Customer Reviews

Batman - The Animated Series - Tales of the Dark Knight

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

For those who willingly bought the first BTAS disc in hopes that WB would release more, and with better extras, be prepared for a big disappointment. First of all, it's been a year, and this is only the 2nd disc we've gotten. Another disc should arrive in the fall, but at this rate, we'll have to let our sons and daughters finish the collection for us. 2nd, this disc only has four episodes, not even the five that the first disc gave us, and not six, which is what a DVD disc is capable of holding (see WB's Batman Beyond DVD). 3rd...the episodes are only so-so. Only one major villain is featured, the Joker, but it's nowhere near his best outing. Another episode features the one-shot villain The Sewer King, who uses children to commit his crimes. Despite an interesting premise, it's easily at the bottom of the barrel compared to other episodes. The last two, POV and The Forgotten, are above-average and give us a nice look at Bruce Wayne and the Gotham Police force. However, overall, these episodes just weren't worth the year-long wait.

And extras? Forget about any good extras. Anything remotely interesting, such as Bruce Timm's intros, will be butchered into little segments that feel more promotional than informative. If you're a die-hard BTAS fan, you might as well grab this disc, since some BTAS is better than none, but just remember that it's a no-win situation: Good sales will only encourage WB to keep churning out poor DVDs like this, and bad sales will just cause them to stop production altogether. If it helps, consider buying this disc as an appetizer for when the new DTV Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman will be released this fall.

Why does Warner Brothers love to give Batman the shaft on DVD.
First they simply stuck the movie franchise films on dvd with out any extras with the exception of cast information.

Now Warner Brothers fails to deliver a collector's edition dvd for its critically acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series. I don't mind the episodes they put onto the disc...what I do mind are the episodes not on the disc. The Two-Face episodes about his origin are not on the disc contrary to the advertisements and Amazon's editorial description.

Its time for Warner Brothers to wise up and realize that Batman is not for the three to six years old. They killed the Batman Franchise by sugar coating it to death with such lolly-pop releases as Batman and Robin and the newer WB Batman and Batman Beyond animated episodes. Its time to salvage what is left of the franchice and start by giving the fans a DVD collection that is both weighty with content and episodes that is placed in a neatly designed box set. Kids are not going to buy cartoons that are over 10 years old. Batman is old school. Market the Pokemon videos to the infants but let Batman have a better fate.

"Batman:The Animated Series" is literally everything I could want from a comic book adaptation. In fact, I would say it remains the best comic book inspired TV series or movie ever made. It stays true to the characters, tells interesting stories and has some of the finest animation around. A truly groundbreaking, amazing series.

Which is why it is all the more disappointing to see "Batman:TAS" get such a lackluster DVD release. Like all TV shows, it should have been released in Season Box Sets rather than in this manner. Even as it is, the extras are slim to none, and there is nothing to really recommend this DVD. I hope Warner Bros will correct this error, and give us some Season Box Sets. Until then, I will decline.

These reviews are starting to sound like a broken record, but perhaps if enough people read them and stay away from these DVD releases, Warner Bros. will figure out that they can make more money by making the fans happy.

Fox can put entire Simpsons, Futurama, and The Family Guy seasons on DVD. Paramount has no problem producing and selling Star Trek: Next Gen and DS9 season sets that retail for $100. So what is up with Warner Bros. and one of their hottest properties? THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR NOT RELEASING THE ANIMATED BATMAN SERIES IN VOLUMES OF THEIR RESPECTIVE SEASONS!!!

I might have overlooked this decision if Warner released a "Best of" DVD or DVD's devoted to single characters (all the Joker episodes, all the Two-Face episodes, etc.). But instead, we get disks like this one--containing a mere 4 episodes (none of them particularly good) and limited special features. As a fan of the series, I KNOW that there are a lot of reference materials available--just look at the excellent Batman Animated book! This disk has a brief featurette on the voice acting that contains comments from only a single actor(Kevin Conroy).

To top it all off, the disk comes in the paper DVD case that I despise (even AOL sometimes sends out free disks in plastic DVD cases!) with cover artwork that pales in comparison to the actual animation. Bruce Timm, where are you?

Please save your money by not buying this disk! Maybe Warner Bros. can forget these last two disks ever happened and start over from scratch before it's too late...

