Category: Home Entertainment

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Round Up!

I’ve still got the memo from [original producer] Verity Lambert outlining what she wanted for the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, so I’ve gone with that …

608So, just what do fans know so far about the coming Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special? On Nov 23, Matt Smith, John Hurt and David Tennant will be the Doctor. Jenna Coleman, Billie Piper, Joanna Page are amongst the first billed, but as for returning cameos from the classic series, BBC is still keeping mum. The likelihood of anyone appearing from the original 1964-1989 run is slim. Well, the exception may well simply lay with Nicholas Briggs.

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JumpStart’s School of Dragons Needs a Better Cirriculum

In terms of continuity, some astute pupils may wonder why Hiccup is not the Headmaster in School of Dragons.

Welcome to the School of DragonsDespite the fact that the Summer is not yet over, fans of Dreamworks Animation‘s How to Train Your Dragon will soon be going to school. JumpStart launched an online educational product, School of Dragons, that will get young fans excited for science, botany and perhaps a whole lot more—namely Dragon Flight school.

This MMORPG went live in June for beta-testing. As new players come in to check this game out, they will soon find out that there is a membership fee (starting at $9.95 USD per month) to access the game’s higher functions like customizing their avatar or earning free coins.

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Scream…MMPR Legacy Collection From Shout Factory

By James Robert Shaw

I know it sounds too good to be true but Shout Factory is set to release the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Legacy: The First 20 Years on DVD. Now what does this mean for the collector? Mostly bragging rights to all your friends and if your friends don’t like MMPR, it definitely means you can annoy them to no end. And that to me is money well spent.

So let’s look at what we’re dealing with here. Reportedly, every episode from the original series to Power Rangers Megaforce will be included. That’s 98 disks including six discs of bonus footage and archive material. And it comes in the Power Rangers team leader’s helmet, the Red Ranger.

I have no idea of what is in the bonus material at this time but I’m hoping it’ll include commentary (or involvement) in part by at least some of the cast members from the various series. Right now Shout! Factory is at the San Diego Comic Con 2013 and accompanying them for in-booth signings is Selwyn Ward (Red Turbo Ranger, Power Rangers Turbo). Could Selwyn be involved in the DVD extras?

The collection will be released on December 3, 2013 and is available only through mail order via Shout Factory’s online store..

It’s a good thing DVD players are outfitted with a pause button or else I would experience a total lapse of self-preservation ala Everquest.

A first look at the collection can be found through Black Nerd Comedy’s Youtube video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TukWNgxU58&w=560&h=315]

Superman Unbound DVD Review

With Superman Unbound, the characterizations are on par with what some people would expect before or after seeing the live action movie. The DVD release comes packaged with a good set of bonus material to get fans up to speed with what goes in Supes’ world.

Superman UnboundThe animated movies in the DC Animated Universe have often been consistently good. Some are better than others, namely the Batman films, and for Superman, some viewers may have to wonder why Tim Daly cannot reprise the role? For the people who grew up watching Superman: The Animated Series cartoon and Justice League (Unlimited), he was the seminal voice. But for every generation, this character gets reinvented anyways.

With Superman: Unbound, the characterizations are on par with what some people would expect before or after seeing the live action movie. The DVD release comes packaged with a good set of bonus material to get fans up to speed with what goes in Supes’ world. Without a doubt, Warner Bros Animation was hoping one product would ride the popularity wave of another, namely the release of Man of Steel. When a primer is needed to acquaint newcomers to who Superman is, both products do a good job to get newcomers acquainted to knowing who from Krypton survived.

While Supes’ home planet was destroyed quite literally from within, the city of Kandor was spared by being miniaturized by Brainiac, a cyborg not of Kryptonian origin. Unlike previous continuities which defined him as a product of Kryptonian science, this version is from another world. Just like Superman who protects Metropolis, Brainiac thinks he can do the same, but in more controlled if not sinister circumstances. But as Supes observes, he’s not in control of every single environmental variable–namely in what Mother Nature can toss at him.

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The Times They Are a-Changin’ in Beware the Batman, a TV Review

By Ed Sum

Beware-the-Batman-Full-Poster-Image

*Spoiler Alert

Perhaps the new character designs are not the only thing viewers should be wary of in Warner Bros. Animation’s sixth iteration of what Batman means to the masses. In Beware the Batman, the character of Anarky (a political activist/vigilante) will be pivotal to the series run and the animation style will take a while to get used to. The characters have a similar look to that of the cancelled Green Lantern: The Animated Series that not everyone took to right away. GL made use of bold colors and caricature. This style worked great when most of the story took place in alien worlds. But with a human world as a backdrop, everyone is going to look like an over-emphasized archetype.

Interestingly enough, the Bats looks like a well polished land turtle. From a distance, the material of his cape looks more like a polymer shell and the skin textures appearing more plastic than natural. This new animation looks like it took a few computer shading algorithms from the latest iteration of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles just so it can be quickly rendered. When drawn, the character designs looks great, but when enhanced by CGI, the detailing cannot be appreciated as much.

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Transformers Prime “Persuades” Viewers to Wait for the Finale

By Ed Sum

New Persuasion Image of Transformers Prime Beast Hunters - Optimus Prime vs. Predaking__scaled_600

For every high in an episodic series must arrive a respective plateau where viewers get a chance to take a breather. Here, they can get caught up with the rest of the cast. This weekend’s episode,”Persuasion,” is basically a continuation of “Minus one,” and these two episodes are better off viewed back to back. While the fight from last week gets resolved, another story emerges.

Insights to how important the lives of the youths—Rafael, Miko, and Jack—are to the Autobots are explored in this act. Viewers have not seen the trio for much of the latter half of the season, and to show they are still important is a good sign. Perhaps the reason why they have not been seen is because of what the Deceptions know. If they get captured, Megatron will have no qualms in using them to gain leverage over the Autobots. He did it before in “Darkest Hour” and he will do it again. To keep the children away and under heavier protection must have been a job of Fowler. He has not been seen lately either.

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