Reviews - Two Disc Special Edition DVD
Street Date: July 28th, 2009
Languages: English
Subtitles: English, French
Run Time: 75
Rating: PG-13
Media Quantity: 2 (DVD 5, DVD 9)
Packaging Type: Double Eco Amaray Case |
Aspect Ratio:
Original Aspect Ratio - 1.78 Widescreen [16:9 Transfer]
Sound Quality:
Dolby Digital: English 5.1
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Special Features:
● Exclusive Sneak Peek at DC Universe's
Upcoming Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
● Behind the Story
with Geoff Johns - The New York Times Best-Selling Writer
Discusses the Mythology of the Green Lantern: Oa, The Guardians,
Power Rings and the Greatest of all Green Lanterns - Hal Jordan
● Green Lantern Corps Character Profiles of Sinestro and the
Guardians of the Universe
● Behind the Scenes of Blackest
Night, the epic DC Comics Superhero Event in Which the Dead
Shall Rise
● Duck Dodgers Series Episode "The Green Loontern"
● Bruce Timm Presents Two Bonus Cartoons
Synopsis: When Hal Jordan first becomes a Green Lantern, he is
put under the supervision of senior Lantern, Sinestro, only to
discover that his so-called mentor is part of a secret
conspiracy that threatens the entire Green Lantern Corps.
Review (James Harvey)
 With Green Lantern
experiencing a major resurgence in the comics lately, and with a
live-action big screen adventure on the way, it's the perfect
time to give this popular hero his own animated feature, and
that's exactly what we're given. Green Lantern: First
Flight is the latest feature from the DC Universe Animated
Original Movies line and it's definitely a rousing tale. It's
not perfect, which I'll get into after the synopsis below, but
it's definitely a movie that brings most of Green Lantern's
colorful history to life. Green Lantern: First Flight has
its up and down, but it still manages to come together to create
a fantastic outer-space romp.
As described countless
times before, this movie is essentially "Training Day in
space." Our hero Hal Jordan is taken under the wing of veteran
Green Lantern Corp member Sinestro and, as you can expect,
things get pretty complicated really fast. Jordan finds himself
way over his head, enveloped in a conspiracy that could bring
down everything. It's not the most original story, but it works
for this character, adding a welcome new wrinkle to the Green
Lantern mythos. While the comics have leaned on the more law
enforcement trappings of the Green Lantern lore for some time,
writer Alan Burnett is able to to make it feel pretty fresh by
using that angle as our introduction to this world, and it's
pretty successful.
While the film does have some
problems, which I'll get to in a little bit, I found the
creative team did a good job putting everything together for Green
Lantern: First Flight. It's a straight-forward movie, one
that doesn't deviate from it's path one bit. Heavily based on
the police procedural theme you'd find on nearly any channel on
any given night in prime-time, Green Lantern: First Flight
follows Jordan and Sinestro through a host of creative designed
alien locales, each peppered with unique designs and solid
visuals. To keep fans on the edge of their seat, most of these
scene are peppered with action sequence, usually involving
explosions or chases. Again, it's the standard fare, but it's
bolstered by the beautiful animation, solid directing, and
enjoyable script work. We've all seen these scenes before in
dozens of other places, but for all of them that feel the same,
you just can't beat seeing Hal Jordan taking out a suspect with
a chair constructed from his ring. That's the way to do
it! And we follow these beats as the story unfolds rather
predictably, but still enjoyable.
However, as a result of
the straight-forward story-telling, any character development in
the movie comes from the plot itself, and given how basic the
story is, there's not too much to be found. However, leaning
toward the basic archetypes of the characters does help the
movie's plot even if the audience isn't as emotionally invested
as it should be. Since the movie is pretty jam-packed as it is,
any attempts to fully flesh out these characters probably
wouldn't have worked. That being said, the more one-dimensional
portrayals do hinder a couple aspects of the movie, robbing a
couple moments of that extra punch, but it's nothing too
damaging. There's one scene in particular toweard the end, when
Jordan comes face-to-face with one of the traitors within the
Green Lantern Corps that feels like there should be more to the
relevation, but comes up a bit short-handed since the audience
doesn't have that strong of an emotional connection to the
characters.
 In terms of the films's overall tone,
nothing ever feels too gratuitous here. While it's still be a
bit odd to hear some of my favorite comic characters spouting
off the occasional bad word, despite this becoming a more and
more frequent occurrence in today's comics, it never feels like
it was included for the sake of it. Same with the action. The
intensity is notched up, and we get some pretty graphic scene,
including one impalement and one broken hand that actually made
me wince upon seeing them, but it never feels like it was put in
there for the sake of the PG-13 rating. Not once does it seem
like Green Lantern: First Flight is pandering to a certain
audience. It's quite obvious that Alan Burnett had a certain
story and tone in mind from the get-go and stayed true to it.
