SUICIDE SQUAD (Extended Cut Bluray, Warner Bros. 2016)

 SUICIDE SQUAD (Extended Cut Bluray, Warner Bros. 2016)

One of my favorite comics of the late 1980s,  at least of the DC Comics variety,  was the John Ostrander written SUICIDE SQUAD.  I enjoyed it because I've always thought that it was one of the more original concepts brought to superhero comics at the time it was being published.

The first issue of the original 1987 series

SUICIDE SQUAD answered the question of what happens when  the bad guy got carted off to jail.

You  know the typical comic book superhero cliches and conventions:

1.)  super hero and super villain fight
2.).   super hero saves the day the bad guy goes to jail

The reason why this scenario always seemed to be lacking is that in a world where masked criminals  possessed Herculean strength, could shoot laser bolts from their eyes or possessed technology and weaponry that is far advanced beyond comprehension for normal law enforcement officials to combat,  ordinary correctional facilities and detention centers would be completely useless.

The 80s team line up

SUICIDE SQUAD presents the tale of a shadowy intelligence community operative named Amanda Waller who comes up with a witty solution for this problem.    Commission the construction of a specialized facility for super powered bad guys called Belle Reve in Louisiana,  house the criminals there,  and treat them as a commodity ( that commodity being enhanced human beings with godlike powers  and abilities),  and do what the government usually does whenever it discovers a new commodity:  weaponize it.  She offers these masked hooligans a deal: agree to become a member of a covert strike team that carries out secret missions in the interest of American national security, and in exchange for services rendered,  they have a chance of getting  lighter sentences or  of being paroled earlier.

Viola Davis as Amanda Waller

  There are a few catches,  though....no one can know of the existence of the covert team, and if caught performing a mission, the government will disavow any information about them.   This is basically a witty PR move made by Waller. ..it would generally look bad if the President asked the Justice League of America to assassinate some third world dictator or take out some drug cartel in the bloodiest fashion possible, but if it's the bad guys....well, they're just doing the same thing they always do: murder and mayhem. 

The current incarnation of the comic, which began publication in 2016

Oh, there's also the fact that 90% of the missions that they get sent on are no win situations and there's a pretty good chance that not everyone is making it back alive. And,  they totally pull an Escape from New York on you  and equip you with an explosive bracelet that will take your arm off if you step out line.  Hence, the title SUICIDE SQUAD.

It's basically THE DIRTY DOZEN set in a world full of superheroes....and it was pretty brilliant.  So,  needless to say I was very interested to see how the film adaptation turned out.  

The gang's all here....

The film?    It's good.  It's a decent action film.  It contains more DC Comics nerd fan service than I was expecting. ...I especially dug the Capt. Boomerang flashback with The Flash.  More Affleck as Batman, which was teased in the trailers...

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn

My only problem with the film is there's no real standout performances.  Oh, everyone is cast well and all the cast carries their load, but....I love a couple of these characters on the comics page (Captain Boomerang, Katana, and Enchanteress come to mind), but their screen counterparts seem to be lacking.  Even Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn doesn't deviate from a somewhat cookie cutter cardboard standee- level performance, IMO...Which is sad, because it seems the majority of the promotion and marketing behind this film is directed towards her character.  This may be due to the script, though, or the efforts made to shoehorn the backstories of the entire cast into a finite timeslot.  I don't know...

 Even Jared Leto's take on the Joker is subdued and less manic than one would typically prefer, and there are moments in his delivery where it sounds like he's trying to channel Mark Hammill's vocal performances of the character in several animated Batman venues over the years.

It's entertaining and worth a watch....having said that, I recommend investing the time to check out the Extended Cut of this film, because much like the earlier BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE,  the theatrical cut's pacing and structure is haphazard and wonky,  and the reinstated cut scenes do flesh out the plot and the characters' motivations somewhat.  Side note:  I highly recommend the film's soundtrack
, which is top notch with great tracks by Rick Ross and and others....

 Quite a few slightly informative featurettes, but nothing truly spectacular

SUICIDE SQUAD is a decent time killer with some fun action sequences and moments of fanboy bliss, but lacks just a small percentage of substance that could gave turned it into something truly special.  All said and done, though, it is a nice addition to the fledgling Warner Brothers DC COMICS Cinematic Multiverse and I'd look forward to any future adventures these characters find themselves in.

Wonder Woman - The Complete First Season (1976)

Wonder Woman - The Complete First Season (1976)

Running Time: 725 minutes

MPAA Rating: NR
Format: Standard 4:3
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Languages: English
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Region: 1
MSRP: $39.98

Gloria Steinem's favorite fictional feminist finally makes it to the digital age, and while I let my subscription to Ms. magazine run out years ago, I couldn't resist picking this 3 disc set up for simple nostalgia value. Being a long-standing comic book fanboy, as well as being a child of the late 1970s/early 1980s, it's needless to say that I had a boyhood crush on Lynda Carter as the leggy Amazon princess...