Batman: The Animated Series is probably one of the best treatments for the charatcer that has ever been realized. Why, oh why has the release of this wonderful, exciting and fun to watch program being handled by some marketing intern?

Has WB learned nothing from the seasonal releases of "The Simpson's?" Even while the extras on that are not stellar, they are certainly nice additions. Good God, "The Transformers" from the early to mid 80's has both box sets AND single disks available for purchase and, from what I understand is doing very, very well! And four to five episodes per disk for BTAS? And not even in sequence? Who's running this? Batman is one of the strongest properties WB owns and they are handling this like some direct to video property in whcih they have ZERO confidence.

This is how BTAS should be released. Seasonal box sets. Secondary audio track for commentary. Video on the process of making the program. I KNOW video such as this already exists as I remember seeing shorts on the subject years ago. PEOPLE WILL BUY THIS TYPE OF PRODUCT.

WB...pull your thumbs out of your...um...ears (could barely sanitize that). You will make more MONEY by releasig this product PROPERLY. What you are doing now is DEVALUING your own license to print money. Get in the game and release these shows with some backbone, or get out. I bought the first disk, reluctantly, but if this is what they are going to .... out and try to sell me, no thanks. I'll wait the 16-17 years until Rhino (who is doing "The Transformers" MORE than justice) buys some release rights and publishes this content in a format that fans are not disgusted in buying.

One of the best animated series in television history. Too bad chimps are in charge of its treatment on DVD.

"Batman - The Animated Series - Tales of the Dark Knight" contains episodes 6 to 9. These are really good episodes that contain villains like The Joker and The Sewer King.

The episodes are:

6) The Underdwellers: This is a very Oliver Twist like tale, where children are made to work like slaves underground for the Sewer King. People think that leprechauns are stealing from them at night, but it is actually these homeless children. Batman captures a child and takes him to his mansion. He asks for information on the Sewer King, but the boy is unable to talk. Will Batman be able to find the Sewer King and save the kids in time?
I really liked this episode because of the well balanced action (fight with the crocodiles) and comic relief (Alfred trying to take care of the boy). (5/5).

7) P.O.V - This episode starts off with Officer Montoya and Officer Wilkes driving to an abandoned warehouse to meet Detective Bullock. Their operation is to catch a drug lord and his gang. However, by the time they reach there, the warehouse is on fire, and Bullock is outside, unconscious. Montoya and Wilkes go in to see if the gang is still in the warehouse. Afterwards, during the rest of the episode, the 2 officers and the detective narrate what they saw at the warehouse, but only one of them is telling the truth.
This is a very different and interesting episode, not because of its storyline, but because of the way it is told, through three people. (4/5).

8) Forgotten - Another wonderful episode! This episode starts with Bruce Wayne, working in a community center. He finds out that some of the volunteers and homeless people have been disappearing. Bruce wants to find out about the disappearance (because the police are not concerned about homeless people), so he disguises himself as a poor man and walks around the street corners. However, he is hit in the head by some thugs, and when he wakes up, he finds himself in some sort of a penitentiary headed by Boss Biggis, in the middle of nowhere. Even worse, he doesn't seem to remember who he is or where he's from!
The main reason I found this episode so good was because we get to see how Bruce Wayne would defend himself and fight crime as himself and not as Batman (5/5).

9) Be a Clown - Mayor Hill is holding a birthday party for his son, Jordan. However, Jordan feels disconnected with his father because his dad never spends time with him. He is interested in becoming a magician, but his father is too busy with his elections to know this. Meanwhile, The Joker has his own plans for ruining the Mayor's party. He dresses up as Jekko the Clown and comes to the party. Jordan is fascinated by Jekko and runs away with him to the circus. Will Batman be able to save Jordan from the Joker's evil schemes?
This episode is once again the fight between Batman and the Joker, and is another amazing episode! The Joker always puts Batman in situations where it seems impossible for Batman to escape from. The scene where Batman is suspended inside the water-filled box, and the rollercoaster scenes were great! (5/5)

Although these episodes are already in the volume seasonal box sets, if you are a fan of the show you can still buy this DVD. The quality of the episodes is, of course, in very good condition, except that they don't contain many extra features in them. Otherwise, if you would rather have all the episodes in one set, buy the 3 volumes released.

