The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones - Volume 2: The War Years

Well, just as quickly as the first volume of "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones" was issued on DVD, CBS/Paramount Home Video has just come out with the second volume, "The War Years". In this new, stunning nine-disc set, the curtain continues to be unveiled on young Indy's (Sean Patrick Flanery) adventures during World War I.

When we last left our young adventurer-to-be, he had left behind the girl of his dreams and retreated to the Belgian army with a broken heart. Now, as Indy goes into battle, he soon faces dangers too immeasurable to consider. In Chapter 8, "The Trenches of Hell", Indy and his friend Remy face certain danger in the battle of the Somme, which claimed over a million casualties on both sides. Indy, however, is captured and imprisoned in a German prison camp that makes Alcatraz look like a Sunday school picnic. Indy soon finds himself plotting his escape with the help of a young visionary officer named Charles de Gaulle. In Chapter 9, "Demons of Deception", Indy finds himself as a messenger in Verdun carrying messages between two sides of the army, only to discover that senseless death in war need not occur. From there Indy journeys to France where, in the second portion written by Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia of "Star Wars" fame), Indy has a torrid romance with the infamous Mata Hari.

In Chapter 10, "The Phantom Train of Doom", Indy encounters a group of aging soldiers in Africa seeking to take out and destroy the Germans' latest superweapon, the Big Bertha. Later, in Chapter 11, "Oganga, the Giver and Taker of Life", Indy's mission through Africa brings him face to face with a deadly epidemic in a small village with only a single child as the lone survivor. As his troops fall one by one to the epidemic, Indy eventually encounters Dr. Howard Schweitzer and relearns his humanity in the process. From there, in Chapter 12, "Attack of the Hawkmen", Indy engages in battle against the German force's legendary pilot, the infamous Red Baron.

Chapter 13, "Adventures in the Secret Service", finds Indy as a spy to bring two brothers to the emperor of Habsburg, then later Indy must choose between friendship and war as he comes face to face with the growing Bolshevik rebellion in Russia. The lighter-hearted Chapter 14, "Espionage Escapades", finds Indy in Barcelona meeting up with his old friend Pablo Picasso and caught up in a humorous spy mission in, of all places, the opera! Indy then finds himself in Prague caught up in the most perilous of situations - hoping to get his telephone turned on to find out his next assignment! - until he is aided by Franz Kafka. Finally, in Chapter 15, "Daredevils of the Desert", Indy is sent to assist the Australians as they attack the ancient town of Beersheba. He enlists the help of a belly dancer (Catherine Zeta-Jones) in a suspenseful mission to defuse the explosives with which the occupying Turks have booby-trapped the city's water supply. Look for future 007 star Daniel Craig in a supporting role in this installment.

As with the first volume, executive producer George Lucas has reedited many of the original one-hour segments into two-hour telefilms, eliminating all of the old Indy (George Hall) bookend segments and filming new footage to bridge the gaps where needed. Each segment is presented in full-frame format in English Dolby 2.0 surround sound, with optional English subtitles. For "The Trenches of Hell", an elderly Indy's encounter with a rude donut worker lands him in jail. In "Demons of Deception", the elderly Indy recounts his tale as a courier, then later finds himself in line at a grocery store spinning his tabloid-like romance with Mata Hari to shoppers. These and many other bookend segments were completely omitted from the DVD release, and it's a real shame, since only those like me who remember the original broadcasts remember these bookends quite well. Only "The Phantom Train of Doom" remains virtually untouched from its original two-hour broadcast, with only a few minor changes in the credits sequences. That credit on the package, "Some episodes have been re-edited from their original TV broadcasts" should really read, "All...", if you ask me.

Accompanying each chapter are a total of 26 new documentaries produced by Lucas and Rick McCallum that further explore the real characters, locations, and themes conveyed in each chapter. Unlike the first volume, which had some of the documentaries occupying a single disc, all of the documentaries are contained with each respective chapter, thereby streamlining the set by three discs. The final disc contains a new 40-minute discussion on history and war, as well as a DVD-ROM interactive game and interactive timeline. If only we had had more meaty information on the making of the series itself, as with the 11 VHS releases, then I would have found it more satisfying, along with the original broadcast versions of these episodes.

What a wonderful Christmas present this made! The second volume of "Young Indiana Jones" is another great addition to the Indy canon, and I've got to admit, I'm ready for the third and final volume to come in the new year (not to mention the fourth "Indiana Jones" feature film - maybe they'll do a cross-promotion for the film with a trailer on the final set). If only my dad were alive to enjoy this series once again as he did during the early 90's.

How about that for a nice surprise review! With that I wish you a blessed and prosperous Happy New Year, and I'll see you again in 2008!

Long time, no blog...

Sorry it's been a while since I've blogged with the latest DVD reviews. To be perfectly honest, the past two and a half weeks have been an extremely stressful time in my life. I've been juggling between 3-4 jobs just to make ends meet for me and my family, working an exhausting night job until 1 a.m. in the morning, going between a weekend part-time job that I had to give up because the hours conflicted with my wife's work schedule, and two seasonal jobs that will end Christmas Eve. It's been staggering, to say the least, and, as my long-time boyhood friend Jeff Henson (whom I owe so many thanks that I cannot begin to say the words) has said, I'm in a season of gazelle intensity, to quote Dave Ramsey.

Needless to say, all of this job juggling and searching has left me with little time to sleep and no time to even watch and review DVDs. But that's not to say I'm completely giving it up. As soon as my life stabilizes again to a point where I can review some of the latest DVDs, I'll be back online. There are a number of recent titles that I want to post my thoughts on, among them the recent Disney-Pixar offering "Ratatouille", the extended DVD release of "High School Musical 2", Sony's recent release of "Spider-Man 3", Universal's extended unrated cut of "Battlestar Galactica: Razor" (which would have been the last review I would have posted here and on TrekWeb.com and was 99% complete with it but for some unusual reason it got deleted, which gripes me to no end), Paramount's new two-disc SE of Mel Gibson's Oscar-winning epic "Braveheart", and my continuing analysis of the first volume of "Young Indiana Jones".

Don't forget that next week marks the release of two long-awaited DVD sets that I've got my eye on that would make awesome Christmas gifts, the second volume of "Young Indy" and the mega-awesome five-disc "Blade Runner" Ultimate Collector's Edition (which I will go on record and say that for the upcoming Bitsy Awards will be selected as THE DVD release of 2007). I don't know if I'll be able to score review copies of either, or even if they'll be under my Christmas tree this year, but we'll wait and see.

That's all for now. Unless I blog again in the next few weeks, have a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and I'll see you again in 2008!

Young Indy glitch, Razor, and Thanksgiving...

Okay, so I know last time that I promised you the second part of my "Young Indiana Jones" review. I had it all written out, stored on disc, and ready to post. But somehow along the way to posting the review, for some unusual reason the computer would not read my file at all, and it came out looking like symbolic gibberish. You know how recently in Superman lore how sometimes they revert to those unusual Kryptonian symbols to replace dialog? That's how the remains of my text looked. Why it did that, I have no idea. Can we honestly say that the computer ate my homework? (It wouldn't be the first time that happened!) Unfortunately, that means having to rewrite my entire review from scratch - ugh! That means pushing back the second part of my review until sometime next week, I don't know when. But I promise, once it's rewritten, I'll have it posted for you, along with the third part of my review.

In the meantime, I just received my review copy of the upcoming Universal DVD release of "Battlestar Galactica: Razor". The TV movie is set to premiere this Friday on the Sci-Fi Channel, and the unrated extended DVD will hit stores Tuesday, December 4th. But I've got my copy in hand right now, even before the movie has premiered! It's got running audio commentary with series creator Ronald D. Moore, three and a half minutes of deleted scenes, 19 minutes of mini episodes, two featurettes, and two previews for the upcoming fourth (and unfortunately final) season set for premiere next year, among the bonus features. This will make the first BSG review I'll be working on in about a year, so hopefully I'll have shaken off the ring rust enough to do a good review (which will simultaneously appear on TrekWeb.com as well). Look for it coming soon!

Well, this will make the last time I'll be able to blog for the rest of the week because of Thanksgiving holidays. Stay safe, don't spend too much money on gasoline (it's already too high enough as it is!), and don't eat too much turkey, ham, and dressing (like that'll happen!). If you're in the Alabama area, look for the Albertville High School band in Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade tomorrow! And Guntersville moves into the third round of the Division 4 football playoffs against Brooks this Friday night - go, Marshall County!

See you again soon!

A quick note on a Friday...

This will be a quickie for you today... First off, I posted my recent review of "Star Trek" Season 1 (DVD/HD-DVD) on TrekWeb.com, which was my main outlet for DVD reviews prior to my blog site. Click here to read both the review and reader comments on the review and the set.

Second, I should have my second part of my "Young Indy" review ready to go next week, so be on the lookout for it! It'll cover Discs 2 and 3 of all the content pertaining to "Passion for Life".

Finally, to change gears, how hard is it to get a job? Half of these places don't ever respond, and those who do give you the polite "no, thank you, we're not interested" line. And those who say they're going to call you back and follow up with you don't ever follow up. What's the point of it all? It's just frustrating, which explains why I haven't been blogging as much lately as I should be. Job searching is a full-time job in and of itself, but it doesn't pay the bills, the gasoline for the car, and the food on the table. When will someone say, "We want you for the job, when can you start?" I'm tired of playing the bridesmaid in this dance. I'm always the one with the impressive resume, but... (and there's that dangling "but" again that I've despised since I was in junior high school). I'm so more than ready for a breakthrough, but nothing's happening. And time's running out.

I'll touch base again with my latest blog when I can. See you again soon...

Star Trek: The Original Series - Season 1 (DVD/HD-DVD combo)

Okay, I know that this was to have been the second part of my continuing series of analyses on the first volume of "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones". But when this baby arrived on my doorstep, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. So away we go!

In 2006 it seemed that the "Star Trek" franchise was, for all intents and purposes, dead. The fifth series "Enterprise" died in the ratings at the end of its fourth season. All of the series (including the animated incarnation from the 1970's) had been released on DVD, and Paramount was attempting something new with the first of five different Fan Collectives, which were nothing more than selected repackagings of episodes from the different series in cost-friendly sets. The only way to get new adventures was to either pick up the latest Pocket Books novels or surf the Internet for different fan-based productions. Even then, rumblings were abound of yet another feature film project. It looked like the franchise would go quietly into its 40th anniversary with nothing significant.

