Batman - The Animated Series, Volume Two (DC Comics Classic Collection)

Batman - The Animated Series, Volume Two (DC Comics Classic Collection) | Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill | The best animated show, featuring its best episode.

DVDs:

Batman - The Anima...

	Batman - The Animated Series, Volume Two (DC Comics Classic Collection) Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill Warner Home Video, 2005 average customer review:based on 55 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Fight crime day and night alongside the Dark Knight with this deluxe 4-disc set packed with 28 heroic adventures from the acclaimed series! Filled with gripping plots, multidimensional characters and superb voice talent, this Emmy-winning series has defined Batman for legions of fans. Enjoy amazing encounters with Catwoman, duels with the Penguin, contests with the Riddler and of course, battles of wit with the Joker - plus Exclusive Extras from the minds that conceived this cutting-edge version of the classic hero! Grab your cape and swing into action with this quintessential Batman compilation!

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Batman at His Best

Yes, I love the new Christopher Nolan movies. But I have to admit, this animated incarnation of Batman from the early nineties will always be the definitive version of the character for me. I readily admit I'm biased, as I grew up watching these shows, and seeing them today brings me back to a simpler time in my life. But even now, as an adult, I am amazed at how well the storytelling on display holds up over a decade later.

This set builds upon the solid foundation laid by the first volume (which is also well worth a purchase), coming across as almost universially strong. The writers and artist had clearly found their groove. The characterizations are stronger and more nuanced, the animation is more consistant, and even the weaker episodes here are leagues better than some of the clunkers found on the first set.

Special praise needs to be handed out to the voice cast, which is uniformly excellent. Kevin Conroy IS Batman. Period, the end. He switches between the playboy Bruce Wayne and driven Dark Knight with ease, and his "Batman voice" is nowhere near as grating as Christian Bale's. All of the villains' voices ooze personality without sounding like characitures. The performers really make you believe the characters have feelings and souls underneath their brightly colored costumes. And of course, special praise should be given to Mark Hamill's absolutely inspired take on the Joker, which you can hear numerous times throughout this set.

Although almost all the episodes on this set are good, standouts for me include:

-"Robin's Reckoning," the Emmy-winning exploration of the Boy Wonder's origins (although Part I is definitely sronger than Part II)
-"The Laughing Fish," a pretty straightforward adaptation of the seventies comic tale in which Joker tries to collect royalties on fish he has mutated to look like him
-"If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?," the Riddler's origin story and a far more interesting take on the character than the laughing buffoon seen in the Adam West TV series or the mid-nineties film
-"Almost Got 'Im," a brilliantly told series of vignettes in which each member of Batman's rogues gallery relates how they almost took out the Bat (Penguin and Joker's are the best tales)
-"Harley and Ivy," which is a fan-favorite and definitely in my top 5 list of all time great episodes. The always fun Harley Quinn (voiced to a T by Arleen Sorken) is thrown out by the Joker and teams up with Poison Ivy on a seemingly unstoppable crime spree. This episode is a riot, but it also features a rather adult and complex portrayal of the Joker-Harley relationship, where he's clearly the abusive boyfriend but they both genuinely love each other. Plus, who knew Poison Ivy could be so funny?

With 28 episodes on the set you get a lot of bang for your buck, and the featurettes and commentaries are an insightful look into the creation of the series (I genuinely wish there were more of them). Any Batman fan should purchase this set, as it features an adult take on the character without the disturbing violence and imagery seen in the recent films, making it perfect for family viewing. Both kids and adults will be entranced.

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The best animated show, featuring its best episode.

Batman the Animated series is probably the best animated show to be released which makes it a must own for adults and kids alike. This season especially since it includes "Almost got Im" which is the finest episode the show made. Plus the featurette on the voice actors is great. Buy this with confidence.

The original Dark Knight for children of the 90's

After the absolutely stunning run of action cartoons in the 80's, the 90's were suffering from a serious backlash against "violent" programming and there were no exciting cartoons left on the air.
That is until this absolute masterpiece of a cartoon series began airing in 1992. This series hit the ground running with astounding story-telling and a dynamic visual style that was brought off with a new animation technique that was developed specifically for this show.
Stylistically, the show is set in a 1940's art-deco esque Gotham with a modern twist that is perfectly accented by the noir-film style that each episode is produced with. The story telling is dark and exciting, yet never too violent or scary for young-ones (no blood etc.) and the writers absolutely nailed the character of Batman and his cast of Rogues who are brought to life with astounding voice acting.
If you like Batman, this is the best television series/DVD collection they have made to date.
This second season collection includes the classic episodes: Perchance to Dream, Night of the Ninja, Day of the Samurai, Joker's Wild, and the fan favourite Almost Got 'im which features Joker, Two-Face, Penguin, Poison Ivy, and Killer Croc. all discussing the time they came closest to getting the Bat. A MUST HAVE for Batman fans!

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I love this show

When I was a kid I would wake up on Saturday morning to watch BATMAN, and I loved it. Now that I'm an adult I love that I'm able to share this great and pioneering series with young people (and just sit and watch it myself). This was a cartoon that did not feel like a cartoon. Each show is like a small movie, and as the series got older the better the animation got, the better the acting got and the better the action an stories. Overall: great fun for kids of all ages!

The Best Set

I think this is the best set of Batman the Animated Series episodes. It has several outstanding episodes, with "Almost Got Him"- an ensemble episode with most of the first line villains, "The Man Who Killed Batman"- a funny episode with a little bumbler, The Joker at his funniest and scariest for this series, and a seemingly dead Batman, "Zatanna"- an origin episode, a lot of Harley Quinn, and overall great variety. There are no duds on these discs, and I think this set on the whole explored the villains with the most zest. If you are only buying one packaged set, I would go with this one. But I think the whole series is worth having.

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