Batman Beyond: Season 1
One of my favorite activities used to be coming home, plopping down on the couch and turning on the TV to watch cartoons. Yes, after a hard day at work, I found it very relaxing to snuggle up with my wife every afternoon and watch my favorite hero in action. But this was a new version of my hero; a new vision that retained many of the core aspects that made his previous shows so successful while changing the formula enough to make it feel fresh and exciting. I’m talking of course about Batman, and in this particular case Batman Beyond. After receiving the first season set recently for my birthday, I was astounded by the reminder in the commentaries that this show is already almost ten years hold. Was it really that long ago that I was enjoying my favorite after work ritual? Apparently so, and thanks to the magic of DVD I can relive those halcyon days all over again.
Batman Beyond followed in the footsteps of Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series and The New Adventures of Batman and Superman, also known as Gotham Knights. The same excellent team of producers (Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, Glen Murakami, and Paul Dini) who put together those other shows and the successful Justice League shows were also behind Batman Beyond, which is immediately evident upon viewing any of these episodes. There’s a very nice continuity between this future version and the original Batman cartoon. Of course it helps that Kevin Conroy once again brings Bruce Wayne to life, but more importantly, the elements and spirit that made Batman: The Animated Series so enjoyable for fans is maintained in this future version of Batman. Better yet, the producers didn’t fall into the trap of updating all the old villains (with the notable exceptions of Mister Freeze in one of the best episodes in this set and of course the Joker in the Batman Beyond movie). Instead, they created all-new adversaries for Batman to face. Granted these new villains were cut from the same cloth as those of the classic Batman rogues gallery, but these new villains still provided a fresh yet familiar challenge for our young Batman. Will Friedle does an excellent job of voicing the new Batman, Terry McGinnis; a young, troubled high school student who falls into the Batman legacy by accident. While this new, younger Batman has some shades of Peter Parker in how he’s constantly trying to balance his social and school life with his super-hero alter ego, the stories are all pure Batman.
I think my favorite part of this new Batman series was the theme of redemption that ran through the show. Terry McGinnis is not a kid one would peg as a hero. Hot-headed and often in trouble, he comes from a difficult past that includes time spent in juvenile hall. It’s a past full of anger and mistakes that led him down the wrong path. As Terry says to Bruce, he’s the type of punk Bruce wouldn’t have wasted a second punch on back during his Batman days. But then he accidentally stumbles into the life of Bruce Wayne and the batcave, and suddenly Terry sees a chance to change all that. As Batman, he finds a chance to set right the things that he’s done wrong, to protect people and help those who can’t help themselves, to find meaning and perhaps redemption for his life. In many ways, that makes him the perfect successor for Bruce as The Batman. Bruce spent his entire life working for redemption, only to end up bitterly disappointed and alone; a destiny one can’t help but to wonder awaits Terry as well. The truth is, we’re all searching for redemption. We may not put on a suit and fight crime, but we all seek for ways to make things better, to somehow make-up or pay for things that we’ve done wrong. However, like Bruce we often find that our own efforts are merely frustrating, because no matter how much we do; it’s never enough. Enter the greatest hero the world has ever known; Jesus Christ. He accomplished for us what we could never do on our own. We no longer have to strive for redemption, we only have to accept it; and in doing so we can accomplish what The Batman never could, salvation both for ourselves and the people we help save.
Batman Beyond: Season One contains some excellent shows that not only have some pretty cool actions scenes, but they also retain the gravitas and drama of the original series. If anything, this show is much darker and more “adult� than the previous incarnations, which is rather ironic considering the WB approached the producers about the idea because they wanted a more “kid friendly� Batman show for their network. That’s just one of the few gems of information you glean from the few commentaries and interviews contained on this DVD set; which once again is one of the weaker aspects of the collection. As with the Superman and Batman sets, there are only a couple of commentaries and one main featurette. While there’s some interesting info contained here, it’s not nearly enough to satiate fans or to give insight on how such a unique take on the Dark Knight came about and eventually became so successful. I would say that we might be able to look forward to more details on future sets, but after the six previous sets of Batman and Superman contained about the same amount of scarce commentaries and interviews, I know better than to get my hopes up.
Overall, the transfer for this show looks pretty clean. Believe it or not, but they were still working with film back when this show was being made, so there are some signs of dirt and dust on the transfer. Still, the animation is solid, the colors (most of them dark) are vibrant, so there’s very little to complain about considering the age and source for the transfer of the show. The sound for the set is solid, but don’t expect any sort of THX demo track quality here (it is, after all, just a “kids� show.)
