DC Comics' direct to DVD movies....

[Warped9]

Recently I've been catching up on a backlog of stuff I haven't seen yet. And overall, although I could quibble and nitpick, DC animated films are generally better overall than their live-action efforts with the exception of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

I enjoyed Mask Of The Phantasm, Sub Zero, Mystery Of The Batwoman, Superman: Doomsday and more recently Wonder Woman, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and Green Lantern: First Flight. Green Lantern in particular impressed me with its visualization. Cool.

I must say I rather like this general approach. Sure, live-action gives the whole thing another layer of substance, but well done animated projects are giving us decent stuff and more of it then we could get with live-action films every couple of years.

The next film I'm going to check out is Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths. I know the reviews are mixed, but I've heard enough to want to check it out myself.

Were there any other direct to DVD films in this line that anyone might recommend that I might have missed?

 

[Small White Car]

I enjoyed Mask Of The Phantasm,

Small point here, but Mask of the Phantasm actually did come out in theaters. It wasn't a direct-to-DVD film.

But hey, that was a long time ago so for anyone young enough it basically IS just a DVD movie so I don't have a problem with leaving it on the list.

Just thought I should point that out.

I really liked Mystery Of The Batwoman, which surprised me. It ended up being better than I thought it would be. But yeah, even at their worst, these films are still enjoyable.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Recently I've been catching up on a backlog of stuff I haven't seen yet. And overall, although I could quibble and nitpick, DC animated films are generally better overall than their live-action efforts with the exception of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

I enjoyed Mask Of The Phantasm, Sub Zero, Mystery Of The Batwoman, Superman: Doomsday and more recently Wonder Woman, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and Green Lantern: First Flight. Green Lantern in particular impressed me with its visualization. Cool.

I must say I rather like this general approach. Sure, live-action gives the whole thing another layer of substance, but well done animated projects are giving us decent stuff and more of it then we could get with live-action films every couple of years.

The next film I'm going to check out is Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths. I know the reviews are mixed, but I've heard enough to want to check it out myself.

Were there any other direct to DVD films in this line that anyone might recommend that I might have missed?

Justice League: The New Frontier and Batman: Gotham Knight are the other two in the PG-13 DC line that you haven't mentioned. The other DC DTVs released prior to the PG-13 line, again other than the ones you've mentioned, are Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (which is excellent), The Batman vs. Dracula (a DTV spinning out of The Batman TV series), Superman: Brainiac Attacks (which is terrible - a rare misstep from Warner Animation), and Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo (a DTV spinning out of the Teen Titans TV series).

 

[Warped9]

Actually I do recall that Mask Of The Phantasm was in theatres originally. Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker I saw some years ago and I liked it. I've seen Justice League: New Frontier after I had read the original print trade earlier. I didn't care at all for Superman: Braniac Attacks. I hoped it would be good, but it felt way too simplistic and dumbed down for my tastes. I also didn't care at all for Batman: Gotham Knight. Yuch!

I also have to catch up on missing TV series volumes.

 

[Christopher]

There are other DC animated DVD movies that haven't been mentioned yet.

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker was the finest entry in the Batman Beyond series and probably the best DCAU movie overall, and additionally works as a coda to B:TAS. (Just make sure you get the 77-minute director's cut instead of the toned-down 74-minute original release.)

Then there's Superman: Brainiac Attacks, a weak movie that was rushed into production to ride on Superman Returns's coattails. It used the character designs and much of the voice cast from the DCAU Superman, but wasn't in the DCAU continuity and was aimed at a younger audience. It's probably best avoided, and I mention it only for completeness.

(EDIT: Oops, I wrote this before I saw Warped9's last post.)

A couple of others: The Batman vs. Dracula is a DVD-movie tie-in to the series The Batman, and is rather more intense and adult than that show was able to get on TV. It's pretty interesting. There's also Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, which is part of the Glen Murakami Teen Titans animated series, but again is able to get a little more intense and violent due to the lack of TV censorship. Whether you'd like it depends on whether you liked the show.

 

[Warped9]

I have to say I never much cared for The Batman or Teen Titans series. They went in a direction that didn't work for me, particularly style wise.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

I didn't care at all for Superman: Braniac Attacks. I hoped it would be good, but it felt way too simplistic and dumbed down for my tastes.