But someone asked the question, "What if we brought the Original Series back to television but with updated visual effects?" Several years before, fans had done a series of video tests with the second season episode "The Doomsday Machine", giving the special effects a much-needed makeover to compete with all of the current crops of television series and movies that were laden with spectacular visuals. In 2001, Paramount Home Video released the acclaimed Director's Edition of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" with many completed visual effects. In addition, the then-recent slate of "Star Trek" series and movies, most notably "Deep Space Nine", "Voyager", "Enterprise", and the four "Next Generation" spinoff films, utilized state-of-the-art CGI effects to the max. One of the most celebrated DS9 episodes, "Trials and Tribble-ations", revisited the Original Series' "The Trouble with Tribbles", complete with many fresh visual effects and an equal number of subtle trickeries a la "Forrest Gump" that caught many fans off guard. The two series that needed the heaviest visual effects makeovers were the Original Series and TNG. Could such an attempt be accomplished? Could the original "Trek" return but with a fresh facelift?

This immediately sent shockwaves throughout Trekdom. To some it seemed like the perfect way to celebrate the Original Series' 40th anniversary. To others it seemed sacrilege. How dare they screw up the original 79 episodes we all grew up with and know so well? What would happen to the original masters of the episodes? Would they go by the wayside a la the original theatrical versions of the first three "Star Wars" films, long forgotten by the creators and discarded like yesterday's trash?

When the first remastered episodes came out in the fall of 2006, fans immediately sought out the major and minor makeovers to the classic Treks they knew by heart. Many of the effects were done as outright replacements to the original effects created in the 1960's, which were at the time state-of-the-art. Some of the effects were quite subtle, in the same way that some of the subtle makeovers in the Director's Edition of TMP were accomplished. Even the original Alexander Courage theme was given a new makeover, complete with a new orchestral adaptation and a digitized version of William Shatner's classic opening monologue. It was akin to putting a fresh coat of paint and a new engine into a '57 Chevy. But could this 2006 version of the Original Series ever replace the original episodes in fans' hearts? The debate continues to this day.

Now comes the first season of "Star Trek: The Original Series" from CBS Video in a new 10-disc combination standard DVD and HD-DVD set. I won't go back and comment on the episodes themselves, having already reviewed the first season in the complete season set back in 2004. Click here to read my original review on TrekWeb for a detailed look at the episodes and its content. While I'm not able to discuss or extol the HD-DVD features, my review is limited to the standard DVD presentation, though I will reference the HD-DVD information for completion's sake.

As with the previous 2004 DVD release, all 29 episodes of the first season of "Star Trek" are presented in their original 1966 airdates, in 1.33:1 full screen format. Sonically, this fresh update is a treat, with the standard DVD sound in English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, LAS Mono (whatever that means), and French mono, with optional English, LAS, and French subtitles. The HD-DVD presentation features English Dolby True HD and LAS mono sound, with optional English and LAS subtitles.

The picture format is just absolutely stunning and breathtaking! It was like looking at the last couple of seasons of "Enterprise", particularly with all of the new digital effects in place. The picture is that crisp and clear - imagine what it looks like in HD-DVD format! Having grown up with the original 79 episodes over the years, seeing the newly minted visual effects seemed jarring at first. Still, this is the original "Star Trek" we're talking here, and with the advancements in DVD and HD-DVD technology, the only way it can look is better than ever.

The DVD packaging is reminiscent of the four "Enterprise" sets, with the set packaged in a clear plastic case that is smaller than the other series' packages, which means it'll take up less space on your DVD shelves. Housed inside the clear plastic case is the DVD package itself, with the discs in a clear plastic bookcase tray and banded with a yellow sleeve a la the 2004 DVD set. Inside is an insert for the other "Star Trek" DVD releases currently available, as well as an offer for a "Star Trek" phaser remote control.

The majority of the extras on this DVD set have been ported over from the previous 2004 set. This includes "The Birth of a Timeless Legacy", which discussed the series' origins; "Reflections on Spock", a new interview with Leonard Nimoy; "Life Beyond Trek: William Shatner", which profiled the actor's writings and involvement with horses; "To Boldly Go: Season One", a look at the first season's most memorable moments; "Sci-Fi Visionaries", which looked at the many noted science fiction writers who contributed to the series; and the series' episode preview trailers. In addition, the two bonus features that were included in the Best Buy bonus disc - "Kiss and Tell: Romance in the 24th Century" and "Trek Connections" - have also been brought over to this new DVD/HD-DVD combo set. There's no need for me to rehash my thoughts on these additional features, so all I'll say is go back and read my original review.

What is new does have interest to both long-time "Trek" fans and newcomers to the series. First off is "Spacelift: Transporting Trek into the 21st Century". This interesting feature explores the debated and controversial aspects of returning the series to television and updating all of the visual effects and sound to 2006 standards. You get to see rough animatics of the new visual effects, as well as comparisons between the original 1966-67 visual effects and their modern-day counterparts. It's definitely jarring, to say the least, but I will give credit to the CGI artists who made these effects both major and subtle happen.

We also have something that is quite unique when it comes to "Star Trek": outtakes and home movies! In "Billy Blackburn's Treasure Chest: Rare Home Movies and Special Memories", this program spotlights actor Billy Blackburn, who was featured as a background extra in many episodes of the series. During the series' production, Blackburn shot a number of eight-millimeter home movies on the "Star Trek" sets, showing the stars in more relaxed moments and preparing to shoot scenes from different episodes. Now this is a treat! Fans have long clamored for any vintage outtakes and behind-the-scenes films to be included on DVD, and seeing these home movies makes it all the more interesting yet poignant, considering that DeForest Kelley and James Doohan are no longer with us. Kudos to Mr. Blackburn for bringing these vintage films to DVD!

In addition, Perpetual Entertainment has a preview of its upcoming "Star Trek Online" MMO game, which takes the saga into the 25th century. There is also a new feature entitled "Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier" - whatever that means. All of these above features can be found on both the standard DVD and HD-DVD sides of the discs.

As if that weren't enough, HD-DVD owners will be in for even more treats. First of all, there is a new on-screen graphic interface program entitled "Starflet Access" on seven episodes - "Where No Man Has Gone Before", "The Menagerie, Parts 1 and 2", "Balance of Terror", "The Galileo Seven", "Space Seed", and "Errand of Mercy". In this interactive feature, viewers can access Picture-in-Picture video commentaries with surviving cast members and writers, comparisons of the remastered episodes with their original visual effects, episode trivia, and encyclopedic information used in the series. This is definitely a step or seven up from the text commentaries from Michael and Denise Okuda!

From there we have the "Interactive Enterprise Tour", in which viewers can explore the interior and exterior of the U.S.S. Enterprise in detail as they pilot their own shuttlecraft in this spectacular 3-D feature.

Obviously, as I said earlier, the majority of the bonus features from the 2004 DVD set were ported over to this new combo set. That means the Okuda text commentaries are the only significant extras that were left off this new set. For that matter, the previous set had a series of "Red Shirt Logs", a series of bonus hidden Easter eggs that contained additional interview segments - I don't know if these have also been ported over from the previous 2004 set.

As with the previous sets, missing in action are a wealth of additional extras that could have greatly enhanced the overall completeness of "Star Trek" on DVD. Of course, I'm talking about the two direct-to-VHS documentaries, "William Shatner's Star Trek Memories" and "Inside Star Trek: The Real Story", both of which feature interviews with cast and production members no longer with us (among them De Kelley, Jimmy Doohan, director James Goldstone, and makeup artist Wah Chang). Furthermore, vintage TV spots promoting the series during its premiere and first two seasons are missing, as well as the infamous blooper reels, production outtakes (can we say Jeffrey Hunter outtakes from "The Cage"?), and deleted scenes that we know exist and have been well documented all across the Internet.

Most conspicuously, the original versions of the first season episodes have been left off. This means forcing the consumer to double-dip to get not only this newly enhanced "Trek" but also the additional bonus features. Not many people are going to enjoy the fact that the original episodes we all grew up with and know so well have been omitted from this DVD/HD combo set. Remember Fox's "Star Wars Trilogy" debacle from 2004, leaving off the original versions of the trilogy? (Of course, it would take another couple of years before getting the originals onto DVD, but in really crappy form, but that's another argument for another place and time.)

Finally, who in their right or left mind is going to spend $217 to get this 10-disc set? When the price tag for this set was announced at this past summer's Comic-Con, how many people didn't mind wanting to pay the high price tag for this set? A grand total of three people. The rest of the hundreds and thousands in attendance gave it a good ol' Stone Cold "Hell, no!" Why didn't CBS and Paramount listen to the fans for once? It's a no-brainer that you'll find this set for probably $150 in stores. For that matter, you can go to your local Wal-Mart and pick up all three seasons of the original "Trek" (in their original forms!) for about the same price as you would spend for this remastered version. Which sounds like the better deal? You do the math.

Yes, "Star Trek" is back and in remastered form, with newly improved picture and sound. So why am I giving it only three stars out of five? It's hard for me to give this set a firmly satisfied recommendation, given all that was left off the new release. But since this is like buying a vintage car with a fresh paint job and high-tech engine, it does merit a decent recommendation. Of course, long-time fans will bemoan the loss of the original versions of their beloved episodes in this new set. As with everything, your mileage may vary.

Okay, next time, I promise, will be my second part of the "Young Indy" review. See you then!

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Volume 1 - Part 1

Well, I'm finally getting down to the good stuff that is on CBS/Paramount's long-awaited first DVD volume of "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones". While you know by now my stance on the decision of CBS, Paramount, and one Mr. George Lucas to release the series on DVD in its re-edited form from the late 1990's and not include the original telecasts with the original bookend segments intact (as seen on ABC during the series' initial run in the early to mid 1990's) - still a crime in my book - I'm going to focus on each respective chapter and the documentaries that complement the first seven chapters of the series.

(Before I go into my thoughts on those documentaries, I just want to put the word out there that if anyone has any of the original one-hour telecasts on video, send me an e-mail. Of this first set I have chapters 1, 2, 4, and 7 preserved to DVD+R, and I know that along the way I missed some of the other segments. I'd like to have all of the original telecasts, as well as the behind-the-scenes segments from the original 11 VHS tapes, preserved and archived on disc, so let's talk!)

Disc 1, "My First Adventure", is just that, young Indiana Jones' first adventures from birth and traveling the world. In the first five chapters, young Corey Carrier portrays Henry Jones, Jr., growing up just as any typical boy would. We learn of young Indy's humble beginnings and the journeys he undertakes with his parents Henry and Anna Jones (Alex Hyde-White, trying for all the world to channel Sean Connery, and Ruth deSosa, in an ineffective role that all but fulfills the perfunctory purpose of Indy's worrysome mother being around in his early years). Joining them on their travels is the crusty Miss Helen Seymour (Margaret Tyzack), Indy's tutor with an iron will all her own. The first half of "My First Adventure" centers on Indy's first trip to Egypt, encountering T.E. (Ned) Lawrence and Howard Carter, while exploring a possible curse centered around an Egyptian jackal - this has been lifted from the first half of the series' premiere "Young Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Jackal", which had a much more effective second half that tied in well with the first. The story then abruptly shifts gears to Cairo, where Indy learns of slavery and nearly winds up a slave as well. This second part of "My First Adventure", which was obviously filmed a few years after the first part, doesn't work as well. Why Luca$ decided to completely forego the original TV broadcasts still baffles many, including me, to this day. But the first part of the story does have a fun charm of its own that parents and Indiana Jones fans should enjoy.

