Customer Reviews

The Batman - The Complete Fifth Season

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Okay, Season 3 was good and Season 4 was even better. Now here come thirteen more episodes. If you like your Batman integrated into the wider DC superhero universe, then Season 5 will be hog heaven (but don't get it twisted; THE BATMAN is not at all placed in the same continuity as the shows in Bruce Timm's DC Animated Universe). This fifth season finds a darknight detective even more amenable to teamwork, although that's not to say he's all of a sudden the life of the party. Dude still broods muchly and cloaks himself in mystery and intimidation; that's just how he rolls. But, continuing the trend begun in Season 4, Season 5 showcases members of the Justice League. The two episode arc "The Batman/Superman Story" kicks it off by teaming up the World's Finest, Batman and Superman, in a nifty story featuring a whole gang of supervillains and the Bat going up against the Man of Steel. I guess it's appropriate that the season (and the series) would close with the two-part "Lost Heroes," a big-scale Justice League adventure.

Superhero cartoon shows don't get a lot of run nowadays, do they? THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES animated series just got the axe. And, yes, horribly, this is the last season in THE BATMAN series, so all the more reason to enjoy this one. The best part is Batman and Robin teaming up with various of the Justice League. Robin's awed reactions to meeting these other heroes are priceless. One downside to so many spotlights on the JLA is that less time is given to the Bat family. I miss Batgirl and her sarcasm; here, she's relegated to less face time. We do learn that time hasn't been standing still for Barbara Gordon as she's now old enough to attend college ("Attack of the Terrible Trio"). Speaking of the Bat fam, there's a sighting of Nightwing; unfortunately, he's a character in an Internet game ("The Metal Face of Comedy"). The good news is that Bat Mite doesn't show up at all.

Regarding the storytelling and the visuals, I don't believe Season 5 to be better than the prior two seasons, which are very good. THE BATMAN was always intended for the younger set of kids, so the stories here aren't as dark or psychological or as thematically layered as those in, say, BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES. Should this season find more favor with the viewers, it'll be because of its glittering star power. And if the driving theme song reminds one a bit of Hawaii Five-O, well, that's not such a bad thing, is it?

I can't envision a future in which there isn't an ongoing Batman animated series. Hopefully, the powers that be can dust off Kevin Conroy to do what he does best.

In the meantime, here are the 13 episodes of Season 5 (note that, depending on the reader, the following might contain some minor plot SPOILERS):

- Episodes 1 & 2 - "The Batman/Superman Story (Parts 1 & 2)" - Fun two-parter as Superman and the Bat finally meet and fight a lot of super-villains. But then Luthor gets the upper hand.
- Episode 3 - "Vertigo" - Green Arrow comes to Gotham to investigate Wayne Labs, which is somehow linked to people suffering mysterious ailments.
- Episode 4 - "White Heat" - Firefly and his brainy girlfriend steal radioactive isotopes; the debut of Phosphorus; and, finally, a sighting of Batgirl this season.
- Episode 5 - "A Mirror Darkly" - Flash comes to Gotham to help Batman and Robin take down the Mirror Master. One of my favorite episodes.
- Episode 6 - "Joker Express" - Get on board the Cuckoo Choo Choo. An outbreak of "giggle bandits" sweeping Gotham could only mean the return of the Joker.
- Episode 7 - "Ring Toss" - With Sinestro taking Hal Jordan out of action, the Green Lantern power ring ends up in the clutches of the Penguin.
- Episode 8 - "The Metal Face of Comedy" - A Joker henchman's invention leads to the formation of a digital Clown Prince of Crime.
- Episode 9 - "Attack of the Terrible Trio" - Thanks to Dr. Kirk Langstrom's mutagens, three college outcasts mutate into beasts and proceed to get their revenge on those what done them wrong. Also, Batgirl's a college freshman.
- Episode 10 - "The End of the Batman" - Gotham's criminal element gets its own costumed champions: Wrath and Scorn, who seem to hold a personal grudge against the Dynamic Duo.
- Episode 11 - "What Goes Up..." - A gravity-defying episode as Black Mask escapes with the help of the Shadow Thief, and the pair goes after a Thanagarian meteorite. Can a certain winged Thanagarian lawman be too far behind?
- Episodes 12 & 13 - "Lost Heroes" (Parts 1 & 2)" - Hugo Strange and the Joining return as, one by one, Justice League members begin to vanish until, finally, only the two least powerful heroes are left - Green Arrow and Batman.

The Dark Knight welcomes the Justice League to Gotham City in "The Batman: The Complete Fifth Season". As the mysterious crime fighter Batman, young industrialist Bruce Wayne has dedicated his life to protect Gotham City from such dangerous rogues like Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman and Mr. Freeze, but now he must test his courage and skills along side Earth's greatest superheroes. In this action-packed season, Batman joins the Justice League and teams up with Superman, Green Arrow, the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman and Martian Manhunter against such villains like Lex Luthor, Mirror Master, Count Vertigo and more. "The Batman" is the Emmy Award-winning animated series based on the DC Comic hero created by artists Bob Kane and Bill Finger. The animated series maintains faithful to the comic books. The animation style and character designs are certainly different than previous television shows. The fifth and final season offers plenty of amusement and features guest voice stars like George Newbern, Dana Delany, Louise Gossett Jr., John Larroquette, Dermot Mulroney, Miguel Ferrer and Robert Patrick.

"The Batman: The Complete Fifth Season" offers a great DVD presentation at an affordable retail price. All 13 action-packed episodes of the final season are presented in their original full screen broadcast format. Like the previous season sets, the picture quality is really good and its 2.0 Dolby Digital sound certainly gets the job done. Its only special features are "Joining Forces: The Batman's Legendary Team-Ups" (9 minutes) and "The Batman: Justice League Profiles" (12 minutes) featurettes and trailers of other Warner Brother DVD releases and "Speed Racer" video game. Despite the lack of solid bonus features, "The Batman: The Complete Fifth Season" earns a "B".

Have really enjoyed the 5th season. Excellent quality. These are great for any age. Got 5th season thinking it belonged to the 'classics' collection, will get the four seasons to complete.

I'll come right out with it; I wasn't enamored with The Batman from the onset. While it was great that somebody has decided to bring the legend of the Dark Night back to Saturday mornings in a time when the nation was collectively just coming out of the first wave of Japanese-inspired card-based animation (Pokemon, Monster Rancher, Dragon Ball Z, etc.). The problem of course was that Bruce Timm and company had done such a commendable job of transferring the moody, dark vigilante -style Tim Burton had introduced fans to in his 1988 film in Batman The Animated Series throughout the 90s. Comparisons were inevitable and while The Batman was brighter and certainly toned down, over time I (like many others) began to come to appreciate the show for what it was (rather than how it compared to TAS). There were ups and downs along the way; the biggest downer for me personally was the introduction and constant use of the "Bat Brats", Robin & Batgirl. The second came in the form of the Rogue's Gallery: a brood so interesting that I would have imagined nobody could possibly screw it up. There has traditionally been way too much usage of the dreadlocked Joker while long-standing staples such as Mr. Freeze and Two-Face have been non-entities.

For the 5th and final season, the producers followed in the footsteps of Bruce Timm and company once again by making the transition over to the Justice League (and the Batman's honorary part-time membership). In and of itself, this was a wise move in my opinion as it opened up a whole new set of situations, partnerships, and villains to battle. This works brilliantly several times throughout the 13-episode season but for the vast majority of the time, the link-up falls way short of the dynamic the 2000's incarnation of Justice League presented to spoiled fans such as myself.

Rather than a continuing story-arc with the Justice League (and that was entirely possible considering the material), the JL episodes are simple stand-alone encounters separated by very typical blow-off episodes that would have fit in very well in the second or third season. Again the writers slipped into Joker mode with a whopping triple back-to-back run while veterans like the Scarecrow, Two-Face, Mr. Freeze, Clay Face, and the superbly done Riddler make not a single appearance. Worse still is the fact that the decently presented Firefly becomes a ball of living radiation early on in the season and is never heard from again.

All in all, in keeping in mind the 6-11 age target demographic, I realize that I'm certainly coming down a bit hard on the show. That said, it's tough to celebrate concepts such as trying to steal an entire building by floating it away or a runaway mine-cart scene straight out of Indiana Jones certainly don't push the limits of creativity either. I conclude that this effort is probably most closely on par with the efforts of the second or third season of the show. The fourth raised the bar so high that I fear there was only one direction for the 5th to follow. I'll certainly miss The Batman and cling to the hope that Cartoon network's new series: Batman The Brave and the Bold will be adequate enough to satisfy the Gotham fix for those of us who simply can't get enough.

I sort of missed watching this show when it was originally broadcast on the Kids' WB a few years ago. I give every superhero cartoon a shot, since I love the genre so much. But whereas some get overwhelmed by a large cast, Batman always seems to have found the sweet spot in terms of good narratives, plotlines, and villains. It started with Bruce Timm's Batman: the Animated Series and has continued through the current (although ending soon) Brave and the Bold series. Each has their own unique take, and The Batman: Season 5 is no exception. This DVD rules.

