World Famous Comics: Batman - The Animated Series, Volume Four (From the New Batman Adventures) (DC Comics Classic Collection)
Batman - The Animated Series, Volume Four (From the New Batman Adventures) (DC Comics Classic Collection)
Starring: Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill Directed By: Bruce Timm Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD Format: Animated, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC Label: Warner Home Video Number of Items: 4 Region Code: 1 Release Date: December 06, 2005 Running Time: 521 minutes Theatrical Release Date: September 05, 1992
Product Description: In the hit show that continues the Batman storyline from the EmmyO-winning Batman: The Animated Series two years have passed and Batman still protects the streets of Gotham City from the demented criminals that inhabit its dark alleys. But irreconcilable differences with Dick Grayson lead to the collapse of the Batman/Robin crimefighting duo and to the birth of Gotham's new hero Nightwing. Batgirl fights at Batman's side and a new Robin takes flight after Batman's chance encounter with young Tim Drake. In these 24 thrilling episodes the Gotham Knights face their worst enemies - Joker Penguin Mr. Freeze and many more - in a comprehensive 4-disc set that completes the Batman animated saga!Running Time: 521 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 012569688018
Amazon.com: The fourth and final volume of Batman: The Animated Series is a little uneven but still encompasses some great episodes. Start with "Over the Edge," a nightmarish scenario in which Commissioner Gordon dedicates himself to hunting down Batman following the death of his daughter, Batgirl. "Critters" is a tribute to Japanese monster movies, "Mad Love" recounts the origin of Harley Quinn, and "Legends of the Dark Knight" animates both a '50s-styled Batman adventure as well as a scene from Frank Miller's Return of the Dark Knight. This run of 24 episodes has a lot of Batgirl, too little Nightwing, and a lot of the new Robin, Tim Drake, whose origin is explained in "Sins of the Father." Drake gets a mostly solo adventure, Batgirl teams with Supergirl, and there's still a sense of fun, with goofy humor that includes an appearance by the Three Stooges as the Joker's henchmen. Guest voices include Sela Ward as Calendar Girl and Tippi Hedren, and Mark Hamill continues the excellent work as the Joker that created some early rumors about his taking the live-action role in the sequel to Batman Begins. By this time, Batman had become part of the Batman/Superman Hour, so viewers can choose the opening sequence for either that or the original animated series. That, as well as the unbalanced number of episodes in the seasons (e.g., the first season of the animated series was 60 episodes), is why Batman: The Animated Series was released in volumes rather than as single-season sets. --David Horiuchi
The End of an Era Two years after the end of Batman: The Animated Series, the show was revived as The New Batman Adventures, which encompasses the 24 episodes on this set. By the time the show returned, it had lost a couple of key creative people, and the entire look of the series was reconceived in a more angular fashion. The real life break was mirrored in the series' chronology, meaning these episodes take place 2 years after the events of the last set.
Evening knowing all this, the transition from the last set to this one is jarring. It is not immediately clear why Batgirl is allowed in the Batcave, or why a new Robin, Tim Drake, has replaced Dick Grayson. A couple characters are so radically redesigned it is not clear who they are at first. A few secondary characters have been recast, and in most cases you will miss the original actors.
A lot of fans have expressed a dislike of the new artwork, and which admittedly lacks the charm of the original designs. Some characters - like Batman, Bane, and the now truly scary Scarecrow - look better than ever. Others, like Harley Quinn and Clayface, look basically the same as before. And unfortunately, some characters (Mr. Freeze, the Ventriloquist, and the Mad Hatter spring to mind) look much, much worse. You will adjust to the new look, but not until midway through the set.
These episodes also stray from some of what made the original series so special. More action oriented than before, the show lacks the atmosphere and mood that made the earlier episodes so fascinating. Many of the new villains fall flat, lacking the psychological depth of the original Rogues Gallery. The focus on wham-bam action also leaves less time for character development, a hallmark of the original series.
There are still some great episodes on this disc. The faster pacing and increased action pays off in spades during "Over the Edge," which shows the aftermath of Batgirl's apparent demise. "Old Wounds" is a fascinating exploration of why Dick Grayson quit being Robin (that would have benefited from being two parts). This set also has what is in my opinion the series' best episode, "Mad Love." Recounting Harley Quinn's origin, it has the kind of deliberate pacing and emotional maturity that was so successful on previous sets, as well as career best performances by Mark Hamill and Arleen Sorkin as the Joker and Harley Quinn, respectively.
In fact, the saddest thing about this set is how it ends just as it finds its groove. The last 8 or so episodes are quite strong, and it's a shame this new group of artist and writers weren't given more time to play in this world.
This set has some interesting extras, particularly the Interactive Arkham Asylum (basically a group of featurettes on the main villains). Unfortunately, the customary 4 commentaries have been reduced to 3, with one of them wasted on the absolutely awful episode "Critters." Given the reduced episode count, an increase in extra content would have been welcomed.
Fans of the show should definitely check this set out. It may not be quite as good as the old episodes, but it is still better than 90% of the current crop of action cartoons.
What the hell I dont get why they changed the animation for the final season. It was great before. In the more recent ones they made the animation all bright and crappy looking. I dont get how crappy animation some how became in??? cuz its all i see. I love batman.Huge fan. but these episodes were hard for me to watch
Best Batman series We couldn't stop watching this! If our kids watched an episode without us, we'd have to go back and watch it by ourselves. Great series with really interesting characters. This is a must for any Batman fan!
New To Batman The Animated Series I just learned of Batman The Animated series in 2007 and rented the first two volumes through Netflix. They were so good I bought volumes three and four from Amazon. I was terribly disappointed in volume four, because the animation is no where near the quality of the first three volumes, so visually it is not as good. Gone are the shading, shadowing and face definition that made the first three volumes so pretty and compelling to look at. The new format of telling a story fastpaced in 15 minutes takes some getting use to, however would have been ok had the visuals not been compromised. The new Robin is a child and the idea of a child being able to be effective after seeing the young man Robin, took a leap of faith. The one good thing about this set is that the voices remained the same. Unfortunately, I could not get past the third show in this volume and cannot recommend this set.
Great Final Episodes to a 90's classis Now a days they have all these revamped cartoons of Batman and others... I personally will always enjoy these that started in the early 90's because they have more of a real life feel with a kid's touch for viewing so old and young can enjoy. The new ones are way too cartoony and takes away from the real life feel to it. I mean have you seen how they updated the new joker for the new Batman series I find it strange. I guess it depends what era you grew up on and these were it. I highly recommend this final box set to the 90's series. I will always go back and watch them with my kids.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
