The oddness of this incarnation is noticeable right away. Hanging out with the Super Friends in their Hall of Justice are two teens who look like they should be rejects from the late 60s hippie movement. Wendy, Marvin and their sidekick Wonder Dog are constantly hanging around the most powerful beings on the planet, but yet it’s never explained how they earned this privilege.

Despite the presence of the un-powered hippie teens and their dog, the show does feature some of the best Justice League members. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, along with Robin and Aquaman make up the active roster. Also putting in appearances in episodes  in the season are Plastic Man, Green Arrow and the Flash. Their appearances are short, but they offer a bright spot in an unusually dull season.

My biggest complaint about the show is it’s lack of real villains. Not a single DC Comics villain makes an appearance on the show. Instead, in each show the Super Friends are menaced by aliens, animals and mad scientists. At this point in time, DC and Hanna-Barbera had 50 years of DC stories to pull villains from and they couldn’t do that for a single episode. To top things off, each episode was 49 minutes long. The one-hour length really stretched some stories and made enduring the bad villains even worse.

Still, it’s an interesting show and one that Hanna-Barbera certainly looked at when it finished airing after only 16 episodes. They definitely took a look at the faults I mentioned because they were all replaced in the follow-up series The All-New Super Friends Hour that aired in 1977-1978. Comic book villains were used, Wendy and Marvin were gone and the episodes were made up of four shorts that ran around 12-minutes each. The success of this series paved the way for the next nine years of the Super Friends. None of this would have happened without the 1973 Super Friends series.

Episodes

1. The Balloon People
2. The Fantastic FERPs
3. The Ultra Beam
4. The Menace of the White Dwarf
5. The Mysterious Moles
6. Gulliver’s Gigantic Goof
7. The Planet-Splitter
8. The Watermen
9. Bonus – Super Friends Trivia Challenge

Jesse Mach (played by Rex Smith) is a motorcycle cop who runs afoul of a cocaine dealer (played by Christopher Lloyd) who kills his partner and cripples Jesse. Bionic-Man style, the government makes Mach an offer he can’t refuse. The rebuild his leg injury and in return he works for them as the driver of the Street Hawk motorcycle. Much like KITT on Knight Rider, the Street Hawk motorcycle was capable of speeds close to 300 mph and loaded with weapons. Mach takes the job and starts by tracking down the group that killed his partner and crippled him.

Alright, so the plots aren’t anything to write home about and 25 years later, the acting doesn’t seem as good either. But, the show still entertains. It’s like an action movie. There are things you want to see in an episode of Street Hawk (cool motorcycle, fights, action) and each episode delivers that. Looking at the show with 25-years of perspective, you can enjoy it for what it was—a well done Knight Rider knock-off.

Enjoy it you will on this excellent DVD set. Shout! Factory included the original pilot episode, as well as all 12 original episodes. They also dug up an alternate pilot featuring a different motorcycle.

To top things off perfectly, Shout! Factory has produced Street Hawk: The Making of a Legend. This all new, 40-minute documentary is a overview of the show and how it came to be. Featuring original show stars Rex Smith, Joe Regalbuto, and Jeannie Wilson, it offers up enough behind-the-scenes talk to be interesting.

The original pilot I mentioned above is added in the extras section. The quality isn’t great, but I always get a kick out of watching pilot episodes and seeing where a show started. The rest of the extras are made up of an extensive stills gallery and an eight page booklet. It may not sound like much, but for a 25-year old cult television show, Shout! Factory did a great job.

If you’re looking for a 1980’s TV fix, you could do a lot worse than Street Hawk. It’s an entertaining show that holds up surprisingly well. The concept is simple enough and one that’s not been on TV for quite some time. Head on over to Amazon.com and order your copy now.

The Super Hero Squad started out a few years back as a toy line of squat, slightly deformed, and minimally articulated action figures. They’re the perfect for younger fans. They’re tough and with few moving parts, they stand up to lots of playtime. I’m surprised it took Marvel as long as it did to make the cartoon version, but when the did, kids across America noticed.

