Batman - The Animated Series, Volume Two (DC Comics Classic Collection)

Rating:
Summary: Batman - Back with a Vengeance!
Review:
Batman: The Animated Series, Vol. 2 is the second installment to the first volume. This particular collection set contains 28 awesome episodes packed on 4 disks, with each one containing 7. This series is presented in a Full Screen format, preserving the aspect ratio of its original Television Exhibition. The disks are Dual-Layer, which may trigger a slide pause. However, most DVD's, if not all, are dual layered nowadays, and you probably didn't even realize it. This Batman compilation comes in three languages (3 audio tracks/subtitles), English, Français and Español. All of them mastered in Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround. Plus, this DVD set is filled with extras, such as documentaries on 4 episodes and 3 featurettes.

Everything about this series is great! The animation style is top-notch with that dark/mysterious look, the stories are always interesting -- very fun indeed -- and the voice acting is just magnificent! Isn't Kevin Conroy the best Batman yet? Even the music is fantastic to this day. The efforts put into it were not in vain, as they used a real-life, talented orchestra.

It's no wonder why this Emmy-winning series has become a cultural phenomenon, pleasing the young and old alike while introducing/defining Batman to newcomers. It's the most anticipated Batman series finally here on DVD! Appropriate for all ages, as no blood is ever shown in Volume 2. So whether you're a solid fan or just a curious George, you'll never cease to exist (metaphorically speaking) because there's something in this Batman Set that will definitely catch your attention each and every time; not to mention that it'll keep you entertained indefinitely! This is a first-class product. What more can you ask for?


Rating:
Summary: Goodies From Gotham
Review: "Cartoons" took a giant leap forward in 1992 with the preimere of Batman: The Animated Series. Developed by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, the landmark series took Bob Kane's Dark Knight Detective and made him leap off the television screen--modeling itself after the first Batman film from Tim Burton and writer Frank Miller's benchmark graphic novel Dark Knight Returns.

The animated series just got better as went along. Those in charge made sure that the stories had enough fun for the kids, yet having enough complexities for adults to want to tune in. Volume 2 collects 28 more episodes from the series and even improves upon the bonus material over that of the first set.

Batman/Bruce Wayne (Voiced by Kevin Conroy) confronts Ra's Al Ghul (Voiced by Star Trek film vet David Warner) as our hero gets entangled with Ghul's daughter Talia (Voiced by Helen Slater). The Joker (Voiced to perfection again by Mark Hamil), the Riddler (Voiced by Smallville vet John Glover), Catwoman (Voiced by Adrienne Barbeau), Poison Ivy, (Voiced by Diane Pershing) teams up with Harley Quinn (Voiced by Arlene Sorkin)--all wanting to bring down the Bat. The highlight though of this next batch is by far Robin's (Voiced by Loren Lester) Reckoning, an award winning two parter, written by Randy Rogel. Giving us insight into the sidekick like few incarnations have. Adding even more crediability was the fact that, talented comic book writers, like Marty Pasko, Denny O'Neil, Elliot S. Maggin, Len Wein and Marv Wolfman, penned episodes for the series. A real boon for the show.

The extras include four commentary tracks including participants, producers Bruce Timm, Eric Radomski, Paul Dini, Boyd Kirkland and director Kevin Altieri. The tracks give you a bats view of the series in an entertaing way. The tracks appear on the already mentioned "Robin's Reckoning", "Heart of Steel", "Almost Got 'im", and "Harley and Ivy". There are 3 featurettes, totaling 30 minutes, concentrating on the allies in the Dark Knight's life. "Robin Rising", details the evolution and growth of Robin's character in the series, while "Gotham's Guardians" is all about the supporting cast of the show, including Commissioner Gordon (Bob Hastings), Alfred Pennyworth (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), Selina Kyle (Barbeau), Det. Harvey Bullock (Robert Costanzo) and his partner Lt. Rene Montoya (Liane Schirmer). The last featurette "Voices of the Knight" profiles the voices behind the characters. Each of the three, are well produced if short.