Okay, onto the first four documentaries on Disc 1. First off is "Archaeology", a 16-minute feature that takes a look at how the real-life science of archaeology differs from the fascinating, adventurous, and sometimes romantic notions conveyed in the three (soon to be four) "Indiana Jones" theatrical films. According to modern-day scientists, archaeology is tedious and unsung, as the documentary profiles two such expeditions into remote parts of the world. For generations it was seen merely as looting and graverobbing, but it was not until 1922 that Howard Carter emerged as the benchmark by which archaeology is measured. This is continued in the 22-minute documentary "Howard Carter and and the Tomb of Tutankhamen", which profiles Carter's life-long love for archaeology and Egyptian history, the discovery and research of King Tut's tomb, and the meticulous and precise methods Carter used to archive and document every detail of the mysterious boy king's life and death. Carter's methods continue to be seen as the standard by which all modern archaeology must be measured.

From there we turn to the 36-minute program "Colonel Lawrence's War", a look at the life of British soldier Thomas Edward Lawrence, best known to many as Lawrence of Arabia. This documentary reveals untold aspects to Lawrence's life that, if you're only familiar with the 1960's David Lean epic with Peter O'Toole in the title role, you're in for a rude awakening. Ever in love with the Arabian way of life, Lawrence studied the Arab culture in the early 1900's and lived among them years before his service in the British military and his revolutionary methods of uniting the Arabs against the Turkish Empire in the closing years of World War I. But Lawrence's actions led to unforeseen circumstances that continue to reverberate in today's times, with all of the current troubles in Iraq and Pakistan. Others saw Lawrence as a romantic war hero and leader; Lawrence saw himself as a failure. In his epic chronicle Seven Pillars of Wisdom, how much of what Lawrence writes is truth and how much is fiction?

Finally we have the 30-minute program "From Slavery to Freedom", which looks at many cultures' attempts to enslave people of seemingly lesser quality into a lifetime of slavery. No mention is made of the Egyptians' enslavement of the Israelites, as seen in the Book of Exodus, which is a shame. The program, however, traces the roots of slavery back to ancient China and looks at the brief enslavement of the Greek philosopher Plato; the Roman execution of 400 slaves as the result of the murder of a prominent Roman official; Pope Gregory's desire to use slaves to till his fields in the 6th century; and, of course, the British and American slave movements from 300-400 years ago. However, slavery still continues to occur in parts of the world today, though in more brutal and horrific forms than we can conceive. But the program, which includes interviews with historians and people dedicated to educating and ending slavery, does give a positive note: this could be the generation that finally sees the end of slavery.

So ends my look at the first disc of "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones". Next time I'll take a look at Disc 2, "Passion for Life", which cobbles together young Indy's adventures in 1908 and 1909, and the six documentaries that comprise Disc 3. See you then!

The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians

It's hard to believe how over the course of 12-13 years animation could change. As a boy one of the mainstay staples of Saturday morning television was the ever-reliable "Super Friends", one of ABC's longest-running and most successful Saturday morning animated series. Beginning in 1972, the "Super Friends" - which initially consisted of Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and their teenage sidekicks Wendy and Marvin - went through numerous incarnations and expansions, taking from the numerous DC Comics titles of the era. By the late 1970's the series began to get a little more mature in its storytelling, with more sophisticated plots and adventures that excited kids of all ages. I was definitely one of them. I grew up with this series. It began when I entered first grade, and it ended during my freshman year of college. How time flies.

By the 1980's the "Super Friends" seemed almost passe' in the realm of animation. While the "Superman" feature films were taking off, and plans were in the works for a "Batman" feature film, the animated series was winding down. As animation began to move from traditional hand-drawn cels into the very new realm of realistic animation and the then-experimental form of computer animation (first seen in "Star Trek II" and "Tron"), traditional animiation and simplistic flights of fancy no longer interested young viewers. They wanted newer heroes with more elaborate powers and strengths, with internal issues and problems.

By 1984 ABC took another stab in revamping the "Super Friends" with "The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians", which would be the final animated incarnation of the long-running series. By this time Firestorm was already a part of the team, having been introduced into the series the previous year as part of "Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show", along with original creations such as Apache Chief, El Dorado, Samurai, and Black Vulcan (no relation to Tuvok, of course!) which were designed to bring in a more diverse ethnic culture to the series. With the addition of Firestorm the year before, another hero made his animated debut in the form of Cyborg, a character from the popular "Teen Titans" comic book series of the 1980's. More machine than man, Victor (Cyborg) Stone became a valuable addition to the Super Powers Team.

But things didn't stop there. Along with the addition of new cast members to the series, the look of the series drastically changed. For years Hanna-Barbera relied on the same tried and true look of the characters to drive the series. But animation, like comic books, were entering into a new era of more graphically realistic animation. To this end they turned to DC artist Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez to redesign all of the characters for the series, giving them incredible facelifts and providing a fresh look to the heroes and villains of the series, bringing them closer to their comic-book counterparts. And this was shortly before DC Comics itself was to experience a true makeover of its own with "Crisis on Infinite Earths", "The Dark Knight Returns", and "Superman: The Man of Steel".

Over the course of the ten segments produced in 1984 the Super Powers Team battled classic villains such as Lex Luthor, the Joker, the Penguin, the Scarecrow, Bizarro, and intergalactic space baddie Darkseid. And in one of its penultimate segments, "The Death of Superman", the series took a very mature theme and brought it to life (years before Doomsday did the unthinkable). But with the series on its last legs, even this fresh revamp wasn't enough to bring it back for another season. With this final incarnation, the Super Friends passed into history.

Now Warner Home Video has brought the entire "Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians" series to DVD in a two-disc set that presents each animated segment in its original broadcast aspect ratio and in Dolby 2.0 sound. The animation is clean and crisp, and for a 20-year-old series it looks pretty good, better than I remember catching it on Saturday mornings. Bonus features are limited to just a single featurette - "Super Powers Redux: Galactic Guardians Retrospective", which profiles the making of the series with DC writers and artists and also shows some vintage storyboards and even a copy of the ABC mandate regarding "The Death of Superman" - and a pair of trailers for other animated products.

"The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians", which followed the earlier "Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Team" release, is a great way to remember the final years of one of ABC's most popular and successful animated series. I'm looking forward to seeing the remainder of the "Super Friends" series arrive on DVD in coming months!

Spider-Man 3 out today - in multiple forms...

Well, the year's biggest box-office moneymaker, "Spider-Man 3", has now arrived on DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. It's out in no less than four different versions - single-disc full frame, single-disc widescreen, two-disc widescreen, and two-disc Blu-Ray format - so this should be a visual treat for the eyes. From what I have heard, the film's story is not up to snuff as the far superior "Spider-Man 2", but it made a boatload of money, so it should be worth checking out.

As if the above weren't enough to mention, Wal-Mart has an exclusive bonus disc with over 30 minutes of additional interviews and content not found in any of the other versions of the film. To add insult to injury, this bonus disc is packaged with the single-disc widescreen and full-frame versions of the film. That means if you want every last little bit of info on SM3, you're going to have to pony up the bucks to get the two-disc SE and the Wal-Mart release.

(This follows on the heels of Disney's reissue of "Cars" with yet another Wal-Mart exclusive bonus disc of 60 additional minutes of content. That's the second one in less than a year! What gives with these multiple dips of the same movie just to get every last bonus disc? Why couldn't Disney and Pixar do it right the first time and give everyone a two-disc set with the content from both of these bonus discs included as the second disc? It's all about one thing... money, money, money.)

In any event, as soon as I have my copy of "Spider-Man 3" in hand, I'll have the full review posted for everyone. (Oh, and don't forget to get your copy of the "Twin Peaks" Definitive Gold Box Edition today - 10 discs with all the episodes, the original TV pilot, the European theatrical cut with the alternate ending, and lots of exclusive bonus features! Of course, you'll have to hold onto your copies of the two previous season sets in order to have every last bonus feature that's not been ported over to the Gold Box - another head-scratcher of a multi-dip, but one that's worth getting for all the "Twin Peaks" goodness that's included.)

See you again soon!

And now for something completely different...

As the week is fast coming to a close, I now turn my attention to something that's quite a bit unusual. As you may know from my earlier posts, I have a great concern for altered TV programs surfacing on DVD. That seems to be the bane for many a TV-on-DVD fan who likes to have his/her TV shows kept intact on DVD. Of course, there are many titles that have appeared over the last few years that have been altered. This includes no less than...

WKRP in Cincinnati
The Adventures of Superman (specifically, the episode "Crime Wave")
The Adventures of Superboy (the episode "Countdown to Nowhere")
The New Adventures of Superman (minus all the Superboy segments)
Star Trek: Captain's Log Fan Collective (an altered edition of the two-part "Chain of Command")
Soul Food: Season 2
The Odd Couple: Season 2
Jericho: Season 1
The Real World: New York, Season 1 (really bad!)
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (the entire series!)

...and who knows how many countless other TV series with significant alterations. As more and more series continue to be released on DVD, the casualties mount.

But have you ever heard of a DVD release that, upon its TV broadcast, has been greatly altered for television? Believe it or not, there is one such direct-to-video series that has been altered for its TV broadcasts, and that is the long-running animated family series "Veggie Tales", nearing its 15th year of production.

Over the last 15 years Phil Vischer, Mike Nawrocki, and the people at Big Idea Productions have produced 27 separate animated tales for VHS and DVD releases, as well as two big-screen feature films, "Jonah" and the upcoming release "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything". In each of these hilarious animated stories and films, Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber host a series of stories geared toward families that present significant Biblical truths and Scripture references tied in to the stories. Sometimes they even go to the edge and spoof different pop-culture references, including "Star Trek", the Beatles, "Gilligan's Island", "The Lone Ranger", "Bonanza", the "Batman" and "Spider-Man" films, "Indiana Jones", Sherlock Holmes, "Rocky", the WWF/WWE, "The Wizard of Oz", and the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy, among others. But in every tale they mention an active presence of God in their lives.

Last year NBC picked up the broadcast rights to "Veggie Tales", but for obvious reasons each of the segments were greatly altered from their original video presentations. In short, they wanted all references to God eliminated from the shows. That reduces the tales to little more than silliness without a message. For that matter, they also got a different opening credits sequence that has never been included on any DVD or VHS release of the series! Last week I happened to catch on the Guardian Television Network a broadcast of "The Ballad of Little Joe" that had a completely different main title sequence and introduction that was never featured on the DVD, and it was something I'd never seen before as well. At first I thought it was something from the earlier release "God Made You Special", but it quickly turned out that I was wrong.

