Product Details

• Actors: Carl Lumbly, George Newbern, Phil LaMarr, Kevin Conroy, Michael Rosenbaum
• Writers: Bob Goodman, Carmine Infantino, Denny O'Neil, Ernie Altbacker, Gardner Fox
• Format: Animated, Color, NTSC, Closed-captioned
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: April 23, 2002
• Run Time: 30 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005Y771
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #314,790 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good animation and character interaction but..., April 26, 2002

By 

Allen W. Wright "Webmaster, 'rogue scholar" (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Justice League - Secret Origins (DVD)

As the ads for the original comic book said, Just Imagine! Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and more on one team. Well, actually as a child of 1970s, I can imagine it quite easily. On TV, it was called The Superfriends. But in the comics, these heroes were The Justice League. Now, they are back!

This DVD is the first three episodes of a new cartoon series which at the moment isn't being shown in my country of Canada.

First the good, the cartoon is exciting. It's a fast-moving plot -- which as others have stated owes a debt to Wells's War of the Worlds (as well as some Justice League comic books, where the invaders were White Martians and Apellaxians.)

For an action-driven movie, the character interplay is very good. Flash is an impulsive joker, Green Lantern a military type, Hawkgirl a fierce warrior. Relatively simple characterization but they blend fairly well.

And I like the composition of the team. With several Green Lanterns to choose from, they picked John Stewart. I see that a former reviewer complained about this. Well, essentially, GL is just a name and a power. So, why not pick the black (or African American, as Americans say) one? The same with Hawkgirl? I really don't see the big deal here. It makes sense. After all, Kryptonians and Thanagarians and Martians --- well, that really isn't diversity.

My problems? Well, the plot is a bit thin. I think this comes from being a "widescreen" (well, full frame in this case) epic battle. But the bigger problem? I know who John Stewart is (originally a social activist with a chip on his shoulder, and an architect). I know who the Wally West Flash is. But I doubt the non-comics reader does. Sure, the DVD has a character bio section. But I think with newcomer Wonder Woman, someone could have given her a brief description of the heroes. It's called Secret Origins, but really, the only origin we get is J'Onn J'Onnz's origin. I'm not even sure anyone ever calls Green Lantern by his superhero name once.

But if their names don't come through, their characters do. Much more sharply than they did on the old Superfriends.

Still... my biggest problem? That it doesn't contain all those cool adventures I've been hearing about? Manhunters? The Injustice Gang? A Pseudo-Earth 2? Metamorpho? Bring them on!
Oh, and as for the person who said this was DC's answer to the X-Men? Well, the Justice League came first.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It doesn't explore the characters? Yes it does., March 2, 2002

By 

B. White - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Justice League - Secret Origins (DVD)

I don't get what anyone says about it not exploring the characters. Of course we're not going to see them out of costume very often, because most of them don't know each other's secret identity, but there is a lot of character development. "Secret Origins" is basically a meeting of each and they all learn each others basic personality. Not deep delving, but it is development. We learn that Green Lantern is a rigid military type, Wonder Woman is a rookie, Batman isn't a team player, etc. The whole story is about J'Onn J'Onzz (the martian) and goes into his character and background quite a bit. The other episodes that have come along have been mostly about a specific character. In "In Blackest Night" there is a lot of development and backstory for Green Lantern. "Paradise Lost" is all about Wonder Woman, her mother, and her home. "The Enemy Below" didn't give you much about any of the main characters, but it did develop Aquaman immensely as a guest star. I'll buy any of these on DVD.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Let's give credit where credit is due!, March 16, 2002

By 

Reginald D. Garrard "the G-man" (Camilla, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Justice League - Secret Origins (DVD)

Inasmuch as we have become a world of readers whose reading is limited to the latest offering from J.K. Rowling, John Grisham, or Stephen King, we seem to have forgotten the authors of classic literature. Obviously Lukic and company realize this and decided to loosely adapt the "Justice League" pilot on one of the greatest novels in science fiction history: H.G.Wells' "The War of the Worlds."

Making variations in Wells' original, the invaders are not Martians, but unnamed aliens that decimated Mars years before, thus enabling the storyline to introduce J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter. Each of the remaining superheroes is more familiar to the viewing audience; due to their various television incarnations of the past, little "introduction" is required.

The animation is adequate; the voiceover talent is comparable to the exemplary acting of the previous WB animated shows of recent years. The brilliant Kevin Conroy returns as Batman, showing that 10 years under the "cowl" is still his domain.

For lovers of comic books and quality-animated storytelling, this DVD is a worthy effort