| |
Nabaza.net-The MarketPlace - Birds of Prey: The Complete Series
|
List Price: $39.98
Our Price: $28.99
Your Save: $ 10.99 ( 27% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Starring: Ashley Scott, Dina Meyer, Rachel Skarsten
|
Average Customer Rating:   
|
|
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 0883929012954
Format: Box set
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 4
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-07-15
Running Time: 737
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 2002
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
Who will stand up to villains now that a heartbroken Dark Knight has mysteriously vanished? Never fear New Gothamites a trio of champions is ready to take wing ? and Helena the daughter of Batman and Catwoman is among them. She calls herself Huntress and crime is her prey. Teenaged Dinah is the youngest of the group learning as she goes and gifted in clairvoyance. And overseeing the awesome threesome?s high-tech nerve center is Batgirl. Left wheelchair-bound by The Joker she has reinvented herself as Oracle the team?s cyber expert. Huntress Dinah Oracle: They are the Birds of Prey. Fighting together. Living together. And soaring into adventure together in 13 breathtaking live-action episodes.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:Â TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC:Â 883929012954 Manufacturer No:Â 1000037575
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: A misguided but valiant comic adaptation
Comment: Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3MXCS9QTTAQCS DC's "Birds of Prey" got their close up in this series, but sadly it didn't last. And small wonder, that. While the show was fun and watchable, it was not at all the Birds I (or anybody else who's read the comic) wanted to see. Comic fans were turned off by the lack of faithfulness to the source material, cheesy music (think Avril Lavigne and Maroon 5), and girls' bonding theme and anybody who would enjoy that angle would be turned off by the bad superhero costumes and sci-fi aspect. Way to fail both prospective audiences, guys. But I've come to (sort of) praise "Birds", not bury it. The show did a lot of things right, it just needed a nerd's touch.
Each episode begins with a lame voiceover sequence by the Dark Knight's famed butler Alfred Pennyworth (who is great in this show) where he sums up the premise. Helena Bertin...err Kyle (sorry about that) -aka Huntress- is the secret daughter of Batman and Catwoman. It describes Catwoman as "the queen of the criminal underworld" which is cheesy at best and also downright wrong. Catwoman was a mercenary thief who worked alone, not an organized criminal, but I digress. Anyhow, during Batman's final confrontation with The Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime sent a lackey to stab a retired Selena Kyle/Catwoman to death (yeah, right) in front of a young Helena while he himself paid Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) a visit, leaving her permanently wheelchair bound. How Joker knew who Batgirl or Catwoman even were is not explained. During the flashbacks we are treated to a line of Joker dialogue delivered by Mark Hammil himself, whose greatest non-Star Wars role was voicing Mr. J in the immensely popular Batman - The Animated Series. So Batman vanishes, Barbara Gordon -now a master hacker and general master of cyberspace- adopts Helena Kyle and the two fight crime together, then teenage psychic runaway Dinah Lance shows up and our synopsis is complete.
The show takes on a "crime of the week" format, usually revolving around what are referred to as "metahumans". These are people born with superpowers. In the comic it doesn't come up often, but it's run into the ground here in an attempt to borrow themes from more popular comic heroes like the X-Men. In addition, we're introduced to the requisite police officer/love interest. Because it's never good enough to focus on the main characters, you've always got to have a lame "normal person" to overreact to all of the crazy superhero stuff that happens. Groan. "Birds of Prey" seems to have been made with a literal checklist of genre cliches and standards firmly in hand. The biggest disappointment of all is the (mis)handling of Dinah Lance -the tough-as-nails Black Canary in the comics. Instead of a major bada$z martial-arts espionage agent with vocal cords capable of wiping out a tank with her Canary Cry, we get a lame angsty little teen with high school problems that can read thoughts with a touch. BOOOOORRRRRING!!!!!! Who on Earth approved this stuff?
Okay, hatey time is over for now. Here's the good. Ashley Scott is all sorts of hot and her attitude suits her character (Huntress/Helena) well. It's not the Huntress from the comics, but there is very little room to complain regardless, even if she does crib most of her moves from The Matrix. Dinah Meyer is a matronly-yet-sexy Barbara Gordon aka Oracle. I miss the short temper and chip on her shoulder she sports in the comics, but again there isn't much to complain about. This is another better-than-solid performance. Rachel Skarsten: also gorgeous, also solid in her portrayal of impetuous teen Dinah in spite of the writers' awful handling of the character. Mia Sara portrays a great ruthless sociopathic criminal mastermind. Too bad they opted to make that mastermind Joker sidekick Harley Quinn. It just doesn't gel. At all. I understand the need for more Batman connections, but completely demolishing everything we know about another well-established character was way out of line. A positively bubbly Lady Shiva drops by later to settle an old score which further irritates any connection to comic fans the show was trying to establish. "Birds" begins to pick up steam after Dinah's mother, the original Black Canary shows up. While this is closer to the character done right their portrayal of the Canary Cry is an epic fail. The more you watch it, the more horrifically corny it looks. But still, it rings in a less annoying Dinah and she slowly begins to resemble the character she should have been in the first place. At the end of the day, the strong cast repairs a lot of the damage that the writing does to this show.
One more season could have seen this show become something very cool, but it wasn't to be. Nightwing as a non-lame love interest for Oracle? Denied. Dinah developing a less embarrassing Canary Cry than her mama? Uh uh. The return of The Joker or more of Gotham's classic rogues? Not happening. Less romance and high school garbage and more tail-kicking badness? Sorry. As off-putting as "Birds of Prey" was for comic fans, it built up some serious potential for possibly darker, cooler storylines in the future. But new shows are not known for taking chances and it killed this one. Why this was made as an extremely loose live-action adaptation when DC has had so much success with animated properties that stay true to the source material is beyond me. Come on, DC's animation team; you have already given us flawless representations of Huntress and Black Canary in the Justice League Unlimited series along with Barbara Gordon as Batgirl in the Batman series. It only takes one bullet to turn everyone's favorite crime-fighting librarian into The Oracle and there you have it. PLEEEEEEEAAAASE!?!?
The special features forgo the usual snooze-worthy interviews and commentaries for a real treat. "Gotham Girls" was an internet spin-off animated by some of the team behind the previously-mentioned Batman cartoon. We get three seasons (about 30 minutes for each season) of amusing cartoon shorts starring the likes of Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, and Batgirl along with some other familiar faces as you remember them. The animation is cheap and so is the humor, but it is still a fantastic treat for fans of the old show. Also included is the original BOP pilot which is an alternate version of the first episode.
"Birds of Prey" is a series I'm pretty conflicted over, but it's worth a peak so long as you aren't allergic to cheese. Hot girls kicking supervillain tail gets a pass with me most any day of the week and overlooking the baggage of being adapted from a much better comic, this show is very watchable if not outstanding and should have been given more room to grow. Check it out and if you likey and even if you don't, have a look at the real Birds of Prey and see just how cool this show should have been.
3 stars for the show itself with extra credit for including "Gotham Girls", which could have been a 3-star DVD in and of itself for a grand total of 4 stars.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Birds of Prey DVD
Comment: Fast delivery, no Problems here.
I was disapointed however that they changed the main title for the dvd-version.
I liked the TV-Version better.
Also they could have written that the Episodes for Gotham Girls are barely 2 Min. each.
Had I known that I might have bought the cheaper European Version without them.
Customer Rating:
Summary: At last....
Comment: Loved it and wish it hadn't taken so long. Everything worked beautifully from the packages to the dvd's.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Amazing Show...Too Bad It Had To Go,,,
Comment: Having read some of the earlier reviews, let me say I have the distinct advantage of not having been addicted to this show previously. The unfortunate changes in music and editing did not affect me because I did not know any better (although I understand the complaints...being a fan of the Odd Couple & WKRP, I am aware of the ugly face of corporate greed).
Anyway, onto the show itself. I love a twist on an old and overplayed story. Just as The Dark Knight in the movies (and its prequel Batman Begins) were a fresh departure from the previously filmed Batman mythos, this show gives you a "what if" world to ponder. Extremely addictive and sadly unique in its depiction of such strong and interesting female characters, Birds Of Prey gives you everything you want from this genre.
If you like complex storylines with solid acting, great action and even some sexual tension thrown in, you will like this show. As with many a great show, it is sad that it was not given time to develop a following. It is not unrealistic to say that over time this could have built the same following as Smallville or Charmed, 2 long running series. In the meantime, enjoy it for what it is.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good, but changed
Comment: I like the series. When it was on television, I only caught a couple of episodes, but my wife had seen nearly all of them. So I got it for her birthday. We largely both happy. The series is great, the story and action work well, and I'd love to see more of the actors in other things, especially Ashely Scott and Mia Sara. But i do have two complaints. One is bonus material. Now, spread through the four discs is the entire (to my knowledge) Gotham Girls web series and the original pilot. (Very similar to the one that was aired, but with a few changes.) But that's it. Nothing about the actors, the story, not even any commentary or interviews. Then there's the music. From what my wife tells me, they had some trouble deciding on a piece for the opening credits, and actually had three or four different ones before settling on Aimee Allen's "Revolution." In this version, the opening piece is consistently one song that I don't recognize, despite the fact that Ms. Allen is credited with the song on nearly all, if not all, the episodes. There was also the final fight song. In the original version, when Huntress fights Harley Quinn you hear the t.A.T.u. Girls' "Everything She Said," which is not only a great song, but really fit with the events of the episode. Again, they changed the song, to something harder, and that just doesn't work as well. Now, we're still glad we have the series, but we both would have liked to have heard the original music, and perhaps a few more extras.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | |
