Category: DVD

THE BATMAN {Animated}: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON

Post author By oddmoonmediareviews
Post date November 3, 2020

SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 272 Min.

Released by Warner Bros. Home Video in 2008, this final run of “The Batman” consists of thirteen 22-minute episodes (including a pair of two-parters as book-ends) on two discs. This time, Batman and his allies (Batgirl, Robin, & Alfred) host a familiar array of super-friends: Superman; Hawkman; Martian Manhunter; Green Arrow; Flash; and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan).

Beyond threats from the Joker, Bane, and the Penguin, Batman also faces off against Count Vertigo; Firefly; the Shadow Thief; Mirror Master; and Lex Luthor, among others. Ultimately, Batman and his fellow heroes must decide if there is truly strength in numbers by unifying as a Justice League.

Televised in 2007-2008, the episodes are:

# 1&2. Batman / Superman Story, Parts I & II.

Guest Appearances: Superman / Clark Kent; Lois Lane; Lex Luthor; Metallo; Clayface; Bane; Poison Ivy; Mr. Freeze; Black Mask; Mercy Graces; & Jimmy Olsen.

Plot: Superman, Lois, & Jimmy visit Gotham, as Lex Luthor unleashes his latest scheme. Beyond evading a mind-controlled Superman, Batman & Robin must thwart Luthor’s rocket-powered robotic army. Superman has second thoughts about turning down the newly-formed Justice League.

# 3. Vertigo.

Guest Appearances: Green Arrow & Count Vertigo.

Plot: Batman & Robin aid Green Arrow’s efforts to stop Count Vertigo’s takeover of Gotham City by using sound-amplifying mind control.

# 4. White Heat.

Guest Appearances: Firefly / Phosphorus & Blaze.

Plot: Firefly’s experimental upgrade leads to a showdown where Batman & Robin face a far more dangerous menace now calling himself Phosphorus.

# 5. A Mirror Darkly.

Guest Appearances: Flash & Mirror Master.

Plot: Flash, Batman, & Robin confront their evil mirror counterparts.

# 6. Joker Express.

Guest Appearances: None.

Plot: Batgirl aids the Dynamic Duo thwarting the Joker’s new train-themed plot.

# 7. Ring Toss.

Guest Appearances: Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) & Sinestro.

Plot: The Penguin seizes an opportunity to swipe Green Lantern’s power ring, and Hal Jordan must get it back with the Dynamic Duo’s help. Meanwhile, Sinestro seeks to destroy a temporarily powerless Jordan.

# 8. The Metal Face of Comedy.

Guest Appearance: Harley Quinn.

Plot: An on-line video game leads Batman & Robin into a showdown with Joker, Harley Quinn, and a giant-sized Joker robot. Nightwing makes an in-joke cameo.

# 9. Attack of the Terrible Trio.

Guest Appearances: None.

Plot: Batgirl summons Batman for help after three malicious college kids have acquired the ability to mutate into animals (a shark, fox, and vulture) similar to Man-Bat. Batman & Batgirl have their hands full in corralling these fiends. Note: The episode ends with an ominous inference re: prison life.

# 10. The End of the Batman.

Guest Appearances: Wrath & Scorn.

Plot: The Dynamic Duo’s evil counterparts are on the loose. Several Bat-villains make brief cameos.

# 11. What Goes Up.

Guest Appearances: Hawkman & Shadow Thief.

Plot: Shadow Thief’s theft of a gravity-defying weapon necessitates the Dynamic Duo’s team-up with Hawkman.

# 12&13. Lost Heroes, Parts I & II.

Guest Appearances: Superman; Green Lantern (Hal Jordan); Hawkman; Green Arrow; Martian Manhunter; Flash; Toyman; Mirror Master; the Joining; & Hugo Strange.

