Green Lantern: First Flight [DVD]

The release of the live action Green Lantern has prompted an overdue region two dvd release for an animated film based on the character that came out a short while back in the states.

For the uninitiated: Green Lantern is a long established superhero title from DC comics. Hal Jordan is a brash test pilot. When dying alien Abin Sur crash lands on Earth the green ring he wears seeks Hal out. To become Abin's replacement in the Green Lantern Corps. An elite interstellar peacekeeping force put together by an immortal race of aliens called the guardians of the universe. Their purpose: to keep order. Their power: comes from the green rings which are powered by will. Anything you want them to create using their green energy will happen. It's all down to the wearer's willpower.

Hal is taken under the wing of Sinestro, one of the most highly regarded of the corps. As they hunt for the being who killed Abin Sur it becomes apparent that Sinestro has an agenda of his own. And thus Hal has to prove himself worthy of being a Green Lantern rather quickly. Because the fate of the universe is stake.

This only runs for seventy five minutes and thus the origin stuff is rushed through rather quickly at the start. Those not familiar with the comic may struggle to keep up unless they keep their wits about them.

The pacing also means it doesn't have time to add much depth to the characters. With the exception of Sinestro. Victor Garber delivers an excellent voice performance making him a fully rounded villain with very believable motivations.

The animation does look a bit cheap at times in the interstellar and alien world scenes and could on occasion do with more detail. Some things are computer generated and they do stand out against it slightly awkwardly. But the action scenes do look very good, especially with all the various ring generated colour auras flying around the screen. And some of them are quite pacy and exciting.

All of it builds to an epic and involving big action finale.

Possibly more for those familiar with the comic rather than casual viewers, but it's a pretty capable little movie all in all and definitely worth a look. It is a twelve certificate though because it is a bit violent so it's not a cartoon ideal for the very young.

The dvd has the following language and subtitle options:

Languages: English, Castillan Spanish, German, Polish.

Subtitles: English, Bulgarian, Castillan Spanish, German, Polish.

The only extras are four promotional pieces about other animated movies based on dc comics properties. All of these tend to be interviews with cast and crew and don't show much or anything in the way of actual footage.

Plus a promotional piece for the Blackest Night: A dc comics story involving Green Lantern and pretty much every other one of their superheroes. Which actually came out in 2009, so you can see how long we've been waiting for this particular dvd on region two.

I actually bought a new DVD player in order to be able to watch this(it's Region 1 so I needed a player which could be converted to multi-region). It was worth every penny - I've already watched it about four times. The graphics are stunning, the voice cast is excellent, and, most importantly, it's a great story. Too often in this kind of movie(and I include live-action superhero films) the story takes second place to the action or special effects - this is not the case with First Flight: there's plenty of action and special effects, but they serve a great storyline which makes sense, has drama, suspense and humour. If the live-action Green Lantern film ever gets made, I hope it uses this movie as a model.

i thought this was a very well done animated movie.it's the origin story of how Hal Jordan became a Green Lantern.i have no idea how close it is to the original comic book origin.but i do knew,i loved the story.i thought it flowed very well,with a good mixture of action and drama.i thought the voice acting was terrific.plus,they seemed to have a good script to work with.i found the dialogue to be really good,as well.none of the usual cheese we tend to see in many animated or even live action movies.i think this particular animated film is as good as any of the recent spate of releases by both Marvel and DC,and it's certainly as entertaining.for me,Green Lantern:First Flight is a 4/5