After
the enormous success that Warner had seen with BATMAN: THE ANIMATED
SERIES, the next and most obvious superhero to receive the same treatment
was Superman. Of course, after the debut of the new animated SUPERMAN
series, it was only a matter of time before the producers of both shows
would team up the two superheroes for a shared adventure. THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN
MOVIE ($20) opens with The Joker becoming frustrated by his continual
thwarting by Batman. Deciding that the time has come to take his show
on the road- The Joker leaves Gotham City and moves onto Metropolis, where
The Clown Prince Of Crime makes resident megalomaniac Lex Luthor an offer
he can’t refuse- he will kill Luthor’s nemesis Superman for the sum of
one billion dollars.
As
you might expect, The Joker’s relocation to Metropolis is anything but
stealth-like, which attracts the attention of Batman, who decides to pay
a visit to the neighboring city and look up his old acquaintance. Although
Batman’s arrival in Metropolis is certainly beneficial to Superman, the
two heroes divergent modus operandi leads to a antagonism between the
two superheroes. Of course, the situation doesn’t improve when Lois Lane
begins dating billionaire industrialist Bruce Wayne, who just happens
to be in Metropolis to check on a joint venture between his company and
that of Lex Luthor.
THE
BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE is quite
a bit of fun, offering plenty of action, as well as throwing a monkey
wrench into the long established Superman/Lois Lane/Clark Kent love triangle.
Although watching the superheroes and their arch foes square off is the
meat and potatoes of THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE, the filmmakers
have wisely added a priceless catfight between The Joker’s main squeeze
Harley Quinn and Lex Luthor’s right hand gal Mercy Graves. THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN
MOVIE features the vocal talents of Timothy Daly, Dana Delany, Kevin
Conroy, Clancy Brown, Mark Hamill, Arleen Sorkin, Lisa Edelstein, Bob
Hastings, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Joseph Bologna, Robert Costanzo, George
Dzundza and Lauren Tom.
Warner
Home Video has made THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE available on DVD
in a full screen presentation, which is reflective of the original television
broadcast. This is a good-looking transfer of a television caliber animated
film. Actually, the animation is quite nice for television fare, but it
is a tiny notch below Warner’s direct-to-video productions. There is a
bit of grain in spots, and occasionally an errant shot will appear a bit
soft, but otherwise the image crisp and well defined. Much of the animation
carries the darker quality of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, so a
lot of the backgrounds have a murky quality. However, foreground colors
tend to be fairly vibrant and contrast very well against their darker
surroundings. Blacks are suitably inky and the contrast is pretty much
what one would expect from something produced on a television budget-
with dark foreground and dark background objects sometimes becoming a
bit indistinguishable from one another. Overall, the presentation is quite
pleasing, and definitely better than a typical television broadcast of
THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE. Digital compression artifacts are never
problematic during the presentation.
THE
BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE comes with
a Dolby Digital 2.0 channel soundtrack that decodes to standard surround.
Like most mixes designed for the television venue, the forward soundstage
tends to dominate, with the rear channels providing mild effects, as well
as ambient and musical fill. The soundtrack does offer pretty good fidelity
and a well-defined sound in the forward soundstage. Dialogue is very crisply
rendered, with every line being completely understandable. French and
Spanish language tracks are also encoded onto the DVD, as are English,
French and Spanish subtitles.
Music
underscores the basic interactive menus, which allow one access to the
standard scene selection and set up features, as well as a few extras.
A Conversation With Producer Bruce Timm runs five minutes
and allows the producer/director to discuss both Batman and Superman animated
series, as well as teaming up the two superheroes for THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN
MOVIE. The Art Of The Batman/Superman Movie runs a bit
under three minutes and offers a montage of storyboards, conceptual artwork
and completed animation from the program. Get The Picture: Batman
quickly shows how the character of Batman is drawn, while Get The
Picture: Superman does the same for the Man Of Steel. Trailers
for BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER, BATMAN & MR. FREEZE:
SUBZERO and THE BATMAN SUPERMAN MOVIE are included on the DVD,
along with Scooby-Doo DVD promos and a trailer for the upcoming SCOOBY-DOO
movie. A cast & crew listing closes out the extra features for this
DVD release.
THE
BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE is a whole
lot of fun for fans of both BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES and the
animated SUPERMAN series. The creative team behind the movie were
obviously having fun by placing these famous characters in a situation
together and watching the fireworks erupt. Warner’s DVD presentation of
THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE is quite good making this a must have
disc for fans.
