The 50’s were a strange time in America, the threat of Communism was running high in the country, no one was safe to express their views without threat of being falsely accused of being a commie. Thus is the backdrop of Darwyn Cooke’s Graphic Novel “The New Frontier’s� throw back to the Silver/Golden Age of Comics. Well now the creative minds behind Superman: Doomsday and the Justice League: Unlimited series have brought that novel to life with the feature animated film, Justice League: The New Frontier.
Based on Darwyn Cooke’s award –winning graphic novel, this thrilling adventure reveals the origin of the Justice League. With Cold War paranoia putting Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman under government suspicion, only the greatest threat imaginable can force these heroes – along with an army of newcomers including The Flash, Green Lantern and The Martian Manhunter – to unite in a spectacular showdown to save the world.
Those expecting a version of the Justice League like that of the previous television series are in for a big shock. This film sports a totally new art style with a very retro feel to it. As well as the art style a few characters have changed as well namely that of The Green Lantern, In the series they featured the John Stewart Lantern however in this film Stewart has been replaced by the original Green Lantern of Sector 2814 Hal Jordan. This film also acts as an origin story for Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern and J’onn J’onz The Martian Manhunter.
Sporting a healthy assortment of extras The New Frontier is a comic book lover’s wet dream, the disc has the following features:
• Audio Commentary by Executive Producers: Bruce Timm, Mike Goguen, Voice Director: Andrea Romano, Director: David Bullock, Screen Writer: Stan Berkowitz, and DC Comics VP: Gregory Noveck.
• Audio Commentary by Comic book writer and artist Darwyn Cooke
• Comic Book Commentary: Homage to The New Frontier – a comic to film comparison
• Super Heroes United: The Complete Justice League History – Documentary going over the entire history of the League from creation to modern day.
• The Legion of Doom: Pathology of a Super Villain: Documentary on the bad-guys in the Justice League universe.
• Sneak Peek at Batman: Gotham Knight - An Anime style anthology of short films (ala The Animatrix) bridging the gap between Batman Begins and this summers The Dark Knight
• Three bonus Justice League Episodes – Dark Heart, To Another Shore, and Task Force X
As I said a very complete and informative collection of extra material there for everyone to enjoy, so if you’re an avid JL fan or a just like a good superhero story you should pick this one up.
- Rating: 5 out of 5
To say The New Frontier is a good looking film is an understatement, Warner’s has given this disc a VC-1 encoded 1080p transfer that looks incredible everything seems to pop off the screen, colors are vibrant and detailed. Not only is the Video top notch but the audio has been given the top shelf treatment as well, we have a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround track as well as a standard Dolby Digital track. Both the audio tracks are relatively equal in quality giving the slight edge to the TrueHD track.
- Rating: 5 out of 5
An incredible effort from the folks at Warner’s “Warner Premier� imprint, I can’t wait for future DC Universe Animated features!
- Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
Film and Features: 5
Technical Specs: 5
Overall Review: 5
Studio: Warner Premier
Genre: Action/Adventure
Aspect: 1.78:1 (1080p)
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1
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