Batman: The Complete Animated Series

[Slash Man]

I took a long time giving my review of this elusive boxset, but my internet went out and it was lost. I really don't feel like writing it again, so here's my review from another forum.

Okay, so just about everyone here should know about the groundbreaking Batman: The Animated Series, assuming everyone has lived in the 90's. Of course, there's a couple options for DVD releases: buying each individual season, or getting the complete box set. Well, the price is a bit much (more like a lot), but I'll choose convenience over price this time.

Before I get into the review, here's my personal predicament; these sets are fairly rare, and very expensive, so I got a relatively cheap new one. Now, I know that you can expect anything from "like new," but this was described as "new," which is generally agreed to describe an item that has never been used or removed from the package. But this definately has. There's bends, creases and rips all over the place, which it might've been crushed or dropped during shipping, but discs don't scratch themselves.

Anyways, the outer box looks nice, with glossy engravings of classic Batman and a fancy slipcase, but the cardboar is so weak that the corners already split and broke. Although it looks nice and all, how the hell and I supposed to fit this on a shelf? It just looks weird to have this huge rectangular box just hogging all your shelfspace on the DVD shelf.

Now for the inside: two more cases full of DVDs. The cases are that quality you'd come to expect from something you payed nearly $200 for; cardboard and scotch tape. The actual disc holders are made of very cheap and brittle plastic, which many tabs that hold the discs broke off just during shipping. I can't imagine what normal use would do to it.

The discs themselves the redeeming factor, every episode of Batman: The Animated Series. The color is good, but some episodes are unwatchable due to the scratches. Could be bad quality control, or the sly dog who sold it to me, but either way, it's not gonna fly.

So for paying much more than the standalone seasons, what's the perk? First, there's the individual bonus features on the discs. They're pretty meager, it ranges from a short creator's commentary to an irrelevant trailer for some other DVD or video game.

Next is the Bonus Disc... err... Bunus Oisc? At least I think that's the Bonus Disc. Just shows more of that dedication that they put into this, which clearly shows that the person making the titles had a poor understanding of the english language. But it's the content that matters, so let's check it out. The only think that's really appealing is a commentary about the evolution of the animated Batman. The rest is trailers and stuff. Oh, there's also a languages option, so you can now enjoy the DVDs in the language that the man who made the set speaks.
Bottom line: they were running out of ideas, and this could've easily been incorporated into one of the other discs, minus the unnecessary content.

Finally, the "Collector's Booklet." I don't really know what's so collectable about it... it tells you what's on each disc, I don't really see that as an option, they kinda have to say that. It has some artwork, too but nothing's really in-depth, and it certainly doesn't justify the cost.


Overall, if you're looking to watch Batman: The Animated Series at home, save yourself the time/money/effort/frustrations and just buy the individual seasons.

Basically, it's better off avoided. It looks like DC is better about releasing DVD sets, as the Superman and Justice League sets looked promising.

[Slash Man]

Well, I'm back on the forum again. And I figured I'd bump this because WB still hasn't said anything about this; in the years that I've had it, I've tried numerous times to contact them about the quality issues, and didn't even get a formal "sucks to be you" response. Again, don't buy this set, at nearly $200, you'd at least expect to be able to watch all the episodes. Thanks to WB, I pretty much wasted my money on that.