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RELEASES - BLU-RAY - THE COMPLETE ANIMATED SERIES

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Green Lantern: The Complete Animated Series
Studio: Warner Archive
Street Date: March 18th, 2014 (3/18/14)
Closed Captioning: Yes
Run Time: 572 minutes
MSRP: $29.99

Packaging Type: Blu-ray Elite
Media Quantity: 2
Product Language: English
Original Soundtrack Language: English
Aspect Ratio: 16x9
Episodes:
Beware My Power…Green Lantern's Light (Part One), Beware My Power…Green Lantern's Light (Part Two), Razer's Edge, Ghost in the Machine, Heir Apparent, Lost Planet, Reckoning, Nothing to Fear, …In Love and War, Regime Change, Flight Club, Invasion, Homecoming, The New Guy, Reboot, Steam Lantern, Blue Hope, Prisoner of Sinestro, Loss, Cold Fury, Babel, Love is a Battlefield, Larfleez, Scar, Ranx, Dark Matter

Synopsis: In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night! Green Lantern shines bright in DC’s radiant, groundbreaking CGI animated series. The Green Lantern Corps patrols the galaxy, fighting evil. But in the farthest reaches of deep space where few Lanterns patrol, a new evil is rising - the Red Lanterns! Hal Jordan and fellow Lantern Kilowog defy The Guardians of the Universe and board a new experimental spacecraft, the Interceptor, and race to the Guardian Frontier to face the evil Red Lanterns head-on! But a menace lurks beyond the Red Lantern invasion and Hal, Kilowog and fellow Green Lanterns Tomar-Re and Aya discover an even greater evil that threatens to extinguish all life. It’s an interstellar race to destroy the mechanical Manhunters, aid Saint Walker and his Blue Lanterns and stop the planet-eating Anti-Monitor! Pick up this exciting double-disc complete series set to see if Green Lantern’s light can defeat these powerful new enemies! If not, the universe will fall into darkness!


Review By James Harvey
Since this review is focused on the Blu-ray release, I'll only take a quick gander of the actual animated series. You can find further analysis of this show elsewhere on this subsite.

When this series was first announced, fans were somewhat skeptical (aren’t we always when something new is announced?). Many weren't sold on the CG factor, the lack of Earth-based adventures, or the buddy-cop premise that would cut back the focus on the Green Lantern Corps to mostly just Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and Kilowog. Well, as most of you likely know by now after watching it, things turned out better than imagined. Green Lantern: The Animated Series is completely fantastic, with nary a weak episode to be found. Filled with genuine surprises, superb casting, great writing and ever-evolving characters, Green Lantern: The Animated Series is a show not to be overlooked. It manages to easily walk that fine line of appeal for both the younger and older crowd. And, actually, I’d hazard to say there’s even more here for adults than children (but kids should check it out, too!). I’m going to avoid specific spoilers, though episode-specific details can be found elsewhere on this site.

Led by Hal Jordan, Green Lantern: The Animated Series features a wealth of great characters, all voiced to perfection. Josh Keaton brings that rogue-ish quality that makes Jordan just a fun, attractive character. He's perfectly matched with Kevin Michael Richardson's Kilowog, who brings great heft and authority to his role. Thanks to the snappy dialogue and Keaton's acting, Jordan's given a bit of a reckless, devil-may-care attitude that fits right in with the Lantern's ability to overcome fear. He's instantly likeable and the perfect focal point for a series which features some pretty out-there adventures and characters. Most importantly, he feels like a real character. No matter where the show goes, he's our guide, and we will follow. I could honestly repeat the same compliments to the rest of the voice actors on this show and it’d still pretty much hit the mark. Every character is cast that well here, including complex turns by Grey DeLisle and Jason Spisak as characters Aya and Razer. While Jordan is the lead of the show, these two characters find themselves thrust front and center when a couple major plot twist throws the entire show on its head. Some other characters pop in, but to discuss voice actors further would ruin some of the neat-o surprises!

Throughout its entire run, Green Lantern: The Animated Series pushes the characters in new directions and takes them in places you'd never expect. It's bold, it's engaging, and it'll hit you harder than you could ever expect. You'd never expect it, but this cartoon is a great space-opera, a fantastic series littered with engaging characters, fantastic story-telling, and genuine emotion. I’ve tried to remain vague because, for those who haven’t had a chance to watch this series, it should be experienced as fresh as possible. The last three minutes of the final episode play off so much better if you don't have it ruined by a review. So, basically, all of this rambling is just another way to Highly Recommend this series. Basically, if you want to see Green Lantern done right, here's your chance!

But is the new Blu-ray title also "done right?"

Released through the Warner Archive label from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Green Lantern: The Complete Animated Series features no bonus content whatsoever. However, this two-disc Blu-ray set includes probably the best audio/video transfer this excellent cartoon has ever seen.

Given the high episode count on this Blu-ray set - 26 episodes spread over two discs - there is some justified reason for concern. That being said, the video quality is absolutely stunning. Any flaws come from the actual source material it seems. There is frequent color banding, noticeable a few times per episode on average, but that seems to be the extent of any video issues. The audio work done here is pretty spectacular. The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is exactly what you'd want in a release such as this. The mix is very center-focused - understandable given the television nature of the series - but it still packs a wallop for your home entertainment system.

As I said above, there's no bonus content to be found, but that's almost to be expected at this point. Bonus content has become nearly non-existent on home video releases for these types of animated titles, something fans have grow begrudgingly used it. While it's a shame nothing is included, the sheer quality of the main feature should be more than enough to warrant a purchase. It's also no different than the Green Lantern: The Animated Series DVD releases, which features little to no bonus content save for trailers and a digital comic.

Warner Archive has given this vastly under-appreciated animated series an excellent Blu-ray release. Green Lantern: The Animated Series is a lush, exciting, and emotionally-driven animated series. Yes, there’s plenty of action, jokes, and great adventures to be had, but the show’s ongoing narrative is driven by the characters themselves. The only frustration is the idea that we'll never get to see more adventures of this universe, but where the creators leave us at the last episode works. And these swell adventures have never looked better on Blu-ray. Warner Archive has done fans quite the service by giving this show the high-definition release is sorely deserves. Green Lantern: The Complete Animated Series comes Highly Recommended.

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