Plot: One by one, the Justice League’s most powerful members are abducted by a mysterious adversary. It’s up to Batman, Batgirl, Robin, & Green Arrow to save their kidnapped friends. Trying to reclaim their stolen super-powers from evil robots, the League desperately improvises to save Earth. Robin & Batgirl angle to become the League’s newest members.

BONUS FEATURES:

Included are two terrific featurettes: “Joining Forces – The Batman’s Legendary Team-Ups,” and a set of Justice League profiles for the season’s guest heroes. There are also some obligatory trailers.

REVIEW:

Despite its underwhelming animation, this final season is solid. A cool sense of continuity is an asset, too, as voice actors Dana Delany (Lois Lane), Clancy Brown (Lex Luthor), and George Newbern (Superman/Clark Kent) return with reliable efforts.

Not surprisingly, Batman’s all-star team-ups are the best episodes, including a top-notch season opening two-parter. Yet, why this guys-only Justice League excludes Wonder Woman, Zatanna Zatara, Black Canary, Vixen, and/or Hawkgirl is never explained. For that matter, there isn’t even a Catwoman caper this season.

Ironically, the adventures showcasing Batman & Robin are merely watchable. The lame “Joker Express” is the season’s big loser. It reminds viewers how the Joker’s woefully lame presence in this series is such a letdown. Yet, anchored by Batgirl’s well-written appearances, the surprisingly scary Terrible Trio episode, for instance, is close in spirit to the Bat-comics. While all these episodes are obviously toy commercials, “The Batman – The Complete Fifth Season” delivers surprisingly good entertainment.

QUALITY CONTROL:

It’s in standard-screen with excellent picture quality. The remote control access is easily accessible and comes with each episode’s scene selection.

PACKAGING:

Well-protected, the two discs each have sturdy storage pages. The back cover effectively conveys all of the pertinent information for Season Five.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 7 Stars

Comic Books & Graphic Novels DC Comics DC's Hardcovers & Trade Paperbacks Independent Hardcovers & Trade Paperbacks Independent Publishers (Comic Books & Graphic Novels) TV Series

BATMAN ’66 MEETS MR. STEED & MRS. PEEL (DC Comics/Boom! Studios crossover)

Post author By oddmoonmediareviews
Post date November 3, 2020

Written by Ian Edginton

Art by Matthew Dow Smith; Wendy Broome; Jordie Bellaire; Carrie Strachan; & Wes Abbott

Cover Art by Michael Allred & Laura Allred

SUMMARY:

In 2016, DC Comics and Boom! Studios team the 1960’s two most iconic TV crime-fighting partnerships: Batman & Robin and the U.K.’s The Avengers in a six-issue mini-series. Their 144-page collaboration was then released as a trade paperback in 2017.

At a Gotham City museum, Bruce Wayne and British industrial heiress Michaela Gough witness a brazen attempted theft by Catwoman’s crew of the invaluable White Star Diamond on loan from England. Intervention by British Secret Service operatives John Steed and Emma Peel thwarts the near-heist. A greater mystery unfolds once an army of upgraded Cybernaut androids descends on the Batcave. Linking these well-dressed robot thugs to Lord Ffogg and Mr. Freeze, the Dynamic Duo joins their new British allies for a climatic showdown in England.

Notes: Presumably, for legal purposes, the only time The Avengers TV series is referenced by name is on the title credits page. The name of ‘Michaela Gough’ is evidently an in-joke referring to actor Michael Gough’s ‘Alfred’ in four Bat-movies (1989-1997).

REVIEW:

In theory, this crossover implies intriguing potential, as these TV franchises should have easily meshed. Yet, writer Ian Edginton’s sub-par script falls short of even modest expectations. His sole highlight is an obligatory fashion comment from Julie Newmar’s Catwoman re: Mrs. Peel’s own black cat-suit.

Instead of recruiting an ideal Bat-villain (Joker, Riddler, or Penguin) to get his naughty paws on Cybernauts and/or possibly present a Batgirl/Emma Peel team-up, Edginton opts for the ultra-bland tandem of Lord Ffogg and Mr. Freeze. Seriously? Hence, Catwoman’s brief cameo is a mere afterthought, as far as including an A-list Bat-villain.

