Rating:  -
No other show has combined the action to impress younger viewers and the actual stories to impress adults more than Batman: The Animated Series. Season 3 has some of the best episodes of the series, imho, The Demon's Quest, Bane, and His Silicon Soul. You will not be disappointed.
Rating: -
This set contains the final 29 (one more than the package lists!) episodes of the original "Batman: The Animated Series." After these adventures fans would have to wait a whole three years for new capers set in the animated Gotham, and as the reviews for Volume 4 point out some found those episodes lacking.
But we're talking about the episodes on this set, and there is some strong material here. This set introduces several characters that would go on to play huge roles in the animated Batman mythos. We get the two part introduction of Batgirl (which is made all the more effective by the fact that her alter ego Barbara Gordon has already been introduced). We get another two parter that introduces Ras al Ghul, who makes several more appearances on this volume. And we get the introduction of Scarface, who would go on to be featured in many more episodes and is every bit as interesting as Joker, Two-Face, or Catwoman.
This volume also features some of the most emotionally complex storytelling in the series to date, as well as some genuinely dark and disturbing material. The episode "Read My Lips," which introduces the schizophrenic Scarface, climaxes in a twisted scenario that has a character threatening suicide. Poison Ivy's warped idea of a happy little home in "House and Garden" is chilling. And the episode "Baby Doll" introduces one of the creepiest ideas for a villain yet in a child who literally cannot grow up, and the emotional impact of that is played up to its fullest. Yet these episodes are still entirely appropriate for children, because the truly twisted elements are downplayed and will only be fully understood by adults.
There is also a string of stories involving the supposed reforms of various villains. This allows for further exploration of their motives and desires, and continues the series' hallmarks of treating the "bad guys" with as much care and respect as the heroes.
Unfortunately, the set falls just shy of the dizzying heights achieved by Volume Two. Although the episodes here are still better than some of the early clunkers, there a few that fall short of expectations. "A Bullet For Bullock" spends too much time away from our hero, and "The Terrible Trio" is one of the worst episodes of the series. Luckily, these epsidoes are balanced by absolute joys such as "Harlequinade" (featuring the always entertaining Harley Quinn) and "Trial," in which the villains of Arkham Asylum put Batman on trial for "creating" them.
This set is a must for anyone who enjoyed the previous two volumes. The art style is breathtaking, the voice cast is fantastic, and the storytelling is infinitely more mature than your typical "cartoon show."
Rating: -
This product LITERALITY gave me a massive erection. It's that great (or horrible depending on who you talk to)!
Rating: -
This volume shows the true talent of Batman alone, and with Robin, with even some of the banter that takes you back to the 60's live-action series (done so much better!). We get to see what was at the time, some of his "lost,but not forgotten" foes, such as Hugo Strange (that got a more prominent treating on "The Batman"), The Clock King (giving Bruce & Dick a taste of what life is probably like for The Flash!) and the wierd, sad and dangerous Baby Doll (for me, a perfect blend of The Joker(deformity/genetic variant) and Two-Face(multiple personality), even including an "agent" that is more lethal than Harley has ever been , to date!). The highlights of the set is the premiere of Batgirl and the final episode centering on Alfred's past. Add to this, the inclusion of the entirty of the "Gotham Girls" webisodes, and you get the best of the first of the DC Animated Universe series. And the price of this great set is very easy on the wallet, too!
Rating: -
This DVD box set contains the last nine episodes of Season One, and all the twenty episodes of Season Two.
-Episode 1.57 and 1.58, Shadow of the Bat: The debut of Batgirl. This is rather an uneven two-parter that doesn't contain much excitement. (2.5/5)
-Episode 1.59, Blind as a Bat: Another great Penguin episode. Lots of action and suspense. (4.5/5)
-Episode 1.60 and 1.61, The Demon's Quest: One of the few plots that involve a place outside of Gotham City. There's action aplenty. David Warner is fantastic as Ra's al Ghul. (4/5)
-Episode 1.62, His Silicon Soul: You'd think that HARDAC is gone for good. But a replica of Batman is still on the loose . . . (5/5)
-Episode 1.63, Fire from Olympus: Not an interesting one, I'm sorry to say. (2/5)
-Episode 1.64, Read my Lips: The debut of Scarface and the Ventriloquist. The psychological scariness that is shown with this dual personality is just darn creepy. (5/5)
-Episode 1.65, The Worry Men: Why did they have to turn the Mad Hatter into a 2-dimensional thief? It just makes me miserable. (1.5/5)
-Episode 2.1, Sideshow: A Killer Croc episode that's dull and terribly tedious. (1/5)
-Episode 2.2, A Bullet for Bullock: Focuses primarily on Detective Harvey Bullock and his unsteady relationship with the Dark Knight. Excellent music by Harvey R. Cohen. (5/5)
-Episode 2.3, Trial: Having countless Bat villains all in one episode is a good idea, but the overall plot just doesn't work. (4/5)
-Episode 2.4, Avatar: Reminds me of Indiana Jones, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The Egpytian goddess is just plain terrifying. (4/5)
-Episode 2.5, House and Garden: A sad Poison Ivy episode. And a scary one at that, also. (4/5)
-Epsiode 2.6, The Terrible Trio: Boy, the Terrible Trio is just flat-out ANNOYING. Their appearance really ruin this episode. (2/5)
-Episode 2.7, Harlequinade: A fun episode that deals with Harley Quinn and her odd chemistry with the Joker. The last five minutes are really entertaining. (5/5)
-Episode 2.8, Time Out of Joint: A classic Clock King episode. Freezing time is a great concept for this underrated villain. (5/5)
-Episode 2.9, Catwalk: Scarface and Catwoman working together . . . is the world coming to an end? (4/5)
-Episode 2.10, Bane: Will Bane break Batman's back? Well, just watch it and find out. (4/5)
-Episode 2.11, Baby-Doll: What an annoying character! But it's mainly because of her high-pithced voice. I would've avoided this episode if I could if it weren't for the undeniably powerful ending. (1.5/5)
-Episode 2.12, The Lion and the Unicorn: This is originally the final episode of BTAS. Alfred goes back to England only to be captured by Red Claw. (4.5/5)
-Episode 2.13, Showdown: Batman and Robin take a backseat as Ra's Ah Ghul tells of Duvall and Jonah Hex. (5/5)
-Episode 2.14, Riddler's Reform: I seem to be getting tired of the Riddler when watching this episode. But I guess something's wrong with me. (3/5)
-Episode 2.15, Second Chance: Another Two-Face episode that must be seen by all BTAS fans. (5/5)
-Episode 2.16, Harley's Holiday: Harley Quinn is released from Arkham, and now she wants to start a new life. But then, of course, this leads to some pandemonium. (5/5)
-Episode 2.17, Lock-Up: A One-time villain that makes for a provocative episode. He is the opposite of Batman in many ways possible. (5/5)
-Episode 2.18, Make 'em Laugh: The Clown Prince of Crime is at it again, but this time it seems to be a perfect mix of the campy 60's series and the dark 1989 film. (4/5)
-Episode 2.19, Deep Freeze: Mr. Freeze returns. It's a brilliant episode that's not as brilliant as "Heart of Ice", but it still shines. (5/5)
-Episode 2.20, Batgirl Returns: I didn't like this episode that much. Batgirl irritates me in this episode, and Catwoman doesn't have that spark that's found in "Cat and the Claw".
* * * *
I'll say it again. This is one of the best animated series of all time. They really made "Batman" as dark and compelling as "Batman 1989". And the characters, let's not forget the characters. They're all so distinctive. Kevin Conroy, Bob Hastings, Mark Hamill, Arleen Sorkin, Paul Williams, Diane Pershing, Richard Moll, David Warner, the late Roddy McDowall, and countless others have done the characters justice. The music by Shirley Walker, Carlos Rodriguez, Michael McCuistion, Harvey R. Cohen, and many others is splendidly done. No snythesizers here; it's purely orchestral and jazzy.
And it's too bad that they don't make cartoons like this anymore. We're stuck with "Spongebob," "Yu-Gi-Oh!," and the godawful "The Batman". When are we going to see something more like BTAS? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
|
