Just finished watching NEW FRONTIER and I'd have to say this is ranks up there with the best of the DC animated movies: MASK OF THE PHANTASM, RETURN OF THE JOKER, WORLD'S FINEST and JUSTICE LEAGUE - SECRET ORIGINS. The DC animated movies have been consistently better than the Marvel movies (which haven't been terrible by any stretch).

NEW FRONTIER, adapted from the graphic novel, tells of the forming of the Justice League of America in the late fifties. All or most of the Golden Age heroes are dead or retired and no one's too fond of these new vigilantes, masked or unmasked, not when everyone's too busy looking for Commies under every rock. They come together to face a menace that only the combined might of America's super heroes can defeat.

Here's a crib sheet of the heroes that appear for anyone that feels like indulging, but may no be up on DC heroes:

At the beginning you briefly see the silhouettes of the Justice Society of America, consisting of the Golden Age Flash, Green Lantern and Black Canary, Doctor Midnite, Wildcat, Doctor Fate, Hawkman and Hourman.


Supeman
Wonderwoman
Flash
Martian Manhunter

Green Arrow
Adam Strange
Challengers of the Unknown (the three guys & one woman in purple jumpsuits)
The Blackhawks

Metal Men
Doom Patrol
Teen Titans (Supergirl, Kid Flash , Wonder Girl, Robin, Aqualad, Black Canary)
Plastic Man
Captain Marvel
Metamorpho
Vigilante (behind the Flash at the end)
Speedy
Hawkman
Hawkgirl
Robin

Villains:
Captain Cold
Lex

(montage at end)
Star Saphire
Mantaray
Darksied
Brainiac
Sinestro
Two Face
Hugo Strange (the guy with the glasses I think)
Penguin
Grod
Doctor Light
Cat Woman
Mr Mxyztplk
Joker
I recognize the invisible guy with the top hat & monocle, but can't name him.
Harley Quinn (behind the Joker)
couple villain that looks like they might be from Apokolips
Riddler
Joker
Starro the Conqueror

Must be the Gentleman Ghost, an old Hawkman villain.

No Wesly Dodds! I'm aghast!

And, yeah, that's probably the Gentleman Ghost

Awright Terry, I gots a question. Do you think this would be accessible to the average animation buff who has no idea who half (or more) of the characters you just named are? (I should add I am a big fan of the animated Batman series. I know Batman.)

I'm not Terry, but I know someone named Terry.

And I'd say yes. The focus of the narrative is really on Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Flash, with Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman right beneath them in story importance. A lot of the characters Terry mentions have only the briefest of appearances, some only in montage. I'd say anyone with a passing knowledge of the DCU should have an easy enough time getting into the film, and getting a lot of enjoyment out of it.

Sorry, was preoccupied by White Knight (Harry Dresden).

Everything Aleck says is correctomundo. It is totally accessible. Any knowledge of DC Golden/Silver Age comics just helps you appreciate what you're seeing more. This movie's got more depth than the last three animated movies (combined) from Dreamworks (BEE MOVIE, SHREK THE THIRD, and OVER THE HEDGE (I like OVER THE HEDGE). That's not really setting the pole too high though... Is it as good as X-MEN, SUPERMAN 1, BATMAN/BATMAN BEGINS, or SPIDERMAN, no, but it aint CATWOMAN or ELEKTRA (I did like the director's cut). It's good.

If every DTV dvd movie were this good we'd be drowning in bliss.

Well, two out of three... ^_^

I'm going to check it out. Especially because it's out on Blu-Ray, and animation in hi def is just sweet.

You don't know Green Lantern???

heh.

Naw, the Martian Manhunter story is very nicely handled, and I don't think you really need to be familiar with the character's backstory before watching (in fact, you'll know the backstory in the first 15 minutes of the film!). And Miguel Ferrer's voice acting is perfect. You'll be a J'onn J'onzz fan by the time it's over.

I actually opted for the 2 disc Standard Def set. It was $10 cheaper AND it had a limited edition Green Lantern figure (which I happen to collect). Plus, I've actually been more impressed by how good standard def animation looks upconverted, and slightly disappointed at how some hi-def animation looks. Don't get me wrong, hi-def still looks better, but not "pass up a limited edition Green Lantern figure" better.

Well, erm, not to brag or anything, but I have a front projector and a very large screen. Once you get to a certain size, the differences between upconverted standard def and true hi def become glaringly obvious. Also, I work in hi def video and am just picky by nature, so Blu-ray it is. Since this is a new DTV title, I'm assuming it was colored and output via computer, which tends to give a nice sharp picture.

But I do agree that not many traditionally animated (as opposed to CG) titles have reference quality HD video. THE SIMPSONS MOVIE is a standout, and I'm about halfway through PAPRIKA which wavers between good and excellent. The restored Looney Tunes shorts on the ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD looked fabulous - I will double dip those sets in a heartbeat when/if Warner releases them in Blu-ray.

Uhh... I went off-topic, dint I?

It's really good, and fairly mature, PG-13 rating and all. The plot gets a bit thick, I don't know why they just don't make these 10-20 min. longer at least, but it doesn't get too confusing and it is accessible for those not familiar with the comic.

There are some very rousing moments and a lot of great shots that remind one why JUSTICE LEAGUE has worked out so well, over the years. It's refreshingly free of cynicism and espouses good old fashined comic book values.

And I LOVE the art design. Very retro, yet futuristic at the same time. It looks great in High Def.

Agree 100% - Warner has done a really nice job making their DC animated movies accessible to those who don’t know all the mythology, while still dropping steaks for the reference-ravenous uber geeks like me. And the artwork really blew me away – it’s almost like Shag worked on the backgrounds.

