whether it is the whole series or not - well, it is. Some people I think are getting confused when they say they remember the group getting home, but in truth, they never did. (Well, not at the end.) The series ended with them still looking for their way back, I'm afraid, and their is no 'final' or concluding happy ending. I suppose I like it better that way, as their adventures continue...

I'll leave you with an extract from a web site by Mark Evanier, who developed the ideas for the cartoon and wrote the pilot episode, 'Night of No Tomorrow'
http://povonline.com/cols/COL145.htm
"That leaves us with the urban legend I wish to dispel. Here is the truth of the matter - in bold type, no less:
There was NO "final episode" of Dungeons & Dragons.
Now, let me get more specific. There was a final episode, in the sense that they stopped making them. There was even an episode wherein the kids thought they'd gotten home, but actually didn't. There was no "final episode" in the sense of doing one wherein the kids finally vanquished Venger and returned home from the magical dimension, thereby ending the series.
I'd love to have done one, and I even had some ideas about what it might have encompassed. But the way network TV animation deals work, when you do your last episode, you almost never know it's your last episode, and that was the case here.
About once a week on the Internet, someone asks where they can get a copy of this episode. I usually drop them a little E-note telling them it was never made. Half the time, they write back and give me an argument: They saw it, they know it existed, I'm wrong. One even wrote, 'You only started the show. You're not an authority on how it ended.' "

Classic for the collection. Loved and adored by many who remember, perhaps only BECAUSE, they remember(?) ... Good buy.

I am waiting and waiting and waiting. They keep putting the release date back. I don't think I can cope with the waiting! The only thing that worries me is that, sometimes, things that seemed magical to me as a child, are abit disappointing when seen by me as an adult. I remember being captivated by these cartoons. The dungeon master was amazing, and I still remember the episode where kids were disappearing under their beds and being forced to work for some kind of time demon. Nah, who am I kidding, they're still going to be as brilliant now as they were then. Come on September!