Topic: Birds of Prey Marathon

[addicted2dvd]

Birds of Prey

Who will stand up to villains now that a heartbroken 'Dark Knight' has mysteriously vanished? Never fear, New Gothamites, a trio of champions is ready to take wing - and Helena, the daughter of 'Batman' and 'Catwoman', is among them. She calls herself 'Huntress' and crime is her prey. Teenaged Dinah is the youngest of the group, learning as she goes and gifted in clairvoyance. And overseeing the awesome threesome's high-tech nerve center is 'Batgirl'. Left wheelchair-bound by 'The Joker', she has reinvented herself as 'Oracle', the team’s cyber expert. Huntress, Dinah, Oracle: They are the 'Birds of Prey'. Fighting together. Living together. And soaring into adventure together in 13 breathtaking live-action episodes.

Disc 1:

1. Pilot
Birds take wing. Oracle, Huntress an Dinah work as one against Quinn's 'New Gotham' power grab.

My Thoughts:
Even though I definitely enjoyed it... the pilot episode was not quite as good as I remember it being. In this episode Oracle and Huntress first meet Dinah... and take her in after she helps them with the case they are working on. It has someone preying on people's fears similar to the way the Batman villain "The Scarecrow" did... minus the costume and such. We also hear the story on how Oracle and Huntress gets together... and what happened to Batman. So that really is a lot of information to put into an hour long pilot episode.

2. Slick
Go with the flow. The Birds face a baddie who turns from solid to liquid. Meanwhile, the Helena-Reese attraction grows.

My Thoughts:
This was a good episode. The girls must stop a meta-human (think mutant) that can change from solid to water from stealing an armored car filled with military grade weapons. Dinah tries to get closer to Huntress to gain her trust.

3. Prey for the Hunter
Takes one to kill one? A slayer usurps metahuman talents - in order to murder metahumans. Dinah ditches school.

My Thoughts:
This was another good episode. In this episode a Meta-human that can mirror other Meta-human's powers goes on the hunt... killing off Meta-humans with their own powers. We also get our first look at No-Man's Land... a secret bar/hangout for the Meta-human population. Even though I enjoyed this episode... I have to admit that the ending (how they stopped him) was pretty obvious... I saw it coming early on in the episode.

4. Three Bird and a Baby
Big trouble in a tiny bundle. Helena rescues an infant, unaware that her good deed will lead to danger.

My Thoughts:
Once again... another really good episode. In this episode Helena (Huntress) rescues an infant baby boy... to discover he isn't what he seems. He was actually created in a laboratory... to go through an entire lifespan in 3 days. And is programed to become an assassin.... with a mission to complete. But can the girl's friendship overcome the programming and stop him in time?  Watching this episode... I came to a realization that some of these stories seemed to inspire episodes of Smallville... first you have the man that can transform himself into water. And now this one with an infant going through a complete lifespan in a matter of days. Both of these have very similar Smallville episodes. I know 2 episodes is not a huge sign... but it will be interesting to see if there are any more familiar storylines here.

[Tom]

Aaaaaah! I just found out, that they have replaced some music on this set! Including the great theme song!
Pete, how is the replacement song? Though you are probably the wrong person to ask this 
Also I remember the finale which used Tatu's "All the Things She Said". I hope that they have left this alone (probably not).

[addicted2dvd]

Disc 2:

5. Sins of the Mother
Dinah learns of her family link to Batman. Family ties - a crime family - also impact Reese.

My Thoughts:
This was a great episode. In this one we discover Dinah's birth mother is Caroline Lance (The Black Canary). Plus Dinah also discovers her abilities are growing when she starts to show signs of telekinesis. This episode guest stars Lori Loughlin (Becky on sitcom Full House) as the Black Canary.

6. Primal Scream
Caged Bird. When Helena works undercover for Reese, her identity becomes compromised. Does Oracle fear intimacy?

My Thoughts:
This was a good episode... but pretty standard. It seemed a little on the weird side to see Helena undercover in a gang... but it did fit her character... after all Cat Woman was her mother... so she has a little of the bad in her as well.

7. Split
Helena is attracted to 'Darkstrike', a simpatico crime fighter who isn't as perfect as he seems to be.

My Thoughts:
This is another good episode. But unfortunately for some reason... even after 6 years... I remembered how this one ended. That did take away from the enjoyment just a hair... bur was still a lot of fun watching it again. The guy that played "The Crawler" (the serial killer Darkstrike was after) was Brian Thompson. He is one of those guys I never knew his name... but was highly recognizable since I seen him in so many other shows.

[addicted2dvd]

Aaaaaah! I just found out, that they have replaced some music on this set! Including the great theme song!
Pete, how is the replacement song? Though you are probably the wrong person to ask this 
Also I remember the finale which used Tatu's "All the Things She Said". I hope that they have left this alone (probably not).

Out of pure curiosity I listened to part of the theme song... just to see what they replaced it with.  I couldn't even listen to the whole thing... but I have to say... it didn't fit what the series is. In my opinion they did not do a very good job with the replacement theme... I mean did they even bother to find out what the series was about?

