DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: ***1/2 (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Christopher Daniel Barnes as SPIDER-MAN/PETER PARKER Edward Asner as J. JONAH JAMESON Linda Gary as AUNT MAY Jennifer Hale as FELICIA HARDY Rodney Saulsberry as JOE ROBERTSON Hank Azaria as EDDIE BROCK/VENOM Rated R Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment Back to DVD Review Home |
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There is no doubt in my mind that this is the heyday of comic book adaptations on DVD. Not just in the movies, although I’ve enjoyed the recent film adaptations of “Spider-Man,” “The Fantastic Four” and “Batman.” Because DVD marketeers have discovered how lucrative it is to release old animated series of comic book heroes, we have so much more material.
Marvel has made animated series of many of its characters, and we are seeing them in new DVD releases. The old “Fantastic Four” animated series recently hit DVD, and with the continued success of “Spider-Man,” we’re seeing the old web slinger’s shows coming out again.
There’s an interesting backstory to the whole Venom saga. I remember back in the summer of 2004 there were ads for this DVD to come out as early as last fall. However, the release date just kept getting pushed back quietly.
The last “Spider-Man” animated DVD release was “Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock” last year. This easily coincided with “Spider-Man 2” in the theaters, which featured Doc Ock as the villain. In “Spider-Man 2,” the stage was being set for future villains, one of which might have been Venom. Then, the release of the “Spider-Man The Venom Saga” animated DVD was pushed back, which said to me that Venom might be the villain in “Spider-Man 3.”
However, with the casting of Thomas Hayden Church in the new Spider-Man movie and rumors of another villain circulating, it seems it was safe to take “The Venom Saga” off the shelf.
Now its out there for public consumption, and that’s a great thing.
The story follows Peter Parker through a strange transformation from your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man into a new pseudo-hero. This one is formed when a strange alien element bonds with Parker and his costume to make a fresh - and apparently more powerful - Spider-Man. However, when Parker notices his attitude changing - as well as his propensity towards violence - he sheds the new costume.
But it doesn’t end that easy. Eddie Brock, an old foe of both Spider-Man and Peter Parker, bonds with the strange alien element to create a new being. This creature, now known as Venom, proves to be one of Spider-Man’s more deadly foes yet. “The Venom Saga” spans five episodes from the animated series in two blocks. The first three cover the origin of Venom, and the final two cover his return.
This DVD has less in terms of bonus features compared to previous releases. There’s the ever-present “Stan Lee’s Soapbox,” which has the great comic guru discuss the origins and nature of Venom. Stan Lee also provides episode introductions to all five segments of the story. “The Venomous Web” is an interactive web of information about Venom and the characters and events surrounding his creation.
I never read the Spider-Man comic book, but I did collect comics at the time of his introduction. Even a non-Spider-Man collector like me couldn’t resist paging through an issue or two with the evil-looking Spider-Man in the black suit. Venom was just too cool. I was excited to get this DVD.
Specifications: Fullscreen (1.33:1). Animated menus. Spanish language track; English language subtitles for the hearing impaired.
