Amazing Screw-On Head DVD: Review By Travis Young

The Amazing Screw-On Head is a unique piece of work from famed Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. This DVD features one 22 minute pilot episode from the Amazing Screw-On Head comic book. If this show is successful then it might, and hopefully so, be turned into a long series for TV. The episode featured is about President Lincoln calling on Screw-On Head, a secret agent robot (voiced by Paul Giamatti), to stop Screw-On Head's enemy Emperor Zombie from unleashing the powers of evil onto the world. The time period which this is set around, which you can already assume from my mention of Lincoln, is of the Civil War period and we are lead to believe from the beginning of the show that these stories of Screw-On Head are true events in our history that were kept secret. This adds a fun element to the show that something this ridiculous could have actually happened.

The show feels very much like watching a running comic book. The characters come to life quickly and I began to love them shortly after meeting them, especially the evil Emperor Zombie who is just flat-out hilarious. I really hope this is turned into a series for TV because I would watch it every week.

Audio Commentary by director Chris Prynoski and writer Bryan Fuller

A mediocre commentary. These guys are easy to listen to and they give a few interesting insights, but nothing that you haven't already learned in the Making Of Featurette (which I'd suggest watching instead of listening to this).

Storyboard Comparison

A basic comparison of some moments near the end of the animated show to the way they were originally drawn out on the storyboard.

From Comic to Cartoon: Making The Amazing Screw-On Head

A great 15 minute Featurette that shows every behind the scenes aspect about the creation of this show that you could to see. Mike Mignola explains how exactly he came up with the idea of this Screw-On Head character and his plans for the character in the future. We also hear from everyone involved in the process of the episode and how they were about to create this work.

4x3 Fullscreen and 16x9 Widescreen. You get both to pick from without having to buy mulitple copies. Too bad nobody else does this anymore. Like I said earlier, the look of this episode is like looking at a moving comic book. I haven't seen anything else that looks like this and it's very refreshing.

5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Digital audio. English and Spanish subtitles. The voice acting is one of the stars of the show as we are graced with the voices of such greats as Paul Giamatti and David Hyde Pierce.

Standard DVD case. A simple cover that features Screw-On Head primarily with all the other main characters around him including his nemesis Emperor Zombie next to him.

If spending 10 bucks isn't a problem for you then go ahead and buy The Amazing Screw-On Head because it's certainly good enough. At the very least, give ita rent. You're going to want to go check out the comic book, which this is based on, immediately after watching it. I'd write more, but I'm going to go watch this again.