The New Frontier - Out today on dvd
Crayon
Sleeps in the wrong bed.TejasRegistered User regular
Sleeps in the wrong bed.TejasRegistered User regular
Is there any particular reason why this isn't being discussed? It just came out today. I'd really like to gauge people's opinions on it to see if it as good as the comic book, or infinitely worse. If anyone has picked it up on Blu-Ray-please tell me if it's worth the extra $.
So, all in all-how is it?
So, all in all-how is it?
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If nothing else, I hope this movie finally proves that you can lift a story directly from the comics and have it totally rock. Not that I mind a lot of the animated comic universes, but it's always an original story or some heavily altered continuity. It's always 'Batman as you've never seen him before.' That's not always a bad thing, but sometimes I'd like to see Batman exactly as I've seen him before, just animated.
I mean, think of some of the great Marvel stuff that could be done. The first FF vs. Galactus saga? The Infinity Gauntlet? Operation:Galactic Storm? Hell, even the original Secret Wars. The mind boggles. Right now, the only thing to look forwards to from Marvel is Kid Avengers. Hopefully this'll open the door for some more direct adapations from comic to TV screen from some other great stories.
Side note"
Note the first panel - Hourman/Rex Tyler didn't die, it was a cover-up so Faraday's men could capture him.
Superman Doomsday just blew. They had no idea what they were doing on that one. They butchered the plot elements that made it cool, they set it mostly in the happy-go-lucky pre-crisis world, and the plot didn't have any real tension to it. There were a few shots at drama that were just so over the top that they ruined the movie completely, such as:
After Doomsday, I was expecting this to be similar: cool action scenes, but a really weak story. They completely turned it around on me. I'm not too familiar with the series, but I know a little about it, and this film just blew me away. The plot was so wonderfully done, and it was the finest true "adaptation" I've seen in awhile, with some being almost direct and others being completely different, this was actually changed to perfectly fit the format while staying true enough to the source.
Also, the special edition is wonderful. The second disc comes with 3 JLU episodes, including my personal favorite (Dark Heart). Also included are two featurette documentaries on the JLU and the Legion of Doom. Also, if you get it at Best Buy you get a neat little Green Lantern figurine, and if you get it at Circuit City, you get a green lantern patch.
I really can't recommend it enough. I wish Marvel's films weren't just generic, by-numbers garbage fests, but unfortunately I think a lot of their characters are pretty weak when taken at the origin story.
The fact that they threw in JLU episodes really sold me on the bonus disc. It's another 90 minutes worth of actual DC animated story content, and that's just neat.
In fact, they're doing it for the special edition of the Batman animated thing, too. I wonder if they'll bother for the teen titans one...
say!
Seriously though, it was good. Also, I tivo'd Mask of the Phantasm at like four in the morning on Starz, so that was awesome. I get to look forward to that tonight.
should have gotten kevin conroy or someone similar to voice him. this one was a bit too raspy and old sounding
But there was no way they could do an adaptation of the continuity-heavy Doomsday story without it sucking even more to those not in the know. It's not up to par with most DCAU movies, but blew is a little harsh. The Superman/Braniac movie blew.
i still haven't seen it, but looking at that picture makes me want to see it even more
I never read the original TPB, and was surprised how graphic it was in contrast to the art style. Very happy with all the casting too (except maybe Batman, though he did sound like he could kill you 20 times before you blinked)
Yes, but they could've at least made it a more post-crisis styled, serious event. The real post follows; it has spoilers for both the Death/Return of Superman comic arc as well as the Doomsday movie.
The biggest fuck-up was the complete removal of the Justice League and other outside characters, as well as the entire Jonathon Kent storyline, which were the most affecting parts of the storyline. When you see how the JLA can barely function without Superman, and when Jonathon Kent meets him in the afterlife and tells him to come back, that really shows what the world is without Superman. However, in Doomsday, he's dead for maybe 15 minutes of screen time, and after 7 or 8 the clone superman jumps in and it's like he was never gone at all. There's no real impact.