I have to chime in with the others here about the wretched job WB is doing with their animated releases. This incredible, groundbreaking series deserves SO much better. Box sets, real extras, art galleries, full cast and creator commentaries, more frequent releases, etc.

This is to many (myself included) the very best interpretetion of this iconic character in any film form. In fact, this series is the best animated treatment given to any superhero property since the Fleisher Superman shorts of the 1940's. Surely the Dark Knight's finest incarnation can be handled with a little respect.

Now, they've cut back from five episodes per disc to four? Unbelievable. Some episodes are better than others, and though I prefer to get them all in order, since the releases are so meager and infrequent, do we really need "The Underdwellers" (perhaps the worst episode in the run) instead of "Heart of Ice" (perhaps the best)?

Also, once again, here's that typical WB overly airbrushed box art which makes the characters look like parade balloons instead of representing the way they appear on the show. Would it be so hard for them to get Bruce Timm (or one of his able artists) to do decent covers instead....

Would it be so hard for WB to dump the UNIVERSALLY DETESTED cardboard box DVD covers already? If anything demonstrates WB's contempt of the average consumer so one or two executives can scam a few bucks off the top, look no further than these flimsy and awkward cases. I defy you to find a single consumer who doesn't grind their teeth about them.

Would it be so hard for WB to give us BOX SETS of Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Looney Toons, Superman, Batman Beyond, Justice League, Taz, Tiny Toons, Freakazoid, etc.

Well, until, the right people at WB home video get justly demoted to a position where they can do no more damage and replaced by people who do DVD the way Fox and Disney do, we're ... stuck with this. I'm still debating if I want to replace my home taped versions. Probably not.

5 episodes a year, with no special features? That's how WB is choosing to release this GEM of an animated series. Unbelievable. Instead of putting out a box set per season, with a comprehensive episode guide and some special features, they are releasing this disappointing DVD. It's great to finally have them on a disc, but not 5 at a time.

Although I'm generally with the crowd that's clamoring for season-long box sets of this brooding, involving animated series, these single-disc offerings aren't all that bad. In this case, for a few loose bills you get clean, sharp prints of episodes 6 to 9, a brief but interesting piece about the casting of the voice talent for the show, and nice intros to each episode by producer Bruce Timm. Oh, yes-- you also get a little "brain-teaser" game to play, but even my forgiving self can't find it in his heart to praise THAT bit of byte-wasting silliness.

Anyway, I imagine the suits at Warner Brothers figured that the low price would encourage lots of casual purchasing by the parents-throwing-it-in-their-cart-for-the-kids demographic, while rabid fans would STILL pick these DVDs up even though they're not the juicy, packed-to-the-gills-with-extras multi-disc collections they're climbing the walls for. And I guess that strategy is working, 'cause I'M a serious fan and I'm buying these DVDs. But maybe there's a better solution that can please everyone: namely, do both types of products. Sell inexpensive single-disc offerings like this one AND season-long boxed sets with premium extras. Put 'em both in the marketplace and let people buy what they want.

But until that day comes, these DVDs could be worse. At least the episodes are being released in chronological order, instead of being packaged in those horrible "best of" compilations that jump all over the map in time and leave huge gaps in your collection.

So you obviously all know that you can get all 3 real volumes and a 4th now, so only buy this if you see it at cd tradepost for like 5.99, otherwise the volumes 1-3 are some of the best investments in DVD History. I rate them right up there with lord of the rings and newsradio as best buys.

If you don't want to dish out the money but still want to see a few great episodes from one of the top 5 shows in the history of earth, than I can barely recommend this, however 4 AWESOME shows.

P.O.V.-A really differnt type of episode that seems a lot more like law and order.

THE FORGOTTEN- A really touching episode that seems something like a western, but what am i doing trying to compare this show to something, it's an original.

THE UNDERDWELLERS- Another very touching episode where Batman is helping out little kids froma man who like owns all of them. Sort of a scary episode, but hey, it wouldn't be a show without a little suspense.

BE A CLOWN- is one of the creepiest things I have seen since the movie the stepfather. This episode scared the %!@# out of me when I was like 9 or 10 or 22. The joker episodes were ALWAYS the best and this one also does not fail.

SO ONCE AGAIN DO NOT BUY THIS IF YOU HAVE THE VOLUMES 1-3, IF YOU HAVE 1 VOLUME, YOU NEED THEM ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!