The Batman Superman Movie: World's Finest

This video, the Batman/Superman Movie, was originally released during the Fall 1997 season of the New Batman-Superman Adventures on the Kids WB! network. It consisted of a three-part episode arc called "World's Finest,", and aired in a contiguous 90-minute special during WB's Saturday morning line-up.

"World's Finest" is one the best episodes of both the Batman and the Superman Animated Series, and features what so many fans, including myself, have yearned for: a team-up between the two icons of D.C. Comics' 60+ year empire, the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight Detective. The stalwart Superman and the bold Batman find themselves forced to pool their admirable abilities in order to fend off the fiendish Joker who has acquired a generous amount of kryptonite and plans to sell it to the Man of Tomorrow's greatest enemy, the vile industrialist Lex Luthor. A fine storyline plays out in this visually stimulating episode arc, wonderfully animated in the style of Emmy-winning producers Paul Dini and Bruce W. Timm. The two heroes are much like they were at the beginning of the Post-Crisis Era of D.C. Comics circa 1986. They are wary of one another, not friendly, and distrusting. However, we see early on that they discover one another's identities, which also brings about a great deal of problems.

Superman and Batman have continued to appear one another in their respective shows, including a fantastic episode "Knight Time," where Superman is forced to don the uniform of the Dark Knight in order to discover who or what's behind the disappearance of Bruce Wayne.

Check out these wonderful series, but don't bother to head down to Wal-Mart and buy the video. Just wait...it'll pop up on your local WB Network carrier, and if you can stand the commercials, tape away!

Highly recommended.

The only thing I can fault Warner Bros for with this movie is for NOT stamping the classic Superman/Batman label of "World's Finest" on the box. Paul Dini and Bruce Timm -- indeed, everyone who has worked on these two animated series have proven time and again their respect for these characters and their talent in their portrayal. Seeing them TOGETHER -- well, it's a comic book geek's dream come true. Sure, it falls prey to the team-up concept of using one villain from each hero's mythos, but it does it well. What's more, the casts from each TV show have always been above par and are welcome together. Kevin Conroy and Tim Daly, as Batman and Superman, are the best on-screen pairing of the two heroes EVER. If Warner Bros had any sense at all, they'd forget Joel Schumaker and Tim Burton and give the next Batman and Superman movies to the great people who make the animated series a joy to watch every week. Oh -- and one more thing -- with the sudden influx of other heroes on these guy's shows: Steel, Supergirl, the Creeper, Green Lantern, Aquaman, the Flash, Nightwing -- when are we going to get the Justice League of America cartoon show that we're clamoring for? Get with it, WB!

THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE (ANIMATED) **** It's twice the fun when two of the timeless superheros - Batman and Superman - join together to battle opposite forces. The story has billionaire Lex Luthor (an enemy of Superman) paying the villainous Joker (an enemy of Batman) to extinguish Superman. The secondary storyline focuses on the relationships between hotshot news reporter Lois Lane and both title characters. Most of the fun and laughs come from the scenes with the Joker and his crazed sidekick.

Rating System

***** Excellent **** Good *** Fair ** Poor * Bad

The Batman/Superman Movie: World's Finest is a FINE film itself. We see the world's two greatest superheroes fight against Lex Luthor and The Joker; pretty self-explanatory I reckon. What follows the colossal team-ups is colourful fun filled with comic-paced action sequences that makes up for great entertainment for kids and fully-grown-ass-men still loving their superheroes, like myself.

As a Batman & Superman crossover, this movie trounces Dawn of Justice tenfold in its entertainment factor and understanding of the characters. Is this a fair comparison considering this film was part of an already pre-established franchise in the DC-Animated-Universe? I'd say that yes, because this one was a result of the storytelling taking its time to build up to this point as opposed to just jumping right into it the way Dawn of Justice did.

World's Finest does its job well and caters to both fans of The Man of Steel and The Dark Knight perfectly.

This was the episode I had been awaiting more than any of this TV series . .. and I was NOT disappointed! The thought of the two superhero big-guns joining forces on TV was always a big dream of mine, and this does the job magnificently. Each hero is given their own distinct personality: Batman, dark and imposing; Superman, strong yet gentle. The personalities of the villains were also a great contrast. My highlight was the knockdown-drag-out fight between the Joker's girl, Harley Quinn and Mercey Graves, Lex Luthor's assistant. I was also surprised at the level of maturity that the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Lois Lane was handled. I especially liked the reactions of everyone when Batman threw Superman across the nightclub (especially Superman's)! What I didn't like was the way in which Superman discovered Batman's identity. I won't reveal it, but suffice it to say that Batman would be better prepared for what Superman does. All I've got to say is that I hope that some studio will bring this story to the big screen with the proper actors (Val Kilmer as Batman, Kevin Sorbo as Superman) and director (Tim Burton, please come home!).