But on a good point... they do have a chapter stop right after the theme... so we can chapter skip past the theme. Which is what I normally do when I can anyway. I just wish they thought ahead and put a chapter stop after Alfred's speech in the beginning of the show. That also gets tiresome to here when you are watching multiple episodes per day.

[Tom]

OK, as I found out, the music in the finale has also been replaced. Also the transfer is matted full screen. I am getting disappointed with this set even before it arrives 
At least the unaired pilot is included.

[goodguy]

Isn't there a German release planned? I vaguely remember some German release of a TV series (maybe Roswell, or Dawson's Creek?) to have the original music on the dubbed track while the original language track had the replacement music.

[Tom]

Isn't there a German release planned? I vaguely remember some German release of a TV series (maybe Roswell, or Dawson's Creek?) to have the original music on the dubbed track while the original language track had the replacement music.

Yes, there is a German release planned. Though it is twice as expensive. Even if the music isn't changed there, I don't know if I am willing to buy this series a second time. It wasn't so great to begin with. It was fun enough to justify spending the $28 I was doing now. But if I am willing to spend an additional €40 I hardly think so.

[addicted2dvd]

Disc 3:

8. Lady Shiva
Still a lot of fight in her. Oracle dons the 'Batgirl' outfit to confront a criminal reminiscent of an old foe.

My Thoughts:
This is an excellent episode. One of my favorites of the whole series. It was cool to see Barbara in the Batgirl outfit. The story and everything was really well done on this one.

9. Nature of the Beast
Divided loyalties. Reese asks Helena to protect the crimelord who killed Dinah's mother, Black Canary.

My Thoughts:
Another really good episode. Dinah has no choice but to deal with the anger she is feeling after the death of her mother.

10. Gladiatrix
A fight club operator forces metahuman women to battle each other. On tonight's card: Helena vs. Dinah.

My Thoughts:
Another episode that I really liked a lot. It was fun seeing Huntress and Dinah in the ring against each other. And this is yet another episode that it would seem Smallville took the idea of. I remember a Smallville episode a season or 2 ago that had something to do with underground fighting.

11. Reunion
The girl most likely. Helena thinks attending her school reunion is lame until someone starts murdering ex-classmates.

My Thoughts:
This was a pretty good... but standard episode. Nothing really all that note-worthy about it in my opinion.

[addicted2dvd]

Disc 4:

12. Feat of Clay
A villain's touch turns people to clay. Helena discovers a shocking truth. Wade learns Oracle's secret.

13. Devil's Eyes
Trouble rules the roost. Quinn has a hypnotic grip on the city and controls the Birds' command tower, too.

My Thoughts:
For some reason these 2 episodes are put together as 1 double-length episode. I could be wrong... but I don't remember it originally airing that way.  But either way... I enjoyed every minute of it. Would have made for a really good season finale... but unfortunately the studio decided to make it a series finale instead. In the first half we meet Clayface and his son. As well as find out who it was that killed Helena's mother. The second half is finally the showdown between Helena and Harley Quinn.

Extras:

1. Unaired Pilot (Disc 4)
A new crimefighting force with links to Batman fills the void left by the caped one's mysterious departure.

My Thoughts:
The Unaired Pilot has another actress playing Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn)... and a couple other minor changes. In this one Harley Quinn is played by Sherilyn Fenn instead of Mia Sara. An unaired pilot is an extra that is just cool to have. Even though you pretty much know what is going on... it is fun to see their first take on the story. That is when there is more differences then a cast change... as there is some here. Definitely worth checking out.

2. Gotham Girls: The Complete Series (Discs 1-3)
All 30 episodes of the Animated Web-Based Series featuring the female heroes and rogues from Gotham City.

My Thoughts:
After watching the first group of shorts on disc 1 I found these to be cute... but no big deal. And I was kinda hoping it would grow on me more within the ones on the next disc or so. And they did grow on me some... I especially like the 3rd season episodes (on disc 3) they were more fun as they were a continuous story. Every episode taking over where the last one left off. But this is an extra that was fun while watching for the first time... I don't see myself watching them much again... if again at all. But on the other hand... I do see my daughter, Brittany enjoying these shorts a lot. I can see her borrowing this set just to watch these.

My Over-All Thoughts:
This is a series that I have enjoyed a lot when the pilot first aired. Unfortunately the studio didn't see fit to give it even a complete season.  I haven't seen this show since it originally aired so I have been waiting a LONG 6 years for it to come out on DVD so I could revisit the series.  Going into it I was hoping it would be as good as I remembered it... It started out not quite as good as I remembered... but by the time I was at the end of the first disc I was hooked once again. Sure there is some problems with this set... as has been talked about on the message boards a lot here lately. Problems like music changes... including the theme music. And they decided to release it in non-anamorphic video. But neither of these problems stopped me from enjoying this series.  I had a wonderful time watching this show again.