To define the story’s ineptitude, try this preposterously campy plot twist. Specifically, an undercover Batman & Robin arrive in England (dressed as Bruce Wayne & Dick Grayson, no less) under false identities sporting only phony pencil moustaches. How no one doesn’t easily deduce the Dynamic Duo’s secret identities isn’t addressed, especially as Batman & Robin stupidly identify themselves aloud over and over again. A

similar gaffe applies to a villain’s earlier pinpointing of the Batcave’s location without drawing any obvious inferences re: stately Wayne Manor. There’s some minor compensation when yet another familiar somebody does plausibly deduce the Caped Crusader’s secret identity — yet, any faint hope this twist might boost Edginton’s storytelling quickly evaporates.

If one is assuming surefire visuals will compensate for mediocre plotting, then readers are out of luck. Further squandering this project is the art squad’s shockingly poor watercolor visuals. Case in point: far too few panels (i.e. a Batman image on page 38) remotely resemble anything big-league caliber. Considering the artistic resources available to DC Comics and Boom! Studios, why such an amateurish creative style was deployed defies common sense. Frankly, the vast majority of this book’s visuals shouldn’t have been released.

Low-grade in virtually every aspect, Batman ’66 Meets Steed and Mrs. Peel is an atrocious tag-team effort from Boom! and DC. Its sole redemption is that this book is kid-friendly, even if young Bat-fans will likely deem it an instant bore.

ADDITIONAL CONTENT:

Broken into twelve chapters (per the mini-series’ digital form), this book has a table of contents. Included are full-page cover reprints by Michael Allred & Laura Allred, which are a welcome improvement over the shoddy interior artwork. An extra variant cover for Issue # 1 by artist Cat Staggs offers nice photo-realistic visuals of actors Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar (as Batman, Robin, and Catwoman). Yet, this same standard doesn’t apply to Patrick Macnee’s John Steed and Diana Rigg’s Emma Peel. Instead, their scowling faces are inexplicably skewed.

Of the full-page watercolor portraits showcasing the story’s pivotal characters, the art quality descends from good (Batman and Steed) to inexcusable (Mrs. Peel, Michaela Gough, and Catwoman). Suffice to say, the Peel, Gough, and Catwoman portraits are early elementary school quality. Yet, Matthew Dow Smith’s four-page character design gallery (Batman; Robin; Batgirl; Steed; Catwoman; and Mrs. Peel) preview actor likenesses better than the final product. In this instance, Dow Smith’s take on conveying Macnee’s Steed is actually pretty good.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 2½ Stars

Action Figures DC-Related Toys & Games TV Series

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED’S OBSIDIAN (MATTEL ACTION FIGURE)

Post author By oddmoonmediareviews
Post date November 2, 2020

SUMMARY:

Released by Mattel several years ago in its long-running Justice League Unlimited (JLU) action figure line, this 4.75-inch Obsidian is likely the first-ever toy of this particular DC Comics hero. As the twin brother of Jade and the son of the Golden Age Green Lantern (Alan Scott), the shadowy Obsidian has been a recurring presence (sometimes, as a villain) in DC storylines since his 1983 debut with Infinity, Inc.

REVIEW:

Resembling his animated counterpart, this Obsidian has a stellar dark-blue-black-and-silver paint job. His gray rubber cloak is firmly attached. In terms of articulation, the figure has: 1. His head has full 360-degree mobility. 2. The arms can rotate the full 360-degrees. 3. His upper body can bend into a bowing position. 4. The legs can simulate walking, running, and kicking poses. 5. There is a single peg hole on the bottom of Obsidian’s right foot for the small clear plastic display stands that some JLU figures are packaged with.

For ages 4 and up, this figure is certainly ideal for playtime or display purposes (as this Obsidian will indefinitely stand without a support base).

