Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Justice League: Season Two Blu-ray Movie Review

Another terrific DCU outing...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown June 2, 2013

Here lies Justice League, one of the finest, most diverse and most tragically short-lived animated DC Universe television series. Even with five seasons and ninety-one episodes -- the first two seasons titled Justice League, the last three seasons Justice League Unlimited -- the smartly crafted superhero teamup was retired long before its time. Seasons One and Two are particularly engrossing, in that they offer sprawling, multi-part story arcs that made each season feel like a collection of animated films rather than an episodic series. In a perfect world, it would still be on the air, delivering greater, grander tales, bigger battles and an endless array of heroes and villains. Until then, or at least until Justice League Unlimited finds its way onto Blu-ray, we'll just have to wait and hope for a series of its scope and skill to grace TV once again.

Season Two features the voice talents of Kevin Conroy as Batman, George Newbern as Superman, Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman, Carl Lumbly as Martian Manhunter, Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum as Flash, Phil LaMarr as Green Lantern John Stewart, and Maria Canals as Hawkgirl. Stories include:

• Twilight of the Gods: When Brainiac attacks Darkseid's homeworld, Apokolips, the League joins forces with New Gods Orion, Highfather and Lightray to stop the would-be world conquerer.
• Tabula Rasa: The League battles an android capable of copying their superpowers. The man behind the android? Lex Luthor, who's actively manipulating Amazo with lies and deceit.
• Only a Dream: Doctor Destiny enters the dreams of the League members and attacks them where they sleep. Only Batman and J'onn are aware of his influence, though, and have to find a way to save their teammates.
• Maid of Honor: Wonder Woman tries to help Vandal Savage's fiancé while preventing Savage from acquiring even more power. And with an orbital weapon aimed at the planet, Savage has never posed a greater threat.
• Hearts and Minds: Green Lantern enlists the rest of the League to help fellow Lantern Kilowog stop Despero, a powerful psychic warlord with a penchant for world domination.
• A Better World: When the Justice Lords invade the Justice League's world, the League is in for a shock: their new enemies are themselves, albeit from an alternate reality where truth and justice didn't come so easy.
• Eclipsed: When an evil spirit housed within a lunar crystal infects the League with evil power, it's up to Flash, the only one not affected by the crystal, to stop the spirit and save his friends.
• The Terror Beyond: When Aquaman and Doctor Fate recruit Solomon Grundy to help defeat an ancient creature, Hawkgirl has to face a series of tough questions.
• Secret Society: Grodd, Sinestro, Parasite, Killer Frost, Giganta, Clayface and the Shade concoct a plot to capture and kill the members of the Justice League.
• Hereafter: With Metropolis under attack, Superman rushes in to save the day. But when the Man of Steel is killed, the League members are left to pick up the pieces in his absence.
• Wild Cards: The League races to disarm a series of bombs set by the Joker, all while a nationwide TV audience watches and the Royal Flush Gang stand in the heroes' way.
• Comfort and Joy: In this standalone Christmas episode, the League members spend their holiday apart, and celebrate in vastly different but equally lighthearted ways.
• Starcrossed: Warriors from Hawkgirl's planet join the League to thwart an assault on Earth, but Hawkgirl soon comes to learn everything is not as it seems.

Justice League: Season Two Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Justice League: Season Two boasts a strong 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation. It has to contend with an over-crowded rogues gallery, though. Banding, artifacting, aliasing and other villains continually attack the integrity of the image. Thankfully, each issue is a minor nuisance, and should be familiar to fans of Warner's DCU animated releases. Most are inherent to the animation and its digital source; very few actually trace back to the encode itself, which is quite good. Colors are brave and bold, primaries pack superhuman punch, black levels are menacingly inky, and contrast is consistently dazzling. The series' line art is razor sharp too -- even to a fault -- and every detail in the backgrounds has been preserved. Compared to the DVD, the Blu-ray release of Season Two is revelatory. Series addicts will be most pleased, even though the more stringent videophiles among them will retain some mild reservations.

Justice League: Season Two Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unlike the Blu-ray release of Season One, Justice League: Season Two earns a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. And the series has never sounded better. Superpowered blows pack LFE power. Citywide battles extend into every channel, delivering low-end destruction and immersive, rear speaker aggression. Voices are always clean and clear, with excellent prioritization, and the soundscape follows suit. The series itself doesn't feature the deepest or fullest of sound designs -- it's actually fairly two-dimensional on the whole -- but it's hard to fault Warner's lossless mix for its humble TV origins. All told, Justice League's second season couldn't sound any better than it does here.

Justice League: Season Two Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentaries: Three commentaries are available. "Twilight Part 2" with Bruce Timm, Dwayne McDuffie, James Tucker and Butch Lukic; "A Better World Part 2" with Timm, McDuffie, Tucker and Stan Berkowitz; and "Starcrossed Part 3" with Timm, McDuffie, Tucker and Lukic.
• The Justice Lords and Beyond (HD, 17 minutes): Alternate timelines, parallel universes and the twisting and turning of the DC Universe take center stage in this Blu-ray exclusive featurette.
• Declassified (SD, 8 minutes): A showrunners' roundtable discussion with Timm and company.
• Voices of Justice (SD, 11 minutes): The voice cast discuss their roles.
• Deleted Scene (SD, 1 minute): A single deleted scene from "Maid of Honor."

Justice League: Season Two Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Justice League came and went too quickly, but its first two seasons are at least available on Blu-ray in all their glory. Season Two features all 26 second season episodes, a solid video presentation, a strong DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, and a number of extras, among them an exclusive 17-minute featurette (in HD no less). And at its current low price point, Justice League: Season Two is a steal.