Product Details

• Actors: John Leguizamo, Khandi Alexander, Michael Beach, Xander Berkeley, Victor Brandt
• Directors: Mark A.Z. Dippé
• Writers: Mark A.Z. Dippé, Alan B. McElroy, John Leekley, Rebekah Bradford, Todd McFarlane
• Producers: Adrianna A.J. Cohen, Alan C. Blomquist
• Format: Animated, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 3
• Studio: Hbo Home Video
• VHS Release Date: November 23, 1999
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305624224
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #310,605 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Todd McFarlane's Spawn
Adult, stylish, and more than a little mean, this full-length animated tale has one very strong thing going for it--it knows how to milk "cool." The animation is superior to anything recently devoted to a superhero...or super-antihero, in this case. Al Simmons was a government assassin before he was burned to death and sent to hell (plot summary's starting out nicely, isn't it?). After making a particularly bad deal with the devil--to lead Satan's dark armies in exchange for seeing his wife again--Spawn is let loose upon the world. He immediately whacks three mob hit men, making his presence known and getting himself into all sorts of trouble. Spawn is also visited by the Clown, an obese, disgusting Beatrice, guiding our third-degree-burned Dante through this hellish, topside world. There are other nasty characters, but in this first segment a very gratuitous inclusion of a child murderer goes too far for even this mature fare. Spawn isn't fun; there's very little joy in any of this. But the point isn't fun--it's brutal, adult-comic style. And there's plenty of it. --Keith Simanton

Todd McFarlane's Spawn 2
From the mind of comic-book maestro Todd McFarlane comes the second season of episodes of the animated Spawn. Highly stylized animation and provocative story lines make Spawn a sophisticated cartoon sometimes more appropriate for older audiences. Murder victim Al Simmons has returned from hell to earth as a "hellspawn," a soldier for the army of darkness sent to collect more souls for hell. In these episodes, Spawn meets the man who assassinated him and becomes suspicious of the organization that ordered him killed. Jason Wynn, the leader of the group, plans to sell weapons of mass destruction stolen from the military. Spawn's former wife, Wanda, has since remarried Terry Fitzgerald, with whom Spawn must reconcile. Terry is hot on the trail of the missing arms, and Wynn and his assassins, including the highly trained Merrick, set out to kill Terry, Wanda, and their daughter, Cyan. Spawn foils the plot while realizing the hard truth that Wanda has a new life. --Shannon Gee

Spawn 3: The Ultimate Battle
The third chapter of this compelling HBO miniseries answers a number of questions--namely, who is the omnipotent old man who hides in the shadows and why is the mysterious Asian reporter (Jade) investigating the alley murders? Spawn has reached a crossroads, and he must choose between the forces of darkness and light. But it's not clear-cut: Al (Spawn) must deliberate over the seemingly minor differences that separate heaven and hell in his world. As a former assassin for the NSA, he "opened the eyes of hell" with his iniquitous deeds of depravity; therefore, his journey to hell was preordained. But this particular section of the series intriguingly asks, What if you had no choice, and killing was not just the only way out of a squeeze but was also your fate? Intellectual stuff, indeed. But as with the rest of the series, a profound metaphysical puzzle is brought to the fore without justifying it with an answer. It's frustrating, but also keeps you firmly planted in your chair, pondering conundrum after conundrum. --Jeremy Storey

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spawn the animated series Rocked, September 3, 2001

By 

Xam "mixed media man" (nyc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Todd McFarlane's Spawn: The Ultimate Collection (DVD)

Forget the movie, Spawn the animated show is great. The movie kinda ..., and didn't come close to the level of the comics. The comics were always violent and awesome. The movie was not. But the HBO mini-series Spawn came much closer to the comic books, and achieved brilliance in American anime. The story was great, the animation was great, the voice acting was great- the whole series was put together fabulously, and it didn't go commercial like the movie. It stayed true to Spawns roots, it was dark, it was emotional, it was violent, it had a sick sense of humor.(it was not intended for kids- there is alot of cursing, nudity, violence, etc). All-in-all Spawn was one of my all-time favorite animes, American or Japanese.

What about this DVD collection? Well the fact that all 3 seasons of Spawn are put into one shiny box is enough to make it great. Don't expect too much out of the bonus disc. It is an added feature but in no way should be the reason you buy this set. Buy this set because Spawn the anime was insanely good, it will put you in a dark world of intrigue that only the best movies and stories can achieve.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spawn: The Ultimate Video Collection, December 7, 1999

By 

Joey Mills (Springfield, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Todd McFarlane's Spawn - The Ultimate Collection (Animated Series) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Excellent collection from the HBO animated series. First selection introduces the audience to the central plot and key characters, as well as setting the tone for the rest of the videos in the package. Second selection picks up where the first leaves off, though seemed to lack the excitement of the first. Third selection brings back the intensity of the first, as well as twisting the plot and bringing it to a climax while leaving us wanting more. Don't necessarily have to be familiar with the "Spawn" story to enjoy this package. Can't wait for the forth season! NOT SUGGESTED FOR CHILDREN UNDER 13!

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spawn: The Ultimate Dark Knight, September 27, 2000

By 

Thomas Yan Ong "feilung888" (Azusa, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Todd McFarlane's Spawn: The Ultimate Collection (DVD)

I always liked comic book characters with a dark gothic theme. It is why I liked Batman comics, "Batman" the movie, the Batman animated tv series, and "The Crow" movie. When Spawn came out on Image comics, for some reason or another, it didn't catch on with me as it did with DC and Marvel comic characters. I didn't get any of the comics and I didn't really look into it, to the point of actually starting to collect it. Now that I have seen the animated series, I wish I had. I was familiar with Todd McFarlane's artwork in "The Amazing Spider Man" and "Spiderman" and I thought he was one of the most talented comic artists in the business, the other great talent in my opinion, is Jim Lee illustrator of "The X-men" and "Wildcats". I've since outgrown comics, but a year ago, I rented the movie "Spawn" and I really liked it. So I decided to rent the first animated movie. It was pretty good so I decided to rent "Spawn 2" which I thought was even better than the first. Spawn in the second installment is darker and more powerful than in the first installment. After watching these movies and checking out the reviews on Amazon.com of "Spawn 3", I decided to buy the DVD ultimate collection. I got it and I wasn't disappointed. The third installment was as good as "Spawn 2". The series is not comic book like with heroes fighting the bad guys, but it centers on one character's fight against himself and all the demons that haunt him upon his return to earth after spending 5 years in hell. The series acts out like a drama with violent action sequences and sexual connotations. Al Simmons really loves his wife Wanda and when he was sent to hell, he made a deal with the devil, known as Melboldia, to lead hell's army on earth against heaven, in turn he would get to see his beloved wife again. When he returns to earth as hell's Spawn (offspring), he obtains amnesia and is mentally and emotionally disturbed, taking it out on the criminals that invaded his space, a dark alley he claimed as his domain. The scenes of his presence on the roof of the abandoned Catholic church near the alley are visually stunning. Anyway, he is accompanied by an evil clown, the Violator, which taunts him, invades his dreams, and litterly drives Spawn mad. The Violater makes the clown in the movie "It" seem like a circus side show reject. Anyway, as the series moves on, Spawn seems to get darker and the story gets more involed in the turmoil that plagues Spawn's soul. It's a very complex story line with, Japanese quality animation, also another reason the series is appealing. I reccomend this movie to any Spawn fan or any mature fan of comics and anime. But I must warn that this movie series should only be viewed by adults because it is very violent, has foul language, and contains sexual situations.