If you’re looking for serious superhero action, you need to wait for Marvel’s newest animated series—Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes—this Fall. If you’re looking for a fun show, starring your favorite heroes acting slightly childishly, then Super Hero Squad is for you.

The DVD title comes from the premise that a sword of near-infinite power has been split into many pieces all over the world. The heroes are working against Dr. Doom—and time—as they try to keep him from reassembling the sword.

While the show is childish, the number of heroes, villains and supporting cast can keep even the oldest Marvel Zombie occupied. Tons of heroes and villains make their animated debut—Ms. Marvel, Screaming Mimi, Reptyl, and more show up alongside Marvel’s most popular, like Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Wolverine, Storm, Black Widow, Dr. Doom, MODOK, Mole Man and more.

At first glance, it was hard for me to get over some of the more juvenile humor that my son loved. The more I watched, the more I enjoyed the show. The action is fun and it brings back memories of watching Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends when I was a kid. I watched that show religiously and was always excited every week, wondering if there would be a new hero or villain that I was familiar with in that episode. I feel the same way watching Super Hero Squad. It’s a sense of anticipation, wondering who they will spotlight next.

The Super Hero Squad: Quest for the Infinity Sword Volume 1 gets you seven episodes of the show, plus a few extra features as well. The episodes are:

1. And Lo … A Pilot Shall Come!
2. This Silver, This Surfer!
3. Hulk Talk Smack!
4. To Err Is Superhuman!
5. Enter: Dormammu!
6. A Brat Walks Among Us!
7. Oh Brother!

And the bonus features are:

1. A new interview with Stan “The Man” Lee
2. Music Video
3. Super Hero Squad Trailer
4. Super Hero Squad Online Trailer
5. Super Hero Squad – The Infinity Gauntlet Video Game Trailer – This is a new game for Wii, DS, PS3, and XBox 360. Looks like the same engine as the previous SHS game for these consoles. Just adds new levels, new villains (Thanos) and a new storyline featuring the Infinity Gauntlet.

Overall, for the $10 price, this is a perfect and entertaining DVD for a rainy day or when the kids have friends over. It’s silly super hero fun and that’s not a bad thing. I’d imagine we’ll see a few more volumes of this series from Shout! Factory in the near future.

AS I’ve come to expect from Shout! Factory, it’s a great release and almost everything that fans of the show could want. Yes, I said almost, but we’ll talk about that later.

After going gaga for Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, the idea of a similar television show filled my 8-year-old mind with ideas for adventure. When the show debuted, I wasn’t disappointed.

Like Raiders, the show is set in the past, specifically 1938. Jake Cutter (Stephen Collins) was a former pilot now flying people and cargo in and out of the fictional South Pacific island named Boragora. Jake is always accompanied by his one-eyed dog Jack. Likewise, you usually find Corky (Jeff Mackay) at Jakes side, he’s Jake’s best friend and mechanic.

A few others round out the regular cast of characters. Bon Chance Louie (Ron Moody in the pilot, and Roddy McDowall in the series) is the Magistrate of Boragora. Sarah White (Caitin O’Heaney) is an entertainer in the Monkey Bar. It’s like the creators of the show had visions of Kate Capshaw’s role as Willie in the 1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and crossed her with Marion Scott from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Plot wise, the show was nothing special. While each episode was great, the storylines were standard adventure fare. Some person or situation would present itself to Jake and his friends and they would risk life and limb to rescue or prove innocent that character.

Each show featured all the adventure and intrigue you could want. As a testament to how good the show actually is, it still hold up as great entertainment today. That’s something that not many 30-year-old shows can make. The 1938 setting can be attributed partially to this success. Whereas Magnum P.I. (both shows were created by Donald Bellisario) is dated by its 1980s references, clothing, cars and technology – Tales of the Gold Monkey retains a classic, adventure serial feel thanks to its setting.

Overall, if you just had the episodes, there’s not much else you could ask for, the show is still that entertaining. Shout! Factory decided to give fans even more and there are several great features included on this set.

