The Adventures Of Tintin 75th Anniversary (Box Set) (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Not applicable

Advantages:	All the gripping Tintin cartoons in one smashing box
Disadvantages:	The theme tune will get stuck in your head

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Tintin is a series of comic books written and illustrated by the famous Belgian 'Herge'. These delightful stories are about a young reporter called Tintin and his faithful dog / sidekick Snowy. Tintin and snowy alway appear to get themselves into all sorts of sticky (and dangerous) situations with mobsters, the mafia and other such criminal ruffians. Highly entertaining stuff, with a few highly entertaining friends thrown in for good measure. Friends of Tintin that feature regularly are Professor Calculus (highly intelligent and profoundly deaf) and the memorable Captain Haddock (who is a little slow witted sometimes, and says a range of colourful, yet suitable for young ears, expletives).

This is an absolute MUST for all Tin tin fans. This most excellent box set contains the cartoon series in its entirity, that is over 14 hours! It's presented in a set of 10 DVDs all in slimline cases with a Tintin biography booklet bound in a charming outer case. The outer case is made of sturdy cardboard and depicts Tintin running on the front and wraps round the spine to reveal Snowy running along behind on the rear of the cover.

Each DVD contains 2 of Tintin's adventures with the exception of the last one, which contains 3. The DVD itself is beautifully laid out with a user friendly menu system. Each episode is divided into 4 chapters, which gives you the option of skipping the introductory music (which can be a little tiresome if you watch more than about 2 episodes). The slimline cases each have a cover depicting the original comic book cover, one on each side of the case. Inside the cover is a still from each episode and a brief blurb, which is very handy.

The cartoons themselves are very good quality, with no blips in the visuals or the sound track. The stories are every bit as good as I remember them to be. Although I am an adult, this really appealed to me as I've read some of the comic books in the past and really enjoyed them. I think that Tintin transfers well from the stills in the comic books to the action of a real cartoon; Tintin every bit as earnest, Professor Calculus every bit as deaf and Captain Haddock every bit as infuriated (all those imaginative expletives really come to life)! And of course, who can forget the brave and faithful Snowy!

The biography booklet was also very good. An excellent addition to the set. The cover imitates that of the outer case. I did not have any idea that Tintin portrayed politics and dangers of the time they were originaly written, also often using references from real places, although the places Tintin visited were purely fictional. Georges Remi (Herge) actually aspired to be a journalist and so lived out his dream through Tintin, reflecting real situations through his fantastic adventures. It also tells of how Herge died before completing Tintin's final adventure, but which has now been published as an incomplete work.

There is only one slight disappointment, and that is that there is not 'bonus material' other than the booklet. There are no picture galleris or anything like that, but I got this at such a good price, it's really hard to complain.

As I stated at the beginning, this truly is a must for any Tintin fan, but if you are new to Tintin, you won't be disappointed with this purchase. You can get this from various internet shops from as little as £16.99 delivered :-)