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The World's Finest Presents


Releases - DVD - Batman Beyond: Season Three
Packaging

Menus

Announce Date: 11/29/06
Street Date: 03/20/07
Closed Captioning
: Yes
MSRP: $26.99
Packaging Type: Digi-Pack
Subformat: Multi Disc
Media Quantity: 2
Disc Configuration: 1) 9-Dual Layer 2) 9-Dual Layer
Sound Track Language: English
Run Time: 273
Aspect Ratio:
Original Aspect Ratio - 1.33, Standard [4:3 Transfer]

Sound Quality:
English: Stereo 2S
Francais: Stereo 2S
Episodes: Kings' Ransom, Untouchable, Inqueling, Big Time, Out Of The Past, Speak No Evil, The Call (Part 1), The Call (Part 2), Betrayal, The Curse of the Kobra (Part 1), The Curse of the Kobra (Part 2), Countdown, Unmasked

DVD Features
:
• Inside Batman Beyond Season 3: Producers panel discussion
• Closeup on...: Favorite moments of the series' creative team and Voice Actor Will Friedle (Episodes Profiled: "Out of the Past", "The Call, Part I", "The Call, Part II", "Curse of the Kobra, Part I")

Synopsis: Rage and revenge first motivated Terry McGinnis to steal Bruce Wayne's high-tech Batsuit. A greater purpose and a sense of justice kept him wearing it. For two years he patrolled streets and skies of Gotham City with Bruce as his guide, but in these final 13 adventures from the Emmy-Winning TV series, Gotham's greatest defender soars as the true hero he is! Though the power-hungry plans of criminals like Inque, The Royal Flush Gang and the Kobras grow more villainous with each attempt, Terry wipes them out. His heroism doesn't go unnoticed: Superman invites him to join the Justice League. But after years of thinking he had nothing in common with the original Batman, Terry realizes he's just the man for the job.

Review (Zach Demeter)
Through and through, Batman Beyond remains one of my favorite animated DC romps to date. The show hooked me when I was young and it even brought me to World’s Finest around the time Return of the Joker came out. Finally, on March 20th, all of the Batman Beyond saga, episodes and movies, will finally all be available on DVD for the first time and as a fan, this couldn't be a bigger treat for me.

Batman Beyond: Season Three marks the first time any of these episodes have seen a home video release of any kind (unless you count clips from “Out of the Past” showing up during a panel discussion on season two’s set) and they hold up to time. True, some episodes are weak (“Speak no Evil” and “Curse of the Kobra, Part 2” come to mind…immediately), but for the most part the final volume in the series packs some deep punches with “Out of the Past”, “The Call” and the two-part “Big Time”/”Betrayal” storyline. Characters from past seasons show up again with “King’s Ransom” and “Inqueling” and we also get a few new ones from “Untouchable” and “Speak no Evil.” Zeta also makes his first (and only) appearance on Batman Beyond since spinning off into his own show in “Countdown”, which may seem a bit alien to those who watch this series for the first time and don’t recall Zeta ever hooking up with a blonde haired girl.

Overall the series is a mixed one, but still remains one of the tops in my book. There are simply too many solid storylines throughout the series to deny its place amongst the greatest animated shows of all time and finally having the entire series on DVD is a real treat, both as a fan of the show and as a fan of animation.

The DVD
Remember the packaging from season one? Yeah, it’s back! Many will groan after reading that, but I smiled when I first saw the packaging for this (as well as Season 2 of Justice League Unlimited), as slim packaging demands less space on my ever-expanding shelves. In addition to borrowing its packaging from season one, it also takes the cool foil reflection cover of season two and uses it here as well—now if only season one had the same type of cover to match!

The disc art is plain, but works, and the menus are again littered with curious character art, but are still easy on the eyes. Menus are static with music over only the main menu and as always, they are extremely friendly on the navigation front.

When the March 20th wave of DVDs was announced and all of their special features were finally noted months later, fans were disappointed to see the lack of commentaries on both this and Justice League Unlimited: Season 2. After viewing the disc, I can say that while it’s a shame there aren’t any feature-length commentaries, the “Closeup On…” features are nice, mini-commentaries that condense their thoughts into one, episode-length feature. The discussions have Timm, Friedle and Dini and either Lukic or Tucker changing seats, depending on who directed what. You can tell that they actually watched the episodes, as they talk along with some scenes, but this format cuts out the dead silence and allows for more episodes to be discussed with the more interesting parts coming out all at once instead of bursts.

The other special feature is a continuation of the “Inside Batman Beyond” panel discussions from past sets. This one's a bit short, but there are some extremely humorous discussions about unused episode ideas and the character of Max. It’s a shame the series is over; these panel discussions were always a treat to watch, no matter the run time. Trailers wrap up the rest of the disc's special features listings.

Video on this set is extremely crisp and clean looking due to the digital coloring going on in this season. Like the latter half of the Season Two set, the video is a treat to look at and the interlacing and aliasing are present, but it manages to not be too horribly distracting. Audio is clean and clear throughout and manages to move the room in certain action sequences, even though it’s a mere Dolby Digital Stereo track. And for those keeping count…no, there were no chapters in this release either.