The film definitely earns the PG-13 rating, but nothing seems
forced.
Another hindrence Green Lantern: First
Flight suffers from is the same problem as some of the
previous DC Comics direct-to-video animated features - the
running time feels too short. At 77 minutes, it seems as though
the movie is rushing to get through so much that it skips over
chunks here and there. I completely understand why the creators
behind the film rushed Hal Jordan into space, to give us this
great big space-police adventure, and it works for the most
part. That being said, giving us the Coles Notes version of his
origin, specifically his meeting with Abin Sur and how he
learned to use the ring, falls short. Even if they used the
opening credits to gloss over all of that, it would've worked
better then just not mentioning it. Based on the impression I
get from the movie, it seems incredibly easy to figure out how
to use and weild one of these rings, since Jordan seems able to
do it mere minutes after receiving it. While I give props for
the film finding away around the overbearing "this is how
everything began" origin stories that have held back so many
other movies, I actually wish we spent just a bit more time on
Earth for the sole reason of seeing Jordan figure out the ring,
as well as just more information on the ring itself (including
the need to charge it, the color spectrum, etc.). I believe it
would've helped considerably.
Jordan also seems to be the
least bit shocked about anything that happens in the movie,
accepting everything in stride. Whether it's his first meeting
with an intergalactic being, heading out into space to join an
intergalactic police force, watching his partner nearly murder
someone, etc., Jordan always seems remarkably calm about
everything. Given how epic in scope this movie is supposed to
be, and how this is Jordan's "first flight" into space, you'd
think the creative team would've played up that aspect at least
a little more. It should be surprise after surprise for him, and
it actually would've added a great character angle to Jordan,
but this is likely another casualty of the all-too-short running
time.
To piggyback off the previous paragraph, I found
the film also had a few problems with pacing likely due to the
aforementioned running time. We jump around considerably,
leaving explanations for most of the events presumably on the
cutting room floor. Assumptions and reveals are made too
quickly, but the story is relatively simple to follow (and I
don't mean that in a negative way) and should easily entertain
the casual fan or the die-hard fan with an open mind. It's a
deceptively simply story that does contain more than a few
subtle nuances here and there. The film moves ahead so fast that
it would be understandable if viewers are stricken with
confusion here and there, but the rapid-fire pace of the movie
shouldn't be a problem for most.
 Even though the film
may struggle against character and pacing problems, it's easy to
push all of that aside and just get lost in the amazing
animation. Looking a little more anime-ish than usual, I
couldn't help but be stunned by some of the really breathtaking
animation on display. Explosions looked utterly beautiful, the
battles looked perfectly staged and executed, and nearly every
scene has a great flow to it. There was the odd hiccup here and
there, particularly during one sequence the film gets slathered
in this drab orange/brown hue, but this is a really gorgeous
looking animated feature. Really, really gorgeous. And while I
wouldn't call the blend of 3D animation and 2D perfect, I never
found it distracting but more complimentary of each other.
Whether it's something small, like the twisted look of a broken
hand, or destruction on a grand scale, Telecom Animation really
hit it out of the park here with Green Lantern: First
Flight. I understand that each film is set to look
different, and that may lend itself to some animating easier
than others, but you can't deny how great this film looks.
As what should come as no surprise, the voice cast assembled
here is top-notch, without a weak link in the bunch. Victor
Garber is pitch-perfect as Sinestro. Garber has that smooth,
sturdy voice that really adds to Sinestro's overall character,
helping avoid any of the damaging one-dimensional trappings this
character could easily fall under. Sinestro's cold and superior
attitude is perfectly captured by Garder. Same goes for
Christopher Meloni, playing Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, who really
seems to put his back into every single line. Meloni gives off a
very confident, no-nonsense persona for his Jordan, making for a
very believable character. Once again, voice director Andrea
Romano is able to nail every character and finds the perfect
voice for each. Even some skeptical casting, like Kurtwood Smith
as Kanjar Ro or Michael Madsen as Kilowog, just fall into place
so well.
Once again, time and time again, I feel the
need to make note of the great score by Robert Kral. These
direct-to-video animated features have resulted in some amazing
scores, and Green Lantern: First Flight is no different.
Whether it's great, lifting score over the main titles credits
or the bizarre background music heard during Sinestro and
Jordan's visit to a scummy alien bar, Kral compliments the
action on the screen without ever overtaking it. Easily toping
his work on Superman Doomsday, Kral creates another piece
of solid work that definitely adds to an already enjoyable
movie.