Even though, I wish that we were given the complete first season rather than having it split up like this, this is still a must have for fans and newcomers alike.


Rating:
Summary: The True Batman Lives!
Review: After years of steadfastly ignoring the ardent wishes of its fan base, Warner Brothers is finally continuing to release its landmark Batman: The Animated Series in quailty DVD complete box sets,instead of dolling the episodes out at a sluggish four or five at a time! The "seasons" are somewhat complicated to explain as the Animated saga is actually comprised of three separate "series" that originally aired from 1992-1995, with some of the episodes being replayed in the upcoming "season," hence the designation of "Volume" rather than "Season" in the DVD box set releases.

As has been noted, this 4-disc set features 28 episodes including the first appearances of Ra's Al Ghul, voiced by David Warner, his daughter Talia, voiced by Helen Slater, in the facinating episode entitled, "Off Balance." The set also includes the Riddler, voiced by John Glover, in, "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?" This release also includes the Emmy-winning "Robin's Reckoning," which deals with the murder of Dick Grayson's parents and subsequent emotional trauma when Grayson, who is now Robin learns the identity of the killer. This episode includes corresponding commentary by the equally brilliant Bruce W. Timm and Eric Radomski.

The creators of this Animated classic series set to their task after the first Batman movie and somehow managed to capture the essence of the comic book world of Batman, without the gore of the mainstream comic book titles.

In one of the last hand-painted animation shows ever to have been rendered, Batman: The Animated Series is as flawless a rendition of Bob Kane's mythic creation as ever captured on comic paper or film, both live-action and animation. Time will tell, but I believe the Batman Animated saga is worthy of being crowned the greatest animated Superhero series to have ever been produced. Regardless of its place in history, it changed the animated genre forever as well as, ironically, the comic book and film depictions that spawned it. It is pure magic.

The "Dark Deco" design of Gotham City and all of the characters in the Batman mythos were deftly crafted by many of the modern comic industry's greatest talents including: Alan Burnett, Paul Dini and the aforementioned Bruce W. Timm. Every subtle nuance was anticipated and superbly rendered in serious stories that merged the childhood wonder and excitement of comic books with the adult appreciation for drama, humor and tragedy.

Each half-hour episode feels like a movie, and the voice actors who portrayed the characters were so well matched that theirs are now the ONLY voices I hear when I read the comic. Since I'm 48 and have been reading The Batman since I was a kid, that's saying something.

Credit goes to the voice talents of Kevin Conroy, who pulls off the best Batman and Bruce Wayne voices I have ever heard, along with Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars Trilogy) for literally BECOMING the Joker in his voice portrayal. Other steller voice talents belong to Efrem Zimbalist Jr., for a flawless Alfred Pennyworth, the stalwart Wayne family butler; Adrienne Barbeau as the Catwoman Selina Kyle; and Arlene Sorkin as Harley Quinn (a character created in the Animated Series, which in a cool twist, was then introduced into the mainstream comic book titles.)

The talented Shirley Jackson composed the memorable music, which again blends perfectly with the whole to create a true animated masterpiece.

Because these series feature stories of the Dark Knight, it remains utterly amazing that the bulk of the episodes take place in Gotham City at night, but nonetheless manage to have amazing color and true vitality. This striking visual style was given to each character, too, making them seem more sturdy and larger than life but totally believable.

While the background of the characters is outside of the mainstream comic book continuity, the Animated Series remained true to the core of the characters' personalities and motivations more than ANY other rendition. It is so compelling that you can not only see Gotham, but feel, smell and even taste this "fictitious" city!

To watch these shows is to fall permanently under the spell of The Batman, the great loner detective, who was driven to crimefighting after the senseless murder of his parents that occurred in front of him during a robbery when he was a boy.