Overall this is a hard release to pass up, major fan of the show or not. The episode “Out of the Past” is worth the price of the set alone and the special features are great fun to watch as well. Fans will no doubt run out day one to buy it, but even the casual fans will have plenty to look for in this volume in terms of character progression and story lines. This is a definite must-buy for your collection!

Review (James Harvey)
The last thirteen episodes of Batman Beyond has come to DVD, giving us the entire series on DVD. Along with some crucial episodes and a nice helping of extras to round out the set, this is a collection definitely worth picking up.

I'll try not to go off-topic with this review like I did in my Justice League Unlimited: Season Two review. Because, yes, I easily could. If I wanted to get nit-picky, I'd ask why wasn't the The Zeta Project episode “Shadows” included, since Batman appears? Or why wasn't there some featurette on his short-lived comic book and assorted four color appearances? Simple. There's no point to. This set is about the last thirteen episodes on this collection. On these two discs. And, to play it safe, I'll just skip right to the synopsis, okay? I think I'm digging myself a hole, here . . .

Rage and revenge first motivated Terry McGinnis to steal Bruce Wayne's high-tech Batsuit. A greater purpose and a sense of justice kept him wearing it. For two years he patrolled streets and skies of Gotham City with Bruce as his guide, but in these final 13 adventures from the Emmy-Winning TV series, Gotham's greatest defender soars as the true hero he is! Though the power-hungry plans of criminals like Inque, The Royal Flush Gang and the Kobras grow more villainous with each attempt, Terry wipes them out. His heroism doesn't go unnoticed: Superman invites him to join the Justice League. But after years of thinking he had nothing in common with the original Batman, Terry realizes he's just the man for the job.

I'm not sure where exactly to rank this season. It's not as good as the first season, and, like season two, has both some real stand-outs and a couple clunkers. Most of the fans will be drawn to this set specifically for “Out of the Past” and the two-part “The Call” episode, and no one can blame them. “Out of the Past” is a solid episode and “The Call” is great as well, save for a couple faults here and there. There are a few generic episodes, like “Speak No Evil” and “Untouchable,” but overall it's a great caper to the series. It's the first time any of these episodes have been fully presented on DVD, it's great to see them all here.

Oddly enough, I found myself more excited about this release than Justice League Unlimited: Season Two. Those Justice League episodes are still fresh in my mind, since some aired less than a year ago. But these episodes? I haven't seen these in almost five years, and I'm surprised to see just how well they held up. The animation is strong and the stories, for the most part, are just as solid. It was around this time when the show finally got a grip on the computer coloring, finding just the right tint and shade. Some of the earlier computer-colored episodes suffered from being way too bright, but they look just solid here.

It's a no-brainer that if you're a DCAU fan, or a Batman fan, you'll want this collection. It's the official future of the DCAU (despite many believing otherwise), and it's a great look into what's to come for Batman. I find it to be a suitable continuation of the Batman character, completely in character and totally engaging. It's amazing to see how the creative team behind the show managed to make such a great series out of what was essentially a show built to create new toys (and boy, those were some ugly, ugly toys). They really made this show into something, and it has the fan-following to prove it.

And the final thirteen episodes are given a grand farewell. The audio and video in this release is on par, showing the usual amount of interlacing and great audio. The colors look deep and dark, and the sound is loud and thunderous.In short, it looks and sounds great. And, as usual, no chapter stops. I don't mind, though others are apparently very angry over that.

Much like Justice League Unlimited: Season Two, this is the first box-set release of Batman Beyond to not have any commentary tracks. Instead, that feature is replaced with a “Close-Up” look on a handful of episodes. Fan favorites like “Out of the Past” and “The Call” two-parter are looked at, as well as “The Curse of the Kobra, Part 1.” Much like the commentary tracks, they talk about what they liked and disliked about each, as well as providing some interesting tidbits about the show itself. This feature also contains my favorite moment yet in the DC DVDs extra between Will Friedle and Bruce Timm. I won't spoil what it is, but it's just hilarious. It's a great extra (and Bruce and I actually agree on a couple of “The Call”'s main problems), and it's always enjoyable to see the creative team just dish it out.

The other extra is a short featurette about the whole season in general. These are always just too short for my liking, and I'm always left wanting more.

The packaging is great, I find. The foil look just makes the set really pop, and I love the slim look (also shared with Justice League Unlimited: Season Two and Batman Beyond: Season One). If I had any complaints, it's the cover art. It looks fine, but the image of Batman is a slight tweak or two away from being perfect. That's my only real complaint (if it's even a valid one) of the packaging.

Overall, a great collection! The episodes are a blast to revisit, even the weaker ones. The audio and video is on par with past releases and the new approach to the extras is handled well. It's been awhile since I've seen these episodes, and I love that I get the chance to see them again. With almost every episode full of great one-liners (“And you hit like a girl.”) and some stunning animation, it's a collection that's easy to recommend. The show is a true testament to the creative power behind the show's team. They're not perfect, and not each episode is a winner, but every single one is watchable and enjoyable. Toss in some fine extras, and Batman Beyond: Season Three is easy to Recommend.

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