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Justice League: Starcrossed - The Movie (2004)
Information:
Actors: Carl Lumbly, George Newbern, Phil LaMarr, Kevin Conroy, Michael Rosenbaum
Writers: Bob Goodman, Carmine Infantino, Denny O'Neil, Ernie Altbacker, Gardner Fox
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Region: Region 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Release Date: July 13, 2004
Run Time: 68 minutes
Review:
There are times when mainstream animated series outdo themselves. The Simpson's softball episode, the X-Men's Phoenix saga, and the Mr. Hanky episodes of South Park are great examples of this. 'Star Crossed' is on that level. This episode is really intended for fans 'The Justice League' animated series, and makes a number of references to past events and relationships. If you're in that category, know this: this episode brings the heat from the first few minutes through the dramatic (and somewhat unexpected) conclusion.
The plot and dialogue are tight, and the animation strong. This is a phenomenal jumping off point for the upcoming 'Justice League: Unlimited' series as well. I don't want to spoil the story with too many details, but the plot is actually somewhat reminiscent of the series pilot, and brings each of the heroes' personalities into clearer perspective. And for those of you who only watch for the fight scenes, this episode ought to satisfy you as well.
One of the toughest aspects of writing stories for a team like the Justice League is that some characters render others redundant. For example, if you have Superman and the Green Lantern, what do you do with the Flash and Hawkgirl? In order to make for a truly interesting story, then, you have to introduce a conflict that will really tax ALL of the characters. This does--trust me. New viewers would likely miss the significance of many of the character interactions. With that in mind, I would say people who have no familiarity with the Justice League series should at least watch the pilot, 'Secret Origins' before viewing this. I'd also recommend the episodes 'Paradise Lost', and 'In Darkest Night' if you can find them. But the bottom line is that this is the best DC animated episode to come along since "World's Finest".
Grade - B (plus) - Worth your money and time.
Justice League Unlimited: Saving the World - DC Comics Kids Collection
Information:
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, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Region: Region 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Release Date: February 15, 2005
Review:
Justice League Unlimited takes place after the events of the Justice League "Starcrossed" three parter. Hawkgirl is gone, a new watchtower has been built, Green Lantern has shaved his head and grown a goatee, and almost 60 new heroes from the DC Universe have been invited to join up. Format-wise, this new series presents shorter, half-hour adventures instead of the one-hour adventures of the previous series. This disc gives us three of them: Initiation - the first episode. A nice setup for the new format, with lots of great action and characterization, but pretty bland in terms of actual plot.
Hawk and Dove - introduces two superhero brothers voiced, in a nice bit of casting, by the two brothers from the classic Wonder Years show. However the plot is a rehash of Initiation, and the episode shoves a moral down our throats that almost makes it an after school special. Kid Stuff - the core members of the JLU are transformed into kids to defeat Mordred. I personally find this one hilarious, but it's definitely more out there compared to other JLU episodes, and I know a lot of hardcore fans found it absurd and pointless. And thats it. Only 3 episodes of either average or debatable quality, and no good extras to boot. Worse, its possible this disc will be in cropped fullscreen to appeal to little kids who dont like the black bars. Even if it's not, I find this marketing strategy suspicious considering WB has been giving us great volume sets of Batman and Superman lately, and very good single-disc releases of Teen Titans and Static Shock with twice the amount of episodes. I'd personally hold off on this disc until we know what else is coming down the pipeline.
Grade - D - Below average content here.
King Arthur and the Knights of Justice: The Complete Animated Series
Information:
Actors: Kathleen Barr, Michael Beattie, Jim Byrnes, Garry Chalk, Michael Donovan
Directors: Xavier Picard
Writers: Jean Chalopin
Producers: Avi Arad, Diane Eskenazi, Takashi
Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Language: English
Region: Region 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 3
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Image Entertainment
DVD Release Date: March 2, 2010
Run Time: 579 minutes
Review:
This cartoon has an awesome rock meets synthesizer theme song and music, but the animation is great as well. If you grew up watching Exosquad, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, Conan the Adventurer, the 90s Batman/x-men/spiderman animated series, etc. then this is a must have. Saturday morning cartoons - and kids shows in general - never looked as good as they did in the early 90s, and this is a prime example. Up until now, only the first 5 episodes of this forgotten gem were available on dvd. Now you can get the whole series - over 9 hours worth of awesome 90s animation - for $14.99!!!
Grade - B (plus) - Check it out.
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