Against
The Wild (2013/Anchor Bay
DVD)/Teen Titans Go!:
Season One, Part One - Mission To Misbehave
(DC Comics/Warner DVDs)
Picture:
C/C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C- Main Programs: D/C+
Here
come a few more children's titles for your personal reference...
Richard
Boddington's Against The Wild (2013) has Natasha Henstridge as
the mother of two children who go missing when they land up in the
middle of nowhere when the small airplane they are flying on crashes.
They live, but the script for this child-in-jeopardy wreck is dead
on arrival with poor acting, poor ideas, little energy, lame pacing
and when all is said and done, you'll ask: who was this made for?
Or... This is a family film?
The
animals look bored (in an outtake, the dog in the back of the
airplane knowingly yawns when a take is botched, poor animal) and it
plays very, very, very long for 92 minutes. Really dull, never wild,
this is a real major dud.
Amusing
outtakes and a clip about the music are the only extras.
Teen
Titans Go!: Season One, Part One - Mission To Misbehave
is the new series based on the current line-up of the long-running DC
Comics franchise, but this is played for more comedy than the
previous series and is far from the maturity, creativity and action
demeanor of the original 1960s series and its comic book equivalent.
26 tales are here over 2 DVDs with Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven
and Starfire, designed in this case to gain its youngest new audience
yet.
The
shows are not bad, but are explicitly aiming for a very young age
group think Flintstone
Kids,
Muppet
Babies,
etc.) and that is fine for what it is, but I was only so impressed.
Yes, the money is on the screen and it is well done for what it is,
but it did not stay with me by a longshot and is the most limited
incarnation of the team to date.
Trailers
are the only extras, but for more animated Titans,
try these links:
Original
1967 Filmation
episodes
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7397/DC+Comics+Super+Heroes+%E2%80%93+The+Fil
New
Show: Complete
Third Season
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5472/Teen+Titans+%E2%80%93+The+Complete+Third+
Complete
Fourth Season
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6379/Teen+Titans+%E2%80%93+The+Complete+Fourth
Complete
Fifth Season
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7370/The+Batman:+The+Complete+Fifth+Season+++Tee
Both
DVDs offer anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image presentations, but
Wild
is too soft and color-challenged for its own good, adding to the
strain of watching it, while Titans
easily surpasses it with a nice color scheme, solid animation and a
fine all-around presentation for the format. Wild
has a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix and should be the sonic champ here,
but the mix and recording are awkward and soundfield lacking, so the
lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with Pro Logic surrounds on Titans
can more than compete with it, even if it is not as dynamic as
expected.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
