Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker/Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Batman Beyond: The Return of the Joker The greatest villain of all comes out of the past to threaten Batman, Bruce Wayne and all of Gotham City in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, the first feature-length Batman Beyond movie.The sleeker, deadlier and seemingly immortal Clown Prince of Crime is back with his own unique brand of havoc and mayhem. While trying to uncover the Joker's secrets, the new Batman, Terry McGinnis, discovers the greatest mystery in the life of the original Caped Crusader: What happened the night he fought the Joker for the last time. When Bruce Wayne is almost killed in one of the Joker's latest attacks, Batman vows to avenge his mentor and put the Joker to rest forever.Get ready for heart-stomping action, awesomeadventure and amazing revelations in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman The Dark Knight is back in this all-new feature-length thriller featuring the voices of Kelly Ripa (Live! With Regis and Kelly), Kyra Sedgwick (Born on the Fourth of July) and Hector Elizondo (The Princess Diaries).The Penguin and Rupert Thorn are criminal cohorts with a scheme to sell illegal weapons. But there's a new super hero in Gotham City who has other plans for the evil entrepreneurs - Batwoman! With high-tech gadgets and powerful punches, Batwoman proves to be a formidable crimefighter - the only problem is that the Dark Knight has no clue who she is! And when Batwoman crosses the criminal line, Batman must identify whether or not this new player is really an ally! Join the world's greatest detective in this exciting new adventure that will keep you guessing until the mask is pulled off!The DVD includes an exclusive Batman animated short, Chase Me from the Emmy(R) Award winning writers Alan Burnett and Paul Dini.

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Screen: Color
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Features:
  • cc
  • Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker: Commentary by filmmakers
  • Behind-the-scenes featurette
  • Deleted scenes
  • Animation tests
  • Mephisto Odyssey Crash music video featuring Static X
  • Animated character bios
  • Production notes
  • Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman: Batman short Chase Me
  • Behind the Mystery featurette
  • Batman P.O.V.: The creators' favorite characters and scenes
  • Character bios
  • Gadget gallery
  • Explore The making of a scene
  • DVD-ROM PC enhanced features: Toxic Chill interactive game and more

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Will Friedle - Terry McGinnis
       Kyra Sedgwick - Batwoman
       Kelly Ripa - Dr. Roxanne 'Rocky' Ballantine
       David Ogden Stiers - The Penguin
       Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. - Alfred Pennyworth
       Hector Elizondo - Bane
       Kimberly Brooks - Kathleen 'Kathy' Duquesne
       Elisa Pensler Gabrielli - Detective Sonia Alcana
       Angie Harmon - Barbara Gordon

• Director:

  Curt Geda

• Producer:

  Curt Geda, Margaret M. Dean

• Screen Story:

  Bruce Timm, Paul Dini

• Screenwriter:

  Paul Dini

• Screen Story:

  Glen Murakami, Alan Burnett

• Screenwriter:

  Michael Reaves

• Composer (Music Score):

  Lolita Ritmanis

• Supervising Producer:

  Alan Burnett

• Associate Producer:

  Kathryn Page

• Executive Producer:

  Michael E. Uslan, Benjamin Melniker, Sander Schwartz

• Casting:

  Andrea Romano

• Voice Director:

  Andrea Romano

• Sequence Director:

  Tim Maltby, Jennifer Graves

REVIEWS:

• Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman is a solid straight-to-video effort from Warner Bros. that forgoes the more extreme dark material that's shaped their previous feature efforts (see the exceptional Batman Beyond: Return of Joker for more) and embraces the superhero's core detective skills through an involving web of intrigue and adventure. While there are still copious amounts of action, the focus here mostly lies in the wonderfully rich characters and their connections with each other throughout the mazelike story line. The caped crusader's rogue gallery is opened once again, with the rotund Penguin making a comeback, along with the intimidating hulk Bane, who's always good for a slam-bam fistfight with the masked hero. You get a little more Bruce Wayne in this yarn, which is always a welcome change. This time, he has his hands full with not one, but three lovely ladies -- making room for the more charming and comical aspects of the millionaire playboy to show through. The artwork is a slight step down from the hero's usual animated outings, though the style and pizzazz are still present. With the help of high-class voice talent, and top-form writing for an animated feature (never mind a non-theatrical one), Mystery of the Batwoman is yet another thrilling installment in the Batman animated franchise. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
• Steeped in controversy, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is about as dark and violent as family animation can get. It also happens to be the best interpretation of the character since the Batman: The Animated Series premiered in 1992. While the story does, indeed, follow the heir to the Dark Knight's throne -- Batman Beyond -- anyone who is familiar with the revamped series will know how integral Bruce Wayne is to the basic story line. With Batman Beyond: The Movie already covering the original Caped Crusader's last days on the job, Return of the Joker takes things one step further and lets viewers in on the final, climatic battle with the clown prince of crime, The Joker. Told through flashbacks, it's a brutal and nasty moment that shows once and for all why the character is undoubtedly regarded as a psychopath. Credit should go to Mark Hamill, who devilishly takes center stage as the maniacal villain once again, concocting a wicked performance that's both hilarious and downright disturbing at the same time. Thankfully, the rest of the animated film is just as tight, combining the perfect amount of drama, mystery, and full-blown bat-action for the audience to eat up. With flawless character design and highly stylized fight choreography, the feature is a visual marvel that never fails to impress. In fact, the storytelling is so visceral and seamless that it's amazing that the film was done in such a short amount of time only to be dumped to the video market (for which, in all fairness, it was developed). It might be a little extreme for the youngins, but for all others, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is a true classic that delivers an inventive and adventurous take on the character's mythos. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi