Posted in: 1.78:1 Widescreen, 1080p, AVC MPEG4, Blu Ray, Disc Reviews, DTS HD 5.1 MA (English), Sci-Fi / Fantasy, Warner Bros. by Brent Lorentson on October 6th, 2019
When it comes to the DC universe on television, I feel like Warner Bros. knows exactly what they are doing and truly understands the comics as well as their audience. Ever since they launched their streaming service they’ve been putting out new material that is arguably upping the stakes, knowing that soon Disney will be putting out there new streaming service in a matter of weeks. I was impressed with Season 1 of Titans. I loved how it was a show targeting a more mature audience, but it was Doom Patrol I wasn’t so sure about. All I had known about the Doom Patrol was from their one episode in Titans, and from what I saw, I really enjoyed the possibilities. Well, now that I’ve seen all 15 episodes of Season 1, I can honestly say What the F***?, followed by that was certainly a unique experience.
You think you’ve seen some weird and off-the-beaten-path shows? Well, Doom Patrol is without a doubt the most fun, unique show I’ve seen. This makes Twin Peaks seem normal, and really, calling the show bonkers is putting it lightly. Oh, and for those of you with young kids, you definitely may want to steer them clear of this show until you’ve seen what it offers. From talking cockroaches, town swallowing donkeys, asses with feet that can eat you, and talking streets, that is just a tiny glimpse at the oddball fun this show has in store for its audiences, and seriously, I haven’t even gotten to some of the more absurd aspects of the show. But please don’t let this scare you off, because this motley crew of misfit superheroes are a hell of a good time to watch, and even more surprising is how lovable they all are.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 2nd, 2019
"I mean who knows what kind of creatures are out there wreaking havoc on history?"
DC's Legends of Tomorrow has become somewhat the odd man out when it comes to the DC Television Universe, or the Arrowverse, as it is most commonly known. Last season it was not part of the annual crossover, and it aired later in the year with fewer episodes. And while it will be a part of the huge crossover coming in December, it still doesn't appear to get the same respect as the other shows. I like the series, but it is my least favorite of the franchise. Warner Brothers Home Entertainment isn't as high on the show either. They crammed extra episodes on the discs so that all 16 episodes of the fourth season end up on just two discs. Ouch. It doesn't help that every year sees a huge shake-up of the cast, and this season was no exception. The crew of the Waverider change over faster than teens at a fast food joint. Of course, you might be left asking yourself what is this Waverider of which you speak? It's hard enough to keep track of the players without a program, but it's a near impossible feat if you are trying to join the festivities in the fourth season. You might want to check out our reviews of the previous years and then rejoin me for the breakdown of the Blu-ray release of DC Legends Of Tomorrow Season 4. Just bang it here to catch up: Legends Of Tomorrow Reviews.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 20th, 2019
"My name is Kara Zor-El. I'm from Krypton. I'm a refugee on this planet. I was sent to Earth to protect my cousin. But my pod got knocked off course, and by the time I got here, my cousin had already grown up and become... Superman. I hid who I really was until one day when an accident forced me to reveal myself to the world. To most people, I'm a reporter at CatCo Worldwide Media. But in secret, I work with my adopted sister for the D.E.O. to protect my city from alien life and anyone else that means to cause it harm. I am Supergirl."
So, you're asking yourself, who the heck is Kara Zor-El, and what is this D.E.O.? I get it. You're just not caught up on the CW series Supergirl. It's not such a good idea to start here, however. You can check out our reviews for the first three seasons here. Catch up on the episodes, and then join the rest of us for Supergirl: The Complete Fourth Season.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 13th, 2019
"I know what it's like to see monsters. And I know that when they're gone, they never go away. Me and my brother, we're the guys that stop the monsters. We're the guys that scare them."
Truer words were never spoken. The big news to come out of the world of Supernatural is that it is indeed going away. The brothers made an emotional announcement during the airing of the previous season that the upcoming 15th year would be the final season of the show. It's hard to believe that we'll soon know a television landscape without the Winchester brothers. It's the last show that goes back to the original WB Network that eventually lead to the current CW Network that has become more and more the home of the Warner Brothers-owned DC Comics television universe. But in the middle of speedsters, archers, aliens, and time travelers, there was always room for the Winchesters. It'll be a bit of a culture shock to have them gone. Hard to imagine, but if you were a young 15-year-old kid when you started to watch the show, you're now 30, likely with kids of your own. You live in an entirely different world than you did when you first came aboard. How will you feel without it?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 29th, 2019
"My name is Barry Allen, and I am the fastest man alive. To the outside world, I'm an ordinary forensic scientist. But secretly, with the help of my friends at S.T.A.R. Labs, I fight crime and find other meta-humans like me. But when my daughter came back from the future to help, she changed the present. And now our world is more dangerous than ever, and I'm the only one fast enough to save it. I am the Flash."
The fifth season begins almost immediately after the crazy reveal that ended the previous run of episodes. A young woman arrives at the West home and identifies herself as Nora (Kennedy) She claims to be the speedster daughter of Barry (Gustin) and Iris (Patton) and has arrived from the future so that she can meet her dad, because in the near future he is destined to disappear and remain missing for 25 years into that future. If all of this sounds a bit confusing to you, you're starting in the wrong place. Check out our reviews of the previous four years here.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 27th, 2019
When it comes to Batman, he’s a character you can enjoy in just about every visual medium out there, and there is something out there for adults and even the little kids to enjoy. Personally, I think Batman: The Animated Series is the best adaption out there. I cherish those discs, and I dust off those DVDs plenty just to enjoy seeing my favorite caped crusader. When it comes to the LEGO take on the Batman property they are aiming for a much younger demographic, and that’s fine, so when you watch these films, you do have to keep that in mind. So how does LEGO BATMAN: FAMILY MATTERS stack up against the numerous other adaptations out there? To be fair, it’s somewhere in the middle.
With a running time of 79 minutes, there isn’t much time to waste when it comes to story, and the film pretty much jumps into it. Bruce Wayne, aka Batman (Troy Baker) is starting to find it cumbersome to play the part of Bruce Wayne the businessman; it seems to just get in the way of his crime-fighting job. This is despite the fact that Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Batwoman are all playing their part in fighting crime. It’s at a business meeting where scientists at the Wayne Corporation reveal their new project, Brother Eye, an AI super brain that’s able to make decisions on the fly. Once Bruce sees what it can do, he decides to just sell Wayne Enterprises so he can focus on being the caped crusader. It’s a rash and impulsive move that we quickly see the fallout from.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 21st, 2019
"My name is Oliver Queen. After six years of being a vigilante, the only way to achieve my goal and save my city was to confess to being The Green Arrow. Now my family and friends must carry on my mission without me. I am no longer a hero. I am inmate 4587."
Who the heck is this Green Arrow of whom you speak? If that's your first question, you need to go back a couple of grades and catch up with the rest of us. The comics are good place to begin, but the television universe is its own place and not tied so tightly to the DC comic book universe. Your best place to go to catch up would be the first six seasons. It'll be worth the effort, and I can get you started with those reviews found here. This review will not contain spoilers from the seventh season but very well must contain some from the previous year. So if you're not caught up, do that first.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 13th, 2019
It is hard to not like a well done baseball movie. From Bad News Bears to The Natural to The Pride of the Yankees, there have been a slew of movies on America's favorite pastime. Today's review of Major League in its thirty years after release is another fine baseball movie which does well with great characters and easy to root for story-line of the plucky underdogs. Let us take a look at this re-issue of a fine blu-ray with a snazzy new cover and see what it has going for it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 13th, 2019
I’ll go ahead and get this out of the way, Batman: Hush is my favorite DC graphic novel; it’s one I’ve read multiple times and one I’ve dreamed to see done as a live action film. The story is just one that offers up so much for the fans to enjoy, and considering it features just about all of the core characters in the Batman rogues gallery, it’s simply a graphic novel that I’m surprised it’s taken this long to tackle. When it comes to DC, though, they’ve been pretty hit-or-miss when it comes to their properties being adapted for the big screen, but for television and their animated films they’ve been successful. Basically when I heard Hush was going to be an animated film, it’s one I got excited about, but in the back of my mind I was worried this could end up being like The Killing Joke, great material that just didn’t connect. So how was this adventure with the caped crusader?
The story for Hush was originally done by writer Jeph Loeb and was a whopping 300 pages of beautifully crafted panels. For the most part the whole story is here, but there have been a few liberties taken (mostly with fleshing out the Batman and Catwoman relationship). The trimming is expected, considering this was only an 82-minute feature. In a perfect world I would have loved to have seen this get the kind of treatment we saw with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse. It’s a story certainly geared more towards adults, but with the large assortment of villains is a huge attraction to the project, and going the animated route would save on having to shell out the big bucks for big-name actors to fill these roles.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 19th, 2019
Warner Brothers has done an impressive job when it comes to their live-action DC Universe television shows. Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow have been fun, entertaining experiences. Now with them starting up their own streaming service, they have upped the ante by releasing Titans. When I first heard about this one I wasn’t sure what to think, considering I wasn’t much of a fan of the animated series, but I’m so glad I came into this show with an open mind, because this show is jam-packed with coolness. Since this was made for a streaming service and not broadcast television, not only do we get superheroes dropping F-bombs, but we get some edgier storytelling along with some violent action you may not expect. Seriously, this one is not for the kids. The show introduces us to Dick Grayson, aka Robin ( Brenton Thwaites) a year after he has fled Gotham City and has moved to Detroit to become a detective. It doesn’t take long before we find out he’s made the move from being Batman’s sidekick because he’s started to develop a taste for dispensing violence and is worried about what he could become. Don’t worry; he’s still down for inflicting some vigilante justice, but we see it comes at a price over the course of the season. It’s not long before he meets a young girl, Rachel Roth (Teagan Croft), who has some dark supernatural powers that are drawing some negative attention her way which eventually leads her to Dick. The heart of the show is about these two orphans at different stages in their life. Dick is attempting to step out into the world and make a name for himself, while Rachel is alone and in desperate need of help. There is some nice chemistry between these two as we see them develop a sort of brother-sister relationship, and it’s the strength of this bond that makes it easy to want to invest our time in these characters.
We also get to meet Kory Anders, aka Starfire (Anna Diop), who has powers of her own but has lost her memory, though she has reason to believe Rachel is the key to getting back her memories. Along the way we also meet Gar Logan, aka Beast Boy (Ryan Potter), who has a gift for turning into any animal (though we only see him as a tiger), and he develops his own unique relationship with Rachel. The four together make up the core group of the Titans, though there are plenty of other characters who weave their way in and out of the storyline.
