| "In the future evil takes many forms, and our only hope is one man from the past." |
| |||||
Samurai Jack: Season 1
2 DVDS/APPROX. 291 MINS/2001/USA PG
2 DVDS/APPROX. 291 MINS/2001/USA PG
8
| All written material is © from 2006 to Present at DVD Resurrections. This website is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The opinions which are expressed within these pages are solely those of DVD Resurrections. No copyright infringement is intended or implied. |
| ||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unfortunately for myself I missed out on the buzz of Samurai Jack when he and his cartoon first jumped onto the scene back in my younger days,
bereft of the necessary channel required to watch him, I had very little chance to watch the show, although managed to catch the credits roll once
at a mates place. And lo and behold many years later I am given the chance to review the series thanks to Madman Entertainment releasing it in
the Region 4 Format, the real question . . . Was it worth the wait? Follow me to the end of this review, and we shall see.
The visuals of Samurai Jack appear in a style, which has almost become synonymous with cartoons featured on the Cartoon Network, although
unlike most toons of late, and yesteryear, that rely on outlines to define characters from scenery, Samurai Jack is for the most part outline free,
admittedly I didn’t notice this till after I did a little research on the series, but it gives it a certain fluidity and character that a lot of boldly outlined
toons seem to lack (although in all fairness there is nothing wrong with outlined cartoons).
Scenery wise, Jack starts off in a vibrant and colourful world much like certain patterns I’ve seen on porcelain pots and such, then afterwards he is
transported to a neon lit, high contrast world, filled with dark scenery, dismal lighting, and a slew of characters both good and evil, all of them
entertaining, and varied.
We first meet our hero back in his own world, feudal Japan, trying to defend his fathers land from the vile demon Aku, and then subsequently
trying to save his father from the clutches of Aku after he failed to save the empire in his younger years. After a battle between the two
adversaries, when our hero is just about to attain victory, he is transported into the future by Aku, a future where Aku has had many years to rise
to power, and ultimately gain rulership over the world, a world filled with gilded youth’s spouting out repetitive use of the word Jack (which the
hero adapts as his moniker), talking demon dogs, as Jack calls them, and this futures very own version of the Mos Eisley Spaceport Cantina, as Obi
Wan Kenobi would call it . . . ‘A wretched hive of scum and villainy’.
The sound isn’t spectacular in this series, but still clear, comprehensive, well voiced, so still well above average, and only really suffers when you
compare the sound effects and such to the likes seen in more recent cartoons.
If I were to sum up this series, I couldn’t think of a better word than fun, although if I had to think of a second word, it would be engaging, a third?
Awesome. I don’t know why, but I took an instant liking to this series, and I am not completely sure how many people my age would, specially if
they missed out on it when they were younger, but I could easily sit down and watch this series front to back, so to speak, many times, just for a
fun. You’re provided with something you can slip into, is epic, but lacks the need to be completely focused upon the series till your brain hurts like
some of the more sophisticated or epic anime titles I have come across.
The special features, I must say, are pretty standard, trailers of various other cartoon network toons, such as Ben 10, are featured on disc one, as
well as a commentary for episode seven (“Jack and the three blind archers”). A ‘making of featurette‘, original artwork, and an original animation
test are present on disc two. Although standard, these features are somewhat interesting, although I’m sure some of the more hardcore fans may
have wanted commentaries on more than just one episode.
But, was it worth the wait? You bet your magical Katana it was.
bereft of the necessary channel required to watch him, I had very little chance to watch the show, although managed to catch the credits roll once
at a mates place. And lo and behold many years later I am given the chance to review the series thanks to Madman Entertainment releasing it in
the Region 4 Format, the real question . . . Was it worth the wait? Follow me to the end of this review, and we shall see.
The visuals of Samurai Jack appear in a style, which has almost become synonymous with cartoons featured on the Cartoon Network, although
unlike most toons of late, and yesteryear, that rely on outlines to define characters from scenery, Samurai Jack is for the most part outline free,
admittedly I didn’t notice this till after I did a little research on the series, but it gives it a certain fluidity and character that a lot of boldly outlined
toons seem to lack (although in all fairness there is nothing wrong with outlined cartoons).
Scenery wise, Jack starts off in a vibrant and colourful world much like certain patterns I’ve seen on porcelain pots and such, then afterwards he is
transported to a neon lit, high contrast world, filled with dark scenery, dismal lighting, and a slew of characters both good and evil, all of them
entertaining, and varied.
We first meet our hero back in his own world, feudal Japan, trying to defend his fathers land from the vile demon Aku, and then subsequently
trying to save his father from the clutches of Aku after he failed to save the empire in his younger years. After a battle between the two
adversaries, when our hero is just about to attain victory, he is transported into the future by Aku, a future where Aku has had many years to rise
to power, and ultimately gain rulership over the world, a world filled with gilded youth’s spouting out repetitive use of the word Jack (which the
hero adapts as his moniker), talking demon dogs, as Jack calls them, and this futures very own version of the Mos Eisley Spaceport Cantina, as Obi
Wan Kenobi would call it . . . ‘A wretched hive of scum and villainy’.
The sound isn’t spectacular in this series, but still clear, comprehensive, well voiced, so still well above average, and only really suffers when you
compare the sound effects and such to the likes seen in more recent cartoons.
If I were to sum up this series, I couldn’t think of a better word than fun, although if I had to think of a second word, it would be engaging, a third?
Awesome. I don’t know why, but I took an instant liking to this series, and I am not completely sure how many people my age would, specially if
they missed out on it when they were younger, but I could easily sit down and watch this series front to back, so to speak, many times, just for a
fun. You’re provided with something you can slip into, is epic, but lacks the need to be completely focused upon the series till your brain hurts like
some of the more sophisticated or epic anime titles I have come across.
The special features, I must say, are pretty standard, trailers of various other cartoon network toons, such as Ben 10, are featured on disc one, as
well as a commentary for episode seven (“Jack and the three blind archers”). A ‘making of featurette‘, original artwork, and an original animation
test are present on disc two. Although standard, these features are somewhat interesting, although I’m sure some of the more hardcore fans may
have wanted commentaries on more than just one episode.
But, was it worth the wait? You bet your magical Katana it was.
| BUY DVD @ MADMAN.COM.AU |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Search Review Database: |