And, I'm not ashamed to admit that I still do.

Lynda Carter as Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman

Making its debut in late 1975, ABC's The New Original Wonder Woman pilot film blended camp sensibilities with good old fashioned Saturday matinee action (with a healthy dose of "subtle" sex appeal), and led to one of the most fondly remembered television shows of the disco era. This set collects what many fans, myself included, consider to be the best of the show's three seasons (ABC airred it during it's inaugrial 14 episodes, and CBS later picked it up for the latter two seasons), which firmly plants Princess Diana in a wartime 1940s setting, reflecting the character's time of conception in her parent medium, comic books.

The quality of the scripts vary during this run of shows, from good clean fun: The pilot and "Formula 407" (episode 11, 1/22/77) to wild, cliffhanger serial-esque hijinx: "Wonder Woman vs. Gargantua" (ep.6, 12/18/76), to downright goofy: "Judgement From Outer Space" (eps. 9 & 10), but likeable, deadpan performances by Carter and Lyle Waggoner as Steve Trevor (a character I used to jokingly refer to as the "male Lois Lane") and several of the celebrity guest-stars (Roy Rogers, Red Buttons, and Cloris Leachman being amongst the best of them) make up for anything lacking in the plot department. Plus, there's the pre-fame Debra Winger as Wonder Girl, a sight that has to be seen to be believed, unintentional humor included.

The show still looks fairly well, even after nearly 30 years and several syndication packages later. I'm sure Warner Bros. probably did some digital clean-up for the transfers, and the Dolby mono mix is surprisingly clean, free of the usual reverb that makes one feel that they're listening the track from a distance while at the bottom of a well.... heh.

Pilot Film Audio Commentary by Lynda Carter and Executive Producer Douglas S. Cramer - Too self complimentary and "cutesy" to be taken as a serious insight into the creation of the show, but it's fun to hear Carter's thoughts on her performance.

Beauty, Brawn and Bulletproof Bracelets: A Wonder Woman Retrospective - Nice documentary featuring interviews with Carter and several of the production team behind the conception of the show, as well as insights from comic book illustrator extraordinaire Alex Ross (the painter behind such works as Marvels, Kingdom Come, and the 2003 Oscars poster, to name a few) and author Les Daniels (who has penned several in-depth books on the history of various comic book publishing entities and their characters) about the history of the amazing Amazon herself in various media venues.

From the incredibly bad faux funk theme song (for some laughs, track down and read a copy of the lyrics to it) to Lynda Carter's patriotic adventures utilizing the "feminist mystique" and a good right hook, all the while dressed in what is essentially a bathing suit, "Wonder Woman- The Complete First Season" is more fun that you could wrangle with a Magic Lasso.

Did I mention the whole "boyhood crush" thing? Lynda Carter could tie me up anytime...hee hee!

Batman - The Complete 1943 Movie Serial Collection (1943)

 BATMAN- THE COMPLETE 1943 MOVIE SERIAL COLLECTION

Running Time: 259 minutes (approx)
MPAA Rating: NR
Format: Standard 4:3
Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
Languages: English
Subtitles: English
Region: 1
MSRP: $29.95

I'm a long-time fan of the cliffhanger serials, a love stemming from my interests in both superheroes and film. Masked radio, pulp, and comic book heroes circa the time period were perfect fodder for the studio serial department machine for nearly two decades, and I've always loved the 1943 attempt at Batman. An evil "yellow peril" mastermind, zombies in goofy metal helmets, atomic ray pistols....what's not to love?

Well....there is that li'l bit of World War 2 era blatantly racist propoganda dialogue....yes, kids, before we learned to hate the dirty pinko Commies (when we weren't hatin' each other), we dished it out to those nutty "Japs" and "Ratzi Krauts". Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, and all that jazz...

Interesting story about that. Seems that at some point in the mid-1980s, Sony (the Japanese company that currently holds the leash on Columbia Pictures and its repertory) did some serious editting to a video cassette master of said Bat-adventure for use by Goodtimes Home Video, specifically to the voice track, dubbing over several lines of dialogue deemed offensive. This master was then used for the only licensed prerecord VHS release, circa 1990, during the second Batmania merchandising craze that was a result of the 1989 Tim Burton-directed Bat film. For years, the only way folks could see an uncut version of the 1943 serial was if they somehow lucked into seeing a repertory showing.... which, to my knowledge, was never.

Fast-forward to 2005. After hearing about the original unaltered version of the serial for years, I hear about the DVD release. I pick it up at the local Wal-Mart...and then I watch the first disc....

