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Video:
1.78:1 |
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Anamorphic: No |
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Audio:
English (Dolby Digital 5.1) |
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Subtitles: English, French |
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Runtime: 77
minutes |
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Rating: PG-13 |
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Released:
April 23, 2002 |
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Production
Year:
2000 |
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Director:
Curt Geda |
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Released
by:
Warner Bros. |
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Region: 1
NTSC |
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Commentary
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Behind-the-scenes documentary |
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Animation tests
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Deleted scenes
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Making-of featurette |
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Music video "Crash"
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Trailers |
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Animated character bios |
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Batman Beyond:
The Return of The Joker - S.E. Uncut Version
By Icon |
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 When
Warner Brothers initially released this DVD, it was the edited
version. Certain scenes had been removed and re-edited because
it was felt that they would be too dark for a “kids
movie”. Sometime after its release, Warner Brothers
decided to release the film again, this time in an unedited,
longer director’s cut. If you’re going to pick
up this movie, the uncut version is definitely the way to
go.
The Return of the Joker is the first
(and only) full-length animated film based on the animated
show Batman Beyond, which in turn
is based on the same universe of the hugely popular Batman:
The Animated Series. The reason I mention that
is because this movie also references that show quite a bit.
It’s been twenty years since Bruce Wayne has retired
as Batman, and forty years since the death of one of Batman’s
greatest nemeses, the Joker. The current batman, Terry McGinnis,
patrols over Gotham with the aid of a high tech bat suit that
the original Batman had to wear once he’d gotten too
old. Somehow, the Joker has seemingly returned from the dead.
It’s up to Batman and Bruce Wayne to stop him. But first,
they must find out if this is the real Joker or just an imposter.
At first Terry asks Bruce how he can be so sure that Joker
is even dead? Bruce replies, “Because I was there.”
This
film is dark, even for a Batman movie. Not visually, but in
its themes. One of the best scenes in the entire film is a
flashback recalling the final battle between the original
Batman and the Joker. For anyone that has followed Batman:
The Animated Series from the beginning, this
is the fight you have never seen and always wanted to, and
it  does not disappoint. The Dark Knight fails to prevent the
Joker from doing the most horrible thing that he has ever
done to him. Something so horrible that Batman no longer is
trying to just stop the Joker, he tries to kill him.
The Joker is violent, relentless, and not only hurts Batman
physically, he also manages to scar him emotionally. It’s
gotten very personal. The result is as poignant as it is tragic.
After this encounter Batman, Robin, and Batgirl were never
the same again. In fact, I think this might be my favorite
scene in all of the Batman films, including the live-action
ones.
Although the back of the case states it is in full frame,
that is only a misprint; the disc is actually presented in
1:78:1 non-anamorphic widescreen. Despite being a straight-to-video
release, it does not suffer from lower production values.
The animation is as good, if not better than that of the TV
show. Speaking of which, all of the voice actors from the
show with the exception of Stockard Channing (Barbara Gordon)
reprise their roles in the movie. Mark Hamill who reprises
his role not from the Batman Beyond show, but from the Batman animated series before that is great
as the Joker. As for the audio tracks, the disc only comes
with English Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitles are available in
English and French.
Warner Brothers has included a fair amount of extras on the
disc. First up is the filmmakers’ commentary featuring
Bruce Timm (producer), Paul Dini (screenwriter, producer),
Glen Murakami (producer), and Curt Geda (director). This is
my favorite extra on the disc; the commentary is very entertaining
and informative. The filmmakers go into great detail about
the making of the movie. We learn about the challenges that
were faced in getting the  film
made, ideas that went behind characters, and everything in
between. Also included, is a behind-the-scenes documentary,
however it’s really just a twelve minute featurette
with interviews from the cast and crew. It’s a good
featurette, but it could have easily been longer. Next up
are animated character bios. There are five characters from
the movie whose short bios are presented… nothing great.
The Animatics feature is three minutes of storyboard drawings
shown to music and brief dialogue, again, nothing great. Also
included is a deleted scene that wasn’t animated. It’s
shown in storyboard with dialogue. Select Bat Trivia and you
are treated to a couple of questions having to do with the
movie and also the show. There’s also a Mephisto Odyssey
music video for CRASH, which I thought was pretty
lame. Finally, there’s a teaser trailer included, as
well as a couple of trailers to other WB animated DVDs.
Fans of not only Batman Beyond, but also the earlier
Batman animated series would find this DVD highly enjoyable.
The film does a great job of answering a lot of questions
about what happened to the characters between the two shows.
This is a fantastic film, with some ok extras. This DVD should
be in every Batman fan’s collection.
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