I had heard that an (excellent) early draft of the Fantastic Four movie was set in that cocktail party cool, ultra chic world of the late 50s and early 60s. And watching New Frontiers, the mouth waters at what they could have done with it vs. what they wound up with. Somehow, the setting effectively mutes the more fantastic aspects of certain characters (Martian Manhunter is a lot to swallow for a newbie) by creating an alternate reality that is distant and yet totally relatable.

If you have the tools, go Blu on this one. Any misgivings will be set right during the opening credits.

Bean counters.

Most DTV animated movies seem to fall under the 80 minute mark.

The graphic novel had enough material for 90 minutes easy, two hours even (I don't know if that would have been a good idea though), but fifteen more minutes to flesh out some of the side stories (Monster Island, John Henry, The Losers...) would have been welcome.

Still you have to give Warner some kudos to actually putting some effort into the marketing/promotion.

But they don't do this in the comics, which I don't understand.

Well, they kind of do. If you'll pop into your local comic book shop you might see:

Batman: The Ultimate Guide to the Dark Knight
The Marvel Encyclopedia
JLA:The Ultimate Guide to the Justice League of America
Avengers: The Ultimate Guide

As well as other books or comics giving background, but otherwise, serial continuity is the big thing these days, which unfortunately makes it hard to jump in. There's also wikipedia which unsurprisingly has a wealth of material. Two examples:
Kree/Skrull War (blast from the past)

Justice League

Watched this with my wife the other night and really enjoyed it. Nice way to bring in the "updated" image of the Martian Manhunter while still incorporating the original origin. I even liked the setup to explain why Robin pops up half-way through (which I won't spoil here).

My wife enjoyed it until the final battle, where she didn't recognize a lot of faces that were getting lines. I spoke up when I thought it would help her, and she appreciated that I was there to guide her through it, but she ultimately felt the movie would have been better with just Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter as the core and the rest of the superheroes hadn't been there.

Of course, that defeats the idea of this being about the Justice League, but I can see what she was saying there.

Still, excellent stuff and I'll be recommending it to a few friends who know the characters all by heart anyway.

So apart from this and Mask of the Phantasm what other DTV animated superhero films are worth seeing? Not counting the TV series which have been released on DVD in such different forms that it's a bit tough to figure out what's an original DTV.

Right, but I don't think anyone should have to spend $50 and several hours on research just so he can read a comic book. Writers used to be able to fill in all necessary backstory in 3 or 4 panels.

If we stick to DTV it's not a particularly big list. Marvel/Lionsgate has put out four:

ULTIMATE AVENGERS, ULTIMATE AVENGERS - RISE OF THE PANTHER, IRON MAN, and DOCTOR STRANGE. The next due out is TEEN AVENGERS, which is skewing younger than the previous four discs.

Of these I'd say ULTIMATE AVENGERS and DOCTOR STRANGE are worth seeking out. If you like those you can check out the other two. These two are good, but nowhere near the quality of JUSTICE LEAGUE.

Darkhorse/Starz/Anchorbay:

HELLBOY - SWORD OF STORMS
HELLBOY - BLOOD & IRON

These are both very good, though I think BLOOD & IRON is the stronger of the two.

DC Direct's initial offering SUPERMAN - DOOMSDAY is good. The next title coming up from DCD is TEEN TITANS - THE JUDAS CONTRACT which should be plenty good.

I haven't seen it, but I've heard good things about TUROK - SON OF STONE.

Interesting that all of these movies have been released in the last couple of years with Marvel initiating it in part to play off the synergy with the live action movies.

Actually, I'd heard that the TEEN TITANS flick had been canceled and the next one was the Batman anime thing. I'd love to find out I'm wrong, though.

I really enjoyed NEW FRONTIER. I really wish it had been about 15-20 minutes longer. I hadn't read the graphic novel and was a bit lost here and there. I'm not sure the environment of cultural paranoia was as fully realized as it should have been. There were references in the dialogue occasionally and the odd moment such as when the government tries to capture the Flash, but they seemed more like random moments rather than part of an overall "world." In addition, while there were tons of superheroes, I would have liked to have seen more "normal" people. I've always felt like a superhero story plays best when you see how his/her actions directly affect the lives of other people. I've never really gotten into the Justice League comic for this reason.

But, I almost feeling like I'm critiquing too much in light of what the film achieved. It's so visually arresting and so *mature.* And by that, I don't mean it's mature in the sense that it has gratuitous violence or foul language, but that it has mature ideas that can really only be completely grasped by people with some knowledge of American history.

But at the same time, there's a bunch of kick-ass monsters. So, you know, best of both worlds.

I also liked the character design MUCH more than the broad-chested, lock-jawed, poker-faced characters in every other DC film I've seen.

I had avoided SUPERMAN: DOOMSDAY, but now I think I'll check it out.

D.

I wish I had this as a buying option when I purchased the dvd. I opted for the single disc version since the bulk of disc two is already on my shelf in the JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED sets I own.

I like this film a lot. I just wish (as others have expressed) it had been longer. I thought SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY was mediocre and after watching it I developed a bad case of Nonessential Worrying about the quality of NEW FRONTIER (a book I like quite a bit). SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY has some moments, but Supe's facial design, the bad vocal acting, and the heavily edited plot line hurt this film, IMO.

Naw, you're right. Next up is the anime Batman movie and then a Wonder Woman feature (unless that changes). It looks like Teen Titans is on hold until the powers that be at Warner/DC Direct that there's a sufficient audience for it (ie sales), of course you might as well translate that as canceled.