After
the enormous success that Warner had seen with BATMAN: THE ANIMATED
SERIES, the next and most obvious superhero to receive the same treatment
was Superman. Of course, after the debut of the new animated SUPERMAN
series, it was only a matter of time before the producers of both shows
would team up the two superheroes for a shared adventure. THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN
MOVIE ($20) opens with The Joker becoming frustrated by his continual
thwarting by Batman. Deciding that the time has come to take his show
on the road- The Joker leaves Gotham City and moves onto Metropolis, where
The Clown Prince Of Crime makes resident megalomaniac Lex Luthor an offer
he can’t refuse- he will kill Luthor’s nemesis Superman for the sum of
one billion dollars.
As
you might expect, The Joker’s relocation to Metropolis is anything but
stealth-like, which attracts the attention of Batman, who decides to pay
a visit to the neighboring city and look up his old acquaintance. Although
Batman’s arrival in Metropolis is certainly beneficial to Superman, the
two heroes divergent modus operandi leads to a antagonism between the
two superheroes. Of course, the situation doesn’t improve when Lois Lane
begins dating billionaire industrialist Bruce Wayne, who just happens
to be in Metropolis to check on a joint venture between his company and
that of Lex Luthor.
THE
BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE is quite
a bit of fun, offering plenty of action, as well as throwing a monkey
wrench into the long established Superman/Lois Lane/Clark Kent love triangle.
Although watching the superheroes and their arch foes square off is the
meat and potatoes of THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE, the filmmakers
have wisely added a priceless catfight between The Joker’s main squeeze
Harley Quinn and Lex Luthor’s right hand gal Mercy Graves. THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN
MOVIE features the vocal talents of Timothy Daly, Dana Delany, Kevin
Conroy, Clancy Brown, Mark Hamill, Arleen Sorkin, Lisa Edelstein, Bob
Hastings, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Joseph Bologna, Robert Costanzo, George
Dzundza and Lauren Tom.
Warner
Home Video has made THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE available on DVD
in a full screen presentation, which is reflective of the original television
broadcast. This is a good-looking transfer of a television caliber animated
film. Actually, the animation is quite nice for television fare, but it
is a tiny notch below Warner’s direct-to-video productions. There is a
bit of grain in spots, and occasionally an errant shot will appear a bit
soft, but otherwise the image crisp and well defined. Much of the animation
carries the darker quality of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, so a
lot of the backgrounds have a murky quality. However, foreground colors
tend to be fairly vibrant and contrast very well against their darker
surroundings. Blacks are suitably inky and the contrast is pretty much
what one would expect from something produced on a television budget-
with dark foreground and dark background objects sometimes becoming a
bit indistinguishable from one another. Overall, the presentation is quite
pleasing, and definitely better than a typical television broadcast of
THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE. Digital compression artifacts are never
problematic during the presentation.
THE
BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE comes with
a Dolby Digital 2.0 channel soundtrack that decodes to standard surround.
Like most mixes designed for the television venue, the forward soundstage
tends to dominate, with the rear channels providing mild effects, as well
as ambient and musical fill. The soundtrack does offer pretty good fidelity
and a well-defined sound in the forward soundstage. Dialogue is very crisply
rendered, with every line being completely understandable. French and
Spanish language tracks are also encoded onto the DVD, as are English,
French and Spanish subtitles.
Music
underscores the basic interactive menus, which allow one access to the
standard scene selection and set up features, as well as a few extras.
A Conversation With Producer Bruce Timm runs five minutes
and allows the producer/director to discuss both Batman and Superman animated
series, as well as teaming up the two superheroes for THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN
MOVIE. The Art Of The Batman/Superman Movie runs a bit
under three minutes and offers a montage of storyboards, conceptual artwork
and completed animation from the program. Get The Picture: Batman
quickly shows how the character of Batman is drawn, while Get The
Picture: Superman does the same for the Man Of Steel. Trailers
for BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER, BATMAN & MR. FREEZE:
SUBZERO and THE BATMAN SUPERMAN MOVIE are included on the DVD,
along with Scooby-Doo DVD promos and a trailer for the upcoming SCOOBY-DOO
movie. A cast & crew listing closes out the extra features for this
DVD release.
THE
BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE is a whole
lot of fun for fans of both BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES and the
animated SUPERMAN series. The creative team behind the movie were
obviously having fun by placing these famous characters in a situation
together and watching the fireworks erupt. Warner’s DVD presentation of
THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE is quite good making this a must have
disc for fans.