Product Details

• Actors: Geoff Edwards
• Directors: James Farr
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Halo-8
• DVD Release Date: March 31, 2009
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001OBBS4G
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #179,587 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

XOMBIE:DEAD ON ARRIVAL COMP SER - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Still a great story, but not as good as watching online, April 8, 2009

By 

EB "gundammon" - See all my reviews

This review is from: XOMBIE: DEAD ON ARRIVAL (DVD)

I won't go over the details of the story, as most people who are interested in the DVD have already seen the episodes of Xombie online (and probably bought the sequel comic). I have no problem with the story at all, it's the nuts and bolts of the DVD that drives me up the wall.

The DVD compiles the 10 episodes that make up the online series. And while that would normally be a no-brainer, especially for those who want to share the viewing with others, I have to say that a lot was lost in the internet to DVD transition.

1) Almost ALL of the music from the online series has been replaced by other music that is nowhere near as good. The music James Farr (the creator) picked, while from other licensed sources (videogames, movies, etc), meshed perfectly with the goings-on, and I've come to equate that music with what I've seen before and gave an amazing "heft" to the audio.

So when the chase music from episode 2, the fight music from both episodes 3 and 4 are gone, I feel cheated. Gone are great and appropriate songs like "Into the Void" and "Switchback" by Celldweller. I understand it would have cost a hefty sum to get those songs licensed for DVD usage, but I don't have to be happy about it.

2) The video is far below the standards seen even online. The brightness seems cranked up so much so that the color is almost washed out, and what color IS left hurts to look at for long periods due to the paleness. I don't understand why this is. Also, the left and right sides are "cut" in the same vein that widescreen video is truncated for fullscreen--meaning you lose what happens on the edge of the screen

Why? I do watch the online series on a widescreen monitor, but there are black "bars" on the left and right side, which tells me they were originally in the 1:33 to 1 ratio. So why zoom in for fullscreen when it's ALREADY in fullscreen ratio?

3) The video is actually very choppy, as though the video is being rendered by a 10-year-old video card. This also makes no sense. My computer is from way back in 2003, and doesn't have as much choppiness as this. Why? Why do online webisodes that have almost no budget seem superior to a DVD release that actually HAS a budget and a studio behind it?

4) You get very little on the DVD beyond what you can get online. In terms of the "meat" of the production, virtually nothing has been altered from the webisodes. You get a trailer, a grainy interview with James Farr, and the illustrated novel in .pdf format. Which, if you have the book, you're not ahead by much.

Looking back on it, I would honestly recommend this to diehard Xombie fans ONLY. I kind of regret buying it myself. If you're curious, just go to the website [...], and view them there. You get better audio, video, and it's free. I'm not bashing Farr for what happened with the release as I would imagine he has very little control over the studio (Halo Eight), but I'm still allowed to feel cheated by it.

If it had been just the same as viewing as what I saw online (and have saved on my computer *coughdownloadhelperforfirefoxcough*), then I don't think I would be as critical as I am with it. I just regret I can't take it back as I already opened it. Oh, well, maybe this review will give any prospective buyers a heads-up before they drop $[...] on it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!, May 12, 2011

By 

Metallikid - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: XOMBIE: DEAD ON ARRIVAL (DVD)

I followed the Xombie web series on Newgrounds when the episodes came out slowly from 2005 onward. I loved everything about the world that James Farr created with his short 5 - 10 minute flash videos. Then as the plot got more solid, he pushed the series into it's own comic and it became too popular to just give out for free on Newgrounds.
I wasn't thrilled that the whole series was now on DVD, but it made sense, and quite honestly it's a very neat package that comes with a good interview on how he created the series. There's also a tutorlal on how to use Flash which is pretty awesome too if you're into that sort of thing.

The only thing that I wasn't too fond of was the fact that the early episodes used to have other music such as the Kill Bill theme and things like that. Everything is now originally scored, which while I think is great, it is very clear in the opening episodes when original music was inserted. Some of the tunes don't flow as nicely with some of the scenes in the beginning of the series, but by the time you get to Episode 5, everything feels normal again (since by then, all the music was original).

So yeah, basically if you loved the Flash series and miss it, it's worth a pick up, but don't expect it to be exactly the way it used to. The music changed a slight bit in the beginning and thats about it.

I wish Farr continued with the series in a Flash format setting, but he switched over to comics, which I don't collect so... There goes that. This is still a worthy purchase in my collection though.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth your time., April 9, 2009

By 

Ryan M. Fels "Elvenlord" (Lawton, OK, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: XOMBIE: DEAD ON ARRIVAL (DVD)

I've been a fan of the episodes that were online and now I get to see it on dvd. The transfer was not the best, but you don't loose much on the dvd. I thought there could have been more special features on the dvd, but that's not way I got it. Well, this from a fan's perspective and might not be the best one to base you decision on, but I still recommend it for those who have not had the chance to see it online.