Phantom 2040

I saw this series when it was telecast on the Indian National television channel "Doordarshan" in 1997. To me, it ranks as one of the best cartoon adaptations (that too, futuristic) to date. However, the channel discontinued the series sometime in 1999. After that, even I was unable to catch the series (if at all telecast). So I'm still left with that incomplete feeling.

Since IMDb forces one to write too many lines, I'm repeating the above text in its entirety. Sorry. I saw this series when it was telecast on the Indian Nationaltelevision channel "Doordarshan" in 1997. To me, it ranks as one of the best cartoon adaptations (that too, futuristic) to date. However, the channel discontinued the series sometime in 1999. After that, even I was unable to catch the series (if at all telecast). So I'm still left with that incomplete feeling.

The Amazon prime cut is unwatchable. It's a tragedy, because it's a really intelligent show. You can't even see the faces in most of the scenes. I would estimate about 100 resolution. My system handles HD and 4K, it's the copy not my system.

I watched it decades ago when it first came out.

Is there any place to watch it in high res? IMDB doesn't note that it's a bad copy when they list who is offering it. I wish they would.

Who loses when such a bad copy is distributed? The people who made the show and the viewers. Even the distributer loses, so why do they do it? I contacted Amazon and complained. We all need to do that.

Well, it's either this or Gundam Wing, and what they both share is a darker tone than most cartoons. I kinda fell on this when I was channel flicking but I got hooked. The art is very stylised but I like it and well the Phantom rocks. But what really got me was the bad guys, who well Rebecca Madison may have been evil, but her son and Graft weren't, and when your about 7-8 that really messes with your mind.

So, even if you're an adult who thinks cartoons are for kids I can heartily recommend this.

Phantom 2040 is probably the best animated action-adventure series I've seen. It doesn't cater to a low-intelligence audience: you've really got to watch this, and watch it carefully, to follow everything that's going on. Lots of intricate inter-plotting of episodes and characters, somewhat sympathetic bad guys (Ron Perlman's Graf in particular, one of the "grayest" villains ever), funky artwork, and a well-developed future society (compare it to, say, "The Magician" (1998)). Hopefully someone will carry this in repeats at some point (Sci-Fi Channel, maybe), because it's a show that should have stayed on forever.

Like me you've probably never heard of Phantom 2040 and, up until this point, are only familiar with the Ghost Who Walks through the campy 1990s live action movie which, as your first exposure to the superhero movie genre, you now look back on with rose tinted specs.

Like me you've been raised on Batman, Spiderman and all that other syrupy Marvel / DC material that now suffocates pop culture consciousness and obscures knowledge of anything before or after.

Like me you didn't know that The Phantom was the first masked vigilante / superhero. Like me you thought Batman Beyond, as a dark futuristic superhero narrative - featuring a younger successor to a mysterious and near legendary vigilante - was a pretty rad original idea.

Enter "Phantom 2040".