Todd McFarlane's Spawn - 10th Anniversary Signature Edition (Steelbook)

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Todd McFarlane's Spawn
10th Anniversary Signature Edition
- Steelbook Edition -
Conclusion
September 28, 2007
TM's Spawn (10th Anniversary): IntroductionTM's Spawn (10th Anniversary): A Closer Look
TM's Spawn (10th Anniversary): The MovieTM's Spawn (10th Anniversary): Features & Specifications
TM's Spawn (10th Anniversary): Conclusion


Todd McFarlane's Spawn
10th Anniversary Signature Edition
Features: New Dolby Digital 5.1 transfer. New steelbook packaging, giving the 4-disc set a heavy presence and feel. Exclusive to Best Buy customers: a first-run Comic book which is "glued" to the back of the steelbook case.
Official Website: http://www.spawn.com
MSRP: $39.98
Current Price: Purchase This Title Now
Pros
  • Steelbook design
  • Menus easy to navigate
  • Dolby Digital 5.1 sounds great
  • Video is good
  • If you like anime, you'll love Spawn
  • In-depth characters and plots
  • Raw, violent, and graphic scenes allow the series to take on a mind of its own, with no holding back
  • Audio commentaries on Episodes 1, 7, 13, and 18 provide some great insight into the series
  • The 50-minute interview with Todd McFarlane is an exciting feature to watch and listen to
Cons
  • No place to store the comic book!
  • No chapter stops on the ~50-minute Extended Interview With Todd McFarlane
  • Play All unfortunately, does exactly that
Observations
  • Discs tend to be firmly attached to the case--take out with care
  • Color enhancement was conservative
Suggestions
  • Improve the Steelbook so a 4-disc set can hold a semi-thick booklet, like a comic book
The 10th Anniversary Steelbook Edition of Todd McFarlane's Spawn impressed me. The Dolby Digital 5.1 was a treat to hear and brought life to the Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. The video is just as good as ever, and it appears as if it's been left alone, and if anything has changed, possibly a slight color boost but I think this is just because of my newer television.

The menus are, for the most part, basic. Some nice accents with animation, and there you go. What I did find a little irritating, is that when select Play All, the episodes AND the intros of Todd McFarlane are included. I love hearing and watching Todd in this edition, but I would have liked the option to Play All BUT Todd's Intros. I like watching the series like it was a long movie, instead of having a bunch of non-feature material.

I mentioned above the color enhancement was conservative. The colors in this new edition are good, but not exceptional. This is because of the nature of the kind of animation created. While I would have liked to see more tweaking of the colors, I also realize this would change the mood of the entire series, and I'm fine with what was done to it. You'll see mostly reds being enhanced in this version, but other colors appear to be distinguished better than the original releases I've viewed in the past.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED PLUS

Todd McFarlane's Spawn is a series which worked very well and is primarily the reason for Todd McFarlane's popularity and fame once the intricately detailed Spawn figures were created in memory of the series. You can't help adding this animation series to your DVD collection. I personally owned the three "snapper" and "flipper" DVDs and this edition is so much better. Holding 4 DVDs in a space where one DVD would be, is a nice convenience.

There are a couple issues I have. One problem, is the Steelbook packaging itself. It's by the far, the most rugged but yet gorgeous packaging ever invented, but has a weakness. If there is a 4-disc set, there is absolutely no room for any additional materials. No inserts. Nothing. So, when this particular edition (currently only available from Best Buy) has a comic book included, you can't store it in the steelbook case. Hopefully, manufacturers will realize this problem.

Another minor irritation I found, but still inconvenient, is the lack of chapter stops in the 50-minute Extended Interview With Todd McFarlane . Most DVD players have a function where you press "stop" once, and the player stops playing, but keeps the laser pointed at the position so pressing "play" will start from where you left off. This is great, but there are times where you shouldn't just let your DVD player's laser sit there for an extended period of time. With no chapter stops, you are forced to fast-forward to the point where you left off. I'm not sure why this was done, and was more than likely an overisight, but chapter stops were really needed in this particular commentary with Todd McFarlane.

Other than the few "cons" above, I still Highly Recommend (with a PLUS) this edition of Todd McFarlane's Spawn.


HomeReviewsForumsNews 201520132012200920082007200620052004
RSS FeedsFOV Factor TableSensor Sizes | Definitions: A-DE-HI-LM-PQ-UV-Z | Sitemap
Articles • Archived Websites (Pre-DigitalDingus): D100 LoungeE-10 Club | Contact