Also, because the film goes with Pre-Crisis continuity, Superman has a lolz calibur silver age helper robot that's just there to add poor attempts at humor and then act as a ridiculous deus ex machina without bringing any depth along. And then it's revealed that Superman is literally immortal in this timeline, and can only go into a severe state of shock to regenerate rather than dying.
The Pre-Crisis setting also completely removes Jonathon Kent. And because the writers wanted to keep it super-simple, the entire JLA is gone as well.
The thing that makes New Frontier good is that the writers are experienced and acclaimed enough from working on JLU and past DCAU properties that they knew how to manage the story. They brought forward the plot points that worked best in this medium, but they made sure to keep traces, references to, and elements of all the others in order to give something extra to the fans.
Superman: Doomsday, written by people from the newer, less-source-specific Legion of Superheroes and The Batman toons, completely threw away the original story except for the actual Doomsday battle, and then went in a brand new, more whimsical direction with the ideas. It completely threw out everything that made the storyline as important as it was in favor of a robot that broke in at awkward times and some terrible puns.
I wish the same writers from New Frontier had made Doomsday... They would've done it right.
I just finished watching the Justice League retrospective, and had the same reaction as you did. It was much better than I thought it would be. It's always cool seeing creators talk about comics, since we generally identify them as words on a page.
PSN: OrneryRooster
Jeremy Sisto was awesome as Batman, you're dumb.
Miguel Ferrer as J'onn stole the show, though. He didn't really match J'onn's Martian form, but he was perfect as John Jones.
David Boreanaz sounded way too young. Everyone else had the right voice, but the acting wasn't really up to par with anyone that wasn't Batman or J'onn.
There's a similar retrospective on the Ultimate Avengers DVD, and it's easily the best part of the DVD. I mean, other than the bloopers.
gotta get some ribs
I was glad today when i saw it in the store.
Instant buy for me. Now i just need my stuff to get here so i can watch the damn thing again.
Sisto was a fantastic Batman.
I mean, I love Conroy, but Sisto fit the tone of the movie perfectly.
I mean, the DCAU had the best voices, but I can accept others!
Batman's voice was surprising at first, but I got used to it, I thought it worked.
I'm suprised Jordan hasn't commented on this movie. Did she just disappear off the face of the earth or something?
JordynNolz.com <- All my blogs (Shepard, Wasted, J'onn, DCAU) are here now!
i would say the biggest problem with the movie is that it reminded me of the actual comic and how much deeper it gets into the whole story. i was watching it with some friends who aren't really comic book people and they kept asking stuff like "who's that guy" (it's adam strange), and "what can't John do" (he can walk through walls and shapeshift and have superstrength and read minds and...well, there's not much he can't do, really. except start a campfire) and "wait, what's that guy's weakness? (the color yellow. yes, I know).
but in the end they liked it a lot and wanted to borrow the comics from me, so that's pretty good.
Let me just say that people watching this need to focus on Hal Jordan. This is, if anything, a reimagining of his origin story. To a lesser extent this is a story about John and Barry.
I watched this with my girlfriend and she had a real hard time following it, because I think she focused on the Big 3 and didn't really connect The Center references throughout the story connecting the beginning montage and the final battle. So the big bad guy reveal really threw her for a loop.
The New Frontier not only entertained me, but made me a Hal Jordan fan.
And stop picking on Batman's voice in this. Sisto was appropriate. I thought he did a good job of shifting from intimidating punishment dealer to corny kid-freindly detective figure in the delivery of his dialogue. When his character shifts to his silver age self.
I'm really looking forward to Timm and Co.'s adaptation of Kingdom Come. I also wouldn't mind seeing a director's cut of TNF with additional scenes or maybe even a sequel, under the guidance of Darwyn Cooke. They alluded to some of this in the extras, with the caveat that sales must warrant it.
Since when are they making one?
I take it he's just assuming since it's one of DC's 'big books'.
PSN: OrneryRooster