Not five minutes into it....I realize something's different from my prior viewings of the film (via the Goodtimes release)....there's a different voice narrating. And then... there's some hate for the Orientals showing it's ugly head. Isn't this age of DVD mastering wonderful, where those doing the transfers are forced to seek out the original elements to get decent stuff? My only question is: Does Sony (translation: Japanese company who went through the effort nearly two decades ago to try and smooth over the situation) even realize or know about this....or is this a situation akin to the Texas "MGM Swamp Thing DVD" case a few years back, in which an enraged mother discovered that the DVD she bought for her kids at a Toys R Us clearly labelled as PG rated was actually transferred from a more racy international cut print (mmmmm....Adrienne Barbeau nudity)? That situation caused MGM to recall that disc, and "Swamp Thing" wasn't made available again until just a few years ago by the manufacturer. And the Batman disc? Not a disclaimer in sight...which seems to be the thing that Disney (see Leonard Maltin's stuff on the now out of print Disney Treasures sets) and Warner Bros. (see Whoopi Goldberg's contributions to the LOONEY TUNES Golden Collection sets) have resorted to, gladhanding any of the racial stereotyping and ridiculing those respective studios have done in the past.

Below:  an example of the GOODTIMES VHS ADR edit

 And.....the original uncut 1943 audio

A very interesting and ironic situation indeed, if this isn't a case of preserving and/or presenting the original uncut film warts and all.

The plot? Standard serial fare....a lot of fun, very thin holes script-wise when it comes to the "daring escapes" at the beginning of the next chapter. J. Carrol Naish portrays Daka, an evil Japanese mastermind bent on destroying America's war efforts, while doing the worst impression of a Japanese accent I've ever heard. Lewis Wilson as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Douglas Croft as Dick Grayson/ Robin obviously seem to be having a blast with the roles and are genuinely funny at times....and alot of unintentional humor stems from Batman's slightly ill-fiting costume and droopy Bat-earred cowl. Don't think too hard and try not to wince whenever there's any hate-talk goin' on, and you'll find yourself having as much of a good time. Look for Charles Middleton (Ming the Merciless of Buster Crabbe "Flash Gordon" fame) in a small role as a radium mine owner.

Head and shoulders above the Goodtimes release, the Sony Pictures Home Entertainment two disc set looks great. The transfer's crisp and clean, a nice change from Goodtimes' fairly murky and scratched VHS release. The elements show their age, but the revelation that this is the first time since the 1960s that this film is available to a mass audience in an uncut and uncensored form should take the sting from that.

None to speak of, not even a theatrical trailer. Nifty menus, though.

A nice package and a fun film, if you're willing to forgive some of the ignorance of the past that went into demonizing the enemy.

BATMAN: RETURN OF THE CAPED CRUSADERS (2016) Bluray

BATMAN: RETURN OF THE CAPED CRUSADERS (2016, Warner Bros) Bluray

 

Batman and Robin (voiced by Adam West and Burt Ward) find themselves caught up in a delightfully goofy plot devised by four of their greatest arch nemesises to conquer Gotham City.  Along the way, Aunt Harriet wonders if she might just be a beard in her relationship with Bruce Wayne and his youthful ward, Dick Grayson, Batman turns evil and takes over Gotham via the use of a matter replication ray,  Robin is forced to team up with Catwoman (vocals by Julie Newmar), and the Dynamic Duo take a ride into outer space in a Bat Rocket.

All in all....a pretty typical day in campy 1960s Gotham City....

Being a child of the 1970s growing up in the '80s as a comic book fanboy, it was admittedly a dry period for those of us who also enjoy film adaptation of superheroes.   Sure, there were the Christopher Reece SUPERMAN films and HOWARD THE DUCK, but that was about it....

 So, we had to seek solace in television, and luckily there was BATMAN (1966-68).  Much like classic STAR TREK, the show 's popularity as syndicated packages of reruns was at it's height.  You practically could trip over an episode on a daily basis on numerous channels in any given market.  As a kid, I loved the show, drinking it's particular brand of Bat Kool-Aid and fell for the hyperbole laden melodrama, caught up in the action.  As an adult, my appreciation changed gears when I finally came to the realization that it's all an elaborately staged campy sitcom.

Equal parts loving homage and biting parody/ satire of not just the 1960s TV series, but of all things Batman....keep an ear out for lines of dialogue slyly criticizing everything from Aunt Harriet's role in Bruce and Dick's life to the ending of Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT RISES....BATMAN: THE RETURN OF THE CAPED CRUSADERS is a fun little romp that manages to capture the spirit of the original show and finds witty ways to poke fun of itself.  It's all good natured fun, and hats off to the production for rounding up the surviving cast members of the original show and giving them the chance to shine once again in the roles that they made so iconic in live action five decades ago.

Adam West: Iconic Gotham Guardian

Things I've learned watching RETURN OF THE CAPED CRUSADERS?  It's incredibly disturbing to hear hear Adam West deliver lines from Tim Burton's 1989 BATMAN or those written by Frank Miller from DARK KNIGHT RETURNS.
And, the best line of dialogue...ever?   "Holy Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!"

Be sure to check out this little gem of goofy entertainment. ....same Bat time, same Bat Bluray release....at a retailer near you.