Samurai Jack Season 2 DVD

[T-Bone]

Wurde auch Zeit...kommt 24. Mai, kann's kaum erwarten! Das Set ist, übrigens genauso wie Season 1, codefree, man muß lediglich einen NTSC-tauglichen Fernseher haben (und das sind die meisten Geräte)...



http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...s=dvd&n=507846

[euha]

Zu blöd, dass ich kein Cartoon-Network bekomme. So kann ich nie sehen, ob mir diese neuen Serien gefallen oder nicht...

[T-Bone]

Geschmäcker sind ja bekanntlich verschieden, aber ich kann Dir SAMURAI JACK wirklich uneingeschränkt empfehlen...Selten hat ein TV-Produkt solch eine Qualität in allen Belängen gehabt: Optik, Story, Pacing etc., alles stimmt hier...SAMURAI JACK ist einzigartig; Genndy Tartakovsky wird nochmal ein ganz Großer (ein noch "Größerer", als er jetzt schon ist)...

http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_sho...ack/index.html

[Flintheart Glomgold]

Hmm, ist eigentlich die Staffel 1-Box auch codefrei?

Edit: Ups! Ich muss mir wirklich ne Brille zulegen, sorry!

[T-Bone]

Street Date: 5/24/05
MSRP: $29.98
Packaging Type: Digi-Pack
Subformat: Multi Disc
Media Quantity: 2
Run Time: 293
Subtitles: 1 English, 2 Francais, 3 Espanol
Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio - 1.33, Standard [4:3 Transfer]
Sound Quality: Espanol: Dolby Surround Stereo 2.0
English: Dolby Surround Stereo 2.0
Francais: Dolby Surround Stereo 2.0

Episodes include: (14) Jack Learns to Jump (15) Jack vs the Worm, The Metal-Eaters, & The Fairy (16) Jack and the Smackback (17) Jack and the Scotsman II (18) Jack and the Ultra-Robots (19) Jack Remembers the Past (20) Jack and the Monks (21) Jack and the Dragon (22) Jack vs the Five Hunters (23) Jack vs Demango (24) Jack Is Naked (25) Jack and the Spartans (26) Jack's Shoes

Special Features: Creator Scrapbook, An Original Episode Pitch, Creator Commentary (XXV - Jack and the Spartans)

(from toonzone)

[T-Bone]

Received my copy today...it's a great DVD to own of course but I gotta say that I'd have liked to see a lot more bonus material like concept art etc...unfortunately there's no Art of SAMURAI JACK-book so more concept art would have been a must IMO...

DVD-Review from ign.com:

Samurai Jack: Season Two

June 01, 2005 - If you enjoyed Tartakovsky's cool, yet somewhat flawed Star Wars: Clone Wars, you've probably already heard of Samurai Jack. Driven by a wicked style and ceaseless action, Jack is an innovative show that proves Western animators haven't run out of new tricks.


Warner has released the second season of Samurai Jack on DVD. And while it may have the same problems as the previous season's DVD, this release is still worth owning by anyone who enjoys animation.

The Show
Jack is a samurai who has dedicated his life to hunting the evil demon Aku. At the final battle, just as Jack was about to defeat the demon, Aku sends him forward in time to a future corrupted and twisted by evil. Unable to find his way home and dedicated to his quest, Jack continues to pursue Aku while saving innocent people from oppression. Rinse, wash, and repeat.

It's pretty obvious that Samurai Jack isn't the strongest cartoon in terms of story. The animators rarely give characters much dialogue, and Jack's quest is more episodic than progressive. Rarely does Jack make any progress in his search for Aku. Usually he finds some village or individual who has been harmed by Aku's evil reign and uses his samurai skills to fight back.

While this formula might seem like a recipe for laziness on paper, it's the opposite in execution. Tartakovsky and crew use the open-ended structure to develop some of the most amazing battles seen in cartoons, bar none. The battle sequences are consistently entertaining and oftentimes fill up the entire episode. The way that Jack and his comrades work together against their usually robotic opponents (which allow for more uncensored slicing and dicing than flesh baddies would) is simply amazing.



The battles can even be poignant. Watch episode XXV. Almost the entire episode is in widescreen and just drips with epic atmosphere. Even though the scene of robotic minotaurs fighting cybernetic Greeks would be cheesy by any other hand, the way the music and the animation tie together create something truly artistic.

Not to say that the show isn't without its humor. Jack's facial reactions to the characters such as the Scotsman are consistently hilarious. And the way that the weird settings cause Jack to change his mode of fighting is often as comical as it is cool.



But what most people first notice when watching Samurai Jack is the unique style. Lacking the usual black outlines for characters and objects, the show has a far more organic and simplistic feel to it. The fast action and lack of dialogue also marks the show as different from most modern cartoons. In a way, Jack embraces the better elements of Western and Eastern animation style while trying its hardest to abandon the clichés.

Samurai Jack isn't a great show because of cool art or awesome battles or a fun atmosphere. Rather, the combination of the three make this show worth owning.

Score: 9 out of 10

The Video
The second season of Samurai Jack suffers from many of the same problems as its predecessor. Aliasing and interlacing are both problems that become apparent with the show's solid color style.

Thankfully, colors remain strong and there are few noticeable compression artifacts.

Score: 7 out of 10



Languages and Audio
Samurai Jack: Season Two comes in English, French and Spanish in Dolby Stereo 2.0 with subtitles in the same languages.

For a 2.0 track, it's pretty good. Audio is well mixed and many of the episodes beautifully weave the sound effects and the poignant music. Nevertheless, Samurai Jack is the type of action show that desperately needs 5.1. The pilot episode was released on DVD in 5.1, and there's no reason to not mix the full seasons in the same audio.

Score: 6 out of 10



Packaging and Extras
In my opinion, Cartoon Network makes the best television series DVD packaging and this is no exception. Samurai Jack: Season Two comes in an attractive, illustrated cardboard case that includes a note from Tartakovsky and episode listings. It looks nice on a shelf.

The Original Episode Pitch is a short making-of featurette that explains how they went from episode conception to pitch and production. While the feature is short, it's still very informative. We get an entire scene in storyboard narrated with the actual episode in the corner. It's amazing how close the pitch is to the final episode. An extremely good treat for animation junkies and casual fans alike.



Genndy's Scrapbook isn't what you might think. It's actually a really neat biography of Genndy. Narrated by Aku, we see everything from Tartakovsky's childhood immigration to America to his early artistic ambitions to his later animated successes. Filled with great photographs, early sketches, and interviews, this is a fun and informative feature about the man behind the cartoons. I was especially surprised that this feature isn't just praising Genndy, but actually going into problems and serious tragedies in his life. Definitely worth a watch.

Genndy Tartakovsky, Brian Andrews, and Scott Wells (who won an Emmy for his work on the show) give commentary on episode XXV. Possibly one of the best episodes in the series so far, XXV recalls Ridley Scott's Gladiator and Frank Miller's 300. The three creators mainly concentrate on their influences in the episode and how this particular episode changed the tone for the rest of the series. It is a very well-down commentary, and the three are overflowing with information.



They discuss both the flaws and the merits of the episode, constantly discussing how the show was planned out. Especially interesting is their discussion of the decision to use widescreen rather than standard format for the episode, a choice made to foster an epic tone and rich atmosphere. Obviously, Samurai Jack episodes take a lot more planning than your average television show, and this commentary helps reveal that.

Unfortunately, this is the only commentary on the set. I enjoyed this particular discussion so much that I would've loved to have more on the other episodes. While it's rare for television DVDs to have complete episode commentaries, a few more commentaries would've fleshed out the set a lot better.

Although there could definitely be more commentaries, as it is, everything in this set is worth watching. It may not be packed, but what's there is excellent.

Score: 8 out of 10

-- Mike Drucker