I can understand having to edit one of these segments for time constraints, not to mention shadowboxing the end credits. That's fine and dandy when you're trying to squeeze something into a 30-minute time slot, and as the "Veggie Tales" series have gotten longer and longer it becomes a necessary hazard. But to create a different main title sequence for the TV broadcast and feature footage that's not available on the DVDs? I don't get it.

For that matter, I don't get Phil Vischer's decision to make necessary edits for television. To do that, he's robbing the series of that special something extra that makes "Veggie Tales" stand out head and shoulders above all other animated series. If I were in Vischer's shoes, I wouldn't have compromised for one second. I would have either held out for the message to be maintained in each episode, or I wouldn't have brought the series to TV in the first place. While I like the idea of appealing to a broader audience, dumbing down the message and completely cutting it out of the different segments is wrong. Had that been the case, then older series such as "Touched by an Angel" and "Doc" wouldn't have stood a chance on television, and look how popular those series were. For that matter, ABC wouldn't have stood a chance of even airing its yearly ratings spectacular, "The Ten Commandments" (the 1956 version with Charlton Heston), uncut.

Recently I saw on TBN that filmmaker Tyler Perry (who just released "Why Did I Get Married?" to blockbuster status last weekend) was offered a lucrative deal to bring his stage concepts of Madea (the character he made famous in "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" and "Madea's Family Reunion") and company to television. However, he refused because he did not agree with pushing the envelope to television's edgier standards and watering down his Christian witness all for the sake of money. He rejected the big network deal, took it to a smaller network, and presented it uncompromised and with his Christian themes intact. I have to give Perry credit for standing firm for his faith amid his businessman's beliefs. Phil Vischer could learn a thing or two from Perry.

Bottom line, if you like your veggies uncut and in its original format, then stick with the original DVD (or VHS) releases. But at the very least Vischer and company should give us the alternate TV credits and monologues with each DVD release for completion's sake. That way everyone is satisfied.

Have a good weekend!

Are you ready to go back to "Titanic"?

It's hard to believe that ten years have passed since the release of "Titanic", James Cameron's mega-blockbuster that sailed to a staggering $600 million in U.S. box office receipts and 11 well-deserved Academy Awards (joining "Ben-Hur" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" on the list of films with the most Oscars). And yet, for all it's worth, "Titanic" is a simple love story set aboard the most famous luxury liner that faced disaster on its maiden voyage.

I remember seeing it over the Christmas weekend at the end of 1997. My ex-fiancee had just broken up with me, and it was a way of dealing with the catharsis of the end of the engagement. We had planned to see it together the weekend I was going to see her and her family; little did I know that it would never happen. Since that time I've only seen the film a grand total of...

...drum roll, please...

One time.

Not the VHS release, the HBO and NBC telecasts, or the DVD releases would add up to even a second time. Go figure.

In the dawning days of DVD, Paramount Home Video issued "Titanic" as a single-disc release in non-anamorphic format complete with a single theatrical trailer. For a long time it remained a top seller, but as DVD technology progressed fans clamored for a more elaborate deluxe edition. Cameron saw to it that said deluxe edition would be prepared, and in 2005 we were issued a three-disc collector's edition that was seemingly packed to the brim with tons of extras - three audio commentaries, branching pod featurettes, deleted and alternate scenes, the Celine Dion music video, the entire shooting script (I have a large trade paperback of this which I picked up in 1998), a Fox TV special, more behind-the-scenes production footage, even three hidden Easter eggs, you name it.

But for some reason the DVD release failed to carry a proposed feature-length DVD documentary produced by Ed Marsh on the making of the film. This is because Cameron had killed the Marsh documentary late in the game - go figure. That would be like Ridley Scott killing off any full-length Charles deLauzirika documentary off the "Alien" and "Gladiator" discs. Such documentaries really pull the curtain back on how films are made.

As if that weren't enough, while the U.S. market got the three-disc release, the overseas market got an even more elaborate four-disc set. On the fourth disc, it contained three short parodies (which were ultimately ported to the third disc on the U.S. set as hidden Easter eggs), a 25-minute HBO First Look special (with some additional outtakes not included in the film or the deleted scenes), and an extensive trailer gallery with U.S. and international trailers for the film. Why the fourth disc got killed off from release in the U.S. is beyond me. To this day I have yet to locate that fourth disc, particularly the trailer gallery.

Now for the film's 10th anniversary, Paramount Home Video is planning its third release of "Titanic" in a two-disc collector's edition. Apparently the two-disc set contains everything that's on the first two discs of the previous release. They're killing off the third disc! This is not the first time that something like this has happened. A few years back Warner Home Video released an awesome four-disc set of "Gone With the Wind" that had all the perks to it, then a couple of years later they re-released the DVD as a two-disc "special" edition minus the third and fourth discs. Who did this fool? Not me. Neither does this new two-disc "special" edition of "Titanic". It's just another way to milk the money machine even further. Even more so, you can still find the three-disc set at stores for a reasonable price.

My advice: stick with the three-disc set. If anyone has the trailer gallery on DVD, get in touch with me and let's talk.

On a personal note, Laura B., if you're out there reading this up north, send me an e-mail. I'd like to know how you're doing.

Indy without Indy?

Next week marks the release of the first volume of "Young Indiana Jones" on DVD. This incredible 12-disc set, which will encompass the first seven chapters of "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles", is highly anticipated by many fans, including me. (I know if my dad were still alive, he would have looked forward to this set, as this was one of his favorite series.) This will be followed by the second volume on December 18th (the same day as THE DVD release of the year, the awesome five-disc "Blade Runner" set), with Chapters 8-15 included in the set. And next spring, the third volume with Chapters 16-22 will appear in stores in time for the highly anticipated "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls" (say that one three times fast!).

But there is a big concern I have with the third and final volume. As you know, we're only getting the re-edited movie-length stories that George Lucas tinkered with in the late 1990's, though the official Indiana Jones web site references information from the original ABC-TV broadcasts from the early 1990's. Can we all say, "Young Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Jackal", with three incarnations of Indy in the two-hour premiere? So of course, no George Hall bookends are in this set.

But there's one that's got me extremely concerned, and if you're an Indy fan, you should definitely be concerned as well. From the earliest news on the press release for the third and final set, "The Mystery of the Blues" has apparently been re-edited from its original broadcast. There is no mention of Harrison Ford's bookend segments in the press release description provided by TV Shows on DVD. If that's the case, then you should definitely be angry about this one.

If you recall, in 1993 the series was experiencing a serious slump in the ratings. While "Young Indy" was very well produced, it just lost the kick along the way. In order to provide a boost in the ratings, Harrison Ford came back to film bookend segments for "The Mystery of the Blues" in which he explains his love for jazz music. The bookends were also complimented by a return of the classic John Williams Indy fanfare and portions of cues heard in "Raiders of the Lost Ark". These segments were shot around the time Ford worked on his big-screen version of "The Fugitive" - the tipoff is the beard. There's been only two times Ford has acted onscreen with a full beard, the "Young Indy" bookend segments and "The Fugitive".

And yet apparently the third set will, for some reason, omit the Harrison Ford segments from the episode. If you ask me, that's a slap in the face to the man who for our generation is the one and only Indiana Jones, as the episode marked not only one of Ford's very rare TV appearances (along with the classic ill-fated "Star Wars Holiday Special" - how many of you out there remember that one?), but also his fourth time out as the man with the hat. I've got only one question to ask Mr. Lucas at this point: why is Harrison Ford's footage being cut out from the DVD? If you ask me, that's an insult to all the Indy fans out there, and it's just going to cause fans to seek out the original TV broadcasts in some unofficial (read: bootleg) format all the more.

Mind you, I'm not advocating bootlegging, I'm simply speaking the facts of what's going to happen if this is allowed. The thing to do is press Lucasfilm and Paramount to go back and repress "The Mystery of the Blues" with the Harrison Ford bookends included in the movie.

One more thought to share before I close: lately on all of CBS/Paramount Video's DVD box sets, there's been a running disclaimer that reads to the effect of, "Some of the episodes have been re-edited from their original television broadcasts." In the case of "Young Indiana Jones", they should reword it to accurately read, "ALL of the episodes have been re-edited from their original television broadcasts." That's the only way to truthfully tell the consumer what they're really getting on DVD.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to find my hat, leather jacket, and bullwhip and start searching for those buried treasures in my video collection...

A bit of a delay...

Sorry I haven't been able to post any new reviews in the last several days. Sometimes, when you get an unexpected curveball thrown at you in your life, there's not much else you can do except deal with things one day at a time. Rest assured, I'll be back with more full-length reviews as soon as my time permits.

In the meantime, I've just gotten a review copy of the upcoming DVD release of this past summer's box-office blockbuster, "Transformers". Guys and gals, if you enjoyed the original series, you'll more than likely enjoy this movie. Word is that Michael Bay is planning an Imax version of the film with even more exclusive footage than in the original theatrical or DVD releases (what's up with that?), so if you live near an Imax theater, be sure to check it out soon.

Be sure to check out the new animated version of "The Ten Commandments" coming to theaters in the next week or two! My wife and I saw the preview trailer for this on TBN last night, and I have to say I was impressed with it! Think of "The Prince of Egypt" with "Shrek"-like animation.

And the good people at TVShowsonDVD.com have posted specs for the second "Young Indiana Jones" set, entitled "The War Years", set to come out December 18th. Looks like Christmas is going to be sweet for DVD fans! I hope I'm able to enjoy as well - we'll see.

And that's all from my neck of the woods at this time. Take care, and I'll see you again soon!

The War

This review is dedicated with love and respect to the memory of my dad, William Cauthen Williams (1915-2002), and all of the heroes of the greatest generation in our history.

When I think about my dad, I think about the times he shared with me how he became involved in World War II. He told me how, as a student at Mississippi State University, he heard of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on the radio in the library and how he decided to enlist in the Army as a result of the attack. As a youth I would see yearbooks and pictures of him and his military unit as they ventured throughout Germany and France in those years, and to this day I have a couple of pictures of him in Germany from 1945.

As the saying goes, everyone has a story to tell. While my dad is no longer around to share more of those stories with me, there are still some left today who share their tales of their involvements in World War II either on the front lines or back home. It’s been over 60 years since the end of the war, and as each day passes we lose more and more of those precious souls to time, at an average of a thousand a day, so it becomes more and more critical to preserve these stories for future generations before all of these survivors are lost to history. Filmmaker Ken Burns has accomplished such a task in “The War”, a 15-hour, seven-part documentary (currently running on PBS) that looks at the four darkest years of the United States’ involvement in World War II through the accounts of not only those involved in the war but also of the effects back home.

