Broken Saints: Complete Series DVD: Review By Travis Young

Broken Saints is an animated comic which for those who don't know basically means that there are still comic-esque characters that occasionally move. Animation is mostly used to take us from one scene to the next. The story of Broken Saints is a very complex one, but the basic beginning of it is that four strangers have a vision of some kind of evil and they each go on a search to find the truth behind it. Broken Saints is described as an "Animated Comic Epic," but the word "epic" is truly an understatement. Broken Saints' 12 hour length makes the Lord of the Ring's epic tale feel like a short story.

After six episodes it was clear that this was simply not something for me. The story was just too convoluted for me to get into it. I'm not the kind of person who just stops watching something because it gets too confusing (I love movies like Memento and Donnie Darko). Those are great movies that really challenge you and make you think, but Saints just gives very little depth to the characters at first and little explanation is given for each scene. It doesn't help that there are four main characters so there's a lot of information to get out there. Had there been only one character it probably would have been much easier to follow.

Another thing that really turned me off was the dialogue. It's obviously written by someone highly educated, but just because it's smart doesn't necessarily mean it's good. It reminds me of the Wachowski Brothers' writing in the Matrix. Did anyone actually understand everything some of those characters in the Matrix Trilogy were saying? Of course not, but it sounded smart so we went with it. The dialogue in Broken Saints has that same conceited feeling of just too much to comprehend. I don't want to sound too arrogant, but I do have an above average intelligence and this was even too much for me to handle. A lot of what's said could have been said much simpler and in turn would have been much better. The big difference between The Matrix trilogy and Broken Saints is the amount of time that you have to invest in the story. Each Matrix movie is over in about 180 minutes so if it gets confusing at a certain point you don't mind sticking with it until it ends. With Saints I, and a lot of other people, will just say forget it and turn it off because of its extremely long runtime. This is unfortunate because I really wanted to like it. The story is so different and it sounded like something that could be really fresh and cool.

There is an audience somewhere out there for this, but personally I don't know many, if any, who would enjoy it. If you've seen the episodes in flash on the internet and liked them, then buy this DVD because it's filled with tons of extras and the original look of the series has been greatly improved. If you haven't seen this and think it would be something you would like, then I say give it a try because it's definitely a very unusual story and the writing is very interesting.

Commentary

Each and every chapter features a commentary track with creator Brooke Burgess and sometimes he is accompanied by his Broken Saints crew. As you would expect, Burgess gives plenty of details that will be an enjoyment to listen to for fans.

Production Featurette

A good look in to the process and making of Broken Saints. For all of those that want to see how they do it, here it is.

Voice-Over and Audio Featurette

Another in-depth Featurette that takes us through the process of adding music to the story as well as finding the right voice for each role.

A.I Discussion Panel

Some of the people who were behind the creation of Broken Saints each tell of how they got involved with the project and how it involved in to what it is today.

Fan films

A collection of fan-made animated shorts that all are somehow related to Broken Saints (tributes, spoofs). Worth checking out if you can't get enough Broken Saints.

1.66:1 Widescreen. Broken Saints' unique mixture of comic look and animation creates an experience that is different from anything else. The artwork is simply gorgeous.

English 5.1 Dolby Surround. Subtitles in English, Spanish, and French. The effects and music have been improved tremendously from the original flash version.

This is a very cool packaging. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. On the outside there is a plastic covering with the main characters on the edges and on the inside there is a dark mountain with the title "Broken Saints" in the middle.

Broken Saints is a unique piece of work that although it was too complicated for my tastes, it could be considered a masterpiece by someone else.