I wanted to start at the end of the series because this DVD has tons of guest appearances, including Green Arrow, the Flash and Superman. Origin stories are fine, but I wanted to get to the meat and potatoes of the action in this cartoon, and I really enjoyed it. A young Batman is pretty confident in his abilities here, and shows the other heroes that he's even more dangerous than they are, powers and all. It's Batman's mind and cunning that make him so awesome. This DVD really dovetails into The Brave and the Bold cartoon perfectly, as he's teamed up with so many characters in both.

The animation is really decent for a Saturday morning show. There are some expensive looking effects once in a while, and it doesn't pull a 'Flintstones' by using too many repeated shots. The character designs are strong and have an Asian influence to them. The writing is a lot more light hearted than the more serious tones of Batman: The Animated Series, but certainly falls in the middle between that show's feel and the downright silliness of the Brave and the Bold. All of the Bat-shows are great in their own right, but this one is a fine balance of the dark and light sides of Batman. This is a definite buy. I'll be buying the rest of series soon.

First of all, the quality of the item was great. The packaging was perfect as was the condition of the discs themselves. I could not have asked for anything better!
This was a very interesting, well done season. It incorporated a lot of Justice League members making this season a perfect transition into the new "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" series.

I honestly can say that this season would've been a good bridge to start a JLA series. Too bad this was the last season for this series.

During this season there isn't any character development. However Batman gets himself in situations that interlaced with other JLA members.

However, it lack the keeping me captivated in certain episodes.

Nevertheless it is Batman.

Hey I just ordered all the batman cartoons series and absolutely love it. I watch 1 or 2 episodes a night before I go to bed. I even watch Batman with my two daughters who have decided batman is cooler than Hana Montana. Great job Amazon..

It's not easy following in the footsteps and being constantly compared, usually unfavorably, with a series as revered and admired as Batman TAS. From a fan's point of view, and the creators would certainly concur, it is best to judge every new endeavor with fresh eyes and on its' own merits, which of course is easier said than done. In the case of The Batman, this should be made slightly more doable due to the passage of time and the fact that we are somewhat contrasting and evaluating different products. The first and foremost observation being that The Batman is targeted at a much younger audience, which is not just a consideration that needs to be factored in, but one that makes it fairly difficult for adults to even objectively critique it, since this primarily was not designed with us in mind. Comparisons can however provide a basic framework and reference point for many, with a few being quite similar and eye opening. The focus on Robin and Batgirl was reminiscent of BTAS's last, lighter and for some arguably best season, and may have been a precursor for this incarnation; indeed even the overall tone and style possibly was a carryover from it. Another similarity is the exceptional, although admittedly different, animation and the generally higher consistency of the episodes. The main emphasis of season 5 is the concerted prominence of guest stars, noticeably Superman, Hawkman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Green Arrow to name a few. This spotlighting of the DCU's best was possibly their way of going out with all guns blazing. The series bowed out exhibiting many of the same strengths and weaknesses that it debuted with, but fortunately for its' fans, its' final ledger account is heavily balanced on the plus side. Living in the shadows of a popular and iconic cartoon is not easy and essentially unfair. BTAS had a lengthy and stellar run, but its' time had come. The Batman is and was a totally different animal, whose time now has also come, but for what is was, it succeeded. We now have a new and forthcoming Batman toon, Brave and the Bold, on the horizon which supposedly will be aimed at an even younger audience. As with The Batman, I will maintain an open mind and look forward to its' debut next spring.

The Fifth and Final Season of The Batman is more of a team-up season. Batgirl and Commissioner Gordon only show up in cameos this season & Firefly becomes Phosphorus. The Joining, who was in the fourth seasons' finale, makes a return in this seasons' finale(which is over 40 minutes long). Batman teams up with the likes of Superman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Hawkman, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter &, in the season finale, the entire Justice League. He squares off against the likes of Lex Luthor, Metallo, Mercy Graves, Count Vertigo, Wrath, Toyman, Sinestro, Shadow Thief, Mirror Master and the Terrible Trio. Vocal talents were provided by Rino Romano, Evan Sabara, Danielle Judovits, Alastair Duncan, Mitch Pileggi, Dorian Harewood, Dermot Mulroney, Robert Patrick, Chris Hardwick, Charlie Schlatter and George Newbern. It's a shame that this season is the shows' last. With every season bought, I got to liking it more and more. This season is, perhaps, the best out of them all. I suggest you collect them all while the getting is good.

Meanwhile, next year-look for a new Batman animated series to debut on Cartoon Network called Batman: The Brave & The Bold. It will see Batman team-up with several other DC Comics heroes during the season such as Aquaman, Blue Beetle, Green Arrow, Red Tornado and Plastic Man(just to name a few). The series is being produced by Ben Jones, Brandon Vietti and Michael Chang.