Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
This doesn't even live up to Superman 4 - The Quest for Peace! A Flying Turkey - AVOID, 5 Dec 2007
There are two ways a looking at this dvd. The first is as someone who has read the epic Death of Superman trilogy which includes the Death of Superman, World without Superman and finally, the Return of Superman. The other perspective is from someone hasn't read these graphic novels and knows nothing of the story.
So, firstly for those of you HAVE read the trilogy......
This dvd hardly sticks to any of the plot in any of those great graphic novels. Firstly, Doomsday doesn't break of his bonds - he is unearthed by Lexcorp. This was a nice idea and although it wasn't part of the original tale, i could see this being a good sub-plot. Secondly, and most criminally in my view, Doomsday is portayed as a robot or cyborg! For those of you who know all the back stories of this character, you will feel cheated that the creators didn't at least attempt to bring this back story into this film. I won't spoil the story for those of you who haven't read all the Doomsday themed graphic novels, but there was a real opportunity to to pull in all the great ideas from the many books with this character. Also, there is no real rampage for Doomsday through the entire Justice League like in the books. Superman was alway portrayed as the last hero standing between Doomsday and the world. No Justice League at all?! The fight scenes between Superman and Doomsday are quite good and probably are the highlight of the film, but they are all too brief and there is no emotion to them. In the books Superman and Lois have some heartbreaking lines, but there is none of that here. Also missing is the iconic cover of the death of Superman itself - with his tattered cape blowing in the wind, the 'S' flapping to mark the place where he fell. In this version there is no 'S' on the cape, and the scene is ruined for me.
Yes, i am ripping this apart, and trust me Superman fans there is good reason for this.
The World without Superman book seems to be totally missed too. There are none of the four Supermen we all met in the books too - no Steel, Cyborg, Superboy or Eradicator. There is no JLA mourning his death, and none of the storyline about the JLA trying to fill in for the missing Superman. In this book there was plenty of emotion, mystery and subplots to follow including a piece on Jonathan Kent that really pulled at the heartstrings. Although, there is a hint of Lex Luthor feeling cheated out of killing him Superman himself, and that was a nice touch.
The Return of Superman segment was a real opportunity to explore the mythos of Superman, and the Kryptonian heritage he has with the plotline dealing with the Eradictor. But no, that is missing too! A weakened Superman with little or no powers facing the Cyborg was a great storyline showing us that even without his powers, Superman is still a hero. None of that here either!
What do we have then - a clone made by Luthor to protect Metropolis, though it is under Luthor's complete control and will serve his ends. He is the enemy that a recovered Superman must deal with, with his Kryptonite gun. Yes, you read that right - a Kryptonite gun. This Bizarro storyline is not a patch on the storyline in the graphic novels.
There is nothing clever, or well thought out about this film. The fact that the four Supermen are missing is bordering on being criminal! All four of their storylines were fantastic and you were always gripped by them. Steel making up for his former mistakes, the Cyborg gaining the trust of the White House, the Eradicator becoming the worst kind of punisher and Superboy providing some humanity and humour.
Don't expect any of that here. There is none of that.
I was bitterly disappointed by the whole film, mainly because it didn't even attempt to follow the storyline of the graphic novels. If it ain't broke, don't try and fix it - the old adage rings so true in the case of this DVD. Yes, the film would have been very long, but it could have been split into two or even three films. This is not epic enough, not heartfelt enough, not clever enough, and it has the depth of a puddle to it. The other major part of this dvd that lets the viewer down is the artwork. Considering what the industry is capable of these days, this is really sub standard. This doesn't hold a torch to the Batman animated series of the 1990s, and that is not acceptable with a major storyline - especially the Death of Superman. When the comics first came out, it was major headlines on every news programme - this dvd does not even begin to reflect the impact the Death of Superman had on the news, comics and modern culture. It is bland, short, poorly animated and doesn't even have the good taste to stick to the material it came from!!
Rant over?
Yep - for now.
The are a few good points. Firstly, the music is spot on and feels heroic enough to be included in the Superman universe. Secondly, the voices of the characters are very well done. I thought Anne Heche was great as Lois Lane, and James Marsters (of Spike in Buffy fame, and Milton Fine from Smallville) for me stole the show as Lex Luthor - dark,twisted and evilly intelligent and calculated. Brilliant!
So, for those of you who don't follow Superman, is this worth a look? In my opinion - no. The reason being that there are other things out there that are better reflections on the storylines of Superman. The films for a start are better - Superman 1 and Superman 2, and Superman Returns are all eminently watchable and entertaining and show the mythos, humour and action of the Man of Steel better than this. The tv shows are better too - Smallville is worthy of your time and money more than this showing. Lois and Clark is even better than this. The comics are better than this by miles too - there are hundreds of Superman graphic novels out there that are true to the character and the legend. I would recommend reading the actual series of Death of Superman, World without Superman and Return of Superman books. On top of that there loads more graphic novels i could recommend such as Kingdom Come, Justice volumes 1 to 3, DC one Million, Worlds Finest and many, many more.
About the only thing i can think of that this dvd is better than is Superman 4 - the Quest for Peace, but to be perfectly honest that is no great compliment.
My final rant is at magazines that reviewed this dvd quite highly. I bought this on the recommendations of those magazines and i actually wonder whether those people watched it all and whether they had actually ever read the comics!
The only people i can see buying this are the die-hard fans who collect everything that is released. I hate to criticise anything concerning Superman, and it breaks my heart to do so - but please, spend your money on something else Superman related. This does not warrant your hard earned cash.
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An adequate adaptation, 14 Dec 2007
This animated outing by the Man of Steel is based on the best-selling graphic novel `The Death of Superman' and as the title suggests shows Superman fighting the intergalactic super-soldier Doomsday as well as the immediate aftermath of that conflict. Although I haven't read the graphic novel that this adaptation is based on, I do have a good idea of what happened in it and can say that, despite being entertaining, this version of the story does not do the comic justice. There is quite a lot missing from the story and although this can be forgiven due to time and budget constraints, the leaving out of some of the iconic images of the series is something of a disappointment.
Although not a big Superman fan myself, I can understand how many of the Man of Steels fans will find this DVD a great disappointment and those people who only know Superman from films and TV may find some parts of this story confusing. Despite all this I do actually like `Superman: Doomsday' and I feel if people give it a chance they will to. The animation, by the same people who make the great `The Batman' animated series, is good and the voice acting is also very well done despite the rather dodgy script and suits the characters well, especially James Masters as Lex Luthor. Overall `Superman: Doomsday' is enjoyable but if you want the proper story then you should read the graphic novel.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Once Again, Brucey's Hit The Best Spot!, 31 Dec 2007
Do you like the Superman or Batman Animated Series? Because if you do, This DVD is totally Rockin'! By that I mean... It's Clearer, loads more jam-packed with action and uuuuhh... Emotionally smashing with a fab Storyline too!!! So if you don't know if you wanna buy/order/get it, get it! Or if you don't want to get it, Buy it, Or if not that, Order it
Plus it uses dark skies quite a bit if you know what I mean! (Like The Batman Animated Series) Not bloomin' typical Superman blue-ishy skies.
This Movie/Film is Brill. Thanks for reading
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