First up, writer/producer Tom Greene provides audio commentary on 5 episodes: Force of Habit, Last Chance Louie, Naka Jima Kill, Boragora or Bust, and A Distant Shout of Thunder.

The rest of the special features are on disc 6, and they are:

The Making of Tales of the Gold Monkey: Here’s what fans will really want to watch. This is a great 30+ minute documentary about the making of the show and it features recent interviews with actor Stephen Collins, actress Caitlin O’Heaney, writer/producer Tom Greene, and director Harvey Laidman. It’s so nice to see retrospective looks at your favorites shows like this.

Series Synopsis: A paragraph describing the show.

Series Concept: A longer text piece describing the show and characters. I’d guess this and the previous synopsis were the original series pitch.

Character Biographies: Again, this is likely text that was created 25 years ago for the series. These detailed descriptions of all the main characters highlights every little detail about them. It’s fun reading.

Personal Biographies: This looks to be old text as well, since it doesn’t refer to any recent work from any of the cast. Not terribly useful or interesting.

Fact File: Fun facts about the series – for instance, Tales of the Gold Monkey was conceived in 1979, two years before Raiders of the Lost Ark hit screens across America.

Stills Gallery: Four sections (Color images, B & W images, Caitlin’s Original Costume Gallery, and Artifacts Gallery) of images relating to the shows. It’s a pet peeve, but I hate looking at images like this on a TV screen.

Credits: Not for the show, but for the creation (encoding and authoring) of the DVD set. This is something you don’t see, but considering the work that goes into some DVD sets, it should be on every one.

Booklet: A 24 page booklet is included with the set. It includes the show summary, episode summaries, cast and crew credits, and photos from the show. It’s a perfect complement to the DVDs.

Overall, it’s a near perfect release. The only thing that might irritate some fans is something I didn’t even notice. Evidently there are a few songs that have been replaced due to licensing issues. If that’s the cost to get this show to DVD, then I don’t mind.

It was great watching this show again and I can’t wait to share it with my son – who’s about the same age I was when I first watched it back in 1982.

Tales of the Gold Monkey is available now from Amazon.com.

It’s no surprise my son loved this DVD. He’s watched it two or three times in as many weeks. Admittedly, I’m a big baseball fan too and I think it’s a great DVD. If you’ve even have a passing interest in baseball, I guarantee this disc will entertain you.\

At just over an hour – not including bonus content – it’s the perfect length. You can pop this disc in at any time and be entertained. Split into about 20 chapters, it’s easy to watch a few clips and pick back up where you left off.

The clips range from outfield crashes and infield flubs, to all kinds of strange happenings with animals. One clip quickly became a favorite of my son and since watching it, he take the time to tell everyone about it.

In a May 26, 1993, game between the Texas Rangers the Cleveland Indians, Carlos Martínez hit a fly ball that Jose Canseco lost sight of in the outfield. The ball hit Canseco in the head and bounced over the wall for a home run.

You can watch a video of the play here.

Also included in a bonus section are eight extended clips. Not really bloopers, they are humorous behind-the-scenes type clips that show some of the fun that baseball players have everyday.

If you or someone in  your family is a baseball fan, this DVD is perfect for them. Baseball is a great sport and full of amazing athletes. This DVD proves that they’re not superhuman, that they can make mistakes just like the rest of us.

So, does this show still standup almost 30 years later? The simple answer is yes, it does. The effects haven’t aged well – and probably didn’t look that great to begin with, but the show’s heart still comes across and that’s what made the series so enjoyable. As a kid, I watched it because High School Special Ed teacher Ralph Hinkley received a super-suit from an alien spaceship. i didn’t mid that he only used the suit a few times each episode, it was a superhero on TV. Not since The Incredible Hulk had I been so ready to watch a weekly tv show that wasn’t animated.

With the help of FBI agent Bill Maxwell and the occasional help of attorney Pam Davidson, Ralph and his suit fight everyday human menaces, with a few larger threats thrown in for good measure.

As a kid, I remember being disappointed by the lack of a real villain for Ralph to face. Looking back now, that’s what makes the show special. Realistically, they couldn’t have Ralph fight a super-villain every week. Instead Ralph combats smaller crooks and menaces on a regular basis and constantly saves Agent Maxwell from various thugs.

