Soon
as JUSTICE LEAGUE debuted on Cartoon Network, I was pretty much
hooked. Being a superhero loving comic book fan since childhood, I was
glad to see the television incarnations of these characters were finally
being handled in an intelligent fashion, instead of being "dumbed
down" for TV, as they had been in the past. Starting with BATMAN:
THE ANIMATED SERIES, superheroes were finally getting their due on
the small screen. SUPERMAN, and BATMAN: BEYOND carried this
concept forward, with JUSTICE LEAGUE being the latest incarnation
of this matured form of American television animation.
JUSTICE
LEAGUE: JUSTICE ON TRIAL ($20) is Warner Home Video’s second release
of episodes from the series, and while I am glad to see the show coming
to DVD, there are a couple of issues that I’d like to raise. First, all
television programming should come in entire season boxed sets. Second,
JUSTICE LEAGUE is broadcast in wide screen half the time, and wide
screen is the preferred format of the series' creators, so everyone would
be best served if the DVD releases offered the shows in the 16:9 enhanced
versions. These odd home video choices almost make it seems as if this
intelligent animated show was being "dumbed down" for DVD release.
Four
actual episodes of JUSTICE LEAGUE are included on the DVD, although
each episode is only half of a two-part story. Blackest Night Part
One and Part Two follows the Justice League’s efforts to discover
why Green Lantern John Stewart stands accused of destroying an alien world
and its three billion inhabitants. The Enemy Below Part One and
Part Two brings the Justice League in conflict with a highly territorial
Aquaman, who has sank a nuclear submarine that ventured into his undersea
domain of Atlantis. JUSTICE LEAGUE features the vocal talents of
Maria Canals, Susan Eisenberg, Phil LaMarr, Carl Lumbly, George Newbern,
Kevin Conroy and Michael Rosenbaum.
Warner
Home Video has made JUSTICE LEAGUE: JUSTICE ON TRIAL available
on DVD in a full screen presentation, something that is appropriate to
certain Cartoon Network broadcasts, but as I stated above, does not reflect
the intentions of the series creators. As for the 4:3 presentation itself,
it looks great- definitely a step up from your typical cable or satellite
airing of the show. The image appears crisp and clean, as well as being
as well defined as 2D television animation is capable of being. JUSTICE
LEAGUE is a pretty colorful show and hues of varying intensities are
rendered without flaws. Black appear pure and the whites are always clean.
This being a brand new show, there are no discernable flaws in the image.
Digital compression artifacts remain well concealed throughout.
JUSTICE
LEAGUE: JUSTICE ON TRIAL is offered on DVD with a Dolby Digital 2.0
soundtrack that decodes to standard surround. This is a very good sounding
track, especially for animated television fare. As one might expect, the
forward soundstage dominates the mix, with the rears providing ambient and
musical fill, as well as some minor effects. Most forms of directionality
remain within the stereo imaging of the front hemisphere. Dialogue is
cleanly rendered, with a very precise sound and fully intelligibility.
French and Spanish stereo tracks and a Portuguese monaural track are also
encoded onto the DVD, as are English, French, Spanish and Portuguese
subtitles.
The
basic interactive menus provide one with access to the standard scene
selection and set up features, as well as a few extras. Producer/director
Bruce Timm is on hand for introductions to each episode, something I wish
would go on just a bit longer. Justice League Watchtower
provides biographical information for the members of the Justice League- a
Hero File option offers clips of the JL members in action. The
Look Of The League is a four-minute program featuring Bruce Timm,
who discusses the show's character design. Lastly, I.D. is
an interactive game that tests how closely one has watched the episodes
contained on the DVD.
As
a JUSTICE LEAGUE fan, I am happy the show is being released on DVD,
although I wish Warner would do a boxed set of episodes in 16:9 enhanced
wide screen. Still, the DVDs look and sound quite good, so fans will
probably want to give them a spin.