Burns, whose accomplishments include the PBS documentaries “Baseball”, “Jazz”, and the highly acclaimed groundbreaking “Civil War” series, spent six years with co-director and co-producer Lynn Novick researching and documenting the personal accounts of 50 such individuals from four different locales – Sacramento, California; Mobile, Alabama; Waterbury, Connecticut; and Luverne, Minnesota – and getting the right feel for what happened both at home and overseas. In the first chapter “A Necessary War”, lives across these towns and the nation are shattered on December 7, 1941 as the United States is thrust into the deadly conflict. In the second chapter “When Things Get Tough”, Americans mobilize for war, factories work around the clock, inexperienced soldiers learn how to fight, and thousands of U.S. airmen gamble their lives against deadly odds in a series of dangerous daylight bombing raids. The third chapter “A Deadly Calling” analyzes the shocking losses suffered at Tarawa, the stalling of Allied forces at Monte Cassino, and the failure of a risky landing at Anzio; while at home things begin to get ugly with racial violence and confrontations as a result of economic growth.

In the fourth chapter “Pride of Our Nation”, over 1.5 million Allied troops participate in the incredible D-Day surge at Normandy, only to become bogged down in the Norman hedges for weeks at a time. Saipan proves to be one of the deadliest Pacific battles to date, while back home concerned citizens begin receiving telegrams from the War Department at an alarming rate. In the fifth chapter “Fubar”, over several different war fronts, American and Allied troops learn the deadly truth that sometimes mistakes happen in war, while on the island of Peleliu the Marines fight one of the bloodiest and most unnecessary battles of the war. In the sixth chapter “The Ghost Front” Americans are shocked at Adolf Hitler’s massive counterattack, but by the spring of 1945 they have the German and Russian forces on the run. Iwo Jima is secured, and American bombers begin their air assault on Japan. In the final chapter “A World without War”, President Franklin Roosevelt passes away, Germany surrenders, American soldiers and sailors endure the Okinawa attack, and Japan ultimately surrenders after American bomber pilots unleash the most terrifying weapon of destruction upon them. With the war now over, millions of military forces return home and attempt to learn to live without war.

In “The War”, Burns pulls no punches. He mixes up documentary footage from the various battles and war fronts with personal stories of the soldiers involved in each conflict and of those back home affected by war in both great and small ways. World War II was a deadly conflict that affected millions on every continent, and just when it seemed hopeless at times, things bounced back for the U.S. military. You see the atrocities perpetrated by the enemies on both military forces and innocent civilians in all its horror and intensity. If you think any slasher flick out there could exceed what actually happened 60-65 years ago, this documentary will make you re-think your definition of what horror and death is truly like. It is a sobering, somber, stark, and touching reminder of where we were as a nation back in the 1940’s and a stark parallel to where we are now in the 21st century. The original music provided by Wynton Marsalis and Norah Jones, coupled with era pieces from Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Nat “King” Cole, provide the beautiful and longing musical backdrop for this spectacular program.

Burns also looks at two very overlooked aspects of the war that many Americans of this generation are typically unaware of: the African-American aspect, which experienced further racism and neglect (seen in films like “A Soldier’s Story”), and the Japanese-American aspect, which saw many American-born citizens of Japanese heritage impounded and imprisoned in a labor camp in Rohwer, Arkansas. As the saying goes, those who will not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it.

However, as with all documentaries, there is some obvious material left out. Instead of the all-encompassing documentary of a world at war and its beginnings in 1939, the focus is on the effects of the war on the small American towns profiled and the firsthand accounts from those veterans involved during America’s four-year involvement. Furthermore, Burns had received a number of concerns that the Latin American experience had not been adequately profiled, which forced him to include an additional 28 minutes of footage and stories from the Latin perspective. This footage, while a nice addition, feels a bit shoehorned into and distracted from an otherwise outstanding documentary film.

PBS Home Video and Paramount Home Video have issued “The War” in a stunning six-disc collection that takes advantage of the DVD format and brings the horrors and heroism of World War II to the viewer in a fresh and yet personal way. This in itself is a first, at least in my opinion, releasing the DVD before the TV premiere (if there’s been any other disc that can lay claim to it, I certainly don’t know about it). Each chapter of the 15-hour film is presented in its original 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen format and in your choice of English Dolby 5.1 digital or 2.0 surround tracks, with optional English subtitles. Each chapter is presented on its own individual disc, with Disc Two containing the second and third chapters. To watch this series is to step back in time to what our nation endured as a whole, and what entire families and communities would hear and endure. Their generation didn’t have the benefit of 24-hour news channels or the Internet to inform them of the latest reports; all they had were the radio and movie newsreels, so the wait for any word from the government was just as strenuous and painful as it was a century before during the Civil War. The sound and images fully engross you in this horror and stress, more than any visually graphic movie of today’s time. While some of the actual war footage is referenced from the best possible existing sources, the soundtracks are newly remixed in 5.1 digital sound with an intensity similar to the opening Normandy reenactment in “Saving Private Ryan”.

In addition, PBS and Paramount have included a nice collection of supplements to “The War” that further expand upon the viewing experience. First off we have audio commentaries from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick on Discs 1 and 3, which further analyze the making of the documentary, the “less is more” approach to the storytelling, and the horrors of the war that everyone endured in the 1940’s. The only problem with the audio commentaries is that by listening to these commentaries, you know what’s coming up in later installments. My advice is to listen to these commentaries after you’ve watched the documentary in its entirety.

On Disc 1 there is a 36-minute feature entitled “Making ‘The War’”, which attempts to answer the question of how necessary it was to chronicle these accounts. Burns mentions that at first he had no intention of pursuing another war documentary after “The Civil War”, but he kept hearing story after story from people of their fathers, mothers, siblings, and relatives and their participation in World War II. The question that looms over this feature, as well as the entire documentary, is a sobering one: why do 18-year-olds go to war? This is what Burns and Novick attempt to answer in both “The War” and this production feature. Also on Disc 1 we have a photo gallery of 28 different pictures from 1941-1945 showing various aspects of the war and its effect back home, as well as text biographies of those participants profiled in the documentary.

On Disc 6 we have a 24-minute collection of deleted scenes cut from the documentary. These deleted scenes, culled from a work print version of the documentary, looks at additional aspects of World War II from the news correspondents’ points of view, among them Andy Rooney (of “60 Minutes” fame); further insights from the war veterans interviewed for the documentary, including thoughts on sacrifice, attacks on Aachen and Metz, and battling through the hedgerows in Normandy, among others; and other tales to be told. In addition, on Disc 6 we have 55 minutes of additional, uncensored interviews with many of the participants profiled, also culled from a work print version of the documentary. Both the deleted scenes and the additional documentary could easily form another chapter for this program. Kudos to PBS Video for including this insightful information!

Finally, because this is a historical documentary, PBS and Ken Burns have prepared a list of educational resources for utilizing this DVD set in the classroom. This includes a brief video from Burns, who offers his thoughts on using “The War” and the many PBS resources as tools in the classroom; a collection of still photographs and their credited sources; PDF access to episode descriptions and further comments from Burns and Novick; information on the Veterans History Project; and PBS web links to lesson plans and instructional curriculum. As a former high school teacher, had this came out a decade before, I would have referenced those online sources and materials exhaustively. References to these educational resources can be found on Discs 1 and 6 of the set.

I highly and unquestionably recommend “The War” as essential viewing for all families, not only for the production and storytelling qualities Ken Burns brings to the documentary, but also for the way it paints a portrait of Americana and the world in the 1940’s. It’s a chilling parallel into our times today and what we can and may possibly face if we don’t get our act together. While this is certainly intended for mature audiences because of the violence, profanity, and disturbing content, it is nonetheless as educational a chronicle as “Schindler’s List” or the Naudet brothers’ 9/11 documentary, and it is must viewing for all students in high schools and colleges everywhere. While my wife doesn’t get into material like this, it’s important for our daughters and future generations to learn from the past. I only wish my dad were alive to share more accounts from this period in his life as the participants do here. Very seldom does it get better than this.

Hasta la vista, HTF...

For some reason I can't figure out, the Home Theater Forum - which in my opinion has had some of the best reader participation online over the years - doesn't want any other competition/promotion of reviews on other sites out there. Apparently someone got pissed off because I've got my DVD review blog site going, and they don't like it. But yet they'll let other people promote their own personally run web sites, blogs, etc. on there and not say anything to them about it? There's who knows how many out there, and I get singled out for no reason? And on my birthday, no less? Smacks of a hypocritical double standard, if you ask me.

Remember that old "Andy Griffith" episode where the little sales guy with the stand was trying to make a living, and the skinflint businessman was continually trying to run him off because he felt the little guy was "treading" on his property? Well, I feel like the little guy right now. Look around you and you'll see who knows how much competition is going on in our society, with X number of gas stations, clothing stores, and fast food restaurants all in the same territory competing for business, and nobody's giving in to some corporate muscle. There's room for everyone.

And yet someone whines and gripes about how I'm reviewing DVDs on my blog site and threatens me not to cross their territory? Yet they let other people do who knows what on their forum and promote their other web sites and not say anything? Well, that's why I've got my own site going, where I can review the latest film and TV DVDs, without a bunch of snobby double-minded people moderating it and saying "We can have this person on there but not that one." I've never violated any rules on HTF, I've always been respectful with my thoughts on there, and this is the thanks I get? If the holier-than-thous at HTF don't like it, screw 'em. I used to have a lot of respect for them... not anymore. It's their loss, not mine.

Happy birthday to me!

Hard to believe that I'm now 41. I only wonder what's going to happen as I now move into the fifth decade of my life - ouch, that's gotta hurt! - but I can only hope that things will continue to improve in my life and get better as I move through my 40's.

Quick note... I'm in the middle of reviewing the DVD release of Ken Burns' documentary film "The War", which just premiered last night on PBS. This is one extremely powerful and important documentary on World War II that is a must-view (and for the DVD release, a must-own) for every family and every school. Part 2 airs tonight, so check it out, and look for the DVD (and my review) very soon.

Until then, I'm going to enjoy my 41st birthday! Take care!

Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Complete Series

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 20 years since the next great modern phase of STAR TREK began. I remember September 30, 1987 all too well. I had just turned 21 a few days before and was in my senior year at Mississippi College. The two-hour premiere of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION was set for debut on my local Fox affiliate station. However, I had the upper hand in knowing what to expect in the premiere episode as I had obtained a rare 20-minute preview reel and satellite briefing several weeks prior (and to think this was back in the day before downloading videos on YouTube or before there was even a StarTrek.com!).