This Batman is noble, tragic, funny, brilliant, obsessed, selfless, real and completely heroic, elements that were sadly missing in the many movie portrayls of the character and often missing in today's comic book maintstream depictions that too often rely on violence (rationalized as "action") in lieu of honest storytelling.

If you have never seen this show, whether adult or child, you should. And for those of us who watched with utter amazement and joy during its original run, these are hugely anticipated DVD
releases.

Let us hope that the remaining episodes will be released soon, and that the subsequent series, Batman Beyond, which was a look at the Caped Crusader in the future complete with an aging Bruce Wayne and a new "Batman," will also soon be released in full on DVD.

Rating:
Summary: An Awesome Show
Review: If nothing else, buy this for the Joker. Even in his mellowed down form for the cartoon, the Joker is still the greatest villain to ever grace a comic book/cartoon. Why? While the Joker has always been one of the finest villains with insane methods of bugging the Bat, it's Mark Hamill's voice that sells it. If you've never heard Ole Luke Skywalker do the Joker, among other cartoon villains, you will not believe what he's capable of -- the Force never came close the power of his sinister laugh. While there is a vast array of voice talent such as Arleen Sorkin and Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill clearly rules this cartoon and everytime the Joker makes an appearance you're sure for a good show.

Rating:
Summary: Superb Storytelling!
Review: It doesn't get any better this, folks. Batman:TAS has been hailed for years as THE best incarnation of Batman, capturing an essence that the films, TV show, etc could never achieve. And I agree! The writing is beyond excellent! Each 20+ minute show draws you in to the world of Gotham and all of its fascinating characters and architecture. The animation is superb and is better than later attempts. Standout epsidoes include "Laughing Fish" with Harley singing a cute lil jingle, "Almost Got Im" and "Harley & Ivy." The only downside is there are no Mr. Freeze episodes on this volume, so hurry up and release volume three.

Rating:
Summary: Everything I Learned about Batman, I learned from B:TAS...
Review: Okay, maybe that's not true but I still believe that Batman: The Animated Series is the best rendition of the B-man put to screen yet, and that counts the Tim Burton movies (I refuse to comment on the latter two movies) and the cheesy, yet entertaining 60s TV series with Adam West. Paul Dini and Bruce Timm are/were geniuses and although the animation could be a little not too animated at times, the storylines (Tyger, Tyger not included) were all top notch and they really got the character of the Dark Knight down. Kevin Conroy is the best Batman ever, Mark Hamill is a genius, I could go on about the characters, all of which are great. Anyone who loves Batman and is disappointed in the way he has yet to be properly adapted to screen needs to pick this up. I'm so glad they have it on DVD now because I only have a few VHS tapes of the show and I don't even know if I still have a VCR. I'm not even sure if I still remember how to use one of those things. Anyway, Batman. The Animated Series. Excellent. Buy it.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, the best superhero cartoon ever produced
Review: The episodes collected in the first volume of Batman: The Animated Series on DVD were great in their own right, but the episodes collected in this newly released second volume of the series is something really special. Here, the viewer is introduced to Ra's Al Ghul and his seductive daughter in a glorius two parter. The first appearance of the Riddler is here as well, and the Emmy winning "Robin's Reckoning" two parter; in which the origin of Robin is revealed as the Boy Wonder is on the road to revenge. "Tyger, Tyger" is a standout as well as Catwoman is kidnapped by a very mad scientist, and the Dark Knight is pushed to his limits to save her on an island very similar to that of the Island of Dr. Moreau. "The Cape & Cowl Conspiracy" is outstanding, and the darkly funny "The Man Who Killed Batman", in which a bumbling wanna-be hood finds himself suddenly popular after he seemingly off's Batman. The writing and voice talents are what make the cartoon so great, with Kevin Conroy his usual excellent self as Batman, and Mark Hamil is perfect is the Joker. David Warner and John Glover are perfectly cast as well as Ra's and the Riddler respectively, while the writing allows the detective apects of Batman's character to overshadow the "super hero" status he gained in the feature films. All in all, Batman: The Animated Series is easily the best super hero cartoon ever produced, and if you missed out on it years ago, now is the time to give it a look.

