Post by Slash on Aug 16, 2012 15:07:08 GMT -5
First of all, let me start by saying this is in no way a review of Batman: The Animated Series itself. That itself is classic; many Bat-fans even consider this one of the Dark Knight's finest appearances. That being said, it DESERVED a quality release. If only it wasn't conceived by some devious trolls at WB.
So the set itself is pretty expensive, starting at $80, and ballooning out to nearly $200 in some instances. It's excessive, but for most fans, it seems like it'd be worth the gamble for the complete set, the other option being buying the individual seasons. Sadly, many fans took the bait.
The presentation seems nice, with an intricate outer box and slipcase, but here's where we meet the first problem; it's much bigger than it needs to be. How do you fit this on a shelf? I mean, most box sets are... well, boxes. NOT huge freaking rectangles. Shipping was a nightmare; the sides of the box were torn at the seams, corners were mashed, etc.
Inside are the booklets where the DVDs are kept. Just a simple design, which seems to do the job. But it gets worse from there. The books are just cardboard, while the actual CD holders are made of cheap, brittle plastic. Meanwhile, this is held together by scotch tape (I kid you not). Why so many cost-cutting measures on such an expensive set? The plastic was so cheap that shipping took its toll on that, too. Various pieces were shattered, and the worst part was that the clips that actually held the DVDs in were also shattered, leaving the DVDs to freely move around. Great.
But the worst part is the actual DVDs. In theory, they DO contain all 109 episodes of the series. But many disks are damaged beyond use. Some is obviously scratching, but some just seem to be defective, outright refusing the play at all.
At some points, it really, needs to be taken into account if Warner was actually even trying; the Bonus Disc has been aptly labeled "BUNUS OISC."
Keep in mind, this set has been discontinued. WB knew they messed it up, which is evident by more quality boxsets that have been released (see: Superman, Justice League, etc.). In fact, WB refuses to recognize it at all; I've been stuck with it for a few years now, and they haven't even replied to any of my claims. Not even a generic "sucks to be you" response. I bought it new, but obviously can't re-sell it as such. There've been some "glowing" reviews on Amazon, but I really doubt this set proved to be so impressive, I mean even I'd like to try to justify wasting $100+ on this. But as you see, I cannot.
So for you Animated Series fans, I cannot give my seal of approval to this. It seems the individual seasons seem to be a better bet (and as of now, they're cheaper). Hell, if you don't want to fatted the WB's pockets more, you can always watch it online. Of course, if you've got a masochistic Bat-fan in the family, this set should do nicely.
It's disappointing that a set that promised so much managed to fail so badly.
So the set itself is pretty expensive, starting at $80, and ballooning out to nearly $200 in some instances. It's excessive, but for most fans, it seems like it'd be worth the gamble for the complete set, the other option being buying the individual seasons. Sadly, many fans took the bait.
The presentation seems nice, with an intricate outer box and slipcase, but here's where we meet the first problem; it's much bigger than it needs to be. How do you fit this on a shelf? I mean, most box sets are... well, boxes. NOT huge freaking rectangles. Shipping was a nightmare; the sides of the box were torn at the seams, corners were mashed, etc.
Inside are the booklets where the DVDs are kept. Just a simple design, which seems to do the job. But it gets worse from there. The books are just cardboard, while the actual CD holders are made of cheap, brittle plastic. Meanwhile, this is held together by scotch tape (I kid you not). Why so many cost-cutting measures on such an expensive set? The plastic was so cheap that shipping took its toll on that, too. Various pieces were shattered, and the worst part was that the clips that actually held the DVDs in were also shattered, leaving the DVDs to freely move around. Great.
But the worst part is the actual DVDs. In theory, they DO contain all 109 episodes of the series. But many disks are damaged beyond use. Some is obviously scratching, but some just seem to be defective, outright refusing the play at all.
At some points, it really, needs to be taken into account if Warner was actually even trying; the Bonus Disc has been aptly labeled "BUNUS OISC."
Keep in mind, this set has been discontinued. WB knew they messed it up, which is evident by more quality boxsets that have been released (see: Superman, Justice League, etc.). In fact, WB refuses to recognize it at all; I've been stuck with it for a few years now, and they haven't even replied to any of my claims. Not even a generic "sucks to be you" response. I bought it new, but obviously can't re-sell it as such. There've been some "glowing" reviews on Amazon, but I really doubt this set proved to be so impressive, I mean even I'd like to try to justify wasting $100+ on this. But as you see, I cannot.
So for you Animated Series fans, I cannot give my seal of approval to this. It seems the individual seasons seem to be a better bet (and as of now, they're cheaper). Hell, if you don't want to fatted the WB's pockets more, you can always watch it online. Of course, if you've got a masochistic Bat-fan in the family, this set should do nicely.
It's disappointing that a set that promised so much managed to fail so badly.