ADDITIONAL CONTENT:

Accessories aren’t included.

PACKAGING:

Finding him sold separately means it’s likely a loose figure. This reviewer is aware that Obsidian is included in Mattel’s JLU three-packs with the cowboy Vigilante & Brainiac. He also appears in Mattel’s JLU – The League United six-pack with Mr. Terrific; Superman; Elongated Man; Supergirl; and Hourman.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 7 Stars

Basketball Sports (TV & Videos) Toys & Games Video Games

NBA 2K7 (PLAYSTATION 2)

Post author By oddmoonmediareviews
Post date November 1, 2020

SUMMARY:

Released in 2006 (based on the 2005-2006 NBA season), this ‘E for Everyone’ game for 1-2-players was produced by 2K Sports. The Miami Heat’s Shaquille O’Neal is featured on its cover.

This annually-released game started with the 2000 edition (NBA 2K). Features include ‘blacktop’ mode (various outdoor parks) for street-style ball; exhibition games; tournaments; ‘association’ mode (by playing as a team general manager building or re-building a team); fantasy drafts; ‘scramble starters’ (for random line-ups in exhibition mode); and various Eastern and Western ‘all-star legends’ squads varying for each decade dating to the 1950’s-60s. A ‘stat book’ function is also included.

REVIEW:

Using the same engine, NBA 2K7 is a mild upgrade over its predecessors. For its time, the graphics are reasonably good. The game play itself is a pretty smooth ride, but the automated computer play is middle-of-the-pack. The bottom line is that it’s just a fun game to play and is easier to follow than its rival, NBA Live.

BONUS FEATURES:

The soundtrack has a playlist that can be edited. The ‘VIP Room’ allows players to customize (decorate) by purchasing achievement upgrades through points earned in exhibition games. There is an online feature that is likely long-defunct. Its hefty how-to booklet is a valuable tool for beginners.

ROSCOE’S ODD MOON RATING: 8 Stars

Basketball Sports (TV & Videos) Toys & Games Video Games

NBA 2K8 (PLAYSTATION 2)

Post author By oddmoonmediareviews
Post date November 1, 2020

SUMMARY:

Released in 2007 (based on the 2006-2007 NBA season), this ‘E for Everyone’ game for 1-2-players was produced by 2K Sports. The New Orleans Hornets (now the Pelicans)’ Chris Paul is featured on its cover.

This annually-released game started with the 2000 edition (NBA 2K). Regular or updated features include ‘blacktop’ mode (various outdoor parks) for street-style ball; exhibition games; playoff mode; ‘association’ mode (by playing as a team general manager building or re-building a team); fantasy drafts; ‘scramble starters’ (for random line-ups in exhibition mode); and various Eastern and Western ‘all-star legends’ squads varying for each decade dating to the 1950’s-60s. Like NBA 2K7, a ‘stat book’ function is included.

REVIEW:

Utilizing a new gameplay engine, NBA 2K8’s graphics look about the same as its predecessors, but the animation is smoother. The ‘association mode’ is harder to navigate, as it has become more complex. The game play itself is solid, but it seems more of a copy-and-paste version of NBA 2K7. One helpful element is that, during exhibition games, in-game play continually updates stats for players on the court. Overall, this game isn’t quite as good as NBA 2K7, but it is still substantially better than its rival, NBA Live, in terms of face scans and overall gameplay.

BONUS FEATURES:

The soundtrack has a B-grade rapper-style playlist that can be edited. The ‘VIP Room’ allows players to customize (decorate) by purchasing achievement upgrades through points earned in exhibition games. There is an online feature (broadband) that is likely long-defunct. Its thin how-to booklet isn’t much help for beginners, so the game is probably meant for more experienced players.