As I said above, many episodes are simple and the effects don’t hold up – however many episodes are still great, with my favorite one being the creepy episodes from Season Two entitled “The Beast in Black.”

I remember this scary, haunted house story as a kid. The effects of Ralph seeing ghosts and the 4th dimension really creeped me out and they still do a little 30 years later. As with most, the backbone of the story is the friendship between Ralph and Bill. It’s one of those things you don’t notice as a kid, but it’s right there in front of your face. Episode after episode, one looks out for the other, with the greatest example coming in the last episode of Season Two.

“Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell” sees Agent Maxwell falling in love with a female FBI agent. Ralph has his suspicions about her and her quest for knowledge regarding the suit. In the end, he must convince his friend that she truly is up to no good.

I never thought I’d enjoy revisiting this show as much as I did. So often, your childhood favorites are looked at through nostalgia colored glasses and they simply don’t hold up. Well, looking back at The Greatest American Hero, I’m glad to say that it does. It’s a different show than I remember, but none the less a great one.

If you’ve not picked up earlier releases of this series, you should grab The Greatest American Hero: The Complete Series from Mill Creek Entertainment. For less than the price of two new DVD releases, you can get yourself 9 DVDs of television fun from the early 80s. If you have fond memories of this show, you should check it out again. it’s well worth it.

There’s a lot to like on this set and I didn’t realize until I opened it, how many cartoons I didn’t remember from the 1980s. My favorites have always been the superhero shows, but most of those have their own DVD releases, so Warner chose to focus the spotlight on some lesser know 1980s gems.

Not counting the aforementioned superhero shows, out of everything that Warner and Hanna-Barbera put out in the 1980s, one show stood out as the best. Thundarr the Barbarian featured designs by legendary comic artist Jack Kirby. The post-apocalyptic future setting where tech and magic combined was just perfect for a kid who loved Star Wars and had stated to read just a little of Conan the Barbarian or Lord of the Rings. Aptly enough, this series gets special treatment in the form of an 18-minute feature that interviews many of the creators behind the excellent Thundarr series.

There are a few more great shows included on the set, as well as the lesser-known ones that makes sets like this so fun.

Mr. T was a short-lived show in the 1980s, but at the height of his popularity, I remember watching this every Saturday morning. Mr. T and his group of gymnastic teens would travel around tackling mysteries at every turn. This was another example of how Hanna-Barbera and Ruby Speats would often take live-action stars and animate them with varying degrees of success (see also The Gary Coleman Show, The Three Robonic Stooges, Super Globetrotters).

Another show that was very similar and lasted for only five episodes was Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos. I wonder with the increased popularity of Chuck Norris, how a $10 complete set of this show would sell. It’s nothing great to watch, but it did feature an interesting cast of characters and extensive fight scenes. At only five episodes, I think it was animated as limited-run week long series, but I haven’t found anything that confirms that thought.

Dragon’s Lair is another adventure/fantasy cartoon featured on this set. The animation wasn’t as good as what was in the popular video game, but it did feature all the characters, as well as Dirk and Daphne’s children. Each episode saw Dirk entering into another adventure.

Another popular show you’ll likely remember is The Flintstone Kids. The series follows Fred, Barney, Wilma, Betty and Dino as children. While not as popular as the Flintstones, it did serve its purpose and introduce a new generation to the Flintstones – plus it featured new Captain Caveman shorts.

Galtar and the Golden Lance was a 21 episode series by Hanna-Barbera that tried to capture the magic of Thundarr. The lack of Jack Kirby’s designs and an interesting plot doomed this show from the start. It’s fun to look back on it now, but it’s not one that I fondly remember.

The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley was a show that completely surprised everyone when it aired. The popularity of Pee Wee’s Playhouse prompted NBC to order this 1988 series from Hanna-Barbera based on the popular Saturday Night Live character created by Martin Short.

