STUDIO: Warner Brothers
RELEASE DATE: August 19, 2008
STARRING:
CREATED BY:
FEATURES: Creator's Commentary On 3 Key Episodes
Inside Justice League
Storyboards: The Blue Print For Justice
The Look Of The League
Justice League: The First Mission
The Blackhawk Theme Music Video

To upgrade or not to upgrade? It's going to become a weekly question with more and more titles that you already own being released on Blu-Ray. This week features a tough decision. Let's be honest - Warner Brothers knows that most of the people who are going to pick up that Justice League of America: Season One Blu-Ray release hitting shelves this week already own it in standard definition. And those fans will hold that Blu-Ray that's probably priced near $50 (if they're lucky) and they won't be able to decide what to do. If there was some must-have new special features or some other new trick to make the purchase decision easier that would be one thing. Or maybe these JLA episodes would be in widescreen instead of the standard-definition full-frame of the 2006 release? Nope. Justice League fans out there have to ask themselves one thing - are they willing to pay for something that looks and sounds nearly exactly the same as the standard definition set on their shelf and with no real new special features?

Yes, I said looks and sounds exactly the same. Without a TrueHD Audio track, the sound on the standard and Blu-Ray are comparable and the 1080p High Definition 1.33:1 image does not look significantly different than an upconverted version of the original standard def season one. (Trust me, I compared.) If you don't already have season one of JLA, I can't stress enough how much you should pick this up - it's one of the best cartoons of the last decade - but if you already own out, it's not really worth the double dip. Yes, buying JLA: Season One on Blu-Ray will lead to higher sales numbers which leads to more cartoon releases, which is something we all want, but you'll be paying for something that really is not much different than what you already own. If you're going to pay, it's only for the "greater good" of future cartoon releases on the format.

Now, for those of you completely unfamiliar with Justice League of America: Season One, prepare yourself for a cartoon to once again remind you how great kids have it nowadays. I'm well past the target demographic of JLA and I love the show. If I was twelve or thirteen again, it would easily be my favorite series on television. The writing in Justice League is so good and I honestly don't think there's a faster 22-minutes in my DVD collection. An episode of JLA flies by in the blink of an eye. It's the standard that all Saturday morning superhero shows should be measured against and it only got better after season one. The JLA movie recently fell apart and there's a part of me that thinks it's because the team involved saw this version and knew it couldn't be topped.

Justice League of America features Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Hawkgirl teaming up to fight evil on Earth and across the galaxy. The seven superheroes unite to form the Justice League after an alien invasion requires all of their powers to defeat it. Battles in season one include legendary villains Lex Luthor, Vandal Savage, and Morgan Le Fey. Even Aquaman has a cameo. And most JLA episodes are two- or three-parters. The first season contains 12 adventures spread out over 26 episodes. It's a must-have. Unless you have it already.