ROSCOE’S ODD MOON RATING: 7 Stars

Digital Songs & Albums Individual Tracks (Digital Albums & Singles) Music & Radio Shows Soundtracks (Digital) TV Series

SCARECROW & MRS. KING {Cover} (By The Gordon Lorenz Orchestra & Singers: Your 101 All Time Favourite TV Themes)

Post author By oddmoonmediareviews
Post date November 1, 2020

SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 1:13 MIN.

With a running time approximate to the original theme, this cover is performed by The Gordon Lorenz Orchestra & Singers for 2009’s Your 101 All-Time Favourite TV Themes album. The track is available as a digital download purchase.

Note: There isn’t an official Scarecrow & Mrs. King soundtrack release for composer Arthur B. Rubenstein’s theme from the CBS TV series (1983-87).

REVIEW:

In spots, it’s merely a competent cover – mostly in the repetitive second half. However, the track’s first half is as close to the original tune that one could reasonably expect. Since Rubenstein’s version evidently is unavailable, this track offers a solid alternative for fans of Amanda King and Lee “Scarecrow” Stetson.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 7 Stars

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Digital Songs & Albums Individual Tracks (Digital Albums & Singles) Soundtracks (Digital) TV Series

SCARECROW & MRS. KING {Cover} (by The William Fairey Engineering Band: The Best of Brass)

Post author By oddmoonmediareviews
Post date November 1, 2020

SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 2:25 MIN.

This marching band cover was recorded by The William Fairey Engineering Band for 2010’s Best of Brass album.

Note: There isn’t an official Scarecrow & Mrs. King soundtrack release for composer Arthur B. Rubenstein’s theme from the CBS TV series (1983-87).

REVIEW:

Interpreting Rubenstein’s theme, this brass interpretation energetically nails every nuance. Its second half draws notably closer to the original theme, though the extended running time/repetitiveness may hamper one’s enjoyment to some degree. Still, this patriotic cover serves up a nostalgic treat for the program’s fans.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 7 Stars

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CD's Individual Tracks (CD's) Music & Radio Shows Soundtracks (CD's) TV Series

RIPTIDE {Cover: TV Series Theme} (by The Daniel Caine Orchestra: NYPD Blue – The Best of Mike Post)

Post author By oddmoonmediareviews
Post date November 1, 2020

SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 2:23 MIN.

The 1984-86 NBC TV opening credits theme was composed by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter, but, despite the album’s title, it’s not Post’s brief original version. Covering the theme is The Daniel Caine Orchestra for its 1999 instrumental tribute album, NYPD Blue: The Best of Mike Post.

REVIEW:

While a Riptide TV series soundtrack may not exist, this extended cover from The Daniel Caine Orchestra is a virtual replica of Mike Post’s work. For fans seeking this hard-to-find TV series theme, the cover is likely the best available option.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 8 Stars

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CD's Individual Tracks (CD's) Music & Radio Shows Soundtracks (CD's) TV Series

QUANTUM LEAP {Cover: TV Series Theme} (by The Daniel Caine Orchestra: NYPD Blue – The Best of Mike Post)

Post author By oddmoonmediareviews
Post date November 1, 2020

SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 3:03 MIN.

The 1989-93 NBC TV opening credits theme was composed by Mike Post, but, despite the album’s title, it’s not actually Post’s own rendition. In an extended cover, The Daniel Caine Orchestra recreates this tune for its 1999 instrumental tribute album, NYPD Blue: The Best of Mike Post.

REVIEW:

Though it occasionally sounds like a cover, its faithful instrumental sound should please Quantum Leap fans. For anyone seeking this TV series theme, this Daniel Caine Orchestra cover is an excellent option.

BRIAN’S 10-STAR RATING: 8½ Stars

Notes: Post’s brief original version appears on 1996’s Television’s Greatest Hits, Vol. 7: Cable Ready album, which was released in CD and cassette formats. Also, another excellent cover version of “Quantum Leap” appears on the first disc of 2000’s dual-disc Battlestar Galactica: The A-to-Z of Fantasy TV Themes.

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