But there was a bit of a problem. The series premiere fell on the same night that MC had a swap (translated: dance – at MC, you could call a dance anything but a dance, go figure) at the Cascades lodge. Of course, I decided to videotape the premiere, and my dad and I had caught the first 45 minutes of the show, which I found to be quite interesting. I then left for the swap at the Cascades lodge and soon found myself on the dance floor with Laura Ann King, the girl whom I had an on-again, off-again crush on throughout my four years at MC. Some priorities are more important than others, you know. The following day, after classes, I played back my videotape of the TNG premiere and caught up with the rest of the show, looking forward to each episode soon afterwards.

Flash forward 20 years. That so-called “next great modern phase” of STAR TREK had long since passed into the record books. TNG had begat DEEP SPACE NINE, which begat VOYAGER, each series of which ran for seven years apiece (with DS9 concurrently with TNG and VOYAGER), which also begat four spin-off feature films (the most successful of which was FIRST CONTACT), an ill-fated prequel series in ENTERPRISE which lasted four years, and who knows how many spin-off books, comics, multimedia products, toys, cards, fan-based web sites, and the list goes on and on. TNG also spawned something new called first-run syndication, with many other series following in its footsteps over the next several years. I went from advertising to teaching to education management, to editing and eventually to my current vocation of curriculum training and management. Challenger and Columbia exploded. I returned to MC to get my graduate degree in English education. The Internet took off and became a household word. NASA finally landed satellite probes on Mars. TITANIC and THE LORD OF THE RINGS ruled. VHS and laserdiscs fell by the wayside thanks to a little thing called DVD. 9/11 occurred. We got Saddam Hussein. My two greatest heroes growing up – my dad and Christopher Reeve – died. Laura Ann King got married in the early 1990’s, and like a coward I skipped town and got as far away from the wedding as I could. I finally married in 2004 and moved a year later from Mississippi to Alabama with my wife April, stepdaughter Rachel, and infant daughter Lily Grace. How times change.

If I seem to wax nostalgic more than I usually do, it’s because STAR TREK: TNG holds a special place in my heart. It was the first TREK series I really attached myself to. Oh, I’d seen reruns of the original TREK on the local Fox affiliate and picked up a number of episodes on VHS during my college years, and I had gotten into the feature films from my teen years forward. But there was something about TNG that was, in a word, unique. I can’t put my finger exactly on what it was. Perhaps it was that attempt by Gene Roddenberry to, as he put it, “catch lightning in a bottle a second time”. Perhaps it was the then-flashy visual effects which, by today’s standards, come off quite cheesy when compared to many of today’s top CGI effects in film and television. Perhaps it was the level of storytelling, which started out bumpy in the first two years and really hit its stride in the third season, thanks to the creative talent of the late Michael Piller. Maybe it was the music. I don’t really know. All I know is that TNG was something special.

In 2002 Paramount Home Video released all seven seasons of STAR TREK: TNG in a relatively bold new home video concept – complete season sets – on DVD. Over the course of the year I could catch up on all those episodes, digitally remastered, presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 surround sound, and complete with a number of additional bonus features. A few years later Paramount issued the first TNG-themed DVD spin-off, THE JEAN-LUC PICARD COLLECTION, which was basically a sampler set of seven episodes from the popular series. This later begat the STAR TREK Fan Collective sets, which were compilations of different episodes from all five series into cost-effective sampler sets. Of course, TNG was prominently present in each set. Now, for the series’ 20th anniversary, Paramount has gone back to the well and reissued the entire series in one complete box set, which comes out in early October. That’s right, all 176 episodes of the groundbreaking series that set the standard for other TREK series to meet, sometimes with success, sometimes with failure.

Right away I can tell you that the bulk of the set is comprised of exactly the same material that was present in the initial sets from 2002, with none of the DVD content lost. That means you’re getting the same episodes, the same bonus features, and the same 5.1 and 2.0 tracks as before. Only this time, it’s not in seven bulky foldout sets. That’s one of the good things about this new complete series set. It’s housed in a large plastic case with a plastic green slipcover, which means it takes up less shelf space on your cabinet. It also contains an exclusive TNG poster as well, complete with artwork and episode descriptions.

The only new material that is included in this complete series set is an all-new bonus disc with exclusive content newly produced for the box set. First off is “Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Impact – 2007”, a new 25-minute documentary hosted by Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher), which takes a look at the many contributions TNG made not only to the world of science fiction but also to the world of science fact. In this new documentary Wheaton talks with scientists, writers, engineers, and fans who were inspired by TNG to further their careers and dreams in the same way the original TREK did back in the 1960’s. We see glimpses of how fictional props used in the series, such as the PADD, inspired today’s PDA devices and the recent iPhone. We see developments in satellite technology and space probes, including the recent probes that carried the ashes of both Gene Roddenberry and James Doohan into outer space. We also see how TNG inspired the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, Washington and the annual open house event sponsored by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

One of the most popular recurring guest stars on the modern incarnations of TREK, John deLancie (Q), hosts the second exclusive 25-minute documentary, “Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Legacy – 20 Years Later”, which takes another look back at how the series has held up over the past 20 years. He teases us with the Q-like question, “What if TNG never existed? How would that have affected the future of television?” (See my earlier comments for my answer to that question.) Participating in this documentary are new interviews with series contributors Ronald D. Moore, Naren Shankar, and Brannon Braga, among others, who reflect on their time writing and producing numerous episodes of TNG. (Moore would go on to revisit BATTLESTAR GALACTICA for the Sci-Fi Channel, while Braga would become the scorn of TREK fans everywhere by co-creating [with Rick Berman] and screwing up a lot of episodes of ENTERPRISE during its run.) The third and final exclusive documentary, the 25-minute “Star Trek Visual Effects Magic: A Roundtable Discussion”, looks back at the then-groundbreaking visual effects produced initially by Industrial Light and Magic on a weekly basis. Among those interviewed are Dan Curry, Rob Legato, Ron Moore, and Howard Anderson (who created the original transporter effect for the first "Trek" series). Like the special effects produced 40 years ago for the Original Series, some of the special effects produced for TNG are, unfortunately, dated because we’ve become spoiled with flashy CGI effects in many different series and films. Recently comments were made about a possible “TNG Remastered” series with updated visual effects, a la the recent “Original Series Remastered” efforts – as of this writing, nothing has been officially confirmed.

But we’re not done yet. Since its initial announcement many people have wondered about the fate of the additional bonus features that were incorporated into the Region 2 DVD releases overseas and featured as exclusive bonus discs you could only find at Best Buy. Not to worry, those eight bonus features – “Select Historical Data: Part 1” and “Inside the Star Trek Archive” (from the fourth season set), “Intergalactic Guest Stars” and “Alien Speak” (from the fifth season set), “Select Historical Data: Part 2” and “Inside the Starfleet Archives: Sets and Props” (from the sixth season set), and “Special Profiles” and “Dressing the Future” (from the seventh season set) are all included in their entirety on this additional bonus disc and presented in their original formats. This means you can safely sell off not only your individual season sets but also the respective bonus discs from seasons 4-7. There's even an Easter egg on the set that is a tip of the hat to producer Stephen R. Wolcott, who supervised the new documentaries for this set.

Missing in action are quite a number of additional features that could have enhanced this complete set all the more. First of all, there are at least two documentaries that have previously appeared on VHS – “From Here to Infinity: The Ultimate Voyage”, hosted by Patrick Stewart (which also appeared in the two-disc JEAN-LUC PICARD COLLECTION), and “Journey’s End – The Saga of Star Trek: The Next Generation”, hosted by Jonathan Frakes (the latter of which has never been released on DVD) – which could have helped flesh this set out all the more. Then there are all of the series’ generic preview trailers promoting the series prior to its release, before the start of the second season, during the nightly syndication runs, prior to the start of the fourth season, and toward the end of the series, as well as the preview trailers for each episode (which were included in the TNG Companion CD-ROM and are also on StarTrek.com). I figured that these would have been featured in the same way that the vintage preview trailers for the Original Series were included on their VHS, laserdisc, and DVD releases. We also know of many outtakes, bloopers, and raw footage clips that have surfaced over the years, including the infamously raw and ribald first season blooper reel that has appeared at conventions and on who knows how many bootleg videos over the past two decades. Finally, I would have enjoyed seeing the original preview reel and satellite briefing from the summer of 1987 in which many tie-in products were promoted, among them the General Mills’ cereal contest for a walk-on role on TNG and the Associates’ Star Trek credit card.

At a retail price of $440 (with some stores selling the series for a bit less), I have a bit of a problem with the pricing of this complete series set. After purchasing and tracking down all seven seasons and the respective bonus discs at Best Buy, it seems like a bit of a waste to plunk down $440 just to obtain an additional disc with three more documentaries on it. You could go into any Wal-Mart and pick up the seven sets for less than what you would pay for the entire series set, and still get the bulk of the same content. Even my wife agrees with me that this is an extreme waste of money. Still, there are some fans out there who have already purchased the seven sets and the bonus discs who will ultimately shell out the money to get that additional disc – I’m not one of them.

But if you’ve not picked up any of the season sets at all, this is a good way to get everything all in one shot at a fairly reasonable price. Seeing this reissue in a complete box set is more than just all seven seasons with a new wrapper around it and a new disc in it. For me it’s like stepping back into a time capsule to 1987, when all that mattered was school and dances and unrequited crushes on girls and not knowing what the future held for me. Part of me is glad I’m not 21 anymore. Part of me wishes I could have my own Guardian of Forever to go back there and tell myself what to look forward to, and part of me wishes I could go back and change things. (Only in things like TNG does that exist; not in the real world.) And part of me wishes for another day with my dad and another dance with Laura Ann King. I guess we all have to grow up eventually and put things behind us, don’t we?

Another Young Indy update...

Good morning, everyone! Buzz word from the guys at TV Shows on DVD is that Paramount Home Entertainment has formally announced December 18, 2007 as the release date for the second volume of "Young Indiana Jones" on DVD!

Not much has been mentioned other than the running time on the set is 12 hours, 6 minutes. Based on this information, and a little mathematical deduction, I can conclude that Chapters 8-15 will constitute this next set, followed by Chapters 16-22 on the third and final volume to come in the spring of 2008. As soon as the latest information on extras comes in, I'll post it for you to enjoy.

Between Young Indy and that awesome five-disc "Blade Runner" Ultimate Collector's Edition, it looks like a lot of us will be in store for one spectacular Christmas! More to come later!

Superman: Doomsday

Where were you on November 18, 1992?

For some people that day may not have as hugely significant an impact as, say, November 22, 1963 or September 11, 2001, but for others it was quite a dark day – at least in the world of comic books. For those like me who remember it well, it was the day that Superman died.