Soon
as JUSTICE LEAGUE debuted on Cartoon Network, I was pretty much
hooked. Being a superhero loving comic book fan since childhood, I was
glad to see the television incarnations of these characters were finally
being handled in an intelligent fashion, instead of being "dumbed
down" for TV, as they had been in the past. Starting with BATMAN:
THE ANIMATED SERIES, superheroes were finally getting their due on
the small screen. SUPERMAN, and BATMAN: BEYOND carried this
concept forward, with JUSTICE LEAGUE being the latest incarnation
of this matured form of American television animation.
JUSTICE
LEAGUE: JUSTICE ON TRIAL ($20) is Warner Home Video’s second release
of episodes from the series, and while I am glad to see the show coming
to DVD, there are a couple of issues that I’d like to raise. First, all
television programming should come in entire season boxed sets. Second,
JUSTICE LEAGUE is broadcast in wide screen half the time, and wide
screen is the preferred format of the series' creators, so everyone would
be best served if the DVD releases offered the shows in the 16:9 enhanced
versions. These odd home video choices almost make it seems as if this
intelligent animated show was being "dumbed down" for DVD release.
Four
actual episodes of JUSTICE LEAGUE are included on the DVD, although
each episode is only half of a two-part story. Blackest Night Part
One and Part Two follows the Justice League’s efforts to discover
why Green Lantern John Stewart stands accused of destroying an alien world
and its three billion inhabitants. The Enemy Below Part One and
Part Two brings the Justice League in conflict with a highly territorial
Aquaman, who has sank a nuclear submarine that ventured into his undersea
domain of Atlantis. JUSTICE LEAGUE features the vocal talents of
Maria Canals, Susan Eisenberg, Phil LaMarr, Carl Lumbly, George Newbern,
Kevin Conroy and Michael Rosenbaum.
Warner
Home Video has made JUSTICE LEAGUE: JUSTICE ON TRIAL available
on DVD in a full screen presentation, something that is appropriate to
certain Cartoon Network broadcasts, but as I stated above, does not reflect
the intentions of the series creators. As for the 4:3 presentation itself,
it looks great- definitely a step up from your typical cable or satellite
airing of the show. The image appears crisp and clean, as well as being
as well defined as 2D television animation is capable of being. JUSTICE
LEAGUE is a pretty colorful show and hues of varying intensities are
rendered without flaws. Black appear pure and the whites are always clean.
This being a brand new show, there are no discernable flaws in the image.
Digital compression artifacts remain well concealed throughout.
JUSTICE
LEAGUE: JUSTICE ON TRIAL is offered on DVD with a Dolby Digital 2.0
soundtrack that decodes to standard surround. This is a very good sounding
track, especially for animated television fare. As one might expect, the
forward soundstage dominates the mix, with the rears providing ambient and
musical fill, as well as some minor effects. Most forms of directionality
remain within the stereo imaging of the front hemisphere. Dialogue is
cleanly rendered, with a very precise sound and fully intelligibility.
French and Spanish stereo tracks and a Portuguese monaural track are also
encoded onto the DVD, as are English, French, Spanish and Portuguese
subtitles.
The
basic interactive menus provide one with access to the standard scene
selection and set up features, as well as a few extras. Producer/director
Bruce Timm is on hand for introductions to each episode, something I wish
would go on just a bit longer. Justice League Watchtower
provides biographical information for the members of the Justice League- a
Hero File option offers clips of the JL members in action. The
Look Of The League is a four-minute program featuring Bruce Timm,
who discusses the show's character design. Lastly, I.D. is
an interactive game that tests how closely one has watched the episodes
contained on the DVD.
As
a JUSTICE LEAGUE fan, I am happy the show is being released on DVD,
although I wish Warner would do a boxed set of episodes in 16:9 enhanced
wide screen. Still, the DVDs look and sound quite good, so fans will
probably want to give them a spin.