Looking at the movie overall, the pros do outweigh
the cons when it comes to Green Lantern: First Flight.
Where the pacing and story may have some problems, they can be
overlooked (to an extent) with amazing animation, an awesome
score, and a great cast. Casual fans will definitely find some
fun things to latch onto with Green Lantern: First Flight,
but die-hard enthusiasts may need to keep a more open mind
concerning some of the omissions and changes made to the Green
Lantern lore here and there. I don't feel underwhelmed by Green
Lantern: First Flight, but I wouldn't call it a home-run
smash. If I had to directly compare it to any of the previous DC
Universe Animated Original Movies, I'd have to compare it to the
likes of Wonder Woman. Green Lantern: First Flight
works in some of the same ways, by introducing us to these
characters and their world, but it also suffers from some of the
same drawbacks, such as the story awkwardly jumping ahead from
time to time. The story is good, don't get me wrong, but the
running time seems to take a toll on it. But, despite the flaws,
I'm still going to tout this animated feature as
Recommended. It has problems, yes, but I still found
myself having a blast with Green Lantern: First Flight
from beginning to end.
The DVD
 Serving
up two discs worth of bonus features, Warner Home Video has
given Green Lantern: First Flight a size-able collection
of extras that, despite looking like a wealth of information,
ends up only a moderate amount of bonus content.
Starting
on to the first of this two-disc release, Warner Home Video has
packed it full of extended promotional pieces and trailers.
Every single thing included on this release is either an
extended trailer promoting a previous DC Universe Animated
Original Movie release or a trailer, with the exception of
"Blackest Night: Inside the DC Comics Event," which is merely an
extended promotional piece for a current story unfolding at DC
Comics right now. Starting off with the extended "Superman/Batman:
Public Enemies First Look " promo piece, plugging the next
title in the DC Universe Animated Original Movie line. Running
about eight minutes, it provides a general overview of the
story, the cast and crew involved, and the comic story from
which it is adapted from. Standard details in the same vein as
the Batman: Gotham Knight, Justice League New Fronter,
and Wonder Woman promo pieces also included on this
title. The disc is rounded off with a selection of trailers.
Moving onto the second disc, it doesn't hold up all that
well, either. In terms of featurettes, first up is "Behind the
Story with Geoff Johns," providing an abbreviated look at the
Lantern and a quick glimpse at his personal history. It
essentially covers Johns' run on Green Lantern beginning with
the acclaimed Green Lantern: Rebirth mini-series up to
the oncoming "Blackest Night" event. After that we get four
minute look at the character of Sinestro, providing background
information from the comics. After that we get a similar
four-minute look at the Guardians of the Universe, giving a
brief overview of these characters and their importance to the
Green Lantern world. The disc also includes a small batch of
bonus episodes, including the Duck Dodgers episode "The
Green Loontern" and the Justice League Unlimited two-part
episode "Once and Future Thing." Personally, I'm a bit
disappointed in the episode choices since there are many other
episodes from the DC Animated Universe that would have worked
much better than the one chosen here. Naturally, the disc is
rounded off with a standard definition Digital Copy of the film.
Now, looking at the overall audio and video quality of the
Green Lantern: First Flight - Two-Disc Special Edition
release, it's a fine package. The set features a very
respectable video transfer. Only a slight amount of compression
and artifacting seems noticeable, and rarely at that, resulting
in a really nice looking transfer. It doesn't pop like the
Blu-ray release, but it is still nothing to sneeze at by any
means. As for the audio transfer, the Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
English track does a respectable job. The dialogue comes out
crisp and clear and the explosions tend to pack a punch.
However, big moments, like explosions or collapsing buildings,
will be slightly muffled due to emphasize the dialogue.
Thankfully, it's not too damaging nor really noticeable. Still,
for a standard definition DVD, the audio and video is
well-handled.
The Green Lantern: First Flight -
Two-Disc Special Edition release is likely the best version
to pick up if you're after the DVD. While the bonus material is
surprisingly sparse this time around, something of a
disappointment since Warner Home Video created some really
amazing releases for some of the previous DC Universe Animated
Original Movie titles, it still contains a few noteworthy
additions. That being said, there's a good two hours worth of
content on here that's either promotional in nature of stuff
already available on other DVDs (like the bonus episodes and
extended promotional pieces on the other direct-to-video
animated features). Fans looking for just the movie should stick
with the one-disc release, since you really won't miss much, but
those looking for a little extra should do fine with this. Of
course, if you're looking for the best home video release of Green
Lantern: First Flight, then I recommend checking out the
Blu-ray release. Still, if you you're in the market to pick up a
DVD edition, then Green Lantern: First Flight - Two-Disc
Special Edition comes Recommended.
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