Releases - DVD - The Complete Fifth Season
Release Information
Announce Date: 3/26/07
Street Date: 7/22/08
MSRP: $19.98
Packaging Type: Amaray Case
Disc Configuration: 1) 9-Dual Layer 2) 9-Dual Layer
Run Time: 299
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio:
Original Aspect Ratio - 1.33, Standard [4:3 Transfer]
Sound Quality: English: Dolby Surround Stereo 2.0
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Episodes: Homecoming, Part 1; Homecoming, Part 2; Trust;
For Real; Snowblind; Kole; Hide and Seek; Lightspeed; Revved Up; Go!;
Calling All Titans; Titans Together; Things Change
Special Features: Access top-secret files from the Teen
Titans: Friends and Foes featurette gallery ("The Doom Patrol" (5:07),
"Titans East" (5:24), "Honorary Titans" (6:00), "The Brotherhood of
Evil" (5:09), "Gordanians" (3:33)).
Synopsis: The teen scene is over for
these adolescent phenoms - Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven
- as they launch into a feud with the ultimate team of villains: The
Brotherhood of Evil. Led by criminal mastermind Brain, this motley group
- Madam Rouge, Monsieur Mallah and General Immortus - plots to rid the
world of every Super Hero. One by one, they take out honorary Titans
like Wildebeest and Hotspot, escalating the vendetta into a global war
that ends with the unthinkable. It's up to Beast Boy to perform his most
amazing transformation, or it will certainly be the end of the Titans
forever!
Featuring all your favorite Titan heroes plus every imaginable thug,
crook and scoundrel from the Titans' rogue gallery, this action-packed
2-disc collection will capture you up until the very last showdown!
Review
When most shows on Cartoon Network met their end at fifty-two
episodes, few held out hope that Teen Titans would have a
different fate. When the shows fifty-second episode aired, however, it
was obvious the network wasn’t ready to let go of the ratings sensation
and news soon followed that a fifth, and final, season would be airing
on the network. It seemed no sooner did the news come that we were
watching the controversial (among fans) series finale “Things Change”
during a weekday airing on Cartoon Network. Despite ending, the series
enjoyed a healthy multi-year run after it ended over two years ago, the
series has just now become complete for fans to own on DVD.
For the final season of Teen Titans fans got to see what the
writers and directors of the series would do with “one last chance” at
showing off their creation from the past three years. What we got was
the Titans expanding not only in ranks but teaming up with other
superhero teams like the Doom Patrol to take down the wicked Brotherhood
of Evil. The series arc culminated in a two-part finale that brought
together a myriad of Titans to face off against the Brotherhood members
in the shows most intricately choreographed and detailed fight.
At the time I felt unimpressed by Teen Titans final season,
simply because I’d felt that it’d run its course. The show had its
moments still, but it wasn’t something I was ever greatly impressed with
after its superb first season. By the time the fifth season aired and
the new Titans and villains were introduced, it felt like a Justice
League Unlimited rip off, which, at the time (and I still do,
really) considered to be a much superior show. As time passed and I sat
down to re-watch the season for this DVD release, I realized that while
it may have seemed to simply rip off JLU, it really didn’t
matter; Teen Titans followed the same progression as the Justice
League show did and it really was just the natural place to take a
series that had run for that long.
Watching the series now is really just fun in its simplest form. There’s
action, comedy and interesting characters along the way, accompanied by
some of the best animation from the past decade to accompany each one of
the episodes. It’s an incredibly impressive show as it is one of few
that was made to appeal genuinely appeal to both kids and adults, never
dumbing down an issue so much that it makes the adult in you roll your
eyes or the kid in you stomp his feet because he’s being preached to.
The show really struck a universal chord and it’s simply one of the best
pieces of superhero animation out there; not as serious as the Justice
League series, obviously, what with its anime influenced animation,
but it is a series that coasts along at such a high speed that you’re
through with the season before you know it.
With the majority of the episodes belonging to the overall Brotherhood
of Evil arc, there are only a few episodes that stand on their own.
“Go!” is the longed for “origin” episode that fans had been clamoring
for and while I was ultimately disappointed with it (re-reading my
review of it, I was very disappointed with it, apparently…man was
I hard to please), it did offer a few cool throw-backs to previous
episodes in the series. As if that wasn’t enough, the final episode,
“Things Change”, brought the return of what appeared to be Terra, but it
was all so vague in nature that it’s hard to decide where it really was
going. The overall message was clear (if you didn’t get it, just look at
the name of the episode) and it really was a fitting end to the series.
Looking back on the show, I can see why I was so disappointed with it
three years ago when it first started airing, but honestly I’d just have
to smack my younger self for how much venom I spit out over the final
season; it wasn’t the best and while I still don’t feel it was the best
use of a shows final season, it did manage to entertain, especially when
watched in quick succession on DVD. It’s not the shows best (I reserve
that for the shows first season), but it has its moments and even on its
worst day, Teen Titans blows away the competition.
Recommended
The DVD
Teen Titans final season arrives on DVD in a standard two-disc
amaray DVD case that is similar in style to the past releases. It blends
well with the rest of the sets on your shelf and continues the colorful
streak of spines that the previous seasons show off. There is no insert,
like the last season, and only the discs (whose art is 100% identical to
Season 4’s discs…sans saying “Season 5”, at least) are inside. At least
the art for the set appears to be new or unused art, so it’s not the
same ol’ stock art that other sets get smacked with. Menus are static
and easy to navigate, so no worries about the young ones getting
confused for this set.
The video and audio for this release are what we’ve come to expect from
the series. It’s a very strong progressive scan transfer, showing few
signs of compression and just overall looking awesome. The colors are
vibrant and aside from the lack of a 16x9 image (should we ever see
that, I suspect it’ll be a Blu-ray release…if this series would ever
warrant such a release, anyway), there’s little for me to complain about
on the video front. The audio is also clean and clear in a solid English
Dolby Surround Stereo track (sorry, nothing else…only English subtitles
as well).
In the extras department we have a surprising amount to pick from. Aside
from the usual trailers, we have the “Teen Titans: Friends and Foes”
featurette gallery. This isn’t as boring as it sounds, as the five
different extras, running an aggregated 25:15, feature plenty of
interviews with the crew of the show, who talk about their decisions for
certain characters and their comic book inspirations. In all we hear
about "The Doom Patrol" (5:07), "Titans East" (5:24), "Honorary Titans"
(6:00), "The Brotherhood of Evil" (5:09), and "Gordanians" (3:33), so
there’s plenty for fans to listen to and pick apart here.
Sadly that’s it for this release; there’s nothing else here to check
out. Fans of the show will want to complete their collection with this
release and those with younger superhero fans running around the house
will no doubt want to give them another dose of the Titans.
Recommended.
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