Of course, it was all part of a ploy on the part of DC Comics writers, artists, and editors working on four separate titles – “Superman”, “The Adventures of Superman”, the then-recently launched “Superman: The Man of Steel”, and the flagship title of the comics industry, “Action Comics” – who were looking to breathe new life into a franchise that for many intents and purposes had started to grow a little stale. The film series was in a state of limbo after four big-screen installments, and the television incarnations were also in a period of dormancy at this time (it would be another year before "Lois and Clark" would hit the airwaves). So the question was posed: what if Superman actually died? The end result was a seven-part storyline entitled “The Death of Superman”, which saw the Man of Steel fall at the hands of an unstoppable monster of unknown origin dubbed Doomsday, culminating in the landmark 75th issue of “Superman” which, as a result of numerous printings and limited edition versions, sold over four million copies alone. The growing anticipation of the storyline made headlines worldwide over the months leading up to the event and dominated the news over anything else at the time.

This led to two continued storylines over the next year, “Funeral for a Friend” (which dealt with Superman’s funeral and burial, repackaged as “World Without a Superman”) and “The Return of Superman” (which, after several months on hiatus, saw the Last Son of Krypton return to discover four separate and distinct offshoots in the world, each one claiming to be Superman reborn). Note the Christ-like similarities in this tale, which are further explored in the paperback book “The Gospel According to the World’s Greatest Superhero”, written by Stephen Skelton – I highly recommend this book.

From there the Superman line would be re-energized, bringing in new readers as well as bringing back long-time readers. Eventually writer/artist Dan Jurgens returned to familiar territory with “Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey”, a three-part sequel to the “Death of Superman” trilogy which explored Doomsday’s horrific origins on Superman’s home world of Krypton and pitted the two beings against each other in an epic return bout.

As a result of the success of the “Death of Superman” trilogy, word soon began to buzz about a possible return to television, culminating in September 1993 with the premiere of “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman”. BBC Radio faithfully adapted the trilogy into a three-hour radio drama entitled “Superman Lives”. DC writer Roger Stern penned an epic novelization called “The Death and Life of Superman”, which became a New York Times bestseller for a number of weeks. Skybox cards reprinted the artwork from the tale into two limited edition trading card sets, “Doomsday: The Death of Superman” and “The Return of Superman”. Warner Bros. and producer Jon Peters began considering a film adaptation of the story, with numerous script treatments penned and none of them meeting muster with studio executives and fans alike. (The worst of the lot, a complete and heartless piece of s--t entitled “Superman Lives” [no relation to the well-made radio drama], written by that damn moronic idiot Smith [who needs to go back to his mother’s basement and smoke pot with his girlfriend], almost got made by director Tim Burton with Nicolas Cage in the title role, and the studio actually spent [translated: blew] $30 million in pre-production on this piece of crap? No wonder it got shelved – thank goodness for Bryan Singer!)

Warner Home Video and DC Comics has launched a series of direct-to-DVD “DC Universe” animated productions, and the first installment in the series is none other than “Superman: Doomsday”, a 75-minute adaptation of the “Death of Superman” trilogy that gets to the heart of the story itself. Right now I can tell you that it’s not the most letter-perfect adaptation of the tale, as many events had to be abridged or even eliminated in favor of the main tale, but it’s certainly a decent attempt.

In this new animated feature film, employees of LexCorp accidentally uncover a mysterious vault and unleash the destructive might of Doomsday upon the world. Of course, it’s up to the Man of Steel to stop Doomsday at all costs, but as the fight gets more and more intense, Doomsday’s strength grows at an alarming rate. As with the multi-chapter storyline, the battle winds up on the streets of Metropolis, where Superman makes the ultimate sacrifice in stopping Doomsday’s rampage at the cost of his own life. As the world mourns its fallen champion, Superman’s enemies rejoice, all but Lex Luthor, who unknowingly sets off a chain of events that even he couldn’t have foreseen.

Certainly, the “Death of Superman” storyline is one of epic storytelling, which makes it extremely difficult to condense the entire saga into a single 75-minute film. As I stated earlier, many story elements had to be condensed or even outright eliminated in favor of a story that stayed true to the essence of the original tale. Gone from this tale are many of the repercussions that followed Superman’s death, among them the emergence of four separate Superman impersonators, each claiming to be the Man of Steel reincarnated. Instead, we now have only one Superman impersonator – and it’s not who you think it is – and it’s this good Superman/bad Superman battle reminiscent of the showdown in “Superman III” that takes up the latter part of the film. Also gone are many of the wonderful personal moments that made up the “Death of Superman”, “Funeral for a Friend”, and “Return of Superman” storylines, including Superman’s journey to save his dying adopted father Jonathan Kent (who's mysteriously absent from this adaptation), a young family affected by Doomsday’s rampage, and some of the epic events in the final third of the trilogy. For that matter, the issue of Lois and Clark’s engagement (which was put on hold for the duration of the trilogy) is also eliminated from the film, leaving her romantic attraction toward the Man of Steel intact. Rather than a single 75-minute movie, this epic tale should have been adapted into three separate animated films a la the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy to get everything appropriately covered.

The voice talents behind the scenes bring a new sense of perspective to the Superman characters not previously seen on the WB animated series. Adam Baldwin (from “Independence Day”) brings a new sense of vulnerability and strength to the Man of Steel and delivers a pitch-perfect balance between the good Superman and the evil Superman in the latter part of the film. Anne Heche (of such films as “Volcano” but most notably known as Ellen DeGeneres’ ex-girlfriend) brings a combination of strength and personal vulnerability to Lois Lane. James Marsters (of “Buffy”, “Angel”, and “Smallville” fame) brings an even more sinister sense to Lex Luthor than we’ve seen previously in the many film and TV incarnations.

However, that's where the praise ends and the rant begins. Halfway through the film, someone with a lack of brain smarts not only decided to stick a Smith in-joke in the film, they also got that bottom-feeder to do a voiceover as well! Who in the hell is responsible for that crappy decision? And why does he think he has to stick his nose in Superman's business - and everyone else's business - for that matter? Why doesn't he go back where he came from and stay there? That alone was enough for me to get turned off on "Superman: Doomsday" right then and there.

But just because this is an animated film, which was produced, co-written, and co-directed by Bruce Timm (of the “Superman”, “Batman”, and “Justice League” animated series), don’t think for a second that this is standard kid fare – it’s far from it. This is an extremely intense animated film with a lion’s share of action violence, particularly in Doomsday's rampage and mindless killings, the titanic battle, and the dark Superman's penchant for murder, which earned the film a PG-13 rating, so it’s definitely not for the kids. Also, while much of the look of the film is played off the “Superman” animated series format, it’s separate from the animated continuity.

The DVD presentation of “Superman: Doomsday” is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen format and in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, with optional English subtitles. The print is crisp and free of blemishes, and the 5.1 track is hard-hitting all around, especially in the battle scenes throughout the film.

Also included on the single-disc release are a nice collection of extras that take viewers further into the storyline. First off we have a running audio commentary with Timm, writer Duane Capizzi, voice director Andrea Romano, and executive producer Gregory Noveck, who discuss the problems in adapting the “Death of Superman” storyline into animated form and the creative decisions they made in abridging the epic tale into a single film. This was a decent listen, right up until Timm decided to mention the crappy-ass Smith in-joke. I had to check it three times to make sure, and then I went, "Oh no you didn't!"

From there we have “Requiem and Rebirth: Superman Lives”, which is a 43-minute retrospective documentary on how the DC Comics team decided Superman’s fate. We have new interviews with the key participants who all collaborated to pull the trigger – including writer/artist Dan Jurgens (who penned and illustrated the landmark 75th issue of “Superman”) and collaborator Brett Breeding; writer/artist Jerry Ordway (who worked on “The Adventures of Superman”); writer Roger Stern (who eventually adapted the trilogy into his bestselling novel); writer Louise Simonson and artists Jon Bogdanove and Tom Grummett (from “Superman: The Man of Steel”); DC editor Mike Carlin; current DC president and publisher Paul Levitz; and former DC president/publisher Jenette Kahn – and made comic book and news history in the process. Included in the documentary are scenes from the DC Comics trilogy and their animated comparisons, which bear startling similarities to each other at times and no resemblance at other times. Most interesting is vintage video footage from the early 1990’s of the “Super-Summit” meeting, which at the time was a standard regular meeting with all the creative talents of the Superman titles to keep the storylines consistent from one book to the next, since at the time the books were interconnected with one another (it’s a shame that in this current trend the books are not interconnected at all). You get to see the plotting and scripting process each writer, artist, and editor brought to the tale, and how all played a part in making this the most important event in comic book history. We also have vintage footage and news reports from November 1992, where fans lined up in droves to turn out for the landmark event. Clearly, this seemed to be far from the gimmick designed to increase reader turnout due to sagging sales; this event took on a life of its own. It’s quite a fascinating look inside the comic book industry, to say the least. The documentary is divided into five chapters and can be viewed in its full-length form or through the individual chapters.

We also have “Behind the Voice”, which is a quick five-minute look at the voice talent of “Superman: Doomsday”. Bruce Timm and Andrea Romano, as well as Adam Baldwin, Anne Heche, Ray Wise (Perry White), Swoosie Kurtz (Martha Kent), and Adam Wylie (Jimmy Olsen), discuss how they contributed to the development of each character’s vocal portrayal. There is also “Superman’s Last Challenge”, a set-top interactive game where viewers can play as the Man of Steel in stopping Doomsday. We also have a 10-minute preview reel for the next DC Universe animated film “Justice League: The New Frontier” (adapted from the graphic novel by Darwyn Cooke) which stars Kyle MacLachlan (“Twin Peaks”) as Superman, Lucy Lawless (“Xena: Warrior Princess”) as Wonder Woman (one of my perfect choices for a live-action feature film version of the character), and David Boreanz (“Angel” and “Bones”) as Green Lantern – no formal release date has been announced yet, but look for it later this year. Finally, we have a trailer gallery for different film and DVD projects, including “The Last Mimzy”, “Spawn: The Animated Series”, the “Blade” TV pilot, all six seasons of “Smallville” on DVD, and the “Dangerous Days” teaser for the upcoming “Blade Runner” 25th anniversary edition on DVD, among others.

In addition, for Best Buy customers Warner Home Video has included a miniature comic book of "Justice League: New Frontier" in select copies of the DVD. A copy of this bonus book was unavailable for review.

“Superman: Doomsday” is not the most perfect adaptation of the landmark comic book tale. Attempting to squeeze a year’s worth of tales into a single 75-minute film is definitely problematic, which is why various script adaptations in the past have always missed the mark. Squeezing everything out until all you have left is the bare bones of the story doesn’t always work, and that’s one of the main problems going into “Superman: Doomsday”. I only wish that, like the comics trilogy, this was the first installment of an animated Superman trilogy to follow in coming months, with each installment running much longer than 75 minutes apiece. While it doesn’t stay exactly true to the original comics, at least the essential core is intact. And the extremely excessive violence and that crappy-assed Smith cameo was enough for me to turn it off completely. I can't give it the most wholehearted recommendation, and that's saying a lot for me as a Superman fan - even my wife was turned off by the idea - and I remind you that this is not for younger kids to watch. I know I won't be watching this again.

