Product Details

• Actors: Will Friedle, Kevin Conroy, Cree Summer, Lauren Tom, Ryan O'Donohue
• Writers: Bob Kane, Gardner Fox, Jerry Robinson, Neal Adams
• Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: May 16, 2000
• Run Time: 70 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0790749335
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #376,381 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This animated series relates the adventures of Terry, Bruce Wayne's protégé, a high-school student in a higher tech, more colorful version of the Bat-suit whose Gotham has grown only more sinister since his mentor's heyday. This trio of dark, smartly written 20-minute episodes finds Wayne doing the hermit thing in the Batcave, but behind the controls of equipment that allows him to guide Terry's every move--well, almost. When a series of acquaintances stumble into trouble under the influence of mind-invading visions in the title episode, Terry dons the pointy-eared garb to stop the hypno-thief and follows a trail leading back to his high-school halls. In "A Touch of Curare," Commissioner Barbara Gordon (Stockard Channing) betrays her crime-fighting past as she embarks on the toughest job of her life: to protect her husband (Paul Winfield) from a knife-wielding assassin bent on preventing his testimony in an arms-dealing case. Virtual reality junkies are the new wasted as Terry and friend Max (Cree Summer) discover in "Hooked Up." The pair unlock the formula that changes the addicted into the comatose, but not before Max gets too involved in her work. Ages 11 and up. --Kimberly Heinrichs

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Batman Is Spellbound In Three Exciting Episodes, June 26, 2000

By 

Michael Daly "Monkeesfan" (Wakefield, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Batman Beyond -- Spellbound [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Batman Beyond: Spellbound introduces us to one of the more mezmerizing - literal and figurative - villians of the Batman genre.

Spellbinder greets Hill High cheerleader Chelsea Cunningham, and next thing she knows, she is in a jungle adventure straight out of Indiana Jones - all the while stealing a valuable statue owned by her father. When the police, led by Commissioner Barbara Gordon (Stockard Channing), arrest Chelsea, Terry McGuiness knows something is wrong - "she's flaky, but she's not stupid," he pointedly tells Bruce. When Terry attends the wedding of a friend's mother, chaos erupts as the woman goes berserk in fleeing imaginary gigantic insects. Her horror is magnified when Batman intervenes and is soon locked in combat with Spellbinder on his insect-shaped hovercraft. Terry himself then gets a blast of Spellbinder's power, and it is all he can handle to find the villian and dodge the horrors within his own mind. Among the horros are illusions of diving off a high waterfall, being pursied by the dead, and a hilarious spending binge contest.

This episode digs back to the 1970s by employing two veteran actors from that decade - Vernee Watson (from the Captain Caveman cartoon) and Richard "Les Nesman" Sanders.

Spellbinder returns in the tape's third episode via an elaborate virtual reality system that snares Terry's girlfriend and crime-fighting aide-de-camp Max (Cree Summer). Max is far and away a superior character to Terry's other girlfriend, the useless Dana Tan, and the series should have used Max instead of Dana far more often.

Sandwiched between Spellbinder's antics is the outstanding study in the relationship between Bruce and Barbara Gordon, A Touch of Curare. Curare is an ace assassin out to kill Barbara's husband, DA Sam Young (Paul Winfield). But the real fight is between Barbara and both Bruce Wayne and Terry. The reason for this surprising hostility is explained by Barbara in a heart-to-heart talk with Terry. The action in this episode is faster and more vicious than usual, and closes with a great "killer" ending.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the best episodes of Batman Beyond, November 27, 2001

By 

R. Alan Mead (Saginaw, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Batman Beyond -- Spellbound [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I really like this series. I mean, I REALLY like it. This videotape features two episodes featuring the supervillain "The Spellbinder." As a supervillain, he's a bit contrived and I don't have that same warm fuzzy feeling I get from other new Batman Beyond villains such as Mr. Freeze, the Joker or...hey wait. These are the good old villains! That's the problem, some of the new villainry just isn't as viscerally evil as the oldies but goodies. I just can't buy that not only does a high school teacher/psychologist can pilot some eyeball looking high tech flying globe and create very realistic Mysterio-like (read, Spider-man villain with little cubes that cast realistic, episodic images to fool the mind...he wears a fish-bowl style globe on his head). Anyhow, the villain is not super-strong, he doesn't have deadly weapons. He uses ultra-realistic "dream state" images to cause people to inadvertently steal stuff for him. Why not use these unbelievable powers to kidnap wealthy, secluded billionaires like that cranky Bruce Wayne. He's a small potatoes guy, but it seems like he could be making bigger waves than he does. Terry McGuinness's Batman should be able to whip him a lot easier than he does. The other episode, "A Touch of Curare" pits Batman against a nearly unbeatable assassin who never speaks a word. I swear to God, I thought Kryptonite was all that might stop her! Kind of cool how she's drawn, but cripes, she was kicking butt on everyone, and she still didn't get the hit taken care of that she was supposed to! What's up with that! Ahhh, anyways...this is the weakest of the videotapes with the Batman Beyond name on them. I'm overall very happy with the series and can't wait for more chances to get videos.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Spellbound, August 7, 2001

By 

Grant Morneau (Andover, NH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Batman Beyond -- Spellbound [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Spellbound seems to be another weak link in the collection of this series. Although the mystery of the Spellbinder episodes are mildly amusing, the lack of reality is a bit diverting. Though, I have to admit, the action sequences are breathtaking (even though they are animated).