It was an unfortunate waste of a DTV, which Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett weren't involved in. If they'd put it in Bruce Timm's hands, with a proper production schedule, and allowed him to make it as a continuation of Superman: The Animated Series that could have been really something.

 

[23skidoo]

I have to say I never much cared for The Batman or Teen Titans series. They went in a direction that didn't work for me, particularly style wise.

I definitely agree on the latter, and Legion of Superheroes, too. Call me silly but I wanted Teen Titans and LSH to feature the characters I've been reading in the comic books, not some kiddified versions. Especially after the dead-accurate LSH appearance in Justice League. I'm sorry, but Starfire is supposed to look like a supermodel -- it's as much a part of the character as Power Girl's, er, life preservers.

I actually wasn't too thrilled with Crisis on Two Earths. I liked they fact they included some intelligent discussion about quantum physics -- I didn't expect that -- but otherwise it just seemed rushed to me. I don't know why there's this rule that restricts animated films to 70 minutes or less. This could have easily been a 2-hour film.

And having Jethro Gibbs doing the voice of Superman was an interesting choice, I must say!

But I actually enjoyed the Spectre short film a lot more, to the point where I even wished that was the main feature (although the simulated 1970s exploitation film look would have gotten old after 70 minutes).

Back to my original point, since the animated films are not beholden to the comic books, nor to each other -- see, for example, the standalone Wonder Woman film and New Frontier -- hopefully someone will do a "proper" Teen Titans and Legion film one of these days.

Alex

 

[Warped9]

I liked the TAS Superman although I don't think it was quite as good as Batman TAS. For me all it needed was a little better handling of Supes' character. There were too many times when Supes should be able to use his brains a little better and more quickly realize just slugging it out isn't working, particularly when you've faced a particular opponent before.

I really liked the Son Of Krypton pilot. In many ways I like it better than the 1978 film.

Justice League and Justice League Unlimited are something I'm intrigued to see more of. Initially I've never been a fan of superhero ensembles, but some of the episodes I've seen impressed me sufficiently to want to see more. Another one I've seen a few episodes of and want to see more is Batman: The Brave And The Bold.

I used to be into comics, and I still have some interest, but the medium is very hit-and-miss and, well, static particularly in light of these animated projects that you can see and hear rather than just looking at still images. I also think the ban-for-the-buck for comics has slipped badly over the years. You pay several dollars for a few minutes enjoyment (assuming it's good) as compared with several dollars for a movie with extra features that can last up to an hour-and-a-half to two hours.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

I didn't like Teen Titans at first because it was such a change of pace and tone from the DCAU shows that I found it jarring, but I gave it another shot and came to be a big fan of the show. It's very creative and inventive and manages to mix zany humor with some really heartfelt drama.

Legion of Super-Heroes, though, I was disappointed in. The LSH has great potential for adaptation, but the show is a mediocrity.

 

[Christopher]

I don't know why there's this rule that restricts animated films to 70 minutes or less. This could have easily been a 2-hour film.

A longer film would cost more to produce.

Back to my original point, since the animated films are not beholden to the comic books, nor to each other -- see, for example, the standalone Wonder Woman film and New Frontier -- hopefully someone will do a "proper" Teen Titans and Legion film one of these days.

There's been a Teen Titans: The Judas Contract film in development for the DC Universe DVD series since the start, but it's been on hold since the studio doesn't think it would sell well.

I didn't like Teen Titans at first because it was such a change of pace and tone from the DCAU shows that I found it jarring, but I gave it another shot and came to be a big fan of the show. It's very creative and inventive and manages to mix zany humor with some really heartfelt drama.

Legion of Super-Heroes, though, I was disappointed in. The LSH has great potential for adaptation, but the show is a mediocrity.

I agree with both. TT is like Xena -- a show that goes all-out and doesn't pull its punches, so sometimes it's annoyingly goofy but at other times it's stunningly intense and powerful. And sometimes the humor is unpleasantly crude but at other times it's brilliantly surreal and inspired.

LSH, on the other hand, was too whitebread -- not as smart and sophisticated as the DCAU, but not as zany and creative as TT, so it just kind of sat there. I'm surprised that it was from the same showrunner (James Tucker) as Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which is more in the TT vein of wild, bold zaniness and constant surprises (but without the more annoying aspects of TT).

 

[SG-17]

I never really liked Teen Titans, LSH, or The Batman. Do not know why really, they just did not feel "right".


