Search - Todd McFarlane's Spawn - The Ultimate Collection (Animated Series) on DVD

Todd McFarlane's Spawn - The Ultimate Collection
Animated Series
Actors: Khandi Alexander, Michael Beach, Xander Berkeley, Victor Brandt, Robert Costanzo
Genres: Action & Adventure, Drama, Horror, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Mystery & Suspense, Animation

UR 1999 2hr 30min

Todd McFarlane's Spawn — Adult, stylish, and more than a little mean, this full-length animated tale has one very strong thing going for it--it knows how to milk "cool." The animation is superior to anything recently devot... more »ed to a superhero...or super-antihero, in this case. Al Simmons was a government assassin before he was burned to death and sent to hell (plot summary's starting out nicely, isn't it?). After making a particularly bad deal with the devil--to lead Satan's dark armies in exchange for seeing his wife again--Spawn is let loose upon the world. He immediately whacks three mob hit men, making his presence known and getting himself into all sorts of trouble. Spawn is also visited by the Clown, an obese, disgusting Beatrice, guiding our third-degree-burned Dante through this hellish, topside world. There are other nasty characters, but in this first segment a very gratuitous inclusion of a child murderer goes too far for even this mature fare. Spawn isn't fun; there's very little joy in any of this. But the point isn't fun--it's brutal, adult-comic style. And there's plenty of it. --Keith Simanton Todd McFarlane's Spawn 2

From the mind of comic-book maestro Todd McFarlane comes the second season of episodes of the animated Spawn. Highly stylized animation and provocative story lines make Spawn a sophisticated cartoon sometimes more appropriate for older audiences. Murder victim Al Simmons has returned from hell to earth as a "hellspawn," a soldier for the army of darkness sent to collect more souls for hell. In these episodes, Spawn meets the man who assassinated him and becomes suspicious of the organization that ordered him killed. Jason Wynn, the leader of the group, plans to sell weapons of mass destruction stolen from the military. Spawn's former wife, Wanda, has since remarried Terry Fitzgerald, with whom Spawn must reconcile. Terry is hot on the trail of the missing arms, and Wynn and his assassins, including the highly trained Merrick, set out to kill Terry, Wanda, and their daughter, Cyan. Spawn foils the plot while realizing the hard truth that Wanda has a new life. --Shannon Gee Spawn 3: The Ultimate Battle

The third chapter of this compelling HBO miniseries answers a number of questions--namely, who is the omnipotent old man who hides in the shadows and why is the mysterious Asian reporter (Jade) investigating the alley murders? Spawn has reached a crossroads, and he must choose between the forces of darkness and light. But it's not clear-cut: Al (Spawn) must deliberate over the seemingly minor differences that separate heaven and hell in his world. As a former assassin for the NSA, he "opened the eyes of hell" with his iniquitous deeds of depravity; therefore, his journey to hell was preordained. But this particular section of the series intriguingly asks, What if you had no choice, and killing was not just the only way out of a squeeze but was also your fate? Intellectual stuff, indeed. But as with the rest of the series, a profound metaphysical puzzle is brought to the fore without justifying it with an answer. It's frustrating, but also keeps you firmly planted in your chair, pondering conundrum after conundrum. --Jeremy Storey

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Movie Details

Actors: Khandi Alexander, Michael Beach, Xander Berkeley, Victor Brandt, Robert Costanzo
Creator: Todd McFarlane
Genres: Action & Adventure, Drama, Horror, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Mystery & Suspense, Animation
Sub-Genres: Crime, Superheroes, Drama, Horror, Animation, Mystery & Suspense, Animation
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Format: DVD - Color - Animated
DVD Release Date: 10/05/1999
Original Release Date: 01/01/1999
Theatrical Release Date: 00/00/1999
Release Year: 1999
Run Time: 2hr 30min
Screens: Color
Number of Discs: 4
SwapaDVD Credits: 4
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 1
Edition: Box set
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Languages: English, Spanish

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Movie Reviews

It was okay...

Drew Roberts | that one place, WI | 09/09/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"To be honest, what got me to buy this item were the reviews saying that this is a stellar series. I hadn't seen any of the episodes proir to the purchase, and have only dabbled in the comics. I love Todd McFarlane's work, and find it very good for the most part. Not that this is BAD, it just isn't as great as everyone has made it out to be. The animation is very slick for the time it was made, but is slightly outdated for the picky viewers. The dialogue and plot pretty much follow the general idea of the comics, but stray a bit (as is necessary to do in order to keep a coherent story). The voice-overs were pretty good (except for the old wizard guy, Cogliostro, who made it feel like I was watching a discovery channel show on Spawn rather than an action series) and the story flowed nicely from episode to episode, often times making it difficult to tell when one episode ends and the other begins. They also reused several shots a few too many times. It's okay to recycle shots to save money, but when it is noticeable to the veiwer, then there is a problem. For the most part the series was entertaining, but it's nothing I would record on my Tivo. It was just okay for me, and there was no huge dissappointment when it ended, like others have said, because, honestly, I didn't care that terribly about the characters. This is a show I would watch if it was on, but wouldn't go out of my way to make sure I saw every episode. It was just okay for me..."