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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's great. Period., March 27, 2006
BATMAN the Animated Series. Boy did I wait a long time for it to finally grace the DVD. But it's out and it's great. Volume 1 & 2 both have some of the most amazing episode, in my opinion. Since it was the beginning of the series, they have to introduce the villains (giving the origin of the likes of Two-Face, Clayface, Clock King and most importantly - Mr. Freeze in the very well made episode Heart of Ice). Not only villains are introduced though, Robin's Reckoning tells you the origin of Boy Wonder. Beware Of The Gray Ghost hints at what was the inspiration for BATMAN himself.
Besides establishing characters, some episodes make a superb job of just making you laugh - most episodes with the Joker (obviously), with The Joker's Favor and Joker's Wild being the funniest in my opinion. Another hilarious episode is Almost Got 'Im (not solely with Joker) and it has a nice twist.
Heart Of Steel is pretty interesting too.
It's the other episodes that make BATMAN so appealing to me. Ones that have to do with the emotions.
Nothing To Fear brings back the tragedy of Bruce Wayne that continuously haunts him. Perchance To Dream does the opposite - it's Bruce Wayne's dreamworld, call it a "what if" episode. Night Of The Ninja & Day Of The Samurai both provide nice backstory about Bruce Wayne, his training and his resolve to be the best there is in martial arts.
Now I would be perfectly happy with just the episodes, but there are special features as well. They're not lame at all: several audio commentaries, and some featurettes (Voices Of The Knight actually shows the man behind the mask and, of course, Mark Hamill as the Joker). One special feature even is a Pilot Promo episode!
I watched BATMAN the Animated Series as a kid on TV I loved it then and I love it now. It IS something special, because this cartoon is far from being cartoony (unfortunately the New Batman Adventures were heading there, some episodes quite so). They just have this great mood, the producers of the series call them "minimovies", and that's what they truly are. Believe me, many are waaaaay better than actual movies (not only the Batman ones).
5 star rating, definitely.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
My childhood brought alive for my kids., November 5, 2006
Quite honestly, I bought this set for myself. Seeing so many animated shows from the 80's and 90's make their DVD debut (thank you, WB!), it was like reliving my after-school & Saturday morning childhood all over again.
Seasons 1 and 2 of Batman: TAS is superb. While the animation isn't quite up to par with today's cartoons (or, honestly, even some of the better shows of its day), it is still terrificly done. Also, I'm finding the stories just as engaging and the action just as exciting as an adult as when I was younger.
The best part (aside from getting to watch my favorite cartoons w/o commercials) is the fact that my kids really like watching it, too. So many of today's toons are nothing but senseless violence, mysticism, or worse yet, completely brainless anime-inspired garbage. Batman: TAS episodes often come with a moral, a thought-provoking and meaningful problem with which our hero finds a solution using brains, THEN brawn, to rectify. Getting to experience these all over again, this time with my kids huddled up on the sofa with me, it's great. It's like reading a story at bedtime, without having to do the voices myself.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Words like "innovative," "best," and "definitive" come to mind., October 27, 2008
In this series (parts 1-3) Batman doesn't just kick butt (Batman Begins). He's also a detective and scientist. In this cartoon, the character is a balance of intelligence and training. Bruce Wayne can laugh, Batman can even tell an occasional joke, but the character gets more convicted and consistently driven as the show goes on.
Characters like Robin, Clayface, and Mr. Freeze, who were at one time quite silly in nature, are given an overhaul, and a terribly dark tragic side.
The show also tries to flesh out a series of characters, experiment with which ones will work and which ones won't and create some sweeping episodes. "The Demon's Quest" feels like an Indiana Jones movie (or Lara Croft for you kids). Some characters were misses (Lock-up, Invisible Man, Clock King, Sewer King), while some were so spot-on they've been included in the comic or film continuum (Harley Quinn, Lucius Fox).
Bits of trivia, homage to classic DC, and references to literature and history, flesh out some of the most creative stories (Tyger Tyger, Zatana, The Gray Ghost).
I strongly recommend all of these. As well as about anything else where Bruce Timm and/or Paul Dini are working with the Batman character.
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