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 Editorial
Reviews Amazon.com :
Some diehard Batfans have been slow to warm to
the animated series Batman Beyond even though
it was created by the same team responsible for
the excellent Batman cartoon of the early '90s.
The Dark Knight should be a brooding avenger in
a noir-nightmare Gotham City, the purists argue,
not some smart-aleck teen four decades in the
future, with jet packs, invisibility shields,
and other sci-fi gizmos loaned him by an elderly
Bruce Wayne (voiced, excellently as always, by
Kevin Conroy, his stony bass given a raspy hint
of old age), now confined to hobbling about on
a cane and monitoring his protιgι's activities
from the Batcave. Between its respectful reexamination
of the "tortured hero" mythos and its sleek, anime-inspired
look, this feature-length movie should go a long
way toward quieting their complaints. Of course,
it doesn't hurt that they've brought back the
most legendary figure in the Rogues Gallery (voiced
by Mark Hamill, deliciously deranged),  but
exactly how and why the Joker has managed to turn
up 40 years after his last meeting with Batman
still as youthful and diabolical as ever is explained
not only logically but terrifyingly as well. The
secret behind his arrival is perhaps the saddest,
grimmest twist any purported "kids' show" has
dared to attempt. (Parents may well want to preview
this tape before screening it for the very young.)
Once again, Warner Brothers' cartoon Batman has
outshone all the live-action films, never allowing
the thrilling action set pieces or flashes of
wry humor to drown out the drama, even tragedy,
of the all-too-human superheroes. --Bruce Reid
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Edition Details:
Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
Color, Animated
Commentary by director and producer
"Beyond Batman Beyond" Making Of Documentary
Animatic Sequences, Deleted Footage and Test
Animation
"Crash" Music Video by Mephisto Odyssey Featuring
Static X
Video Character Biographies
Batman Beyond - Return of the Joker Video Game
Demo and Website
CD Soundtrack Sampler.
Full-screen format
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