Release Date: 11/20/07

The Show

Everyone’s favorite masked crusader from Gotham City has gone through the ringer over the years with numerous iterations. Sometimes the tweaks to the story and art work, but for the most part, only a few radical changes succeed, with the fans just wanting more of the original and classic look of the dark knight himself. Well, in 2004, The Batman premiered on the WB network to mixed reactions, including a not so favorable one from this reviewer. However, with The Complete Fourth Season, this reviewer’s opinion changed as the series took a far darker turn.

Taking more of a look at the formative years of Batman, the series took a wild twist on the story with new looks for the villains and even the ubiquitous bat suit. At first, the changes were just too radical for me as the character redesigns and even alterations to the personalities proved to be a bit much. However, with all the changes aside, the stories of this season’s episodes transformed into a more adult plot. Introducing Dick Grayson as Robin after a tragedy struck his circus troupe family, we see Batman become a father figure all the while battling with the Joker as he tries to enlist the help of TV talk show host/psychologist Harley Quinn.

The 2-set disc includes 13 episodes with a Play All option available on each disc.
Disc 1
1. A Matter of Family
2. Team Penguin
3. Clayfaces
4. The Everywhere Man
5. The Breakout
6. Strange New World
7. Artifacts
Disc 2
1. Seconds
2. Riddler’s Revenge
3. Two of a Kind
4. Rumors
5. The Joining Part I
6. The Joining Part II

The DVD

The main menu comes with a standard static background with music. Submenus include silence with more static backgrounds.

The video transfer is offered in 1.33:1 Fullscreen Format and provides for a relatively clean picture. The picture is most certainly better than how they looked on original broadcast television but do carry a bit of grain throughout.

The audio is offered in English Dolby Digital 2.0. I was very surprised with the extra punch the various sound effects had throughout the episodes. Dialogue is crystal clear and clean throughout. Very good for a children’s cartoon. Subtitles are available in English.

The Extras

The 2-disc set comes in a standard amaray case with an extra flap housing the second disc. There is no insert including an episode guide.

Season 4 Unmasked is the sole bonus options running about 9-minutes and features interviews with the writers and producers as they speak on the direction of the series where elements of each episode would find heir way into later episodes.

Final Thoughts

Oddly enough, I found The Batman – The Complete Fourth Season much more entertaining than I had found the first season of the series. While the original goal of the series was to create a darker, more serious animated Batman series. Fans will no doubt want to pick this up, and non-fans will want to pick this season up.

- Morris Tang