Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Teen Titans: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 2, 2018

While they are not exactly identical, the opening phrases of the theme songs to Teen Titans and the great old spy classic Danger Man (perhaps known more widely on this side of the pond as Secret Agent Man) are so similar that years ago when my then young sons were watching Teen Titans in another somewhat distant room, I actually walked in to see why in heaven’s name they were watching an old (black and white) Patrick McGoohan enterprise whose music I thought I had heard, and indeed why that old show would have even been on the cable airwaves to begin with (which it obviously wasn't). Teen Titans is kind of unavoidably nostalgic for me to watch now, a reminder of times past and one of the prime exemplars of a show seemingly geared to the demographic my boys were in when it premiered. In fact Teen Titans could almost be thought of as a “kinder and gentler” (and, obviously, younger) version of other group dynamic offerings from the DC universe like Justice League, with an emphasis on a somewhat lighter tone than even the occasionally whimsical “older” skewing cartoons culled from iconic DC comic books can offer at times. Perhaps interestingly for older viewers, the only overly familiar character in the main quintet of superheroes might arguably be Robin, with the supporting quartet maybe falling into "and the rest" territory (to quote the now legendary redaction from the first season theme song of another venerable enterprise, Gilligan's Island). That aggregation includes (again, for some at least) the lesser known Beast Boy, Starfire, Raven and Cyborg.

There are a bunch of superpowered folks on display as Teen Titans kicks off, but it turns out they’re supposedly arch nemeses of our heroes, part of an organization called HAEYP that is in league with the Titans’ ultimate arch nemesis, super villain Slade. And in fact the first episode of the series serves as a pretty fitting template for everything that follows in the first season. The Titans are shown to be kind of endearingly dysfunctional, frequently squabbling over meaningless things like who has misplaced the remote, but of course instantly banding together when a threat arises, which just as certainly it will, probably at least twice, in any given episode.

The characters are generally distinctive, with Robin being the putative leader and kind of all around good guy. Raven is at least somewhat like a goth girl, devoid of affect most of the time and generally rolling her eyes at the shenanigans of her team mates. Starfire is kind of a naif, an alien with an only intermittently accurate command of the English language. Cyborg is kind of the Titans’ answer to Mr. T of The A-Team fame, and similarly prone to “pity the fool” who stands in his way. The least engaging character for me is Beast Boy, a character with the ability to morph who in this version frequently looks like a bright green vampire.

Virtually every episode in this first season tends to ping pong back and forth between the gently humorous banter between the Titans, banter that is at least occasionally able to reveal hints of actual honest to goodness emotion, as when Starfire decides she’s not “good enough” to be a Titan, and more straightforward action elements when either a sole Titan or the whole group become victims of some nefarious attack. In fact, it’s almost rote in this show that the bantering sequences are frequently interrupted by these very attack vignettes, combat scenes that inevitably have the Titans triumphing (you expected anything less?), at which point the bantering returns as if nothing major had happened.

While many, maybe even most, of the episodes in this season can exist as standalone enterprises, there are “arcs” that develop, including the recurrence of Slade. But truth be told, the series does tend to exploit more of a “villain of the week” approach, with new arch nemeses showing up every couple of episodes or so, only to be vanquished by the closing credits.

This is a bright, engaging series that should certainly appeal to younger boys especially (if their parents aren’t overly concerned with nonstop “warring” between various combatants), but for adults the series offers some genial comedy as well as a rather interesting design aesthetic. While most of the show falls squarely into the WB Animation tradition of the early 21st century, there are hints of anime in certain moments, with even some chibi versions of characters showing up for brief moments.

Teen Titans: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Teen Titans: The Complete First Season is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Archive with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is generally a nicely sharp and extremely vividly suffused looking presentation, one that supports the series' tendency toward bright and bold primaries coupled with some rather appealing pastels and interstitial tones. As mentioned above in the main body of the review, there are occasional stylistic "detours" that give the series a rather distinctive appearance (look at screenshots 13 and 19 for just a couple of examples). Some fans may not like the 1.78:1 framing for all of these episodes, but I noticed nothing untoward in terms of "missing heads" or the like. The one minor issue that caught my eye here is some kind of oddly variable line detail. What shows up occasionally is not exactly "classic" stair stepping, but it's somewhat similar, with very closely hatched "jaggies" that just kind of appear occasionally for no rhyme or reason (or at least a rhyme or reason that I could discern). You really have to be watching for these, so my hunch is most fans of the series will not be overly troubled by their occurrence.

Teen Titans: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Teen Titans: The Complete First Season features a rather robust sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track, one that bursts with energy during the regular fighting and/or action scenes that are generally present in each and every episode. There were a couple of moments where I detected what sounded like very slight distortion in elements like explosions, but it may indeed have been part of the sound design. Otherwise, this is a clear and well delineated track that offers excellent support for dialogue, effects and a pretty insistent score.

Teen Titans: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Finding Their Voices: The Secret Information Behind the Making of Teen Titans (480i; 7:52) is a fun if brief archival piece with some enjoyable footage of the voice actors.


• Comic Creations: From Comic Book to Cartoon (480i; 21:55) is a well done featurette documenting the adaptive process.


• Puffy AmiYumi Music Video (480i; 3:31)


• Sneak Peek at Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi TV Show (480i; 00:38)


• Puffy AmiYumi Interview / Featurette (480i; 13:15)


• Toon Topia Bonus Cartoons: The Hiros Episodes 1 & 2 (480i; 8:35)

Teen Titans: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Teen Titans: The Complete First Season doesn't try to reinvent the superhero wheel, and as such may seem a bit on the repetitive side even for the kids for whom it's obviously been designed. But the show's lightness of tone is extremely enjoyable, and the main quintet of heroes are all "believable" characters, at least within the outlandish context of a series like this. There's not a ton of suspense in any of these episodes, since it's a given that the Titans will prevail against any and all supervillains, but the show is extremely colorful and boasts a rather distinctive design aesthetic. Technical merits are generally strong, and for fans if no one else, Teen Titans: The Complete First Season comes Recommended.