If you’re a fan of Batman or a fan of the original animated series, you owe it to yourself to check out Batman Beyond: Season One. It’s as good as any other Batman show or movie out there.
Batman Beyond followed in the footsteps of Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series and The New Adventures of Batman and Superman, also known as Gotham Knights. The same excellent team of producers (Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, Glen Murakami, and Paul Dini) who put together those other shows and the successful Justice League shows were also behind Batman Beyond, which is immediately evident upon viewing any of these episodes. There’s a very nice continuity between this future version and the original Batman cartoon. Of course it helps that Kevin Conroy once again brings Bruce Wayne to life, but more importantly, the elements and spirit that made Batman: The Animated Series so enjoyable for fans is maintained in this future version of Batman. Better yet, the producers didn’t fall into the trap of updating all the old villains (with the notable exceptions of Mister Freeze in one of the best episodes in this set and of course the Joker in the Batman Beyond movie). Instead, they created all-new adversaries for Batman to face. Granted these new villains were cut from the same cloth as those of the classic Batman rogues gallery, but these new villains still provided a fresh yet familiar challenge for our young Batman. Will Friedle does an excellent job of voicing the new Batman, Terry McGinnis; a young, troubled high school student who falls into the Batman legacy by accident. While this new, younger Batman has some shades of Peter Parker in how he’s constantly trying to balance his social and school life with his super-hero alter ego, the stories are all pure Batman.
I think my favorite part of this new Batman series was the theme of redemption that ran through the show. Terry McGinnis is not a kid one would peg as a hero. Hot-headed and often in trouble, he comes from a difficult past that includes time spent in juvenile hall. It’s a past full of anger and mistakes that led him down the wrong path. As Terry says to Bruce, he’s the type of punk Bruce wouldn’t have wasted a second punch on back during his Batman days. But then he accidentally stumbles into the life of Bruce Wayne and the batcave, and suddenly Terry sees a chance to change all that. As Batman, he finds a chance to set right the things that he’s done wrong, to protect people and help those who can’t help themselves, to find meaning and perhaps redemption for his life. In many ways, that makes him the perfect successor for Bruce as The Batman. Bruce spent his entire life working for redemption, only to end up bitterly disappointed and alone; a destiny one can’t help but to wonder awaits Terry as well. The truth is, we’re all searching for redemption. We may not put on a suit and fight crime, but we all seek for ways to make things better, to somehow make-up or pay for things that we’ve done wrong. However, like Bruce we often find that our own efforts are merely frustrating, because no matter how much we do; it’s never enough. Enter the greatest hero the world has ever known; Jesus Christ. He accomplished for us what we could never do on our own. We no longer have to strive for redemption, we only have to accept it; and in doing so we can accomplish what The Batman never could, salvation both for ourselves and the people we help save.
Batman Beyond: Season One contains some excellent shows that not only have some pretty cool actions scenes, but they also retain the gravitas and drama of the original series. If anything, this show is much darker and more “adult� than the previous incarnations, which is rather ironic considering the WB approached the producers about the idea because they wanted a more “kid friendly� Batman show for their network. That’s just one of the few gems of information you glean from the few commentaries and interviews contained on this DVD set; which once again is one of the weaker aspects of the collection. As with the Superman and Batman sets, there are only a couple of commentaries and one main featurette. While there’s some interesting info contained here, it’s not nearly enough to satiate fans or to give insight on how such a unique take on the Dark Knight came about and eventually became so successful. I would say that we might be able to look forward to more details on future sets, but after the six previous sets of Batman and Superman contained about the same amount of scarce commentaries and interviews, I know better than to get my hopes up.
Overall, the transfer for this show looks pretty clean. Believe it or not, but they were still working with film back when this show was being made, so there are some signs of dirt and dust on the transfer. Still, the animation is solid, the colors (most of them dark) are vibrant, so there’s very little to complain about considering the age and source for the transfer of the show. The sound for the set is solid, but don’t expect any sort of THX demo track quality here (it is, after all, just a “kids� show.)
If you’re a fan of Batman or a fan of the original animated series, you owe it to yourself to check out Batman Beyond: Season One. It’s as good as any other Batman show or movie out there.
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