This is the last episode of season 4 so I sadly wait for seasons 5 and 6 to be released and then there are no more that will be "new".
First of all this one has good colour and film quality unlike many of the previous colour episodes (except for the grainy and scratched stock footage of the naval ships inserted at various points in the story).
The plot is absurd yet it's possible to get into it simply because they all play it straight. Jimmy and Lois, in peril again, tied up and blindfolded, only this time Clark Kent is among them. It's a comedy but it's not very funny - just surreal. Leonard Mudie is one of the main pirates - he was Brockhurst in the most frightening and memorable episode, A Ghost For Scotland Yard. Here he plays a slapstick role in elaborate Shakespearean style.
The problems that keep this just a comic book episode are in continuity and plot holes. We see several pretty young women and there is no explanation where they came from. If the pirates are part of a family descended from other pirates who landed 300 years ago, where are the older women who would be the mothers of these girls? And inexplicably, one of the young women makes eyes at Jimmy Olsen even though they were never introduced. I suppose several scenes were trimmed out since there is so much going on.
Superman has to pretend to be tied up and captive until no one is around and he can change into Superman, which provides some tension, but since we know it's a matter of time till he saves the day, there's really no fear. The story falls apart as the pirates and the two criminals meander around doing random things. The criminals have a vague plan to steal the plane and escape with some of the jewels but they dither around and it never happens.
Superman finally gets to rush to the naval ship and tell them not to shoot, but they think he has gone insane when he tells them there are pirates living on the island. So he has to go back and bring proof: a photo he makes Jimmy take, and develops into a negative using his x-ray vision. Yet he never delivers the negative to the ship; it's too late as they start bombing and he has to stop each bomb and blow it up in mid air. We aren't able to see this because there would be no possible special effect - so various characters talk about what he is doing. These are some of the problems with the story. Too many things going on and it doesn't all flow together or end with proper resolution. Why have the whole picture taking scene unless the photo is going to be delivered in time to stop the bombing? I still think it's a fun episode, but it kind of plays like a comic book fantasy. Despite that, our heroes remain in character and give it their all.
First of all this one has good colour and film quality unlike many of the previous colour episodes (except for the grainy and scratched stock footage of the naval ships inserted at various points in the story).
The plot is absurd yet it's possible to get into it simply because they all play it straight. Jimmy and Lois, in peril again, tied up and blindfolded, only this time Clark Kent is among them. It's a comedy but it's not very funny - just surreal. Leonard Mudie is one of the main pirates - he was Brockhurst in the most frightening and memorable episode, A Ghost For Scotland Yard. Here he plays a slapstick role in elaborate Shakespearean style.
The problems that keep this just a comic book episode are in continuity and plot holes. We see several pretty young women and there is no explanation where they came from. If the pirates are part of a family descended from other pirates who landed 300 years ago, where are the older women who would be the mothers of these girls? And inexplicably, one of the young women makes eyes at Jimmy Olsen even though they were never introduced. I suppose several scenes were trimmed out since there is so much going on.
Superman has to pretend to be tied up and captive until no one is around and he can change into Superman, which provides some tension, but since we know it's a matter of time till he saves the day, there's really no fear. The story falls apart as the pirates and the two criminals meander around doing random things. The criminals have a vague plan to steal the plane and escape with some of the jewels but they dither around and it never happens.
Superman finally gets to rush to the naval ship and tell them not to shoot, but they think he has gone insane when he tells them there are pirates living on the island. So he has to go back and bring proof: a photo he makes Jimmy take, and develops into a negative using his x-ray vision. Yet he never delivers the negative to the ship; it's too late as they start bombing and he has to stop each bomb and blow it up in mid air. We aren't able to see this because there would be no possible special effect - so various characters talk about what he is doing. These are some of the problems with the story. Too many things going on and it doesn't all flow together or end with proper resolution. Why have the whole picture taking scene unless the photo is going to be delivered in time to stop the bombing? I still think it's a fun episode, but it kind of plays like a comic book fantasy. Despite that, our heroes remain in character and give it their all.
