Ocean Girl - The Girl from the Sea - Season 1 & 2 - DVD

Content: Jason (David Hoflin) and his brother Brett (Jeffrey Walker) are initially less than thrilled that they have to move to the ocean platform ORCA with their mother, marine biologist Dr. Dianne Bates (Kerry Armstrong). But they quickly make new friends here and realize that they can discover many exciting things on and around the research station. And that's exactly what happens during an expedition where they meet the girl Neri (Marzena Godecki). She lives alone on a deserted island, but her real element seems to be the sea. Not only can she dive deeper and longer than any other human. Her best friend is also Charly the whale, with whom Neri can communicate telepathically. The two brothers befriend the mysterious girl and want to help her find out more about her origins. However, the URBI company is also after Neri and wants to take advantage of her abilities. To achieve this goal, the company's ruthless henchmen will stop at nothing...

Ocean Girl is an Australian adventure series, of which a total of 78 episodes were produced between 1994 and 1997. Although the series ended seventeen years ago and has not been shown on German television for a long time, it still has a high cult status among many. Now all fans of Neri and her friends can rejoice, because Pandavision is releasing the complete series on DVD. The box with the first two seasons makes the beginning, which has a total of 26 exciting episodes on six DVDs to offer.

But not only children of the 90s may be happy about this release. Because even if some aspects of the production - such as the hairstyles (especially of the beastly Vanessa) or the technical equipment - are a little outdated, the series still works really well and offers children exciting entertainment. This starts with the fascinating research station ORCA, especially for young viewers, which is a real adventure playground for kids with its futuristic design and numerous gagets. But also the friendship between Neri and the whale Charlie, as well as the charmingly implemented fantasy elements of the story are responsible for Ocean Girl - The Girl from the Sea being a simply timelessly beautiful children's series.

Naturally, the dialogues are kept quite simple and the characters are drawn very one-dimensional. The villains of URBI in particular are strictly just walking clichés. But this is made up for by the very charming portrayal of the series' young heroes. The series also takes its time to tell its story and does so without hectic cuts and hectic, loud action, as you unfortunately see far too often nowadays even in series for children. Ocean Girl - Das Mädchen aus dem Meer is therefore much more than just TV nostalgia for now adult fans, but a loving fantasy adventure that can now enchant a whole new generation on DVD. Therefore applies to this first series box: Absolutely recommendable!

Picture + Sound: The image and sound quality of the DVD, the age of the series is quite noticeable. Presented are the episodes in the original 4:3 full frame format. The colors are quite powerful and the image sharpness is overall on a decent TV level. However, there is also visible picture noise every now and then, from which the sharpness of detail also suffers. In addition, minor smudges can be spotted from time to time. For twenty year old source material, however, the overall result is quite okay. The same can be said for the stereo mix, which allows voices to ring out of the home theater speakers with good clarity, but reproduces ambient noise and minor sound effects in a relatively dull manner.

Extras: Bonus material has the box except for a booklet with episode guide unfortunately not to offer.

Conclusion: Ocean Girl - The girl from the sea is for many children of the 90s still today an absolute cult series. After the fantastic stories about Neri and her friends have been long gone from TV, now also offers a new generation the opportunity to get to know this beautiful and exciting children's series. Admittedly, some aspects such as hairstyles or computers are already somewhat outdated. But overall, the series is delightfully timeless and is still a lot of fun even twenty years after its first broadcast. The first DVD box set offers all episodes of the first and second season, as well as a booklet with an episode guide. Absolutely recommended for TV nostalgics and fans of charming children's adventure series

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp