Customer Reviews

Invader ZIM - Progressive Stupidity (Vol. 2)

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As I am holding the DVD in my hand, I thought I'd provide what the specs left out....an episode listing:
- Plague of Babies
- Bloaty's Pizza Hog
- Door to Door
- FBI Warning of Doom
- Bolognius Maximus
- Game Slave 2
- Battle of the Planets
- Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom
- Mysterious Mysteries
- Future Dib
- HOBO 13
- Walk For Your Lives
- MegaDoomer
- Lice
- Abducted
- The Sad, Sad Tale of Chickenfoot

All Great Episodes that have excellent commentary tracks.

Seeing as how quite a few of the online reviews for this particular DVD are quite hard to read, I shall provide you with brilliant (and metaphorical) insight to the wonder that is Zim.

I remember seeing the commercials for Zim on Nickelodeon and thinking that this is something worth seeing. Sadly, I didn't get around to watching it until Nanozim came out, and I was officially hooked.

I can sum up the wonder of this series in one word: screaming.
All of the voice actors and actresses in this show scream at the top of their lungs. And it's a proven fact that the public likes screaming.

With brilliant colors and quirky animation, this show is sure to keep the interest of people with the shortest attention spans. Being one of those people, I can vouch for that.

The reason I'm excited about this particular set...
Well, actually, there are several reasons:

1) Commentary on most of my favorite episodes. Please do not miss out on this! I never laughed so hard in my life. Jhonen has to be one of the funniest and most charming cartoonists on Earth right now. Please... please hit that button on your remote and listen to the freakin' commentary.

2) This brings us closer to the unaired episodes!
I've had the privilege of seeing a few of the unaired eps and I have to say, the writing is wittier, the colors are brighter, and the acting is doomier and squishier. (Those are positive adjectives, by the way).

3) High quality versions of the all the episodes that were so horribly broadcasted on cable television.

4) Extras! Extras! And more extras!

5) At such a cheap price, it feels like I'm stealing it.

I also believe that the second volume of this series starts with Plague of Babies and goes on through until it stops at walk For Your Lives. This pleases me greatly, as some of the best episodes were towards the end of the first season.

That's all I have to say about this DVD.
The volume practically sells itself.
And it wins a box of adhesive medical strips.

Ah, Invader ZIM. It's grown quite a large fanbase, and it was only a matter of time before it came on DVD. And now it is. It is a bit of a letdown, because the original cover for this set, drawn by Jhonen, was much cooler, but Nick vetoed it. So now we're stuck with this generic stock art. Anyway, this is Volume Two of the set of three, and it's got some gems on it. Since the episodes aired out of order, here's what's on this two disc set:

Plague of Babies / Bloaty's Pizza Hog*
Door to Door / FBI Warning of Doom*
Bolognius Maximus / Game Slave 2
Battle of the Planets
Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom
Mysterious Mysteries* / Future Dib
Hobo 13 / Walk for your Lives
Megadoomer / Lice
Abducted / The Sad, Sad Tale of Chickenfoot
(episodes with an asterisk do not have commentary)

Abducted, possibly my favorite episode, is here, where ZIM and GIR get abducted by two idiotic aliens who think he's a human. Also very great episodes are Megadoomer, Game Slave 2, and Walk for your Lives, which I believe never aired here in the US. But, we'll have plenty to see when the unaired episodes release on volume 3.

Well, all in all, if you love ZIM, you can't afford to miss this set. Even if you don't, it's worth checking out. This is a frighteningly original and hilarious and beautiful series, that definitely should have ran longer.

The second installment of the Invader Zim DVD series is here. The adventures are crazier and the doom is stronger in this second DVD. "Progressive Stupidity" is a must have for any fan Invader Zim, cartoons in general, or just plain breathing. Like the sweet, sweet blood candies in our veins, this Invader Zim DVD is a must have item for any living organism. You will not be disappointed by this DVD. In fact you will be so happy that you bought this DVD that feathery soft puppies will rain from the sky and litter your front lawn with squeally joy. You owe it to yourself to buy this DVD. Do it for the sky puppies.

Invader Zim has to be one of my most favorite cartoons, and there are few out there I enjoy at all. Jhonen Vasquez, known to me as the creator of the infamous "Johnny the Hommicidal Maniac" comic books, brings his twist of insane humor to this fun and hilarious cartoon series.

