MEANWHILE...back at the Clock Tower!!
After five long years of fans begging and pleading, the way too-short TV series Birds of Prey is getting a complete DVD release! The news is truly worth shouting about.
Loosely based on DC Comics and a variety of other sources with a touch of Marvel's the X-Men thrown in, the series continues the legend of The Batman.
We enter the future, dark and fantastic world of New Gotham City. Long after The Batman has driven himself into exile, his legacy lives on in the form of the Birds of Prey - Black Canary, Oracle, and the Huntress.
From the creators of the CW hit Smallville, Birds of the Prey was produced in 2002 for the now defunct WB, but had only 13 episodes before cancellation. Since then, its devoted fan base worked tirelessly to have the series released on DVD. It was a really exciting action show, breaking new ground because ALL of the lead characters were women.
This boxed set collects all 13 episodes and a never-collected-on-DVD before...
A good concept that just needed a bat-boost
By the time they finished airing the new episodes I was sad to see it go. This was a show that would eventually build on the character driven stories to show some fine performances by the leads. The interplay between the characters was well balanced and entertaining. The addition of Mia Sara as Harley toward the end of the series was fantastic. Great villians make for great heros. Nice casting.
I waited a while to see a decent program with Dina Meyer as a lead. This was that show for me. Ashley and Rachel both seemed to dive into their parts with some flair. With Alfred and the detective rounding out the regulars.
My one criticism was that (especially on my recorded tapes) the sound volume seemed to be very low at times. Not so, with other shows I had recorded. I had to rewind and turn the volume up to catch a joke spoken "under the breath" more than once. Worth the effort, but not something I would expect the casual viewer to go through.
The start was...
Never given the time and opportunity to grow
Despite the many liberties it took with DC mythology, Birds of Prey displayed a boat load of promise, but sadly got the axe before it had the chance to grow into something special. The story revolves around Helena Kyle, AKA The Huntress (Jericho's Ashley Scott), who just so happens to be the daughter of Batman and Catwoman. She joins forces with the wheelchair-bound former Batgirl Barbara Gordon (Dina Meyer), and the telepathic Dinah (Rachel Skarsten) to fight crime in Gotham City when Batman mysteriously disappears. Other familiar faces from the Batman world appear also throughout the course of the series, including trusty butler Alfred (Ian Abercrombie), Harley Quinn (Mia Sara), and even the Joker (played by Roger Stoneburner with the voice of Batman: The Animated Series' own Mark Hamil!), but there were often times when the show just felt as if it wasn't sure of what it was. Granted though, Birds of Prey never came off as cheesey and sugar-coated as Smallville, and by the time...
Click to Editorial Reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment