Justice League Unlimited - Joining Forces (DC Comics Kids Collection)

Like the previous Justice League Unlimited release, this disc will contain three episodes that have been cropped from their original widescreen presentation. The episodes will be:

For the Man Who Has Everything: Adapted from the Alan Moore comic. Superman is trapped in the perfect dream world by the villainous Mongul, and Batman and Wonder Woman have to save him. Strong, dramatic personal story for Superman, with some good acting, music, and animation all around.

The Return: The extended JLU roster must prevent the android AMAZO (voiced by Star Trek actor Robert Picardo) from taking revenge on Lex Luthor. This episode really shows off the new half-hour format, with a tightly-plotted story that has both epic action and strong characterizations. Toss in some surprise cameos and appearances with more great animation, and you have another winner.

The Greatest Story Never Told: While the League has an epic battle in downtown Metropolis, c-list glory hound Booster Gold learns what it means to be a true hero. A lighthearted comedy episode. Not as gripping as the other two episodes, but still well executed and worth checking out.

It's a shame really, if this disc was widescreen it'd be worth buying, as these episodes showcase the kind of stories JLU can tell in 30 minutes. But it's another cheap release from WB, with equally cheap cover art (old GL design, and also Aquaman, who isn't in these episodes). Why WB continues to flood the market with these releases instead of decent boxed sets the first time around is a mystery.

As most of the reviewers have noted, why does WB insist on releasing these pathetic 3-episodes-per-disk DVDs? I would willingly pay for JLA Season 1, 2, etc. In fact, I would pay for the whole series in a single box set. Three episodes per disk is annoying, at best.

Please WB, get a clue and release JLA the way you did Superman & Batman . . .

Now, if we can just get Fox to release X-Men & Spider-Man in Box Sets!!!!! . . .

I just compared my Justice League Unlimited VHS recordings (that I made from the original airings) to my DVD copy of Justice League Unlimited: Saving the World (S 1 V 1). The process used to make the image fullscreen is DEFINITELY your typical pan & scan of the original widescreen version. I went through segments of each episode frame-by-frame to make sure. For the laymen: the sides of the widescreen picture have been hacked down to make a TV proportioned image and then that image has been expanded to fill your TV screen. Roughly 30% of the picture has been removed.

Sadly, the packaging on JLU: Saving the World lies to the consumer when it states: "Standard Version: Presented in a format preserving the aspect ration of its original television exhibition". This is simply not the case... I have recordings of the "original television exhibitions" and they two items do NOT match.

The information on the packaging is misleading to the consumer and I feel this fact could form the basis of a class action lawsuit.

Someday the stuffed shirts at Warner Brothers home video will figure out what their customers want. Unfortunately while the rest of the DVD industry has fully embraced the widescreen DVD format (it fits those new widescreen TVs better... duh!) AND issuing complete box sets of season series from their production vaults, WB is locked into the old school notion of trickling out incomplete and altered discs of their animated franchises.

What a shame! -mattro