DC Universe Animated Original Movies

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Post by Daniel » October 28th, 2007, 9:28 pm

Notice how I said "perhaps" and "sale" earlier. ;) Yeah, on second thought, I think I will pass on the Doomsday CD. I'm content with film, anyway.

Edit:
TV Shows on DVD wrote:The news attached to that, though, is simply that the same day will see brand-new hi-def Blu-ray and HD DVD releases of Superman: Doomsday as well! Yes, our retail informants tell us that the studio has decided to add in an additional pair of releases, one for each of the hi-def formats. They tell us that these will each be single-disc releases, probably with identical content (but simply in hi-def, up to 1080P is expected!), and that pricing has not been set on them just yet.
Well, good news for people who have either formats. Its February 26, btw!

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Post by Daniel » October 29th, 2007, 2:39 am

Early info from TSoD, says the release date is February 26. Cool, that's not to far away! :)

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Post by Ben » October 29th, 2007, 7:59 am

Yep, Jeroen, those Fleischer cartoons are awesome...way ahead of their time. Like you said, everything about them is first class.

Such a shame that the Fleischers fell out with Paramount - who knows what their legacy would include had they kept up that amazing output and been more successful in animated features.

Mr Bug/Hoppity Goes To Town is easily on par, if not better, than some of the 1940s Disney films. I can't see why no-one has put it out to cash in with Antz, A Bug's Life, Ant Bully or Bee Movie. Slap a line that says "the <I>original</I> bug's life" on it or something, and they'd have a quality little title out there.

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Post by Daniel » November 1st, 2007, 3:18 am

Great review, Rand!

Hate to say it, but I agree with most of what you found wrong in Doomsday. Superman's added cheak bones, what they did with Jimmy, Lois's skirt, Perry, the voices, the story, etc. Not a very good film. I liked it, but with what they left out, it really does seem cheap.

I concur about New Frontier, though, here's hoping!

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Post by Ben » November 1st, 2007, 8:12 am

Along with some other comments Rand has mentioned to me, I'm going to hold off from a purchase here. I was hoping for more, and I may have given it a fairer review if the WB copy had come in, since I had never read that comic storyline.

But as Rand says, they <I>were</I> making an adaptation, and to junk what sound like valid scenes in favor of adding their own weaker material has put me off at least shelling out for it. I'll catch it someday for sure, but not in the near future.

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Post by Daniel » November 1st, 2007, 2:22 pm

Smart! Should've done that myself, but I got it dirt cheap, anyway. That's why you don't blind buy, people! ;)

Still, for the most part, its entertaining. I loved the battles and seeing how Lois and Clark's mom deal with his death and then when he re-apears. Good stuff. Had I bought Brainiac Attacks, I think I would be more upset. To me, it had no redeeming qualities, this however does.

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Post by GeorgeC » November 25th, 2007, 2:01 am

Actually, Ben, Hoppity Goes to Town IS out on DVD in the United States. There's a public domain release available through a company link from Ray Pointer's InkWell Images website.

Probably not a great print, but better than nothing. I've never seen the film, period, but have seen Gulliver's Travels on TV twice and own that film on LD and laserdisc.

Hoppity is a really, really rare film to find on home video and I have never seen it on TV.

*******************

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Justice-Le ... x-Art/8477

Updated news on Justice League: The New Frontier.

A few days ago, a two-disc special edition was announced for DVD. Now comes word of official releases on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray as well!

Cover art for both versions of the standard DVD releases looks great!

While I have doubts that the film will benefit much from hi-def, I'm wondering if the hi-def discs will have all the extras of the two-disc special edition. They certainly have the space to fit ALL the extras on one disc.

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Post by Randall » November 25th, 2007, 12:21 pm

Warner does typically load its HD releases with all the 2-disc DVD extras, so I'm sure it's a safe bet it'll happen here. I agree that the HD versions may not look any diffeent, but I'll be picking up one or the other for sure.

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Post by Ben » November 25th, 2007, 4:25 pm

George...that's not an official release and actually infringes the copyright of Republic's LaserDisc.

The only place Hoppity is out in a genuine release is Australia, though what the quality is like is unknown. Probably not that great.

The Movies Unlimited link is to a pirated version taken from the US LaserDisc, which I'm lucky enough to have as I snapped it up way back when since this is one of my faves. That "DVD" is a home-burnt disc which at least one person I know of (not me) had major problems with and was not satisfied.

As such, I've removed your linking to it as it's not a release - public domain or not - that we should condone.

:)

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Post by Daniel » November 25th, 2007, 5:47 pm

Love the cover art for both! Definitely prefer the SE's cover, though.

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Post by GeorgeC » November 26th, 2007, 1:24 am

Ben wrote:George...that's not an official release and actually infringes the copyright of Republic's LaserDisc.

Did not know that.

Maybe we ought to contact Ray and tell him about that? I mean he's the Fleischer expert and supposedly knowledgeable about the copyrights but links to a site that has a bootleg for sale? I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be too happy to find that out but probably has about a million other things going on and that got past him.

As for Republic, it's owned by Viacom now and they could give a rat's @#$#!@ about releasing the Fleischer shorts and features that they own. You can't make OR lose money on something you haven't officially released or haven't bothered to protect your copyright on. Companies can say one thing and do another, but if they DON'T bother to make films available for the people that want them, somebody WILL fill that void whether it's legal or not. I doubt most people are going to hunt down a copy on laserdisc of an obscure film that's rarely, if ever, shown on TV anymore.

Viacom sure isn't in any hurry to release anything animated that isn't related to Nickelodeon at any rate.

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Post by Ben » November 26th, 2007, 6:34 am

I think I told Ray about that some years ago, but he has little control over what MU list on their site.

Also just wanted to confirm that I owned the original LD, and not the bootleg DVD, as it wasn't quite clear above.

:)

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Post by Randall » November 27th, 2007, 9:34 pm

Press release confirms extras for DVDs and HD discs:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Justic ... lease/8515

GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » November 27th, 2007, 11:30 pm

Whew!

Glad to read that the high-def discs have everything the 2-disc standard def set has.

It would really, really stink if WB skimped on the extras for the high-def editions!


P.S. -- Not even considering getting Doomsday on high-def. Just not a good film... That story doesn't even come close to one-quarter the goodness of New Frontier muddled as even that mini was, too.

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Post by Daniel » November 27th, 2007, 11:44 pm

Smart!

Yah, the bonus features sound great. "Super Heroes United" sounds promising, and we're getting two audio commentaries! Yay!

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