The four shows left as ones that you’ll likely not remember. The only exception might be Monchichis based on your fondness for the toy line of the same name. Three of the remaining shows: The Biskitts, The Monchichis, and Tex Avery’s the Kwicky Koloa Show featured talking animals getting into funny situations. Next to a group of mystery solving teens with an odd sidekick, this was a staple of Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

Goldie Gold & Action Jack was an adventure cartoon featuring Goldie Gold, “Action” Jack Travis and their dog, Nugget. I only remember the show from recent airings on Cartoon Network’s Boomerang channel. Overall, it’s entertaining, but it’s female star and action style probably combined to end the series before it had a chance to start.

I encourage you to buy this set if you’re a fan of any show that is on it. Fans want full season releases for Thundarr, Galtar, Mr. T, and Ed Grimley. We can show our support for these unreleased sets by ordering this set featuring the individual episodes. If you’re a fan of the 1980s and Hanna-Barbera and Ruby Spears, them you owe it to yourself to pick up this fun set today.

After the success of X-Men (the fifth and final volume is out on May 4) and Spider-Man (which is hopefully coming soon to DVD), Marvel decided to venture forward with new animated incarnations of Iron Man, Hulk, and the Fantastic Four (available on DVD). While not as well received as X-Men or Spider-Man, all three shows were much better adaptations than any previous animated version.

Enter to win a copy of this DVD set here.

Iron Man had only seen animated form in the 1966 Grantray-Lawrence Animation series that featured panels from the comic crudely animated with voiceovers added. For Iron Man fans, this 1994 series was a welcome update.

Featuring a full cast of classic Iron Man villains (Mandarin, Fin Fang Foom, Blizzard, Dreadknight, Blacklash, the Living Laser, Whirlwind, MODOK, and even Justin Hammer) battling Iron Man and his supporting cast (Century, War Machine, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye and Spider Woman). It’s was the largest assemblage of general Marvel heroes and villains that had been featured in animation at that time.

The general setup should be familiar to Iron Man fans. Stark is wounded and captured by the Mandarin. Besides his captor, Stark’s injury has also been updated to be multiple slivers of shrapnel near his spine, instead of his heart. These are just minor details and they don’t alter the pace of the show at all.

The show only lasted 2 seasons and 26 episodes. The inclusion of Force Works was dropped after the first season. After re-watching the show, it’s easy to see why. The first season was too busy. Too many heroes all the time and too many villains. It was great to see all of Iron Man’s classic foes, but having them working together all the time made each episode seem repetitive.

Season 2 breaks up this monotony by separating the villains and introduction old favorites to the animated universe with new the likes of Madame Masque, Crimson Dynamo, and Titanium Man. The villains united in the final two episodes of the series as the Mandarin’s master plan comes to fruition.

While the series didn’t feature many guest-stars outside of the Iron Man related ones, look for the Incredible Hulk in the Season 2 episodes entitled “Hulk Buster”.

Overall, it’s a great release that gives you every episode of this underrated series. Don’t let it pass you by.

Here’s a quick rundown of the episodes included on this set:

#1 – And The Sea Shall Give Up It’s Dead – The Mandarin turns a group of Russian sailors into an army of radioactive zombies in order to use them to take over the world. Only Iron Man and Forceworks can stop him!

#2 – Rejoice! I Am Ultimo! Thy Deliverer! – Iron Man and Forceworks must defeat the newly awakened Ultimo!

#3 – Data In, Chaos Out – The Mandarin and Justin Hammer have taken control of Stark satellites, using them to inflict a disaster and leading the public to believe that Stark is to blame. MODOK also begins a plan to take control of Jim Rhodes mind in hopes of using him to frame Tony.

#4 – Silence My Companion, Death My Destination – Iron Man must help Julia’s daughter from escaping a virtual reality arcade, whilst wearing a damaged armor.

#5 – The Grim Reaper Wears A Teflon Coat – The Mandarin steals Stark’s new weapon, The Grim Reaper, and Stark stands to lose his credibility unless he manages to find out how he managed to get past his security.

#6 – Enemy Without, Enemy Within – When Mandarin places his wife in danger, MODOK seeks Iron Man’s aid in saving her. Will he actually betray The Mandarin?