Smallville - Season 6

I have to admit, as much of a Superman fan as I am, it took me nearly a year before I could really get into “Smallville”, the WB’s weekly series (now a part of the revamped CW) that began in October 2001 and is now heading into its seventh season. It’s not that I wasn’t excited about the series concept – I was. The premise of a young Clark Kent as he matures into the Man of Steel he is destined to become was a definitely exciting concept. The two reasons I couldn’t latch onto “Smallville” at first is because I had already latched onto “Enterprise” (the fifth “Star Trek” incarnation) at that time, and between traveling for my job and caring for my ailing dad I couldn’t find the time to watch the series. I had wound up catching the series’ pilot episode while my dad was in the hospital during one of his many bouts with dehydration due to his strokes and Parkinson’s disease. In the months to come I would catch the occasional episode intermittently during my work travels. It was only in the summer of 2002, when the first season went into reruns that I began to really watch and get into “Smallville”. This followed up with the Canadian DVD release of the first two episodes, and by the time of the second season’s premiere I was hooked.

Flash forward to today. Since moving from Mississippi to Alabama, the only way I’ve been able to catch any episodes of any recent TV series has been solely on DVD. As the series now prepares to enter into its seventh (and possibly final) season, Warner Home Video has issued the sixth season of “Smallville” as a six-disc set across standard DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-Ray formats. Just catching up on everything that I’ve missed over the past year is exciting in and of itself! But whether you’re going into this latest DVD release blindly or just brushing up for the seventh season premiere, this latest set is a nice addition to your “Smallville” and Superman DVD collections.

As if things weren’t already heated up at the end of the fifth season, things went even higher and farther than before. At the end of the fifth season, Clark Kent (Tom Welling) found himself trapped in the mysterious Phantom Zone, as the mysterious Zod wreaked havoc upon Metropolis. Both Lionel Luthor (John Glover) and fledgling Daily Planet reporter Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) found themselves at the mercy of a throng of attackers. Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) found himself the human vessel of Zod, while his new girlfriend Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) vowed to join him on whatever transpired from there. The sixth season premiere, aptly titled “Zod”, in which Clark must find a way out of the Phantom Zone, confront Zod, and save Metropolis from certain disaster. (If you notice very carefully, you’ll be able to spot Zod – it’s none other than Terence Stamp, in footage borrowed from “Superman II” and integrated into the episode!)

But that’s not the first surprise for you right there. In “Sneeze”, as Clark develops a cold and accidentally uses his super-breath whenever he sneezes (oops!), we are introduced to a new cast member to the series: Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley), who has his own secret identity as the mysterious Green Arrow. Clearly, as the series matured and developed throughout the season, series creators and producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar sought to integrate more DC Comics elements into the series. In “Wither” we are treated to Clark’s battle with a Poison Ivy-like villainess, while we see romantic couplings occur between Lois Lane (Erica Durance) and Oliver, Lana and Lex, and Chloe and Daily Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen. Aaron Ashmore (the twin brother of “X-Men” star Shawn Ashmore, who had appeared in a few “Smallville” episodes earlier in the series) brings a freshness and sense of humor to Jimmy’s character, providing a fun enjoyable balance to the series.

Of course, throughout the season we learn more about Green Arrow and his involvement with both Clark and Lois. In “Arrow” Oliver and Clark learn of each other’s secret identities and abilities, while “Rage” focuses on what happens when Oliver takes an experimental drug and seemingly becomes invincible. Things culminate in the season’s midway episode, the popular segment “Justice”, as Clark is invited to join Oliver’s super-group which also includes Arthur “AC” Curry (Aquaman), Bart Allen (Impulse), and Victor Stone (Cyborg) to thwart Lex’s mysterious 33.1 project. Sounds like a job for the neophyte Justice League! They’re not the only heroes in town, as the Martian Manhunter (Phil Morris) made a couple of memorable appearances in the season.

While all this is going on, Clark must repeatedly contend with numerous escapees from the Phantom Zone, in “Fallout”, “Static”, and “Combat” (the latter two of which featured WWE wrestlers Dave Batista, Ashley Massaro, and Glenn “Kane” Jacobs as the Phantom Zone villains Clark – and even Lois – squared off against). But the WWE superstars weren’t the only surprise guest stars this season. Lucas Grabeel (of the two “High School Musical” movies) appeared as a teenaged Lex Luthor in “Reunion”, which further explored the rivalry between Lex and Oliver Queen. If you were to define clueless, before Jessica Simpson there was Tori Spelling (of “Beverly Hills 90210”) – she made a memorable guest star turn in “Hydro” as a venomous Daily Planet gossip columnist. And Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter, appeared as Chloe’s mysterious mother in “Progeny”, which explored the possibility that Chloe may have also been affected by the meteor shower that brought Clark to Earth two decades before.

Some of the more interesting episodes put unique spins on what we’ve been familiar with. Of course, there was “Justice”, which teased fans about the possibility of the JLA in Clark’s future. In “Noir” Jimmy takes a bump to the head that plunges him into a 1940’s era dream. And then there’s “Labyrinth”, which took both Clark and viewers on a wild ride where nothing in his world was what it appeared. We even see a hint of things to come between Lois and Clark in “Crimson”, where an aphrodisiac lipstick makes Lois fall in love with the first man she sees – none other than her future partner in news (and marriage).

But as Clark’s future began to take shape, so did the dramatic turn of events that led Lex and Lana to the altar in “Promise” and set forth a tragic turn of events that led to the end of the season (and would continue into the new season). As a result, Lana finds out the truth of why she married Lex, while he and Clark (now head-deep into their explosive rivalry) must work together to escape from certain death in “Nemesis”. Everything came to a head in the season finale “Phantom”, which led to the shocking arrival of a Clark Kent from another dimension (can we all say “Bizarro”?)

All 22 episodes of the series’ sixth season are presented in their original broadcast aspect ratio in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen format, which makes the visual presentation of each episode look as stellar as their original HD broadcasts. Sound-wise, the series’ DVD presentation has finally graduated from ordinary Dolby 2.0 surround sound to full-fledged Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, the first time since the Canadian single-disc release from 2002. While other then-current series were treated to wonderful 5.1 tracks, it always seemed a travesty to give “Smallville” a lousy 2.0 track. All I can say is this: for a series such as this, it’s about time this incarnation of the Man of Steel (to be) got a 5.1 track!

In terms of extras, we are given the requisite series of behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and online content that further explore the “Smallville” mythology. As opposed to the previous sets, the majority of the extra features (sans deleted scenes) are included on Discs 1 and 2 (where they had been mostly on Discs 5 and 6 in previous sets). First off, on Disc 1, is “Smallville: Big Fans”, a 30-minute look at the many fans from around the world who are devoted to the series. Fans are shown at home having “Smallville” parties, attending conventions, meeting the stars, writing their own original fan fiction, and developing their own fan websites. Among those profiled is Craig Byrne, the webmaster of Kryptonsite.com and the editor of the monthly “Smallville” magazine from Titan Books, who regularly keeps up with the latest information and reviews of episodes, and who over the years has emerged as one of the top fans of the series. John Glover, Erica Durance, Alfred Gough, and Miles Millar, among others, are also profiled. This feature is the result of an online search for the ultimate series fan, and it’s fun at times to see how this series has grown on Superman fans and become the success it is.

Also on Disc 1 is “Green Arrow: The History of the Emerald Archer”, which is a look at the creation of the character in the 1940’s as a second string hero, his evolvement over the decades, and his updated revision for “Smallville”. A number of comic-book writers and artists are profiled, including Dennis O’Neil (who with the late artist Neal Adams took Green Arrow to new heights in the 1970’s), as well as Gough and Millar. Now this is one feature that I could have done completely without, and this is where I have a serious problem with it, so forgive me if I shift into explosive mode here – will somebody please tell me what in the hell is Kevin Smith doing in this profile? Doesn’t this bottom-feeding piece of scum have anything worth living to do with his time? For some reason he and others around him think he’s the cat’s meow, but let’s face it, he can’t write, act, direct, or do anything without having to continually stick his face and his crap agenda of subversion in front of everyone and say “How do you like me now?” He needs to get out of the business, go back to his mother’s basement, and resume smoking his crack, or for that matter get a real haircut and job like the majority of America. As my dad would say, give him a bath, a shave, a haircut, and a new suit and send him home to mama. Whoever decided to interview this twerp for the DVD ought to be flogged alongside him – and that’s just for starters. At the very least someone should have the smarts to either cut the feature off the disc entirely or cut all of that useless Smith footage out of the featurette to make it flow better. (Okay, enough of rant mode, back to the review.)

Disc 2 contains three more unique features. First off is “Smallville Legends: The Oliver Queen Chronicles”, which is a six-part collection of computer-animated tales (or “mobisodes”, as they should be properly called) that graced the small screens of cell phone users everywhere but can now be enjoyed in all their glory. Next is “The Making of Smallville Legends: The Oliver Queen Chronicles”, which looks behind the scenes at how each of the mobisodes were created. Finally there is a collection of five “Smallville Content Wraps”, which are an animated series of comic books that explored the events in between the sixth season’s episodes. Like the “Chloe Chronicles” and the “Vengeance Chronicles” before them, these mobisodes and content wraps are wonderful additions to the “Smallville” family.

The remainder of the DVD set contains numerous deleted scenes from “Sneeze”, “Wither”, “Arrow”, “Fallout”, “Hydro”, “Labyrinth”, “Crimson”, “Freak”, “Combat”, “Progeny”, “Nemesis”, and “Phantom”. All of these deleted scenes are presented in Dolby 2.0 surround sound and anamorphic widescreen format and can be viewed in tandem with each respective episode on each disc. These additional scenes, cut from each of the episodes for time or story constraints, lift the curtain back on more of the worlds of Smallville and Metropolis and are a nice touch to round out this set. Finally, on Disc 6, there is a lone trailer for the direct-to-DVD release of “Superman: Doomsday”.

As an added bonus, for Best Buy customers Warner Home Video has thrown in a bonus book covering the series' sixth season, which is packaged in select copies of the set. A copy of this bonus book was unavailable for review.

Surprisingly, there are no audio commentaries on this latest set. This is definitely a change of pace, as we’ve had some commentaries from writers, producers, directors, and stars on past sets over the years. I guess having only two commentaries per set seemed like a bit of a short shrift, when other sets like “Battlestar Galactica” and “Heroes” have a generous amount of audio commentaries included on their respective sets.

With the sole exception of the Green Arrow retrospective featurette on Disc 1, the sixth season of “Smallville” on DVD could have been a winner, had it been left off the set or edited. This is the only major blemish on what is otherwise a good season set to get you ready for the upcoming seventh season on the CW.

Next time, if all goes well, I’m hoping to have my review of “Superman: Doomsday” for you. See you then!