Rating:
Summary: It's about time.
Review: The only reason I can't give this five stars is because I have some issues with the audio. It's either too loud or too quiet. But still, that doesn't stop me from enjoying the episodes on this DVD. I own Volume 1, but I have to say that this is the one I've really been looking forward to.

Most of my favorite episodes are on here, and I haven't seen a number of them in over ten years, but I remember them fondly. In my review of the Gargoyles Season One DVD (another cartoon collection worth buying), I spoke of how it was rare for an after-school cartoon to have such dark subject matter. Well, if you watch a few episodes of Batman, you'll see where Gargoyles got it from (of course, a few of the people who wrote for Batman, such as Eric Luke and Michael Reaves, also wrote for Gargoyles, not to mention the fact that Carl Johnson, who composed the soundtrack for Batman: TAS, wrote the music for Gargoyles as well). For example, an episode on Disc 3, entitled "I Am the Night," deals with Comissioner Gordon getting shot. I first saw this when I was twelve or thirteen, and before that, my after-school cartoon regimen consisted mostly of things like Ducktales. I was also surprised to see that some episodes (such as "Robin's Reckoning" and "Off Balance") contained death. This showed me a new face of animation, one that could be dark and chilling as well as warm and fuzzy.

Visually, I love the direction that the production team decided to take Batman in. Drawing upon such inspirations as 30s art-deco (think Fritz Lang's "Metropolis") and 40s film noir, not to mention a few references to the classic style of the Superman cartoons done by the Fleischer brothers, Gotham City and its inhabitants have a look and feel to them that is retro, sleek, and post-modern all at the same time. Batman's villains also look great. Instead of being garish and over-the-top, as the villains in Schumacher's failed attempts to direct Batman movie sequels were, their appearance and behavior here are more streamed-down than overblown (I especially love how they handled Two-Face, Mr. Freeze, the Riddler, and the Penguin). Unlike the old Adam West series, you won't find anything campy, gimmicky, or ludicrously slap-stick here. Instead, we have a more down-to-Earth depiction of a man obsessed with justice and a strong moral obligation induced by his childhood trauma. Of course, this is made even better by the voice talent. They could not have found a better voice for Batman than Kevin Conroy. Then of course, there's Mark Hammill's shockingly outstanding portrayal of Batman's nemesis, the Joker. Other noteworthy performances include Efram Zimbalist Jr. (Alfred Pennyworth), "Hell-boy" Ron Perlman (Clayface), Bob Hastings (Comissioner Gordon), and "Night Court" alum Richard Moll (Two-Face).

I only hope that we see a Volume 3, as a few of my favorite episodes, such as "His Silicon Soul" and the two-part "Shadow of the Bat" (which deals with the origins of Batgirl), were not put on the first two Volumes. But so far, it is good to see one of my favorite childhood cartoons (about my favorite comic book hero, no less) collected on DVD. If you liked this show, or if you like either Batman or cartoons in general, you should buy this.

Rating:
Summary: Gotta have it.
Review: This was probably the best cartoon ever made. These episodes are very well animated and extremely well written. Awesome voice acting as well. I love the Tyger, Tyger episode. I can't think of a bad episode on here. Any true bat-fan should own this. I would also love to see a box set of Disney's Gargoyles.

Rating:
Summary: A true classic comes closer to completion.
Review: Volume two of Batman TAS sees the caped crusader continuing on his mind-blowing mission through the 'dark-deco' of Gotham. For anyone owning volume one, this is an obvious must-own. For those new to the show, you are in for a real treat.

This show was not only one of the greatest cartoons ever, it was one of the greatest shows ever. Volume two has some of my personal favorites; Harley and Ivy and The Man Who Killed Batman just to name two. I look forward to owning every episode of this timeless classic. Get it while you can.