#7 – The Origin Of The Mandarin – Spider-Woman, Century and The Scarlet Witch find a black box containing a holographic video of The Mandarin’s origin, and The Mandarin finally finds The Hall Of Armor.

#8 – The Defection Of Hawkeye – Forceworks begin to lose their trust after Hawkeye fails to arrive in order to help The Mandarin steal Stark’s device. Has Hawkeye turned rouge?

#9,#10 – Iron Man To The Second Power, Part 1 and Part 2 – Tony Stark’s company suffers from financial troubles. With his company facing bankruptcy, Tony Stark must find begin to rebuild his shattering company, as The Mandarin plans a new plan to take over the world. He then creates an evil duplicate of Iron Man to destroy him.

#11, #12 – The Origin Of Iron Man, Part 1 and Part 2 – With his armor badly damaged, Iron Man must wait several hours for it to recharge whilst Fin Fang Foom hunts him down! Activating his memory module, he reminisces over how he became Iron Man! He also must watch out as Fin Fang Foom hunts him down to destroy him.

#13 - The Wedding of Iron Man – Iron Man and Spider-Woman tie the knot as The Mandarin discovers Iron Man’s secret identity!

Season Two

#14 – The Beast Within – Tony fakes his death in order to infiltrate one of The Mandarin’s schemes as Mandarin and Fin Fang Foom join forces.

#15 – Fire And Rain – As blackouts begin affect the city, Iron Man faces a new enemy called Firebrand, who’s determined to ruin Stark Enterprises to avenge the death of his Father. Will War Machine overcome his fear of water to help Iron Man?

#16 – Cell Of Iron – A.I.M sabotages a ship called The Starwell, and uses it’s powers to threaten the Earth into paying their ransoms. Can Iron Man stop A.I.M and save the ship?

#17 – Not Far From The Tree – Iron Man finds his Father, Walter Stark held prisoner in A.I.M headquarters. Did SHIELD cover up his supposed death?

#18 – Beauty Knows No Pain – Madame Mask kidnaps several Stark Industry employees in order to lure her former boyfriend Tony Stark into getting Iron Man to steal her ancient jewel which will grant her immense power.

#19 - Iron Man On The Inside – Iron Man must shrink himself to the size of an atom in order to save Hawkeye as HOMER contracts a virus.

#20 – Distant Boundaries – When Iron Man assists in the landing of an unidentified, unmanned space ship, he learns that it was sent by the distant planet, Elysian, with a distress message — pleading for Iron Man’s help in their fight against a madman called Dark Aegis.

#21 – The Armor Wars, Part 1 and Part 2 – After inadvertently causing an explosion in Russia and injuring thousands, Iron Man learns his designs have been stolen and are being used to commit crimes throughout the world. He begins a mad rampage, attacking anyone that’s using his designs.

#23 – Empowered – MODOK finds one of The Mandarin’s rings and is terrified to learn that he is still alive and searching for his remaining rings.

#24 – Hulk Buster – The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man are transported through various time periods as Iron Man tries to save Julia from being stuck in the past.

#25, #26 – The Hands Of The Mandarin, Part 1 and 2 – The Mandarin finally returns and creates an anti-technology field which renders Iron Man’s armor useless. Forceworks must reunite to stop Iron Man’s greatest enemy from declaring himself ruler.

I remember being excited in 1996 when the movie version of Steel was announced. The character was at the apex of cool – after being introduced as one on the replacements for Superman after the “Death of Superman” event. Tons of ideas flew through my mind. How would this all connect to the previous Superman films? What would this mean for the other related DC characters? Would the film begin with the death of Superman?

Luckily, I’m much smarter now that I was then.

As it produced, Steel had nothing to do with the Superman mythos that fueled his comic book incarnation. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. As I stated above, he’s just a version of Iron Man without the playboy tendencies. The basics for a good story are there – they just weren’t used in this film version.

