BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD SEASON ONE PART ONE DVD Review

Today, at least in my area, comic book shops are gone. You also no longer see those spinning racks of comic books in drug stores, or comics on the magazine shelves. Graphic novels are out there, but are usually not for kids.

The last few BATMAN feature films have been geared to older audiences. They have been some of the most popular and acclaimed in the series, but are also not for the pre-schoolers.

Yet, my four year old nephew is a HUGE Batman fan. So much so that on a recent trip to Six Flags, all he cared about was getting to meet Batman again. He went to the park, wearing a Batman shirt, wanting to visit the Hall of Justice where Batman meets his fans. He cared more about Batman being there than any of the rides.

Unfortunately for him, Batman wasn't there that day. He was told that the Legion of Doom had taken over the Hall of Justice, and Batman was away. He was crushed by the news. But then he saw Tweety Bird and Marvin the Martian signing autographs, and he was a little better.

So, even though the Batman comics aren't being read and movies aren't being geared to the younger kids, he is still a very popular character with them.

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD should be a popular title with this younger audience as well. It is somewhere in between the campy Batman of the Adam West days and the darker, more recent film versions.

Batman is voiced by Deidrich Bader (THE DREW CAREY SHOW). In each episode, Batman teams up with another DC superhero, such as PLASTIC MAN, AQUAMAN, or THE GREEN ARROW to fight evil.

Airing on the Cartoon Network beginning in 2008, the film has the look of other Cartoon Network series, with a lot of bright colors and thick characters outlines to the animation.

The two DVD set has thirteen first season episodes. The episodes are all in widescreen format.

There are no extras.

SHOULD I BUY IT?

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD should please the character's fans, young or old.


BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD is available now on Warner Home Video.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA - Waited Too Long

Over the weekend, I finally started watching the new version of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

I was a fan of the original when it aired years ago. When the new version was announced, and I heard negative comments from some of the original cast members, I didn't tune in. By the time critics were raving about it, the series was too far along.

But I finally got the first disc of the first season from Netflix.

It was the miniseries that set up the series. I had intended to put it on and just watch the first part. Three hours later, I watched the entire thing.

I loved it.

After watching THE WIRE earlier this year, I had intended to start watching BSG, but then Katee Sackhoff was appearing on 24. Sackhoff is a fan favorite on BSG as Starbuck, but I hated her so much on 24, I wanted nothing to do with the series. After watching the miniseries, I think Sackhoff should sue the writers of 24 for misusing her so. She is fantastic here, as are the rest of the cast.

The one problem came this weekend.

After sending the disc back to Netflix, and not wanting to wait to see the next episode, I went online to Amazon to check on the complete series. Amazon had the 21 disc Blu-Ray set for $130. It is normally $250. Quite a deal. Since I had that in Amazon gift cards, I thought I would buy it. I waited, to think about it, but when I went online on Sunday to buy it, it was back up to $250!!! I missed the deal.

Oh well. I'll have to stick with Netflix.

ELVIS PRESLEY BLU-RAY COLLECTION

I love Elvis.

And I will admit, I love the movies. I’ve seen them all. While most aren’t great, Elvis had a presence that made them all watchable.

To celebrate what would have been his 75th birthday, Warner Home Video has released a three Blu-Ray set of three of his films. Two have previously been issued on Blu-Ray and the third (ELVIS ON TOUR) is new to the format. All are available individually.

The films in the set are:

JAILHOUSE ROCK (1957) - Considered by many critics to be Elvis’ best film (although maybe not my favorite), and contains one of his most popular theme songs, here Elvis is sent to prison and becomes a singer, performing the unforgettable title number.

The Blu-Ray contains a commentary by Steve Pond, author of ELVIS IN HOLLYWOOD. It also features a 2007 featurette, THE SCENE THAT STOLE JAILHOUSE ROCK (15:29) about Elvis and the making of the film.

Next up is:

VIVA LAS VEGAS (1964) - This is one of my favorite Elvis films. It features Elvis as a race car driver in Vegas with Ann-Margret. Another classic title song, but I always considered “The Lady Loves Me”, where Elvis sings to Ann-Margaret around a swimming pool, one of my favorite Elvis movie moments. And, watching it again, I loved “My Rival” as well.

On Blu-Ray, the film looks stunning. I had the film on letterboxed laserdisc and it never looked this good. The neon of Vegas, even Ann-Margret’s hair and lipstick, this is a great looking disc.

The Blu-Ray also has a commentary by Steve Pond, along with a featurette KINGDOM: ELVIS IN VEGAS (20:34) about the film and his time in Vegas.

New to Blu-Ray is

ELVIS ON TOUR (1972) - Here is Elvis in his later period, the jumpsuit days. The film follows him on a 15 day / 15 city concert tour. He talks about his life between cities and clips of memorable moments of his career are shown (in montages supervised by Martin Scorsese). When it comes to the music, he performs “Burning Love” for one of the first times (he even has to read the lyric sheet to remember the words). Among the other numbers, “See See Rider”, “Don’t Be Cruel”, “Teddy Bear”, “Love Me Tender”, “All Shook Up”, “Suspicious Minds”, “Heartbreak Hotel”, “Are You Lonesome Tonight”, and “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You”.

There are no extras on the Blu-Ray. In the version of the film sold individually, it includes a book of essays about the film. One disappointing thing about the disc, while there is a chapter selection, it doesn’t list what song is at what chapter. Only a photo of each chapter is shown. This is a bit of a disappointment as the ability to skip to each song would be a great option.

SHOULD I BUY THIS SET?

Diehard Elvis fans probably already have the Blu-Rays of two of the films. If so, they can pick up ELVIS ON TOUR individually. If not, or for the casual fan, this is a great representation of his work.