First, a summary of the series. A technologically advanced races of aliens, the Irken Empire, is devoted to conquering all of known space. To aid them in this task, they select a group of elite Irken soldiers, known as Invaders, to scout ahead the selected-for-conquest planets and eradicate all resistance. They are the top, the best, the most brilliant (and tallest); none of these could describe Invader Zim. He's a discrace, responsible for the failure of Operation: Impending Doom 1, nearly destroying his whole race, but despite all this he believes himself to be mighty, brilliant and a force to be reckoned with. To keep him from screwing up Operation: Impeding Doom 2, his leaders (the Almighty Tallest) send him to a "mystery planet" to keep him out of the way. Unfortunately for us, they end up picking Earth. Zim lands and begins his infiltration of the ignorant human population, disguising himself as a normal green Earth boy with a skin condition. Only Dib, a classmate and paranormal investigator, sees through his simple disguise and swears to expose Zim. Dib is not the hero of the series of course, he's just as much a screw-up as Zim.

Volume 2 of this series has some of the best episodes of the series before its unfortunate cancelation. "Battle of the Planets" reveals more details of the Irken race, the progress of Operation: Impending Doom 2, and that Dib is not alone in his pursuit of Zim and the paranormal. "Megadoomer" is hilarious, involving Zim trying to destroy Dib with a battle-mech with a faulty cloaking device (the robot turns invisible but the pilot, Zim, does not). "Game Slave 2" focuses on Dib's sister Gaz, and showcases her creepy-little-goth-girl powers. "Bolognius Maximus" is a great parody of "The Fly" (of which Vasquez is a huge fan), only instead of an insect, Dib discovers Zim is trying to turn him into bologna. This collection also includes "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom", "Walk For Your Lives", and "Lice" among others.

The special features are just as worth this purchase as the episodes themselves. There is much more commentary (some episodes have two commentary tracks), which is just as hilarious as the previous volume's. Roman Dirge, creator of the "Lenore" comic books and story writer for Invader Zim, pops in for a few episode commentaries, as does Kevin Manthei, who composed most of the great soundtrack for the show.

If you liked volume 1, pick this up immediately. If you're unfamiliar with Invader Zim I would reccommend watching this one first, as the episodes here are better than most of those on volume 1.

Invader Zim has been sent from the planet Irken to take over the world ... he believes. In reality, the Tall Ones, leaders of Irken, sent him away to get rid of him. Together with his patched-together robot Gir, Zim takes his job very seriously. He disguises himself as an earth child with a skin condition (green) and attends the local school. Only Dib, the crazy kid at school, suspects him of being an alien.

The humor in Invader Zim is advanced for Nickelodeon, where the cartoon originated. Body functions and toilet humor abound, along with some great one-liners. Pure cartoon entertainment, especially for fans of Jhonen Vasquez's humor.
Here is a quick rundown of the episodes:

DISC ONE:
1) Plague Of Babies - Zim's secret identity is threatened by a race of aliens that look like human babies. Gir plays with the 'stupid ray'.
2) Bloaty's Pizza Hog - Gaz wants to go to Bloaty's Pizza Hog for dinner with Dad, but has to rescue Dib from Zim first.
3) Door To Door - The school uses Poop-Dog to entice the kids to sell Poop-bars door-to-door. Zim resorts to Irken techniques to sell the most.
4) FBI Warning Of Doom - Gir rents the movie "Intestines Of War", and Zim has to face the psycho mall security guy to return it after hours.
5) Bolognuis Maximus - Dib finds out bologna burns Zim. Zim retaliates by injecting, via a tack on his chair, bologna DNA into Dib that makes him delicious, stinky, and irresistible to dogs.
6) Game Slave 2 - Gaz needs the new Game Slave 2 to play her Vampire Piggy Hunter game, but has to chase Iggums to get it.
7) Battle Of The Planets - The Tall Ones plan Operation Doom II on the planet Blorch. Zim finds out that Mars is a giant spaceship, but Dib finds out Mercury is one too.
8) Halloween Spectacular Of Spooky Doom - Dib is taken to an asylum on Halloween because he keeps fading in and out of a monster dimension. The monster dimension is pretty cool.

DISC TWO:
1) Mysterious Mysteries. Desperate for a new show, the producer of Mysterious Mysteries uses one of Dib's tapes to prove there are aliens; mainly Zim and Gir.
2) Future Dib - Dib's dad, Professor Membrane, invents the Perpetual Energy Generator (PEG). Zim creates a remote-controlled Dib robot to destroy PEG.
3) Hobo 13 - The Tall Ones send Zim to the planet Hobo 13 to evaluate him as a warrior. He makes himself team leader and sacrifices them one by one to win.
4) Walk For You Lives - Its Probing Day on Irken, but in order for Zim to pass inspection he must get rid of a slowly exploding piece of matter.
5) Megadoomer - A disgruntled packager on Irken sends the Megadoomer to Invader Zim instead of the load of malfunctioning SIR units. But the Megadoomer didn't come with batteries.
6) Lice - There is lice outbreak at Zim's school. Zim is the only student who doesn't get lice. The Delousers quarentine the school looking for the lice queen.
7) Abducted - Insect-like aliens abduct Zim and Gir to add to their collection, but they're not very bright and haven't succeeded in collecting any specimens yet.
8) The Sad Sad Tale Of Chickenfoot - Dib sets after the news crews of Mysterious Mysteries to prove that Chickenfoot is just a guy in a suit named Chewy Rodriguez.

Extras: Most episodes have commentaries available, some have animatics, there are a few interviews, and you can turn on Irken subtitles.

Make sure you pick up Volume One: Doom Doom Doom before diving into this volume. I thought the first season was a little grosser and a little funnier, this second season seems like Nickelodeon toned the humor down a bit.

There are still no English subtitles. The only subtitles are Irken, which are just scribbles. Also, the discs are labeled three and four, rather than one and two, continuing from Volume One, which has discs one and two. Get ready to continue laughing, Zim hasn't lost his touch yet! Enjoy!

It won't take long for "Invader Zim" to take its rightful place next to "Ren & Stimpy" and "Rocko's Modern Life" as brilliant cartoons Nickelodeon tried to get rid of (though some might argue it already has). Let's face it: Nickelodeon, like MTV, started off with great ideas, new, daring shows, and a widespread demographic. Now, with the Klasky-Csupo machine churning out Rugrats spinoffs and "Rocket Power" movies, there's not much room for new ideas. "Invader Zim" came and went, but not before its small but devout fanbase forced Nickelodeon to keep the project alive, at least for a few more episodes.

You want more proof this show was great? At the time of this writing, all three volumes of Zim DVDs (the third one's on preorder) are on the Top 100 Sellers list.

But, enough about the show in general. What makes Vol. 2 of this collection worth buying? Well, even if this came as a barebones DVD, I still would've bought it, just for the episodes, my personal favorite being the half-hour "Battle of the Planets." The storyline is great, the special effects are great, and the instruction manual alien ("Hey, pilot! How ya doin'?") is great.

Then, you have the Tim Burton-esque "Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom," which is equal parts funny, scary and just plain cool.

As for the other episodes, you got "Game Slave 2" which is all about Gaz and also makes an interesting commentary about video games. There's also more of The Tallest in Volume 2 than in Volume 1 (The Tallest are my fav characters, second only to GiR). They make appearances in "Hobo 13," "Megadoomer," "Walk for Your Lives" (It's probing day!), and "Battle of the Planets."

There's commentary on every episode, animatics and storyboards for every episode...MAN, this DVD rocks! Bottom line is if you're looking for exciting, original animation, you really oughta look into owning "Invader Zim"!

OK, realize you're dealing with a 52 year-old guy who has been on the verge of spiritual ecstasy from the first moment he watched Invader ZIM, a guy who loves this series on about 3 different levels, what some folks would call a "real ZIM dork". I have 27 episodes of ZIM (incl. the 8 unaired episodes) and have no qualms about recommending this series to ANYONE, a kid, teen or even a growed-up like me, as I never tire of watching the ridiculous events unfold in every episode, the amazing detail to the machinery that is IRKEN technology, the skillful use of parody that is present and the sly references to today's world with it's farces, foibles and ****ups! The voice of ZIM with his speaking style is no less than genius. GIR, his borderline-functional robot is always a source of frustrating, outrageous and unpredictable behaviors that would confound the most jaded psychiatrist. You'll laugh until you bust a "squeedley-squooch" or worse, so immediately, right ****ing NOW, arrange to possess this wonderful series and enjoy a truly unique animation style along with great storylines.

In a word, Zim is awesome. And the second season is funnier than season one, even though they are both great. In the second season, the episodes focus on all the characters and not just Zim. Like Game Slave 2, The sad sad tale of Chicken Foot. Yes, and, these episodes get darker and more creepy, i.e. Turkey Neck
's lucky neck meats. Yeah. You read correctly. Neck meats. Erglack! And plague of babies, in which babies arn't what they seem. Be sure to check on your little tike every night.
How to make sure your baby isn't related to Shnookie.
1.) does your baby not age?
2.) does your baby not talk after 7 years of life?
If so, you better get out of your house NOW! Erglack!
But, seriously, this dvd is completely normal. Erglack!

I just love the way this series pokes fun at skool. The mispellings, the drool, the loathsome subjects. The series was aimed at teenagers and unfortunately flopped on Nickolodean. But thank goodness we have these DVD's. Buy them all and watch them or you are Dooooooomed and I'll have to sing the doom song to you! doom, doom, doom... <repeat tonelessly>