Without the Superman reference, the writers decided not to provide Steel with any real inspiration in becoming a hero. After being forced to retire and live with his grandmother, John Henry Irons is appalled by the conditions in their neighborhood. A local gang runs the neighborhood and Irons decides to do something about it. Using his past a weapons designer, Irons manufactures a costume and a makeshift hammer and sets out to clean up, only to find a familiar face is backing the local gang.

If is doesn’t sound like a lot of plot, it’s not. There’s not much in the way of effects either. Much like his comic counterpart, Steel doesn’t have a large or well defined power set. Other than his large hammer, the comic Steel can fly – but Shaq’s movie costume doesn’t offer that ability. I’m not saying the hero has to have powers to be interesting. Batman proves that wrong – but Batman does have his gadgets. Steel doesn’t.

It’s a superhero movie without super-heroics.

Aside from a few explosions, there’s nothing spectacular to watch and little story to hold your interest. With only a theatrical trailer as an extra, there’s no extra content worth watching either.

It’s a bargain-bin DVD for sure that was made for the superhero fan who must have everything. With that in mind – Steel is only available from Warner as DVD-on-Demand – they make it when you order it. Order here – if you’re interested.

Toy Story 2 picked the perfect plot when they decided to explore Woody’s history. Much like you got to know Buzz in the first film, you find out more about Woody in this one. It’s hard to think about cartoon characters growing, but in this second film you can see that happen.

Woody is still insecure about being Andy’s favorite, but by the end of the film, thanks to his new friends and a matured Buzz, he’ll discover that sometimes being someone’s favorite isn’t really necessary.

Just like any good sequel, you see more of everything. There’s more action—starting with a playful scene in the beginning. There are more characters—you get to meet the “Woody’s Roundup” gang. And finally, there’s more “toys come to life” exploration as Buzz and his friends enter a Mr. Cluck’s Toy Store after closing and are bombarded with a store full of talking toys, as well as an aisle of Buzz Lightyear dolls still in their package.

Really, there’s nothing not to like in this great sequel to Pixar’s first animated feature and that’s a rare thing indeed. More often than not, things do continue on well, but that’s a trend that Pixar continues to buck with every new release.

As with the Toy Story Blu-Ray, Toy Story 2 is another beautiful digital release. The image quality is nothing less than stunning and the audio matches as well. You’ll see tiny details on the screen and you’ll hear details in the sound. The closing sequence in the airplane luggage conveyor belt is amazing to listen too.

The Blu-Ray disc is packed with extras, although they fall short when compared to the extras on Toy Story. The original audio commentary with John Lasseter, co-directors Lee Unkrich and Ash Brannon, and co-writer Andrew Stanton is included here. It’s a good commentary and full of info but I would have been interested in listening to a new one, given the length of time that has passed.

You’ll find another Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs feature. This time Buzz visits the International Space Station. I’ll admit, I’ve love these little shorts, as they do a great job presenting real-world science in an entertaining fashion.

There are three more Studio Stories included on this Blu-Ray and like the first three, they are fascinating. I cracked up at the Studio Stories: Pinocchio, as I remember doing something similar in high school.

More Pixard artists are profiled in Paths to Pixar and the 3D animation process gets a spotlight in the short 2-minute Pixar’s Zoetrope.

Probably the most worthy extra is the 12-minute retrospective Celebrating Our Friend Joe Ranft. Joe Ranft was the voice of numerous Pixar characters and was in the midst of directing Cars when he was killed in a car wreck in August of 2005. You always see “dedicated to” on movies, televisions shows and other media, but it’s very moving to see a company take the time to produce a lengthy look at a friend’s career.

Most of the extras from the original DVD releases are included. Look for Making Toy Story 2, which is a look at the making of the movie (of course), there is a three-minute John Lasseter Profile, plus deleted scenes and behind the scene looks at the production, music/sound and publicity.

All in all, it’s an amazingly packed Blu-Ray, with a nice amount of the content duplicated over to the DVD as well. However, the extras aren’t quite as cool as the Blu-Ray for Toy Story, especially the commentary. However, the video is as stunning, if not better and there’s no reason not to add this to your library if you don’t already own it.