On a different note I would love to see a Red Son DCAU film.

 

[davejames]

I liked the TAS Superman although I don't think it was quite as good as Batman TAS. For me all it needed was a little better handling of Supes' character. There were too many times when Supes should be able to use his brains a little better and more quickly realize just slugging it out isn't working, particularly when you've faced a particular opponent before.

Agreed. STAS was a huge missed opportunity, as far as I'm concerned. The WB wanted something for a younger audience, so instead of the rich characterization and atmosphere of BTAS, you basically just had Superman duking it out with someone for 30 minutes. In a world that looked way too bright and bland.

At the very least, it would have been nice to see all those battles taking place within the darker and moodier world of the Fleischer cartoons and BTAS.

 

[Warped9]

^^ That said I liked the general tone of Supes and Clark's character as well as that of Lois Lane's. For me the TAS Lois harkened back to Phyllis Coates and Clark seemed more like the George Reeves' Clark Kent rather than the Christopher Reeve's version. Indeed, although I can't recall what the episode was called, there's a TAS episode that is very much like a George Reeves' era episode in which Clark is listening to a convicted man's story and believes his innocence.

 

[Christopher]

Agreed. STAS was a huge missed opportunity, as far as I'm concerned. The WB wanted something for a younger audience, so instead of the rich characterization and atmosphere of BTAS, you basically just had Superman duking it out with someone for 30 minutes. In a world that looked way too bright and bland.

That's not true. On the contrary, the WB allowed the shows to skew older than Fox had, with less censorship on violence. Look at an episode like "The Late Mr. Kent," which was very dark and noirish and actually involved executions. Look at "Brave New Metropolis," which took Superman (albeit an alternate one) to a dark place and actually featured a character's death at the end. Look at "Apokolips Now" or "Legacy," which got really dark and dramatic (and again, one of them involved an onscreen death).

It's simply that it's the nature of Superman to be a more upbeat character, so the producers chose to make Metropolis a brighter world, visually and otherwise. It wasn't about network imposition or targeting younger viewers, it was a creative choice by the producers. Although as the series went on, they discovered that the show looked better at night, so they increasingly began setting the stories at night.

 

[Warped9]

^^ I didn't have any problem with the visualization of the series. Primarily I just wanted to see a somewhat smarter Superman who thought things through more often. Sometimes the fight scenes (like in Superman: Doomsday) are just too dragged out.

 

[Mr Light]

I loved Superman TAS, I actually think it worked better than Batman TAS, which had some great episodes but a lot of truly terrible episodes as well. I wish that S:TAS had run for longer and not been interrupted by Batman Beyond which I really didn't care for. It's just so great to see Superman in all his animated majesty flying around and kicking ass.

 

[davejames]

It's simply that it's the nature of Superman to be a more upbeat character, so the producers chose to make Metropolis a brighter world, visually and otherwise. It wasn't about network imposition or targeting younger viewers, it was a creative choice by the producers. Although as the series went on, they discovered that the show looked better at night, so they increasingly began setting the stories at night.

No I do remember Timm saying somewhere that the WB wanted Superman to be lighter and more kid-friendly. But it's been so long I can't remember where I saw it.

In any case, I just thought that animation style didn't work nearly as well in the bright daylight. Without all those cool shadows everywhere, it just looked really simplistic and almost... cheap to me.

 

[davejames]

^^ I didn't have any problem with the visualization of the series. Primarily I just wanted to see a somewhat smarter Superman who thought things through more often. Sometimes the fight scenes (like in Superman: Doomsday) are just too dragged out.

Yeah, there's only so much of people getting thrown through walls I can take. And there was a LOT of that on STAS. lol

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

No I do remember Timm saying somewhere that the WB wanted Superman to be lighter and more kid-friendly. But it's been so long I can't remember where I saw it.

In any case, I just thought that animation style didn't work nearly as well in the bright daylight. Without all those cool shadows everywhere, it just looked really simplistic and almost... cheap to me.

On the commentary tracks on the S:TAS DVD sets Timm & Co talk about how they wanted the show to be the opposite of B:TAS in a lot of ways: bright, colorful, lots of sci-fi and fantasy elements. They wanted to go in that direction as producers to stretch their muscles and do something different. They did find, however, that as the series progressed they were steadily drawn to including darker scenes and more night scenes as they just tend to look cooler than bright daytime scenes.