Thundercats - Season Two, Volume Two DVD: Review By Mushy

Our friends the Thundercats are back in Thundercats: Season Two, Vol. 2 as they battle their old foe Mumm-Ra and do their best to survive on the Third Earth. This isn't all as the Thundercats have got to deal with new foes and problems that seem to befall any group that is trying to start from scratch. Containing the final 31 episodes in this series, watching this 6 disc DVD set was a bittersweet experience to say the least. There was such an earnestness to the way the Thundercats acted, it seemed to almost transcend the easy categorization of children's cartoon.

When Lion-O beats Mumm-Ra the Thundercats can finally see a future that might bring peace. However, things take a turn for the worst when somehow Mumm-Ra returns! Some of my favorite episodes in this set were "Return of the Thundercubs," "The Book of Omens" and "The Jade Dragon." Seeing the characters of Lion-O, Snarf, Mumm-Ra, Panthro and all the others in this show's final episodes, made me realize just how special of an experience watching the Thundercats: Season Two, Vol. 2 had been.

Thundercats Ultimate Adventure

A set top game that allows you to use your DVD player's remote to navigate around various obstacles. The whole time you have the voice of Lion-O talking in your ear, giving you all the information and inspiration you need to figure out the mystery of the Third Earth. I enjoyed this game, I just wish that I had a better controller. I found myself hitting things during the game when I could have sworn I moved out of the way. Oh well, I think fans of this show and younger kids will enjoy playing this.

Standard Version presented in a format preserving the aspect ratio of it's original television exhibition. I liked the look of this show. As I mentioned in another review, I think that it really captures the hybrid between anime and old school animation quite well. The colors all stood out on these discs and it seems like great care has been taken in the compression to make them do just that. I was really excited to see how much this show has held up over time.

Dolby Digital. English and French Mono. Languages: English and French. Subtitled in English, French, and Spanish. This show sounded pretty solid. What stood out the most to me was the sound effects and the score overall. It seems like a lot of work has gone into giving this show a very full feel, and as a result fans of the show will really be able to appreciate the audio that is being afforded them.

Lion-O stands on this front cover brandishing a sword and looking as ready to fight as ever. This image is of the variety where if you look at it in certain ways, the image moves and changes it's actions. The back features some nicely detailed images from the show, a description of what this 6 disc set contains, and a Special Features listing. All 6 discs are housed in 3 amaray cases with different characters on each one. The back cover lists out the episodes and provides more images from the show. Overall, I think Warner Bros. should have put this in a digipack, as it seems somewhat bulky in it's current packaging.

Okay, I understand that studios have to make money but what is Warner Bros. excuse for releasing the Thundercats in these broken up volumes? At first, I was upset because it just seemed like a way to milk more money out of consumers, but then after realizing how many episodes come with each volume, I guess it sort of makes sense. Then I realized that Warner Bros. supports 50 gigabyte Blu-ray DVDs, so I wasn't so sure that I understood why it had to release the only two seasons of this show as two separate releases?!?! I can understand that if they put out all 65 episodes in one set they would have to charge a lot more money, but I guess I am speaking from a completist perspective, and it's a bummer to have to buy things in this split up format. Then they have the chutzpah to release these seasons in one volume, the same day they release the show in single volume. I can't win!

All in all, Thundercats: Season Two, Vol. 2 is a pretty packed set as far as the episodes are concerned (there's 31 of them), but I was really let me down as far as the bonus features go. This really isn't the way to send off this show into that great DVD pasture in the sky.